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68% SW Merino/32% Nettle
350 meters / 385 yards per 100 gram / 3.5 oz skein
Gauge: 27 - 32 sts / 4 inches (10 cm) US 1.5 - 3 or 2.5 - 3.25 mm
This unique and eco-friendly blend of merino and nettle results in a yarn that will give your garments beautiful drape, lustre, and stitch definition. Nettle is wrinkle resistant (wrinkles will hang out), it is breathable and temperature regulating, and it is beautiful and stronger than a fine wool. When nettle (plant fibre) is combined with wool (animal fibre), it adds strength and shine. When the yarn is dyed, the nettle does not take up the dye with the same intensity as the merino, and this results in a lovely soft “heathering” effect.
Nettle is a very eco-conscious and sustainable plant fibre which comes from the Common Stinging Nettle plant. It consists of long white fibres that are found deep inside the stem, and they are extracted from the nettle plant in the same way that linen is extracted from the flax plant. However, unlike flax or cotton, nettle does not require the use of herbicides or pesticides, and it requires much less water to grow. Its been used by people for millennia to make yarn, and we see it being used historically for everything from netting to fine woven textiles.