4 Ply Blue Faced Leicester Yarn – Natural Cream

4 ply Blue Faced Leicester yarn is great for knitting, crochet or weaving.  If you see a colour, you particularly like and there is insufficient available for your project, please contact me and I will provide you with a custom order for the amount you need. There may be a slight colour difference, but we can discuss this.

The breed

The Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) is a longwool breed of sheep which evolved from a breeding scheme of Robert Bakewell, in Dishley, Leicestershire in the eighteenth century.  This breed is raised primarily for meat to cross with other breeds to create mules.

BFL sheep have curly, fine, lustrous wool which is one of the softest of the UK clip. The fleeces are not very heavy, only weighing 1 to 3 kg. It spins up beautiful to create this lovely soft, but strong yarn.

How much do I need to buy?

It depends on what you are making.  If you are knitting socks of an average size and short to medium leg length then 75g should be enough.  Personally though, I prefer a long leg and to be safe I would buy 100g.  This means I don’t go through yarn anxiety towards the end of my project.  For a small cowl again 75g is enough (just) but again I would advise buying 100g to be safe.  This also means you have a bit in your stash to play with or combine with other yarns to create something else.

If you are weaving, then it depends on loom wastage and size of scarf.  The finished weight of my scarves (144 x 26 cm plus 24 cm for fringe) is about 160g, so you would need at least 200g to make a scarf unless you have little loom waste for example on a rigid heddle.

Care

If dyed with Weld or Madder, the yarn will have been heated to boiling point and simmered for up to an hour.  Therefore most possible shrinkage will have occurred.

I am brave, because I wash my wool in the washing machine on a wool wash with specialist wool care soap.  I also add some hair conditioner for the final conditioning rinse to keep the yarn soft.

If you are not so brave, then please hand wash in warm water, using the wool care soap and hair conditioner to maintain the soft feel of the wool.

Environmental Impact

Remember the big advantage of using wool over any other alternatives is that it is a natural product. It sequesters carbon and it is breathable and stays warm even when wet.  I know because I have got very wet sometimes and stayed lovely and warm in my wool jumper!

All the yarn is British wool processed in Yorkshire, thus supporting British farmers and industry.  It is totally biodegradable, so releases no destructive microplastics when washed or destroyed.  The water used in the dye process is generally harvested rainwater, the dye plants are either homegrown or UK sourced.  All the processes (washing, skeining etc) are completed by hand and the waste is composted or used to water the dye plants.  The energy used is green electricity.  The packaging is all biodegradable, recycled cardboard.

I only deliver parcels for posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This is when I combine the trip from my remote home with other chores.  Sadly, Royal Mail are not reliable enough to use for collection.

I am always looking for more ways in which I can improve,  If you have any suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.