Ice Cream Parlour - 100% Highland or Merino/Nylon

Fibre: 100% Highland Wool - Non-Superwash

Weight: 4ply / Sock / fingering/ 20 wpi (4ply construction) 

Meterage: 4 ply - 420m / 459y per 100g / 3.5 oz skein 

Or 

Fibre: 80% Superwash Merino 20% Nylon

Weight: Sock / Fingering / 4 ply / 20 wpi ( 2ply, high twist construction)

Meterage: 365m / 399 yards per 100g / 3.5 oz skein

Recommended needle size for both yarn options: 2 - 4mm depending on the fabric you require for your project. 

For socks: 2 - 2.5mm

It's summer! It's ice cream time! We have the sun, we have summer holidays, we have picnics and long warm evenings to look forward to and it made me want to be bright and daft and fun. So I was! My ice cream selections are all about bold, bright and fun colour because it's time to embrace a love of vibrancy just like mother nature. If you don't necessarily want to be wrapped in brights then both of these yarns make excellent socks. The Highland is a non-superwash 100% wool so if you want to keep nylon out of your wardrobe it is an excellent choice. 

I've offered two yarn options for this colourway because of the way they present the colour. The Highland is a beautifully suffused end result with less defined speckling and makes a project with wonderfully blended colour results. The Merino is both superwash treated and high twist so you get a very defined speckle and crisp delineated colour section. Two ends of the spectrum so your preference is covered. 

Colours:

Raspberry Ripple: A gorgeous use of resistance dyeing makes this tonal pink result more than the sum of its parts. Dark pink, mid & light pinks are all shown off against the white vanilla-y base of the wool. 

Pistachio Rose: A grown up flavour inspriration for this surprisingly grown up colourway. A semisolid pale pistachio green base is topped with spearmint and neon red speckles. This is a very crisp result in the Merino but a beautifully soft result on the Highland, the suffusion adding hints of purple to the mix. 

Lemon Fizzer: This is just sunshine on a sock yarn. A pale lemon yellow semisolid base is topped with bright yellow and neon yellow speckles. You get bright, brighter and brightest patches and it is impossible not feel cheered when looking at it. With this you would absolutely be walking on sunshine. 

Blue Raspberry Rocket: For any child of the 70s or 80s ice creams in vivid unnatural colours were an exciting treat from the ice cream van, blue raspberry, bubblegum, candyfloss, all in neon tones that would dye your tongue for ages. This is my ode to blue ice cream with blue and red drizzles that would make a purple mystery syrup of delight. A pale blue semisold base is topped with bright blue and neon indigo sprinkles, making a mix of blue and violet. The highland base has softer shifting tones of colour while the merino has a more defined speckle. 

Highland wool comes from Corriedale/Merino crosses. This is an untreated, so non-superwash, wool which gives this yarn all the benefits of using Corriedale which, as you may know, is incredibly popular with knitters, crocheters, spinners and felters. This yarn is next to skin wearable for me but may not be for everyone as a 27 micron weight, however it makes the most fantastic outerwear - jumpers, cardigans, hats, socks, gloves - it has a 'grippiness' or 'tooth' that means it makes the most stunning colourwork and stays where you put it making it an exemplary weaving yarn (the reason I first trialed this for myself) it has the most delightful firm bounce in hand meaning wonderful springy garments and has a strength and longevity we may have to compromise on a little in the finer, more delicate, fibres. This is a beautiful wool and definitely worth a try, if you love using breed specific natural wools you'll enjoy this. 

The Merino sock base is a luxurious, soft Merino with a good percentage of Nylon for strength and pill reduction. Warm, soft, cosy, everything you want in a sock, hat, scarf or garment. It has the softness and bounce of Merino, strengthened by the high twist, less drape than a BFL or silk yarn but it keeps a nice structure due to it's elasticity. This is a very popular yarn. 

Recommended care: Highland wool is non-superwash 100% wool so cannot be machine washed without a risk of felting. This yarn felts well. Hand wash cold with a gentle wool safe detergent and no fabric conditioner, this will also keep the dye looking it’s best. Do not wring out, do not tumble dry. Lay out flat to dry. 

The Merino is Superwash Merino and nylon so can be machine washed at low temperatures but we recommend hand washing to keep the dye looking it’s best.

While we do our best to keep our colours consistent each hand dyed yarn is one of a kind so we advise alternating skeins in a multi-skein project. See FAQs for more information.