Lyonesse DK Yarn of the Month June 15

Hello everyone how are you all?  Welcome to BritYarn's first Yarn of the Month.  This will be a regular feature where we will explore a yarn in more detail. 

June's Yarn of the Month is Lyonesse DK, a new yarn from Blacker Yarns.  

Fibre: 50% Corriedale / Merino (This first spin contains 100% Corriedale.  Future versions may contain a percentage of Merino from the Falklands depending on the availability of the Corriedale fleece) and 50% Linen. 
Grown:  Corriedale and Merino is collected from farms across the Falkland Islands. The linen is currently from Eastern Europe.

Spun:  Cornwall GB.

Dyed:  Cornwall GB.

The yarn comes in 50g balls and there is 110 metres (119 yards) on a ball.  It is £5.75 a ball. 

The Corriedale / Merino is sourced from different farms on the Falkland Islands and collected by Andrez Short from Swan Inlet Farm.  Andrez then send the fleeces to Blacker Yarns in Cornwall where it is blended with the linen fibres and made into this great new yarn.

The yarn comes in six shades including natural. I think they look great together but they also compliment each other.  I am secretly plotting something for me in the Rose Quartz shade.

I was lucky to receive a ball of Lyonesse DK to try before it launched in the Ruby colourway. Having never used a yarn which contains linen before I was unsure what to expect.  To the touch the yarn in the ball feels soft with an element of crispness.   The dyed yarn has a slight heathery appearance due to how the dye reacts with the wool and linen.  My first impressions were all good!

I decided to knit three different swatches so I could see how the yarn behaved and equally important how it blocked (all were knit on 4mm needles).  The yarn felt smooth passing through my fingers while working with the yarn. 

Here are the swatches unblocked 

Lyonesse DK Stocking Stitch Swatch Unblocked

Lyonesse DK Lace Swatch Unblocked

Lyonesse DK Cable Swatch Unblocked

The stitches are really well defined (the garter stitch ridges really stood up in the cable swatch).  I really love the feel of the stocking stitch swatch - soft but some some presence.  I can imagine a classic cardigan made in this yarn, which you could wear over everything in the summer and it would always look great. After finishing the lace swatch I thought it would look amazing in a crochet shrug or shawl.

These are the photos after blocking.

You can see that they have held their shape brilliantly.  I just used pins and gave the lace and cable one a stretch. The swatches all feel really soft against the skin. 

BritYarn stocks all six shades of Lyonesse DK and don't forget delivery is free for UK orders over £30 (postage rates vary for overseas destinations).  

Look out for our next blogs, the first will feature Sonja Bargielowska from Blacker Yarns.  Sonja kindly answered some questions for the blog about how Lyonesse came about and life at Blacker Yarns.  Our second will be all about the Corriedale sheep.

Until then next time 

Isla