Alpaca Shetland

Our yarns are a mixture of natural and dyed fibres, blended by hand and spun in very small batches in our own tiny mill in the Scottish Borders.  We make yarns which are beautifully soft with oodles of character and impeccable provenance.  But working on a such a small scale, we can't make perfectly consistent, reproducible yarns.  So as well as the occasional slub or the odd knot, you may find some some small inconsistency in thickness or colour, even within a batch. A lot of people like this variation in our yarn, but if you want to avoid any noticeable changes within a section of knitting, as with all hand-dyed yarns, it's recommended to work alternate rows using two different skeins - either throughout the garment or at least for a few rows either side of the change to a new skein.

The yarn has a very light coating of conditioning oil, which helps to protect the delicate fibres and to reduce static during processing.  This is easily removed by washing the finished garment, after which the yarn will 'bloom' slightly and be even softer. Gently hand wash in warm water (about 30°C) using a wool detergent, and rinse in warm water.  Avoid any rapid changes in temperature, or too much movement of the garment in the water. After washing, roll the garment inside a large towel and gently squeeze (don’t wring); or machine spin inside a pillow case and allow to dry flat. Never tumble dry!