Koigu is not only a yarn that’s fun to knit, but the name is fun to say too. I was really pleased to find out that it was a Canadian company…according to their website, they are based out of the Georgian Bay area in Ontario.
I recently finished a pair of socks using Koigu. I know I went a little bonkers with my stubborn refusal to knit with anything else, and had a lot of real concerns about whether or not I would have enough yarn to complete them. It’s not that I’ve actually run out, it’s just that I’ve used Koigu before
And what I found was that starting at the toe and working my way up was probably the best way to go. I think I only had a couple of yards left, if that, when I was done.
One of the things I love about the multicoloured Koigu sock yarn is the surprise you sometimes get. I remember this yarn as being very pretty in the skein, but I had no idea what it would knit up as. When this is the case, I generally will just knit in plain old stockinette. Sometimes you have to make a decision: Pattern or Colour? Sometimes you need to make a choice that flatters the pattern, so solids or subtle variegations are probably your vest yarn choices. Sometimes you have a yarn that is absolutely gorgeous, but patterning might cause the beauty of the colours to be lost or muddled.
This is the skein that I originally picked up for those socks up above. I wound up calling them my “Yule Socks”, as they had the definite colours of Christmas. The striping that just happened to occur was a pleasant surprise.
Recently I’ve been picking up solid-coloured Koigu. I do have a bit of the wildly-coloured stuff lingering in my stash, but I find that the solids are great for stitch definition. I’m not sure if it’s the fiber content or the twist of the yarn, but I’ve noticed that some patterns just seem to pop. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to use the Koigu for my Sleepy Hollow socks in October. Sure, they came out bright green, but the definition on the leaves came out wonderfully. So wonderfully that I have yet to actually wear the socks. Sometimes you knit something so beautiful that you can’t bear to part with it, but you just can’t bring yourself to wear them yet. That’s where I am with these socks.
I know that here in town, Pudding Yarn tends to carry Koigu, but I’ve also heard that The Loop is also carrying it. This is a good thing…it will hopefully keep the price competitive, and I’m sure that anything that’s missing from one store will wind up being carried by the other. This is never a bad thing in my books!
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