Drops alpaca yarns… should I avoid?

ratatootie

I love the look (and price!) of Drops yarns, especially the alpaca blends but I've seen people speak poorly of the quality. Has anyone knit or crocheted a sweater with Drops Alaska/Lima/Nepal and has it stood the test of time? Any pilling or other problems? Thanks

pitussa

I have tried many, almost everything older in their range: most flora, alpaca and Nepal. I used to love the slik baby alpaca (now discontinued).I have made clothing + accessories (10 years using Drops).



They are cheap, the colors are nice, they pill a bit more than normal, when superwash they stink, if not superwash they are OK.
The sock yarns (with nylon) are very scratchy, but nice enough for socks.
The fluffy yarns are a nightmare as they shed, but are cheap and good for tests and experiments, or small decorations.
They are OK for the price. They are so cheap because they change mills often, so consistency in batches or colors is not very good.
One color might bleed or have lots of knots one year, but be OK next year.

Also, superwash stretches after washing, like A LOT. (but not just Drops, this happened to me with Malabrigo!).
Just get it back to shape with 5 min in the clothes drier, or a hair drier ;)

I say buy a couple of skeins you are interested in and make a hat and a cowl and wear them for a while, see how you like it!
I prefer hand-dyed but it is not affordable (so only once a year LOL).  

BIG DROPS ADVANTAGE: I don't know why, but moths don't get even close, they stay away ROTFL

Also they have sales, huge sales, every 3 months. That's when you buy what you liked or what you want to test ;)

FishyStuff

Following this thread as I also have the same question

Sg00

I’ve used both Nepal and Nord (combo alpaca,wool, and polyamide sock yarn) before and they both had only minor pilling at high contact areas. I don’t really wash my handknits much though and always air dry.

Totally agreed on the superwash smell. I used the Drops cotton / superwash merino mix and blocked  the sweater recently, and the smell was so funky. It disappeared completely after drying though.

pitussa

I love it for the price. But the superwash stinks when wet or warm. It smells like the perm liquid back in the 80s LOL
It wears and washes very well, it pills a lot, but you can remove pills very easily, all wool pills.
My problem is the smell, the moment it gets hot or if you dare to sweat... you stink of perm (hair curling liquid).

My advice: Try it and see if you like it, you might love it, many do. I do!

saysa

I love it!
I knit several sweaters out of flora, nepal, alaska and lima, and am totally happy with it. Yes, it does pill, but I guess that's what wool does ;)
The oldest sweater is from 2022, quite tight, and has somewhat felted under the arms.
Flora is my absolute favourite, it's thin enough, has no plastic in it, is cheap and comes in a ton of colours :)

ratatootie

pitussa replied at 2025-3-5 19:17
I love it for the price. But the superwash stinks when wet or warm. It smells like the perm liquid b ...

that's so interesting, I'd never have thought about the smell before your comment! I think I'll trial a yarn with a vest/slipover as a test. Thank you for such a helpful comment :)

ratatootie

saysa replied at 2025-3-5 20:46
I love it!
I knit several sweaters out of flora, nepal, alaska and lima, and am totally happy with i ...

That's a good point about pilling, I should probably care more about the structural integrity! Thank you I'll have a look at Flora yarn :)

ratatootie

pitussa replied at 2025-3-8 17:28
I have tried many, almost everything older in their range: most flora, alpaca and Nepal. I used to l ...

thank you so much for this response, so helpful! and what do the moths know that we don't??!!?!!

ŽydKaz

Thank you so much!