Valley Yarns Kangaroo Dyer Charlemont Yarn Review

I jump any time that I get the chance to work with hand dyed yarns so I was very excited to try Valley Yarns Charlemont. Charlemont comes in a gorgeous array of solid colors but if you are extra lucky, like me, you could pick up a hank of Kangaroo Dyer Charlemont. Gail is the Kangaroo Dyer that uniquely and personally dyes each of the yarns in the Hand dyed collection for Valley Yarns. When my hank arrived in the mail, I was amazed by the gorgeous colors. I used a hank of Professor Plum which was a delicious blend of deep, rich purples. Charlemont comes in a 100 gram hank and if you have never turned a hank into a workable ball, you can find my tutorial here. 

Valley Yarns Charlemont is an incredible blend of superwash merino, mulberry silk, and polyamide in a fingering weight. My eyes widened just reading the label. It is a very soft yarn with a depth of color like no other. Merino and silk together are already a dream, but this was my first time seeing polyamide on a yarn label so I was curious and did a little research. Polyamides are both naturally occurring and synthetic. Naturally occurring polyamides are wool and silk. Synthetic polyamides are commonly used in textiles and several other industries due to their high durability and strength. So we get the softness of 60% superwash merino and 20% silk and the strength of 20% polyamide. That sounds incredible to me!  The recommended care instructions are to hand wash and dry flat. This yarn is made in Peru and dyed in Massachusetts.

Once I turned my hank into a ball, I was ready to crochet and I used this yarn to crochet the Pretty Pineapple Shawl by A la Sascha. Her pattern is a very lacy, openwork design worked with an oversized hook and it allowed the dye pattern of Charlemont to really pop.  Every stitch slid off my hook smoothly and comfortably.  By the way, if you are looking at my hook, I got it from Happy Crochet Hooks. I LOVE it!

Here are a few close ups so you can see both the stitch pattern of this beautiful shawl and the lovely colors of the Professor Plum colorway. The purples are intoxicating!And here is the edging with my little bit of leftover.

Each hank of Charlemont has 439 yards and is an incredible value. Sascha’s pattern used just 350 yards with just a little leftover for me to gaze at while I’m working. I’m imagining the next small pattern for which I can use it.

Finished product! Isn’t this the perfect yarn for this pattern?I’m meeting with my friend later this week so I can photograph her modeling the shawl but I couldn’t wait to share this lovely yarn with you.

Grab your own hank HERE

Happy Crocheting!

~Emily

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One Comment

1. 

   Sylvia

   April 21, 2016 at 2:27 pm

   That is a BEAUTIFUL shawl. Thanks for the review, the yarn looks amazing.

   Reply