With the drastic increase of chunky chenille yarn's popularity, we've been focusing solely on this soft and fluffy material in our blog posts. Realizing recently that our other yarns might be feeling lonely and left out, today we are dedicating our spotlight to the yarn that started it all for us - Merino wool.
Do you remember that Merino wool comes from faraway sheep in Australia? Their coats have magical properties - anti-fungal, antibacterial, and temperature-regulating. Which means it's a perfect material to use year-round.
How is Merino different from chenille? Well, chenille is an acrylic, or man-made material, while Merino comes directly from those magical sheep we just mentioned.
But the part that some folks dislike about Merino is that it's more prone to shedding and piling, due to the delicate nature of the material. In the past that might have made it difficult to have a Merino blanket in a house with active kids or pets. But not anymore!
Through trial and error, we found the perfect way to keep your Merino wool looking fantastic with prolonged use. Yes, that means no shedding and piling!
The simple solution is light felting. Felting means the strengthening of the fibers of wool to make them more durable and resistant to pulling apart. This is achieved by putting your Merino wool (or knitted product) into a washing machine on Rinse and Spin setting. It should be a full load of laundry, this step is very important: It means that if you are felting a large blanket, 40x60 inches and bigger or 6 lbs of wool and more - you should be fine, but if you are washing a cat bed, say, you need to add other items of similar color to the load to make it full to prevent too much felting from happening). This process will ensure your Merino wool blanket will have a long and happy life in your home: it will be felted but still chunky, soft and beautiful and no shedding or pilling!
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So what are you waiting for? Dive right in!
There are so many amazing things you can make with our beautiful Merino wool - but here are a few we recommend starting with.
1. Make Your Own Merino Wool Blanket
In our blog post here, we've written out 5 tips to get started on knitting your own Merino wool blanket. Once you have your yarn, refer back to this post for instructions, or if you need some additional guidance.
You can purchase our DIY Merino Blanket Kit for yourself, or have us make one for you instead.
2. Make a Merino Wool Cat Bed
There is something about Merino wool that is just like catnip to cats. You don't believe us? Order some Merino yarn and let your cat smell it - you will see the effect almost instantaneously. There will be much head rubbing and rolling in the yarn with an expression of pure bliss on their furry face.
Our own cats are obsessed with their Merino beds and sleep in them every night. We highly recommend treating your kitty to this gift.
Make one yourself or have us make one for you.
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To top it all off we are having a 25% off sale on our Merino wool to sweeten the deal! That means even more savings for all your knitting projects.
No coupon needed - simply add your selected colors and weight to the cart at the discounted price.