Our beautiful natural fiber yarns will turn your hours at
your craft into a masterpiece!
Choose your yarn carefully. The following information
applies to all our yarns.
Our yarns are spun
from the heavily skirted saddle wool, the best, cleanest wool
the animal grows.
Knitters, crochet
artists, and weavers, please always produce a gauge or test swatch in the
pattern of your project, unless gauge is totally
unimportant. Even then, different gauges of the same yarn
produces fabric with a different character. Some
experimentation will pay off by letting you optimize the density
and drape of your fabric. Soft, fine natural fiber yarn
can be made into stiff, less attractive fabric by too tight a
gauge. Always wash your gauge swatch the way you intend
to wash the finished project before taking your measurements.
Always wash your
project after assembly. Our raw fibers are thoroughly
washed before processing to remove the lanolin and other body
oils. However, we must add small amounts of conditioner,
which contain even smaller amounts of oil, to control static in
processing. Proper washing (see
Washing Wool Items Safely) will full the fabric without shrinking,
and bring out its soft, inviting, touchable, good-smelling
character. Even your creations meant to hang on the wall
will draw people to touch them. It's part of the fun of
it.
Our yarns are
hand-dyed with commercial dye which is wash-fast and sun-fast.
These dyes pose low risk to our employees' health and the
environment. In spite of the allure of natural dyes, the
treatment to make them wash- and sun-fast involves chemicals
that pose very negative exposure and environmental risks.
For this reason, the only natural dye we use is walnut husk,
since it alone is naturally permanent.
All of our standard
yarns are designed with enough twist to be strong enough for warp.
They will also resist pilling at wear points. The few pills
that inevitably do show up can be carefully removed.
The occasional fleck
of vegetable matter that makes its way through our process into
the yarn is proof that we have not damaged the fiber by
carbonizing. Most large mills and wool scouring facilities
use that technique, which involves treatment of the fiber with
acid to burn out vegetable matter. Our fine wool,
especially, would not stand up to that abuse without being
negatively altered.
We have designed all
our standard yarns to retain some natural character. The
slight irregularities will impart texture and a natural,
handmade look to your fabrics.
Expect the actual
yarn colors to be different than they appear on your monitor.
There is no way to make them accurate for everyone's monitor or
printer.
Mini-Skeins are an excellent way to preview the
yarns in person and plan your project.
