Our yarn bases
Many knitters experience merino yarn first, so we'll start there. We offer the standard merino/nylon blend used by many dyers. It is well known and readily available, and many knitters find it comforting. If you've knit an indie-dyed 75% sw merino/25% nylon yarn with 464 yards per 100g skein - this is very likely that same yarn base. It is thin and soft with a reliable twist and nice drape for shawls. We also offer a sport weight merinio/nylon blend for those who like a thicker yarn.
Merino has the advantages of being quite soft and abundantly available, so it is a wool known to most knitters. Merino is a "fine" wool, and some knitters prefer "medium" wools for socks (and other items that get a lot of rough wear), as they find a longer staple length, and thicker fiber to be more resilient. We are pleased to be able to offer you five options for medium wools!
Our most popular base is Yarny McYarnface, which is 75% superwash wool/25% nylon. It is made of 3 plies (if you untwist the yarn, you'll see 3 strands), and is our plumpest fingering weight yarn. The plies have a moderate twist, which make the yarn a little fuzzy and gives the knit fabric a cozy feel, even though the wool is a little more toothy (rustic?) than merino. It is still very much next-to-skin soft, but with more body and heft. The yarn wears extremely well and you can expect it to hold up to years and years (decades?) of use.
We have added a new yarn with the same fiber content, Farm Tough Sock. This yarn has 4 plies and a tighter twist, which makes it a little smoother than Yarny McYarnface. It isn't quite as airy or plump, either. Here they are side-by-side.
Because they are not breed-specific yarns, both Yarny McYarnface and Farm Tough Sock also have the benefit of being a very approachable price. They both dye vibrantly.
Our breed-specific yarns focus on sturdy medium wools: Blue-faced Leicester and Corriedale. They are both loved for their strength and durability. They are very comfortable to wear, but they are not baby-soft like merino.
We started offering the BFL/nylon yarn last year, and it is a favorite of many knitters. The yarn has a very similar construction to the standard merino/nylon, but with the benefit of a longer, tougher wool.
Our new yarn is a blend of BFL and Corriedale (with nylon). It is spun like the Farm Tough sock. 4 plies with tight twist. Of those two yarns, Farm Tough is a little softer to the touch, whereas the BFL/Corrie feels more like a Opal/Regia/West Yorkshire Spinners yarn in terms of texture. Both yarns are thicker than the BFL/nylon, but not as thick as Yarny McYarnface.
Here they are very close. Brown is BFL/nylon (similar to standard merino). Pink is Farm Tough (similar to BFL/Corrie), and Yarny McYarnface is cream. Notice the differences in thickness (grist), twist, and fuzziness.
Finally, we have a 100% NON-superwash Corriedale yarn. If you are interested in a more gently processed yarn, this one is for you (and me! It's the yarn I'll be using for my socks - and other projects). Non-sw yarns will felt if handled roughly, and some knitters won't make socks without nylon. I get it! I'll write a future blog post about using yarns like this for socks, but I'll have this yarn in my studio, so I'm offering to you too. It has 4 plies and a good twist, so I am comfortable offering it as a sock yarn to knitters who enjoy such things. It is comparable to the pink yarn in the photo above, but it doesn't take dye quite as strongly.
I look forward to working with these yarns and hearing about your experiences with them!