This yarn is absolutely gorgeous, soft and drapey, but cables and lace just pop...
70% Superwash merino, 20% silk, 10% Yak 212m per 100g.
New yarns!!
We love it here when we get new yarns, Lottie and I pour over the packs rip them open, fantasise about what colours we will dye them, and then go hunt for appropriate patterns on Ravelry.
These two newbies were no exception, the first out of the box is a Superwash Merino Nylon DK, so you know what that means? YES DK socks socks socks!!! Its 75% Merino, 25% nylon with 225m per 100g hank, it has a lovely twist and is soft and delicious...
Second up is 49178, this is SUCH A GORGEOUS YARN, its totally worthy of the Caplocks!
I like twists, different kinds of twists create such different types of yarn, I've wanted a 3ply high twist for ages, they work better on larger needles, unlike 2ply high twists, which can sometimes look a bit unbalanced. Since I've been nagging Andy for this for ages.. finally when he decided to do this blend, I realised this was my chance :D and its so good, so so good. The blend is 70% Superwash merino, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere with a good 400m on it. Its smooth, soft and shiny all in one.
I had to have a go at dyeing this one.. see below....
In its pure undyed state...
I keep trying to tell Andy he should call it MCS epic twist.. but he's not having it yet ;)
Happy dyeing folks!
Jeni and the team x
Sample it!
This week we are giving everyone a chance to buy our yarns at just over the wholesale price in minimums of 500g, but just for this week, giving you a chance to sample the delights in small quantities.
Our entire range is here on Bluefaced.com sectioned into 500g packs, orders can be placed any time up until tomorrow midnight.
Happy Dyeing!
Jeni
We are proud to announce we are distributing JUL designs in the UK and Europe
I love buttons and closures, and I always think that the quality and look of them can make or break a freshly knitted Garment. We spend hours and hours knitting/crocheting something special, its the least we can do to use a delicious fixing to compliment the work thats gone into it. Not only that to add a gorgeous shawl pin to a shawl makes the most PERFECT present. In my show days I could not get enough shawl pins to sell, especially metal ones, beautifully crafted shawl pins are hard to come by, so when we had the chance to distribute JUL Designs, we jumped at the chance.
This is some of the shawl pins we will be distributing, aren't they just divine?
But what I really wanted to tell you about was the leather fixings and just how clever they are...
These fixings are great, you can use them to change the way your knitwear is styled by removing them and putting them back on again, you can change the style by using different fixings or colours, or simply move them onto new knitwear, they are fabulous!
Here's how to use them:
1. This is what the button looks like Back and Front:
You unscrew the back to take it apart like this:
Push the large piece through the knitwear like so: (showing the front)
The back looks like this:
Pop the smaller leather piece on:
And screw in the fixing to close it:
This can be undone and moved at any time.
JUL DESIGNS has all sorts of wonderful versions of these these are just a few:
If you are interested in retailing these or are a designer and would like to use these in your designs, please drop us an email.
Using Natural coloured yarns for Dyeing
We have quite a few naturally coloured yarns in our range, from the Natural grey alpaca in our grey Angel to the honey comb camel in our Camel silk blends. We also often get asked if these are ok to dye or whether they have to be used as they are. You will be glad to know the answer is both! We produce these yarns with the coloured bases to give a twist and depth to your dyeing. The natural grey in the yarns will add a depth to colours, the light greys producing a smokyness and the darker colours creating a rich undertone to your colours.
To show you what I mean I dyed 3 yarns. Angel which comes in the natural white and then the natural grey, pictures on the left and middle. On the right is the Tibetan which has a much cooler darker grey base, which can make colours almost iridescent at times, I have seen some wonderful yarns by my fav dyers using this base, they are magical in quality.
So.. below here are the undyed bases:
Below are the same 3 yarns dyed in one dye bath at the same time, I choose a semisolid light pink because it shows off the effect better:
To show you the warmth a brown base can create, here is a hand paint I did a while ago, the natural honey comb colour of the yarn richens the colours and adds tremendous warmth:
I highly recommend having a go at using natural colours!
To show you other uses for the natural colours we also use them as they are I decided to have a go weaving them, (ignore my tension lol its just a practice)
A little zigzag stole Lottie designed for the Angel 4ply Natural and Natural Grey:
Happy Dyeing!
Jeni
Bluefaced.com
If you like the look of our yarns but you don't want to buy in kilo packs you can purchase it by the hank from our retail website Bluefaced.com
Sprinkle Dyeing
One of the best things about dyeing, is messing about and seeing what happens. I certainly find there is nothing worse than having to recreate the same thing over and over again, that takes all the fun out of it!
I often like to mess about and try different techniques, its good to not be scared to make mistakes, after all the great thing about dyeing is we can over dye anything we don't like right?
So.. this is our chunky singles yarn (49417) a yarn which I always feel is a little unloved, its quick to dye, and sucks up the colour because its super wash merino, and it is so quick to knit, as you will see below..
This yarn is chunky and as its a singles it has a large surface area, which makes it perfect for catching sprinkles.
I soaked this yarn first in water and vinegar, and then used 3 colours and gently sprinkled them on, wrapped them up and steamed them for 30 mins. Hey presto I got pretty yarn...
This yarn knits SO quickly, I made this hat in about 3 hours, a bit less I think the hat takes 1 hank and the pom pom was out of the second hank, not bad going me thinks, a great knit for presents or gift.
And here is the lovely Rachel Coopey modelling it :D
Happy Dyeing!
Jeni
Angel - Baby Alpaca Silk Cashmere
Angel is probably our most favourite blend at Chester Wool, it has the most incredible softness, with just a touch of silk shine. It takes the dye beautifully well and makes for the most luxury of garments or accesories.
We have 2 new additions to the Angel range, 2 lace weights, one with a hint of stellina Sparkle and one natural grey.
Angel sparkle is a must for christmas knitting, how could anyone not want a soft scarf or shawl made from this yarn?
Type 49025: 65% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere and 5% Stellina 800m 100g
Stellina doesn't take acid dye, so it works beautifully especially against dark colours.
Our second blend is for the super stylish, it uses natural grey baby alpaca to create the softest warm natural grey, this is perfect either knitted as it is, or over dyed giving a rich depth and warm hue of colour to your dyeing.
Type 49037: 70% Grey Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk, 10% Cashmere.
The natural grey also comes in a 4ply