Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Soft introduction of two yarns this month

Without much fanfare, we are doing a soft introduction of two yarns, a higher yardage sock/fingering yarn and a non-superwash in 100% merino.  I'll tell you about the yarns and then about the possible future of each.

The Basics about the Yarns
Euro 500
100% superwash merino
6-ply fingering weight, 500 yards / 100 grams.
Presented an 150 gram skein of 750 yards
Sold by the skein for a short time
Priced as Crazy Eight.

W2D4 Merino non-superwash, fingering
100% merino,  2-ply yarn,   438 yards / 100 gram
looser twist than sock yarns
Presented on typical 100 gram skein
weight and pricing to be determined

Looking forward with these two yarns ...

Euro 500 is one of those yarns which fell into my lap, a happy surprise.  The yardage of 500 yards/100 grams makes it a very lightweight sock yarn, or, for lace and garment knitters, a heavy fingering yarn.  It depends on what kind of knitter you/your customers are, and the sort of fabric which will be created from it.

Six plies.  That is sort of a European thing over the years, a thin yarn of many plies, and it makes for a strong yarn.  The fibers used, of course, determine whether it is soft on the skin and easy to wear.  I mean, we hate to wear scratchy yarns next to our skin, so shy away from knitting cowls, scarves, hats, turtleneck sweaters with scratch yarns.  This is not a scratchy yarn, but is made from our usual springy superwash merino.  It's the same yarn that goes into Sheila's Sock and Merino DK-SW, for instance, but it will feel different because there are so many plies.  So, it is an aquired taste.  I dyed my first skein last night and it rested overnight in the dyepot.  Today I will wash it and give it a bath in some wool wash.  I did two baths of purple, one I mixed and one straight from the dye manufacturer, and I think I am in love with this purple.  Hope I can do it again. 

I can see machine knitters coning this one up and using it.
I can see knitted sock blanks from flatbed machines.
I can see antique circular sock machine (CSM) owners loving this one.
I can see fine gauge sweater knitters going nuts over it.
I can see complete vests knit from one skein of 750 yards/150 grams.
I can see some great possibilities for this one.

Non-Superwash Merino

Now, this time I am doing something entirely different. I am sampling a yarn that I am not sure will be the final yarn we'll spin.  That's because the weight hasn't been decided yet.  So, I will invite everyone who samples the fingering skeins we'll have available to give feedback.  What I need to know is this:
Do we need to add a non-superwash to our line?
Do we want it to be another sock weight?  (Current sample will be 438 yds/100 gr)
Do we want or need a sport weight in the non-sw?  (I tried this a few years ago, and it languished on the shelves in a noticeable manner.  Picture yarn languishing; now, picture it calling attention to itself?  Hmmm...)
What applications will my customer base make for a sport yarn, if we go to the sport weight?
Do I have the customer base to support bringing in a new yarn in sport weight?

Good questions.  All will be answered as we sample!
Want a sample? Write to me and I'll send you a little butterfly.

1 comment:

Kim said...

Ooohh....absolutely if you could add a non treated merino that would be wonderful! I think a sport weight would be perfect. :-)