Our Sock Yarn is Here! January 30 2015

Remember when we sent off that crazy amount of gorgeous Corriedale and Tunis from our local-farmer friends back in July? We have spent the last week anxiously waiting to see the delivery guy coming down our driveway after receiving a call from the wool mill that our sock yarn was READY!   Equal parts anxiety and excitement had us wringing our hands, but when it arrived it exceeded our expectations.  Fantastically processed, it is just begging to be made into socks, sweaters, shawls, etc. in a rainbow of colors - including the natural bright ivory.  Made of 75% Colorado Corriedale & Tunis wool and 25% nylon, it is durable yet surprisingly soft.  Its softness isn't an alpaca or Merino kind of smooth soft, but instead a lofty, plush soft.  The bloom on this yarn is amazing - it's really pushing into the sport range of yarn.

I assume many of you have encountered Corriedale wool in your fiber explorations, but let me give you a quick history of the breeds of wool we used in our yarn.  The Corriedale breed has long been a favorite of Pam's, and she has infected me with the same love; indeed, Corriedale was the first wool I was able to successfully spin.  They were developed in New Zealand out of Merino, English Lincoln Longwool, and Leicester stock, and are known for producing an excellent spinning fiber of generous staple length that translates into a great, elastic yarn.  Tunis is one of the oldest indigenous breeds in the United States, is relatively rare as recorded by the Livestock Conservancy, and was preferred by Thomas Jefferson over Merinos.  Containing Leicester Longwool and Southdown genetics, this background gives Tunis fiber its soft and bouncy hand, qualities which it has lent to this sock yarn.  (Much of the breed information is from Clara Parkes's The Knitter's Book of Wool.)

We plan to sell it in 3.5 oz hanks as well as 1 lb cones.

Look at how nice that yarn is!  It is 2-ply.

Using a US size 2 or 3 needle, there are 6 stitches per inch.

Can you believe we sent in this...

...and got back this?

We are looking forward to dyeing up some of the yarn in a nice variety of colors, and have already started playing around with some fun colors. Additionally, we are going to do a little quality assurance for the yarn's performance and durability - we want to know as much as possible about this wool so we can share that knowledge with you. Once we have run this yarn through its paces, we'll get it up on the website for you to enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

- Kelsey