I am so very thrilled to present to you Dutch DELTA, my second limited edition yarn named after the great Storm Surge Barrier of the Low Lands. Delta represents the connection of countries on the North Sea in all of their nautical and yarny enterprises. From fleece to fiber, from fishermen to patterns and from knitter to knitter; we are all connected through time & space by a thread of yarn.
First and formost I wanted to take the time to produce a fingering yarn that is inspired by and suited for knitting contemporary Gansey-patterns, secondly to design and dye it so, that it suits colourwork and lace eqally well.
Delta is a yarn totally unique in its appearance and behaviour and does not exist anywhere else in the knitting world. The lambswool fleeces are sourced and sorted from family farms in the Netherlands, and the fingering yarn was carefully constructed for its specifications by the spinner in Denmark.
We 've been testing it's behaviour in fair isle, knits&purls, cables and lace knitting and we can tell you it's a dream to work with!
The yarn contains 70% softest pure white Texelaar Lambswool from Friesland and 30% delightfully charcoal coloured Gotland curls from Drenthe.
Together with my youngest daughter and my parents in-law i collected and sorted all the Texelaar fleeces by hand. With my daughter travelled from Friesland to the enchanting flock of Gotlanders in Drenthe, kept by the Ullstee farmers Ruerd and Veronique, and selected only the best curly locks of Gotland for this yarn.
Through an intensive process with the spinner in Denmark (one of the closest mills from here), it became a beatifully fuzzy yarn with a cool mid grey appearance and great knitting behaviour. The 2-ply fingering does not split when knitting twisted stiches or lace and rolls open to reveil lacework, at the same time the dark Gotland hairs create a delicate halo around the patterns. The yarn is full of character, lofty and soft to the touch, although sensitive knitters might find it a bit on the scratchy side.
The production of the yarn took quite a bit longer than anticipated, but all in all it was less than a year which is quite good actually in light of the current restrictions. And, last but not least, the creation of a coherent palet inspired by the North sea, and colours of the Holland was a sheer delight.
I hope you will try Delta some day and that it will bring joy and inspiration from Nature to your hands and hearts