Merino/Nylon in ‘Sea Dreams’

Merino/Nylon in 'Sea Dreams'

Merino/Nylon in 'Sea Dreams', hand-dyed in my home-studio deep in the countryside near Angouleme, France. Hand-dyed in a variegated style, Merino/Nylon in 'Sea Dreams' is a subtle, tonal mix of sea blues and greens. My Merino is a soft, yet strong yarn, perfect for socks, shawls, cowls, scarves and larger garments! Merino is exceptionally soft on the skin. This is a colourway hand-dyed for my online Boutique launch inspired by Mille Rêves en Laine brand colours.

This Merino/Nylon in 'Sea Dreams', is a blend of 75% Merino, 25% Nylon. It’s a very soft, yet strong yarn. It has excellent stitch definition when knitted up - perfect for that special garment, shawl, cowl, scarf hat or socks. All of my Super-wash Merino wool is from a mill that sources mulesing-free fleeces from Argentina, Uruguay and Europe. It’s sourced from farms of varying sizes, including small farms.

Your happiness is a priority for me

I do my utmost to take photographs which represent colours as closely as possible to the actual yarn colour in the listings, but please consider that your PC monitors and your device screens may show colours slightly differently.

As a Knitter, I know what I want from a hand-dyed skein of yarn, so every skein is hand-dyed; carefully rinsed until the water runs completely clear; washed in my gentle, own recipe soap; rinsed again, then dried in the French sunshine. Customers tell me that my wool and wool blends are 'softer than soft'!

I hate tangles in a skein of yarn, so I look at every skein and re-skein if I think it’s necessary. I also clearly mark the ends of the yarn with a stitch-marker so you won’t have to hunt for them when you wind your yarn. By the way, wool and wool blends are best left in their skeins until you are ready to use them.

Although this yarn is Super-wash treated and you can machine wash on the wool cycle at 30 degrees, I recommend hand washing in tepid water and a gentle soap to keep the colours looking their best for the life of the garment. Dry flat in the shade. However, please remember that wool is naturally resistant to light soiling, sweat and skin oils. Hanging your garment in the open air occasionally is usually enough to keep it clean and fresh.

Sustainability

I aim to take care of our little planet in everything I do and my practice in Mille Rêves en Laine is no exception

Wool is a sustainable material and I source my wool from mills and wholesalers who have the welfare of animals and of our planet at the forefront of their minds. I’m eager to move away from using too many blends using nylon and recommend 100% BFL wool instead of wool blended with nylon.  BFL is strong and durable enough for sock, glove and mitten knitting.

My hand-dyeing process involves a lot of thought about the amount of water I use, so I rinse the yarn in a series of bowls of water, rather than water running over the yarn from an open tap.

All the water I use is re-cycled to water the garden.

I use the most eco-friendly professional-grade dyes I can find.

Only food-grade citric acid or white vinegar is used to fix the dye to the yarn. Both are safe enough to use in my garden water.

My home studio here in France is never heated - I wrap up warmly on any cold days!

The boxes you receive your purchases in are all made from recycled materials and are re-cyclable.