It's a Yarn Face-Off!

Comparing DK-weight wool/cotton blends

I live in a climate where a blend of wool and cotton is often an excellent choice for a sweater. For six months of the year, this fiber blend provides a good balance of warmth, resilience, and next-to-the-skin comfort on days when it's not quite warm enough for just a t-shirt.

Two of my favorite yarn companies, Purl Soho and Knit Picks, produce DK-weight blends of Merino wool and cotton. While these yarns have much in common, they also have significant differences. With a skein of each in hand, I thought it would be fun to bring you along for a side-by-side comparison.

FYI: I bought the yarn from Purl Soho. The Knit Picks yarn was gifted to me. I do freelance work for both companies. Neither has paid me to review their yarn, and I receive no compensation if you make a purchase.

First, the Specifications

Both yarns are made in Peru, both have 218 yds in each 100 g skein, both have the same suggested gauge and recommended care. Functionally, these yarns are interchangeable. You could use either to knit a pattern calling for DK weight yarn and be happy with the results.

But these yarns are not the same. Let's take a closer look.

Plein Air, on the left, is composed of 2 plump plies. The strand of yarn shows a distinct shadow between the plies. The color is definitely heathered, with lighter and darker fibers visible throughout.

Woolen Cotton, on the right, is composed of 4 thinner plies. It is a smoother, rounder yarn. Although the color name includes the word "heather", it reads as a solid color yarn. It's possible that lighter colors in this yarn would show a more distinct heather effect.

I wound both skeins by hand. Both were evenly and consistently spun, with no slubs or thin spots. There were no knots in either skein.

Let's Look at the Swatches

I knit both yarns on size US 6 (4 mm) needles. I enjoyed knitting both yarns. They felt similar in the knitting, with the lack of elasticity I associate with cotton yarns.

The swatches were soaked in warm water with a drop of wool wash, then rolled in a towel to remove excess water and laid flat to dry. Neither swatch bled any color into the water (always a concern with dark red yarns).

Both swatches worked out to the same gauge: 21 sts and 34 rows = 4" in this Garter Stitch Basketweave pattern.

The Plein Air swatch (on the left) feels plump and slightly fuzzy. The wool has bloomed to give this fabric a plush feel. The Woolen Cotton swatch (on the right) feels smoother, sleeker, and slightly flatter. While both yarns produced excellent stitch definition, the Plein Air swatch seems more three-dimensional.

The Difference You Can't See

Purl Soho's Plein Air costs 46% more than Knit Picks' Woolen Cotton. While branding might account for some of the difference (Knit Picks is generally perceived as a budget-friendly brand, while Purl Soho is considered more high-end), I think the biggest difference is in the fibers.

Plein Air is 67% Merino wool; Woolen Cotton is 50% Merino wool. Wool is a more expensive fiber than cotton, and there are 17 grams more wool in each skein of Plein Air. The wool in Plein Air is Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certified. This means the farms that raise the sheep and the mills that process the wool are audited to ensure the welfare of the land, the animals, and the workers involved in producing the yarn.

Woolen Cotton contains Pima cotton, known for its long, soft, fibers. But conventionally grown cotton crops around the world are nearly all grown from genetically modified seed, and they are dependent on massive amounts of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. The cotton in Plein Air is organically grown, meaning the plants are not genetically modified and no synthetic agricultural chemicals are used.

RWS wool and organically grown cotton make up a tiny percentage of the total global supply of cotton and wool. They cost more than conventional fibers, and this is reflected in the cost of the yarn.

I recognize it’s a privilege to be able to choose eco-friendly yarns for my knitting. I completely understand that you might balk at the price of a sweater's worth of Plein Air; we all need to make choices about how we spend out money. Choosing natural fibers over synthetics at any price point is a big step in the right direction. If it works for your budget, opting for organic cotton and RWS wool is a great choice. By supporting farmers and yarn manufacturers who move toward more sustainable products and practices, we prove there is a market for products that help heal the damage done to our planet.

Both Purl Soho and Knit Picks regularly put their yarns on sale, usually around 20% off. Sign up for their newsletters and watch for those sale announcements to make these high-quality yarns more affordable.

The Bottom Line

I love both these yarns and will gladly make and wear sweaters in both. Both are beautiful, high-quality yarns. With its higher wool content and plumper hand, Plein Air feels more casual to me. Woolen Cotton's smooth, sleek hand feels a little more polished. Either one (or both!) is worth your time and money.

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