What they share
HiKoo is the yarn label of Skacel, the Washington distributor that also brings addi needles and Schoppel Wolle to the US, and it was designed from the start as the practical end of the shelf: yarns that go in the washing machine, come in forty colors, and cost less than the imports beside them. The Simplicity family is the core; around it sit a merino-bamboo range, a handful of fingering yarns and three luxury lines. Most of the wool lines are spun in Peru.
Side by side
| Fiber | Skein | Weight | Gauge | Wash | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplicity | 55% superwash merino, 28% acrylic, 17% nylon | 50 g, 117 yd | DK | 5 sts/in on US 4–6 | Machine, and the dryer |
| Simpliworsted | 55% superwash merino, 28% acrylic, 17% nylon | 100 g, 140 yd | Worsted to aran | 4 sts/in on US 10 | Machine |
| Sueño | 80% superwash merino, 20% bamboo viscose | 100 g, 255 yd | DK | 5–6 sts/in on US 3–7 | Machine cold, dry flat |
| Sueño Worsted | 80% superwash merino, 20% bamboo viscose | 100 g, 182 yd | Worsted | 4–5 sts/in on US 6–9 | Machine cold, dry flat |
| Madrona | 30% baby alpaca, 30% merino, 20% bamboo, 20% nylon | 100 g, 402 yd | Fingering | 7–8 sts/in on US 0–2 | Machine gentle, dry flat |
| CoBaSi | 55% cotton, 16% bamboo, 8% silk, 21% elastic nylon | 50 g, 220 yd | Fingering | 6½–8 sts/in on US 1–4 | Machine |
| Popcycle | 50% bamboo viscose, 50% recycled polyester | 100 g, 305 yd | Fingering | 6½ sts/in on US 2–4 | Hand |
| Rylie | 50% baby alpaca, 25% mulberry silk, 25% linen | 100 g, 274 yd | Fingering to sport | 6 sts/in on US 3–4 | Hand |
| Concentric | 100% baby alpaca, four unplied strands | 200 g, 437 yd | Worsted | 5 sts/in on US 8 | Hand |
| Merino Lace Light | 100% merino | 100 g, 1,531 yd | Lace | US 0–4 | Hand |
Simplicity and Simpliworsted: the workhorses
Simplicity is a merino-acrylic-nylon blend at DK weight, and the blend is the point: the merino makes it soft, the acrylic makes it cheap and keeps its shape, the nylon makes it wear, and all three survive a hot wash and a tumble dryer. It is the blanket yarn, the children's-sweater yarn and the yarn for anything that will be washed every week — the baby knits guide puts it first for that reason — in 50 g balls of 117 yards and more than forty colors. Simpliworsted is the same blend in a 100 g skein at worsted-to-aran weight, 140 yards, knit on a US 10 at 4 stitches to the inch. It is also the closest thing on our shelves to Plymouth Encore for a pattern written for that; the substitution guide has the arithmetic.
Sueño, two ways
Sueño is superwash merino with a fifth of bamboo viscose, which adds a sheen and drape that plain merino does not have and takes dye deeply, so the solids glow. The DK comes in 255-yard skeins and knits anywhere from 5 to 6 stitches to the inch, so one yarn does a sock, a shawl and a child's sweater; it is the most-searched HiKoo yarn for good reason. Sueño Worsted is the same blend heavier, 182 yards to 100 g, for sweaters and cowls that want to be soft, washable and a little lustrous. Both go in a cold machine wash and dry flat; the bamboo makes the wet fabric heavy, so do not hang it.
The fingering four
Madrona is a sock yarn with baby alpaca in it — alpaca, merino, bamboo and nylon in roughly equal parts, 402 yards to 100 g, machine washable on gentle. The alpaca makes it warmer and softer than a plain merino sock yarn and the nylon lets it last; it is the sock for cold feet, and a good shawl yarn. CoBaSi is the wool-free one: cotton, bamboo and silk with an elastic nylon that gives the strand a wool-like stretch, so it knits and wears like a sock yarn with no sheep in it — summer socks, warm-weather colorwork, anything for someone who cannot wear wool. Popcycle is bamboo viscose and polyester spun from recycled bottles, light and smooth with a luster, for summer shawls and tops; it is hand wash. Rylie is the luxury fingering: baby alpaca, mulberry silk and linen in a yarn with drape, gleam and a little rustic texture, for a shawl or a light sweater that is warm in fall and cool in spring.
Concentric: the gradient cake
Concentric is a 200 g cake of baby alpaca, 437 yards at worsted weight, made from four unplied strands that each carry a different shade so the color moves in rings through the cake. One cake is a large shawl or a cowl with the whole gradient in it; two are a vest or a small sweater. Alpaca drapes rather than bounces, so it is better in a wrap than in a fitted garment, as the alpaca guide explains, and it is hand wash. The self-striping guide puts it beside the other gradient yarns.
Concentric
Four strands, unplied. Each one holds its own shade.
Merino Lace Light
A 100 g ball of merino lace with 1,531 yards in it — more than any other ball on our shelves — in neutral shades. It is an heirloom-shawl yarn, fine enough for a wedding veil or a Shetland-style lace stole and generous enough that one ball is the whole project, and it is also a yarn to hold with anything for a little extra softness; the holding guide covers that.
Which to buy
A blanket or a child's sweater that goes in the dryer: Simplicity, or Simpliworsted for a heavier one. A soft washable sweater with some sheen: Sueño Worsted. A sock yarn that does everything: Sueño. Warm socks: Madrona. Wool-free socks or summer colorwork: CoBaSi. A summer shawl from recycled fiber: Popcycle. A luxury light shawl or sweater: Rylie. One cake, one shawl: Concentric. A lace stole from one ball: Merino Lace Light.
