Lino is a 100% linen yarn and it comes in 36 colours. BC Garn is a Danish brand (company =Kremke Handelges, mbH). It is a non mercerised yarn, so it isn’t slippery. I tried out this yarn with the intent of knitting a summer tank top with a central cable design
This is the second time I am using a summer yarn from BC Garn. Some people say knitting with linen is hard on the hands, but to me this is not very different than knitting with cotton. The first summer yarn I used from BC Garn is Allino, which is 50 % cotton and 50 % linen. I love this Allino yarn and will have plenty to say about it soon. As it is 50 % cotton and 50% linen, maybe having knit with it just before trying out Lino made it easier, for me, I don’t know.
Lino is the very first 100% linen yarn I have ever knitted with, aka I am a complete beginner at knitting with that kind of yarn. So I did what we usually do : you swatch. I used a 3.25 mm needle and I didn’t like the fabric it created, rather, I did like the fabric it created, but not for my intended goal, aka a tank with no see through. Mind you, it wasn’t a massive see through and I guess I would have stuck with the 3.25mm if I was knitting something in a colour that matches that of some of my bras. So I casted on a swatch with 2.75 needles and I am really happy with the result.
As I am not going to use a pattern for my tank top but rather creating a top based on several patterns I own, I decided to swatch for the central cable pattern. And as I wanted to see if it would create a flat enough fabric, I created a large swatch with stockinette stitch on both sides of the cable pattern. It does look nice, even though I am having trouble with the cable (I’m a beginner at knitting calbles too). After having knitted this swatch, what did I notice ? My tension was looser than on the first swatch. I still like it, I am still going for 2.75 mm needles, but I am sharing this for other people who might be beginners too as far as knitting with linen is concerned. The tension I get after a little bit of “getting used to” is so different than at the beginning that I can see it without measuring it. Had I based my calculations on my first 2.75 mm stockinette swatch, my calculations would have been way off! If like me you are a beginner, I would definetly recommend starting by using a full skein just experimenting with this yarn. I did some slipped stitch rib (not convinced but the result, but again that might be me being a beginner), I tried out some simple mesh (I think it could make a fantastic spring mesh sweater), I tried knitting it double (looks good) but I am looking for the lightest summer top possible.
BC Garn is dedicated to sustainable knitting and it isn’t just lip service : they have 14 different yarns that are GOTS-certified. GOTS certification is the kind of certification we need : it is a third party certification and its actually the most stringent certification in the yarn industry. Lino, for the time being, is not GOTS-certified, however. The linen comes from northern Italy and is spun in Serbia. So no slave labour or children work involved, for sure. It is also a vegan yarn, as no animal derivates are used in the dyeing process. Not that I care about veganism, but it’s worth mentioning, isn’t it?
You cannot buy the Lino yarn directly from the BC Garn website. I bought it at my local yarn shop.( If you could support this shop, please do!!! It’s one of the very few qualits yarn shops in the French speaking part of Switzerland and it is held by a very nice young lady who is an independant seller!) BC Garn’s website has a page with list of resellers on .. but as of May 2024, this list isn’t really up to date. I had bought my Allino yarn on Hobbii, but unfortunately I was just half a skein short and that specific colour isn’t carried out anymore ! So I tried and tried to find an independant shop that did carry Allino and – possibly- that colour. And that’s how I noticed BC Garn’s resellers list isn’t 100% up to date (usually the shop does carry some BC Garn but not necessarily the ones listed on BC Garn’s website). The skein of Lino I bought is number 62 and is a nice khaki colour. I find the photo on BC Garn’s website doesn’t really do it justice. To me, the photo looks more greyish than the actual colour this yarn truly is.
BC Garn hasn’t designed patterns specifically for this yarn. I haven’t purchased the books available, so I might be wrong there. BC Garn states that you would need 450 g to knit a woman’s sweater size M, which would be 9 skeins. As I said above, I would strongly recommend anyone new to knitting with linen to buy an extra one to get the feel of it. Right now, I don’t think that I will be knitting my tank summer top with this yarn. This yarn is still very new to me and I am also a beginner with cable knitting. I think that’s one novelty too much for my project. I found a very nice tank pattern with a leafy lace central panel in Cast On‘s last edition (Summer 2024) and I can totally see myself knitting this top with tBC Garn Lino. However, I have already bought some Allino yarn especially for this project. In short, I cannot say how much skeins you would need for a short-sleeved summer top, but I can tell you I think this yarn is well suited for lace projects. There is a very good stitch definition and the yarn is sturdy. I doubt not it will sustain multiples washes.
Well, that’s about it. There’s two last points I would like to cover. As far as washing is concerned, BC Garn is giving conflictiong information. The website says it is “machine washable at 30° C” but the yarn’s sleeve indicates you should wash it at 40° C delicately. I would have thought you could wash linen at higher temperatures as it is such a robust yarn.
As far as I am concerned, I categorise this yarn as being a fingering weight yarn and not a sport one.
Unsolicited Knitting Advice 