Review: Cascade Yarns “Forest Hills”

I picked up a new lace weight yarn at my LYS the other day, started knitting with it, and thought it would be fun to do a quick little review.

The yarn is Cascade Yarns “Forest Hills,” a 51/49 silk/merino, lace weight yarn.

With 785 yards (717.5 meters) to a 100 gram (3.5 oz) ball, the yardage isn’t bad, and you can definitely get a shawl from one ball. My LYS had it for $21 a ball, so it’s not a bad price either.

It’s 51% silk 49% merino, (not sure why they didn’t just do a 50/50 blend) so it’s very soft, and drapey with pretty good stitch definition.

It’s a two ply yarn and despite the silk has a very nice body for a lace weight yarn. Unlike some lace weights it doesn’t feel like you’re holding nothing, which is really nice when you’re knitting with it.

The silk creates a very slight halo, which gives the yarn depth, but it’s not so much of a halo that you loose your stitches, and couldn’t do lace work with it.

I’m using this yarn for a very simple stockinette shawl with some eyelet detailing, knit on a US 5 (3.75mm) needle with the yarn held double, in colorway #9 “Nugget Gold.”

If I were to hold the yarn single I would probably use a US 1 (2.25mm) or a US 2 (2.75mm) needle. The ball band recommends a US 1-3 (2.25mm-3.25mm) needle.

I’ll be interested to see how this yarn holds up over time. I wonder if that silk halo means it’ll end up pilling. I’m not super hard on most of my shawls so I don’t see it being an issue, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re hard on your shawls or are using it for something else.

An Anti Disclaimer:
Cascade did not send me this yarn to review, and they did not ask me for my opinion about it.
It was new at my LYS, I thought it was interesting, I bought a ball, started knitting with it, and thought I’d do a quick review.