Urth 16 Worsted Yarn Review + Finished Gloves

Last week I shared a progress update on the Patriots-colored gloves I’ve been knitting for my friend Ben and said I’d be back with the finished pair. The gloves are officially done, which means I finally have enough thoughts on the yarn to give it a proper review.

The main yarn I used for the gloves was Urth Yarns 16 Worsted in the shade BL50. 

Urth Yarns 16 Worsted is described as "a luxurious yarn made from 100% extrafine 16-micron Superwash Merino," but I didn’t need to read any of that to know it was a luxury skein. Before I even picked it up, I had a feeling it was going to be one of the more expensive yarns in the store and avoided that wall of hanks at first.

Eventually, after perusing the other skeins of dark blue yarn, I made my way back to that wall and picked up the perfect shade of Patriots blue. It was noticeably softer than the other skein of superwash merino I was holding, in a way that made me a little nervous to ask the price.

Each skein is about 220 yards and costs about $32. But the color was perfect and I only needed one skein, so I decided to go for it.

After knitting with it, I can honestly say it's worth it. I have sensory issues, and this is genuinely one of the softest, most buttery yarns I've ever felt. 

The color is another reason this yarn feels so special. It’s hand-dyed, but the variation is incredibly subtle, so it still reads as a solid navy at first glance. Instead of obvious shifts in saturation, it just gives the yarn a quiet depth that makes it look really rich.

It was also really pleasant to work with while knitting the gloves. Between working in the round with double-pointed needles, picking up stitches for each finger, and working decreases around such a tiny circumference, there was a lot of fiddling involved in this project. The yarn held up really well through all of that. While it’s not completely immune to splitting, it behaved much better than I expected. It also had a really nice balance on the needles—it glided smoothly while knitting but still had enough grip that stitches didn’t slip off the needles. I honestly think a different yarn could have made these gloves a lot harder to knit.

The finished fabric is just as soft as the yarn itself. It’s not a silky kind of smoothness, but more of a clean, borderline textureless feel that’s shockingly comfortable against the skin. That kind of softness makes it perfect for things worn directly against your skin like hats, gloves, or scarves.

I had already been eyeing the Lucky Stars Beanie pattern and noticed that Urth 16 Worsted is one of the recommended options for it. After working with it on these gloves, I can definitely see myself buying it again for that project—once I feel like I can justify close to $70 on a beanie.

Now, here's how the finished gloves turned out:

I won’t know for sure how they fit until Ben actually tries them on, but so far they seem pretty good. I’m really happy with how these turned out, and honestly really proud of myself for all the learning and perseverance it took to make them.

That being said, I will not be taking any glove requests anytime soon.

Btw, I’m taking next week off from posting to do a little blog maintenance—back the following Friday (Good Friday)