Long before the lockdown, we started planning for two brand new yarns to add to the ECY stable (actually there are more, but these are the first two!). Rosedale 4ply, a new gold sparkle 4-ply yarn is coming later in April. But first we have Lowther Lace which is coming to the website on Sunday 12th April at 5 p.m. UK time. To see the colourways that will be going live on the website on Sunday you can find an album of these over on flickr.
Lowther Lace is a sumptuous blend of baby suri alpaca and mulberry silk. The alpaca fibre gives this yarn a wonderful cloud-like fuzzy halo and offers a great alternative to mohair. This yarn is ideal for using on its own in both knitting and crochet and can also be held double with other yarns to add a wonderful soft, fuzzy halo. It does not have great stitch definition due to the fuzziness of the fluff so complex lace patterns might get lost in it.
I have recorded a YouTube video about this yarn – I did lots of swatching and stuff so that’s all included. It’s just gone online, so you can view it on the Eden Cottage Yarns YouTube channel. This will be followed up with a blog post with some pattern inspiration and lots of other information about the yarn.
Also over on YouTube you can still find the video recorded going through all the designs in Cat Knits by Marna Gilligan, discussing the techniques, yarns used and possible alternatives. If you missed that, or prefer to read through information in a leisurely fashion, we have also published a blog post with all the same information plus a few extra bits which you can find on the home page on the website. Yarn packs are still available for all designs in the book along with project bags, pin badges and copies of the book, all of which you can find from the home page of the website.
PLEASE NOTE: This Friday and Monday are bank holidays and as such we will be closed. I know it won’t make a difference to a lot of people at the moment but in all honesty I am knackered and ready for a four day break! I’m setting up auto-posts for social media in case I am not online over the weekend, but I’m sure I’ll dip in to the ECY Garden FB group now and then. If you have any questions that’s probably the best place to post them, as the community is very lovely and helpful. I will be back on Tuesday, full of the joys of spring. ????