Fibre Focus Friday: The Boss' Favourites

This week we asked Richard to pick his favourite fibres for Fibre Focus Friday, and the conversation went a little bit like this.

"Would you like to pick Friday's Fibres?"
"Can do, why?"
"I think people would like to see what you like or what your favourites are and why."
"You want me to write the blog too?"
"..."
"..."
"Would you like some biscuits with your coffee?"
"Please."

So, we're going to make the most of our week off blog writing and hand you over to Richard! :D

When you're surrounded by a huge stock of fibres with the ability to access an even larger variety it can be easy to take some of them for granted.  We can see from our sales what our customers like and differentiating that from what we personally like can be hard because it's human nature to follow the crowd.  

We've always prided ourselves on being a Yorkshire business; we work alongside other longstanding Yorkshire-based companies to deliver the best selection of wools that we are able to to our customers and this includes our British breeds.

Out of all of the British breeds Blue Faced Leicester always comes top for me.  It's versatile from both a production and crafting perspective and has many positive attributes; its soft, strong, has a good staple and crimp and a lustre.  The breed itself doesn't produce a lot of wool per sheep, but the quality is usually high and there are a lot of these sheep around to keep up with demand.

The fibres and yarns that I've selected all show why Blue Faced Leicester is such a good fibre.  The blends make the most of the natural shades and the handle.  For these we use fibres such as silk and mohair to emphasise the natural sheen in the wool and to complement it.  Some have been blended with nylon or seacell to appeal to different uses.  BFL and nylon is a popular combination for sock spinners as the nylon adds durability and the seacell is a good option for people looking for something that is silk-like and made from plant fibre.

Finally, the yarn selected is our Isle Aran.  This is a Shetland and Blue Faced Leicester blend where the BFL is the additoinal fibre and makes up 20% of the composition.  The yarn was designed to be used in knits that will be more durable and warm.  Shetland is the right fibre for this as it has been used for centuries to create warm garments but it isn't always as soft as people would like.  The BFL adds extra softness to this yarn which makes it more accessible to a larger number of crafters without taking away from its function and form.

You can find out more about Blue Faced Leicesters in this blog article and more about the Shetlands in this one.