Category: Plant fibres

Learn more about the fibres used in our yarns!

New Yarn Bases!

June 11, 2021

Hi there! How are you doing? I hope that, like me, you’re beginning to feel like the end is in sight and some sort of normality is slowly returning to the world. Between getting my first dose of vaccination this weekend, and some yarn festivals tentatively planning to go ahead in the autumn , I’m definitely feeling my spirits start to lift.

All of which has helped kickstart my creativity, and I’m very excited to share my new yarn bases with you!

Recycled Cotton

First up is this fabulous, 100% recycled cotton. It is great for a wide range of projects, from cushion covers and scrubbies, to clothes and accessories. The yarn is very similar in looks and feel to yarns such as DROPS bomull-lin (which is a linen/cotton blend). It doesn’t have the smooth, shiny look of new cotton. This gives it a gorgeous matt texture and stops it from being a slippery yarn to work with. It is an aran or worsted weight yarn so works up quite quickly, making it ideal for quick projects.
See the whole collection here.

DK weight Tencel

The yarn Gods have finally listened to my plea to create a heavier weight Tencel yarn, and here it is in all its lustrous glory! As fabulously soft, shiny and drapey as the 4 ply version, these 100g skeins are DK (double knit) weight, and measure 225m each. This yarn is perfect for all your summery knits, from tank tops and tees to lightweight jumpers and shawls. But don’t discount it for cooler weather knits too, Tencel has excellent thermoregulation properties, keeping you cosy in winter as well as cool in summer.

For this first batch I have 80 skeins available, in 36 gorgeous dye lots. Whilst some of the lots are large enough for sweater quantities, most only have 2 skeins, so if you would like help putting together your ideal palette for your project then please just ask!

You can get yours here.

Oh, and there’s one more new yarn base still to come, but I’m not finished dyeing it all yet! It’s a fabulous aran weight Pima cotton, which I will share with you when it is available in the shop.

New pattern: Love You Forever Scarf

September 26, 2019

Next up is a pattern for all you Tencel fans!

 

‘Love you forever’ is a wonderfully sweet and deceptively simple pattern, designed as a perfect accompaniment for Flora Fibres Yarn Tencel yarn. The repeating heart lace pattern is only 12 rows long, making it suitable for most abilities from confident beginners onwards, and all stitches used in the pattern are fully explained.

The incredibly soft and silky feeling Tencel yarn makes this scarf feel delightful to the touch, while the breathable fibres will help keep you cosy but not overheated. The finished scarf also drapes beautifully, so it is sure to become a wardrobe favourite. Wear it out and about to keep you cosy, or wear it all day as a fabulous addition to your outfit!

 

Same as with Lovers Lattice, this is a free pattern to provide you with some inspiration for what to use the lovely Tencel yarn for. And if you make one please do tag me, I’d love to see!

Love you forever scarf

Happy knitting!

New pattern: Lovers Lattice Shawl

September 26, 2019

Since the launch of my new banana and Tencel yarns at Aberdeen Yarn Fest earlier this year I have been asked for ideas of what to use the yarn for. And as I always try to keep my lovely customers happy I have created 2 new knitting patterns, one for each yarn, to inspire you!

First up is “Lovers Lattice” knitted in the gorgeous banana yarn:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beatifully soft and delightfully drapey, this simple yet elegant shawl is the perfect addition to any wardrobe. It can be worn draped over the shoulders as a traditional triangular shawl, or bunched up and worn as a light but chunky feeling scarf, making it suitable for year round wear.

Designed as a perfect project to accompany Flora Fibres’ banana yarn, this pattern is suitable for all skill levels from confident beginner onwards. The banana yarn creates a wonderfully lightweight fabric with a lovely touch of interest from the slight boucle effect. And as it only uses 80g of yarn, you will still have some left over from a single skein to allow you to create something else fabulous!

The pattern only requires you to know a few basic stitches (k2t, ssk and yo), as well as knit and purl, all of which are explained in the pattern.

I am offering the pattern as a free download to inspire you with your knitting, in return all I ask is that you tag me on social media if you share photos – I love to see my yarn in action! Get your copy here:

Lovers Lattice Shawl

Happy knitting!

Virtual market this weekend!

November 23, 2018

Hello! I’m very excited to invite you to my virtual market this weekend for the online launch of my new aluminium shawl pins! Up till now these have only been available to buy from me in person at yarn festivals, but in this market they are now available to everyone!

There are styles to suit everyone and lots of colours too, with both classic Celtic designs, and more modern and colourful interpretations, also shapes inspired by nature, and curvy, free-form, quite organic shapes.

With Christmas just around the corner these also make ideal stocking fillers or small gifts, or why not treat yourself?! After all, it’s not yarn so it doesn’t count as stash enhancement!

The event starts shortly (at 8pm GMT 23/11/18) over on my Facebook page.

Items will be sold on a first come, first served basis, and the shawl pins are all individually numbered so you can easily tell them apart. To buy something please comment with the password (which I shall reveal at the start of the event) underneath the photo(s) that you wish to purchase, and when you are finished shopping please send me a facebook message containing your email address (for me to send your PayPal invoice to) along with the item number(s) you wish to purchase. Postage will be added to the invoice, calculated based on the number of items purchased, and will be based on royal mail first class (UK) or International Standard shipping (everywhere else). If you wish to pay for faster shipping please say so in your message. You will have 24 hours from receipt of your invoice to pay it, and if you don’t then the shawl pins will be offered to the next in line.

The market runs all weekend, until 10pm GMT on Sunday 25th November, so anyone participating in Buy Nothing Day will still be able to join in tomorrow or Sunday.

When the event is over any unsold items will be added to my Etsy shop, so you’ll have a second chance to buy something then.

The available shawl pins are all in the album I’ve linked to below, which is where the market will be taking place. See you there!

Take me to the market!

 

 

And the answer is…

February 23, 2018

I have one question which I am asked more than any other, even more often than “Rose fibre? You mean from real roses?” and the burning question which so many of you are desperate to know the answer to is whether or not my yarn is suitable for knitting socks.

And it got to the point where I was being asked so often that just saying “I don’t know” wasn’t really cutting it, so in the interests of fully answering your question I made my own custom blend of sock yarn (roughly half and half bamboo and faux cashmere) and I’ve been wearing it for a while to test it out.

So, without further ado, here is the result of my great sock experiment:

(The pattern I used is the Winwick Mum Basic Sock Pattern by Christine Perry, adjusted to create an ankle length sock)

 

An introduction to: tencel

June 14, 2017

The next fibre I’d like to introduce you to is tencel!

This amazing fibre is definitely one you should try out if you haven’t already. It has the most incredible lustre and shine, and when dyed it takes on the colour incredibly well to give truly beautiful results. Yarns made from tencel fibres are also smooth, soft and strong, making them delightful to work with. The company who produce Tencel, Lenzing AG, say “(tencel is) more absorbent than cotton, softer than silk and cooler than linen.”

Tencel is actually a brand name for a fibre also called lyocell, which is regenerated from cellulose extracted from wood pulp. The wood used for the purpose is eucalyptus, which is sustainably grown on farms in Europe, on land which is unsuitable for agriculture. It therefore does not compete for space with crops, unlike cotton. It also uses 10-20% less water to produce than cotton. The farms which grow the trees have been awarded FSC certification to show they are environmentally and socially responsible.

The fibres are then extracted from the wood pulp using non-toxic chemicals in an almost 100% closed loop system, which means almost everything used in the process is recaptured and does not leak out to pollute surrounding land and waterways. And the fibres are naturally white so no bleach is used in the process to whiten them. Over 100 patents have been awarded to the company for the fibre extraction process, showing how important technology is in the production of eco-friendly fibres! The process is so good that the company has been awarded the “European Award for the Environment” from the European Union. Quite the achievement!

So now that you feel good about choosing tencel for its environmental qualities, what’s in it for you? Well, there’s lots to love about this fibre!

As it is so incredibly absorbant it makes an excellent choice to wear next to the skin, especially in summer when it gets hot and you start to sweat *ahem* sorry, glow! We ladies glow, don’t we 😉 The fibres draw the moisture away from the skin, keeping you cool and also preventing bacterial growth. The incredibly smooth surface of the fibres are so soft they are ideal for anyone with sensitive skin. Unlike wool for example which is covered in tiny barbs, the tencel fibres are so smooth they won’t irritate the skin.

Tencel fibres respond incredibly well to natural dyes, taking on beautifully deep colours, which look incredible when paired with the incredible lustre of the fibres. See an example here of some blue yarn (dyed with black beans), which has already been spun, and some yellow (gorse) and green (gorse then black beans) fibres which I’ll be spinning soon:

Have you tried tencel yet? If you are now excited to try some for yourself, you can check out my current stock of tencel yarn here.

(TENCEL® is a trademark of Lenzing AG)

New product: fibre samplers!

May 17, 2017

I thought I’d kick off my second year in business by finally making a product I’ve been thinking about for some time now: fibre sample cards!

There have been several times people have asked me what my fibres are like, and it’s really hard to describe. How do you quantify degrees of ‘soft’ or ‘lustrous’? So this is the perfect product for those who are interested in trying plant based yarns, without the financial commitment of having to buy multiple skeins of yarn in different fibres!

They come in 2 different styles: wrapped around the card, and looped. The looped style is perfect for feeling the different texture of the yarns, comparing their drape and really having a good play with the fibres. The wrapped style are neater to look at, and perfect for anyone who wants to unwrap one fibre at a time to examine it (and, as it was pointed out to me, also perfect for anyone with cats as the loops might prove too tempting!).

You can find the sample cards listed in my Etsy shop here.