YARN REVIEW: Amano Sami

Last month, I celebrated Local Yarn Shop Day by visiting a new shop that just opened in downtown Pocatello. The Knotty Twist takes up a large booth at the front of Cottonwood Junction, a consignment shop selling mostly antiques. The yarn booth is in a comfortable space and the owner has made good use of it, filling the cubbies and several tables with a fine selection of yarns in a variety of weights and fibers.

I was on the lookout for a lightweight cotton yarn to make a warm-weather top. The slight sheen and 2-ply texture of a pile of Pima cotton caught my eye. Immediately, I was thinking of some of the lace-style cardigans I’ve been seeing a lot lately. I knew right away that Amano Sami was my yarn, but I needed to pick a color. The shop’s current stock included just four colors: Honey, Chalk, Bubble Gum (hot pink), and Moss. The shop owner said that more colors were on the way, but I was already in love with the yarn and ready to start my dream cardigan, so I opted for honey – a warm and deep gold color that’s an interesting divergence from the typical blues and greens I usually pick. I bought 7 hanks (testing fate and hoping it would be enough) and came home to find the perfect pattern.

Disclaimer: This review is entirely unsolicited. I purchased the yarn myself, and I have no affiliation with any of the companies. Any links provided in this review are not affiliate links. I receive no compensation for this review, nor will I receive a commission if you make a purchase.

Searching for lace cardigans in the crochet section of Ravelry (filtering for DK weight and 1100 yds), I discovered the “Mesh Cardigan” by Svetlana Avrakh for Yarnspirations. This free pattern comes with instructions for six sizes (to fit chest measurements 28” to 62”) and features a very interesting X-stitch pattern that I couldn’t wait to try.

As I embark on this new project, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you my thoughts on both the yarn and the pattern. I’ll share my assessment of the yarn today, and then I’ll follow up with some final thoughts and show off my cardigan when it’s finished. (What great motivation to actually finish it, right?)

First, here’s the rundown on the yarn:

Yarn Specifications

Construction

This yarn has a simple construction, composed of 2 brushed strands plied with a gentle S twist. Like most yarns with fewer plies that are more loosely plied, Sami is pleasantly soft and smooth.

The yarn comes in hanks. It is evenly and consistently spun. So far, I haven’t encountered any knots in any of the hanks.

Similar Yarns

YarnSub.com claims that Amano Sami is a good match for Blue Sky Fibers Organic Cotton Sport, having the same 2-ply texture, gauge, fiber content, and color style.

Swatch

I started by crocheting Sami with a US 6 (4.00 mm) Clover Amour hook. I was really happy with the look of it, but the resulting fabric included more stitches than the suggested gauge for my Mesh Cardigan, so I decided to go up a hook size and try again. I was able to achieve the stitch gauge with a US 7 (4.50 mm) hook, and I’m happy with the fabric it produced. My row gauge is about a half-inch shorter than the pattern calls for, but I’m hoping I can make up for it with an extra row or two.

The label recommends handwashing and that is how I treated the swatches. I soaked them in a bit of wool wash and tepid water for 15 minutes, rolled them in a towel to remove excess moisture, and pinned them to a blocking board to dry. I’ll likely treat my finished cardigan the same way, laying it flat to dry.

The single crochet swatch feels soft and flexible. It’s the fact that the yarn is plied with a gentle twist that keeps the fabric from being too dense or heavy. I could actually see making a tee or a tank with this yarn in single crochet, which says a lot! I usually find single crochet to be too stiff and dense for garments, but with Sami, I was pleasantly surprised.

My second swatch was made with the X-stitch that is used in the Mesh Cardigan. It’s such an interesting stitch. Basically you treble crochet 2 together in just the first third of each leg, while skipping a stitch between the legs. Then you complete the last two-thirds of the stitch to create the first arm. You chain 1 to create a space between the arms, and finally you work a double crochet into the middle of the tr2tog you just made to create the second arm. The result is a tall X-shaped stitch.

My X-stitch swatch is soft and smooth with just a hint of sheen. The stitch definition is clear and sharp.

I didn’t have any problems with splitting or slipping when I was crocheting my swatch. The yarn felt great in my hands. It’s soft and silky smooth and a pleasure to work with.

Yarn Story

Pima cotton originated along the coast of present-day Ecuador and Peru, but it gained its name from the Pima Indians (or Akimel O’odham) of central and southern Arizona who helped raise the cotton in the United States in the early 1900s.

In today’s market, most Pima cotton is grown in the northern coastal valleys of Peru and is sought after for its unparalleled quality. Its long, silky fibers make it softer, smoother, and stronger than regular cotton and resistant to wear, pilling, and stretching. It’s also lightweight and breathable, making it a great choice for warm-weather garments.

Colors

Sami comes in a variety of colors that are perfect for summer. For the daring, the line includes Bubble Gum (hot pink), Sandcastle (bright yellow), and Coral. It also includes some lovely neutral colors, such as Chalk (white), Fossil (gray), and Macadamia (light beige). In all, there are 20 colors to choose from.

Final Thoughts

If you’re interested in seeing what others have made with Sami, as of the date of this newsletter, there are 541 projects listed with this yarn on Ravelry. Tanks and tees are the predominant projects, but I see a lot of blankets, baby and kids clothes, and accessories too.

I think Sami was a great choice for my summer project (I say, patting myself on the back), and I can’t wait to see how my cardigan turns out. I’ll share my progress in a future installment, so be sure to stay tuned to see how this story develops.

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