The first update of hand dyed St. Kilda will be at 10 am (GMT time) on Thursday 29th September, 2016. After this the next update will be March, 2017.

Blacker’s St. Kilda yarn is a unique and rare homage to the Scottish archipelago and World Heritage site on the outer edges of the Hebrides. The islands’ native Boreray and Soay sheep are two of the oldest and rarest of all British breeds, so there is only enough wool to make a limited amount each year. These fibres are hand blended together with Shetland to create a beautifully delicate and textured yarn with plenty of bounce. Our St. Kilda has a real grip, so it is exquisitely suited to lace knitting and textured shawls.

The Knitting Goddess is an independent dyer of specialist British knitting yarns. All their yarns are dyed by Joy in small batches, so every skein is unique. Joy is an expert dyer. Her astute colour sense shines through in these highly saturated jewel tones.

Hand dyed yarn possess a great depth and intensity, which is particularly striking over the subtlety shaded St. Kilda yarn. This collaboration between Blacker Yarns and The Knitting Goddess came about from a desire to recognise the importance of this country’s rich textile heritage and elevate the fibre from such rare and beautiful sheep.

We hope you will find your St. Kilda laceweight a joy to work with and wear. Joy has created ten gorgeous shades and Blacker have added a natural dark for those who prefer to knit with nature’s shades.

For more details on St. Kilda there is also a dedicated website, www.kilda.org.uk.

The dyeing process has not removed all of the spinning oil from this yarn. This may mean that some dye transfer will occur during knitting. Any dye which transfers can easily be removed with soap and water. Soaking your finished work in the detergent of your choice will remove any remaining oil. As this yarn is hand dyed, there will be variation from skein to skein. We recommend striping your project if using multiple skeins of the same colour.