For the first time since I opened the shop, I have been beforehand in ordering in yarns which are good for summer knits. I am very pleased with myself about it. I have been admiring their lovely colours and textures and generally wishing that I could knit them all. This week it occurred to me that what makes them so interesting is that almost all of them have very little or no wool at all in them, but are still made up of natural fibres, so I thought I would do a little bit of a run down of the alternatives to pure wool that we offer.
Cotton
Cotton the usual summer alternative to wool, being perceived to be cooler for the summer months. I have written before about cotton – how it is processed and something about the ethics around it. It is a purely plant-based fibre and requires a lot of processing. My concern about the ethics means that in fact I do not stock very much of it. However, Lang Yarns feel the same way and so I am sure that the cotton yarns that they offer are ethically sourced. We have some Amira Light – a DK organic cotton, and their new summer yarn, Fiesta, which is completely fabulous. One of my current WIPs is something in this fibre – unfortunately it is taking longer than I expected and I have the horrible feeling that it might not be finished before Summer arrives. We also have brought in some Vaya, a blend of wool, cotton and yak, which is soft and lustrous – it feels incredibly luxurious.
Silk
Like cotton, there are some concerns around the ethics of silk production and I try to pay attention to these. As you probably know, silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm, and I am pleased to say that Knitting for Olive claim that their Pure Silk is ethically sourced, coming from the cocoons after the moths have hatched. I have a particular fondness for silkworms – I used to raise them on mulberry leaves when I was young. My mother was largely tolerant, but did find the moths fluttering around the house rather annoying. The mulberry leaves made the silk a lovely shade of pale green as I recall.
Linen
Linen, which comes from the stalks of flax plants, is one of the oldest plant based textiles and is considered to be the perfect summer fabric. We used to have a thriving linen industry here in the UK, but the last mill closed in the 1950s and most of the linen we wear is produced in Poland. The only linen yarn that we stock is Lang’s Crealino, 100% linen which feels harsh and stiff to knit but which is delightfully soft when washed.
Lyocell
Lyocell is a plant based fibre, harvested from Eucalyptus trees. Again, all the brands that we stock claim that their Lyocell comes from sustainably grown and harvested wood. It is almost always blended with other fibres and gives a cool feel and a lovely sheen to them – the main ones that come to mind are West Yorkshire Spinners Elements and their new 4ply Solstice, but I have also just taken delivery of a new yarn from Lang called Ananas which is 70% Lyocell.
Pineapple Fibre
Ananas is mostly Lyocell, but the other 30% of the yarn is made from fibre from the leaves of pineapples. I have not come across this before. Lang Yarns make the point that the leaves are waste and would otherwise be burned, so using them to create fibre is a really good way of being more carbon efficient, not to mention the fact that the farmers make more more money from the plant than they otherwise would. The fibre looks and feels a bit like cotton, but has a slight sheen (probably from the Lyocell). Interestingly, it seems to take colour very well – the three colours that we have in stock are all very vibrant. It will be interesting to see what kind of fabric it makes.
As well as these plant based fibres, we do also have cashmere and mohair which come from goats, and alpaca yarn (which obviously comes from alpacas). We even have bases blended with yak wool. I also want to remind you that wool itself has thermodynamic properties, which means that although it is warm in winter, it is also cool in summer. That is why the blended yarns that we have, the Elements, Solstice, Exquisite and Organic Trio (a blend of merino, cotton and silk) are all cool yarns which are perfect for lighter, cooler fabrics. Furthermore, we live in the UK after all, so that even after a warm day we might find ourselves grateful for a light woollen layer – a cardigan or a wrap.
One last thing: when I was starting the business, I noticed that almost all the shops calling themselves ‘wool shops’ in fact sold mostly acrylic and very little in the way of wool, which is why I called the businesses a ‘yarn shop’. In my pedantic way, I wanted to reflect the fact that we sell so much more in the way of natural fibres than just wool even though at that time I was only thinking about cotton and had no idea about such things as Lyocell and pineapple fibres!