There is something deeply satisfying about watching a creative project come to life from the very fibre up. For the past nine months, I have been working on a significant new milestone for Skein and the Stitch, collaborating directly with a local British mill to develop a custom-spun, non-superwash yarn base entirely from scratch.
This isn't an off-the-shelf, white-label product. It is an exclusive luxury yarn blend born from nearly a year of tweaking, testing, and refining. As an indie yarn dyer, I know exactly how natural fibres need to behave, both under the unique pressures of the dye pots and on your knitting needles or crochet hooks. I have poured all of that industry experience into creating a high-quality textile that meets the highest standards of luxury, structure, and durability.
I am so proud to finally introduce you to our new flagship base: Duo.
Why Blend Merino and Bluefaced Leicester Fibre?
Duo is a thoughtful blend of fine Merino wool and premium British Bluefaced Leicester (BFL). When setting out to design this flagship yarn, I refused to compromise on either next-to-skin softness or long-term garment longevity. Achieving that perfect balance required a deep dive into fibre mechanics, carefully weighing how the unique physical traits of these two unique sheep breeds would interact with one another.
The true value of a BFL Merino blend is entirely in how these two distinct natural fibres complement each other. Merino wool is celebrated worldwide for its incredibly fine micron count, which gives the yarn its exceptional, cloud-like softness against the skin. However, because Merino fibres are relatively short, they can sometimes lack structural longevity on their own, making garments prone to wear. Blending them with Bluefaced Leicester completely transforms how the finished yarn performs.
Bluefaced Leicester is a premium British longwool known for its exceptional staple length, which adds strength, resilience, and structural integrity to the spin. By incorporating premium BFL, we ensure that your finished hand-knit sweaters, cardigans, and accessories hold their shape beautifully over years of wear and utility.
Beyond pure durability, Bluefaced Leicester wool has a unique, gentle wave rather than a tight crimp. This physical characteristic imparts a gorgeous, subtle lustre. By balancing these properties over months of physical testing, I have engineered a luxury non-superwash yarn that offers the ultimate standard: the plush softness of Merino alongside the crisp stitch definition, elegant drape, and longevity of BFL.
Ready-to-Ship Fingering and DK Weight Yarn Launch
Because I wanted you to see how beautifully this new British wool blend takes pigment after all our months of refinement, I am preparing a substantial, ready-to-ship collection of Duo in an array of familiar and new colourways. You will be able to explore the collection in both a fingering weight and a DK weight, meaning you can pair it with your favourite garment and accessory projects right away.
Duo is arriving in the online shop in just a few weeks, on June 26th at 8pm BST. This flagship base represents everything I value about thoughtful British production, textile integrity, and the handcraft we share. I cannot wait to see what you create with this new signature chapter of our story.