Still Feeling the Chill in Your Knits?
Q: I knit my first sweater last month. Sadly I do not feel as warm in it as I do in my {store-bought} fleece. I used chunky yarn in 100% merino wool, but still feel the cold. I live in Canada, so it is chilly here! Any advice would be great.
With winter fast approaching, I thought it a good idea to reply to this question publicly. It’s a problem I’ve experienced myself when I first returned to knitting as an adult. And I imagine it is actually quite commonplace.
Based on my experience and all I know about the topic, I would say there are 3 distinct factors to keep in mind if your goal is to knit a warm garment for a cold climate:
1. Use Warm Yarn
I will begin with this one, because the knitter asking the question specifically mentioned chunky yarn. It is understandable why we might assume that thicker yarn = warmer yarn. In actuality, fibre content plays a much greater role than yarn thickness.
Merino wool, especially if it is superwash, is not one of the warmer fibres available; in fact I would consider it a summer-weight fibre. Bulking it up improves its warmth, but only relatively speaking. (Consider, for example: If you wear two cotton tops, sure you will be warmer than wearing only one cotton top. But you will still not be properly warm, right?)
If you want a truly warm yarn, suitable for knitwear in a cold climate, your best bets from the readily available and not too expensive options are alpaca and mohair. (Cashmere, Angora, yak, camel and quivuit, are also among the warmest fibres out there, but they are considerably more pricey and more difficult to source.)
If you prefer sheepswool specifically, look for breed-specific yarns or blends containing Wensleydale, Gotland, or Jacobs. In my experience these tend to be the warmest breeds. Untreated Peruvian wool, as well as rustic yarn described as ‘mixed mountain fleece’ also tends to be very warm - albeit the latter can feel pretty rough to the touch.
And as far as yarns to avoid if warmth is the goal, you basically do not want anything labeled superwash, as the chemical process involved decreases the yarn’s heat retention properties. Likewise, avoid wool that is mixed with a plant fibre, especially cotton, and yarns with too much synthetic content (over 20%).
If you adhere to these criteria, a DK weight yarn should really be sufficient for even the coldest climates. And of course the thicker the yarn (Aran weight, chunky, bulky), holding the fibre content constant, the warmer it will be. So if you are off to an Arctic expedition - sure, you can opt for a chunky weight Alpaca and be even warmer than you would be in a DK Alpaca. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking that, say, a chunky superwash merino will be warmer than even a fingering weight Alpaca.
2. Knit at a Tighter Gauge
While this isn’t always the case, more often than not those who are relatively new to knitting tend to knit loosely. (Getting back to working with a chunky yarn, this is even more likely to be the case as these type of yarns tend to encourage an airy tension to avoid garments being too heavy.)
But keep in mind that a denser fabric will be warmer than a loosely knit one. This is why vintage patterns - written at a time when knitwear was meant to serve a functional purpose first and foremost - were written with much tighter tension in mind than what is customary in today’s patterns. If you are knitting a sweater in a DK weight yarn, with the goal of utmost warmth, your gauge should not be any looser (any fewer stitches) than 20 stitches per 10cm.
3. Make Sure You Wear Suitable Base Layers
This final factor is so frequently overlooked even by seasoned knitters, it never ceases to surprise me. What you wear underneath your knitwear matters, and the colder your climate the more it does.
Starting from your underwear, to whatever t-shirt or long sleeve top you wear underneath your sweater, the fabric composition is important. In particular, you want to avoid non-breathable synthetics (acrylic, polyester) and you want to avoid hydrophilic (moisture absorbing) plant fibres - aka cotton. Otherwise, any moisture (sweat) your body produces will either pool on your body, or turn the base layer into a wet rag, which in cold weather means a cold wet rag, essentially counteracting the benefits of your knitted garment.
Hmm, you might say - no synthetics and no cotton? That leaves me with very few options! Unfortunately yes. If you want effective base layers, including underwear, they should ideally be either wool or silk. Certain high tech nylon based blends also work, but as we know synthetics are not optimal for many reasons.
Mind you, wool underwear does not mean it is scratchy. And silk underwear does not mean it is the expensive shiny sexy stuff. There are many brands now specialising in athletic and casual base layers out of these fibres, for reasonable prices. And if you think about it: We put so much thought in sourcing the yarn for our outer garments. It makes sense to likewise put thought into what goes underneath, in direct contact with our skin.
