yarns > Marie Wallin > British Breeds
British Breeds
A new yarn by Marie Wallin, available in 30 gorgeous shades in 25 g balls.
Notes from Marie:
My British Breeds yarn has been wound into balls that should be knitted conventionally, i.e. from the outside.
This yarn is introduced in Marie’s design collection Wildwood.
About:
British Breeds took two years to develop into the beautiful, soft, bouncy 4 ply yarn that it is today. Worsted spun in Devon by John Arbon Mill, British Breeds is available in 26 glorious colours.
British Breeds is made from four different British sheep breeds. The wool fibre from each breed adds a certain characteristic to the yarn; Bluefaced Leicester adds the beautiful softness, Exmoor Horn adds the softness too but this sheep produces a white fleece therefore adding a ‘cleaness’ to the blended tops making for more successful dyeing. Romney adds the strength and slight lustre and Zwartbles adds the bounce or springiness. To produce the yarn, the Bluefaced Leicester, Exmoor Horn and Romney wool fibres are first blended together and then dyed into various coloured tops. These coloured tops are then blended together using a ‘recipe’ to create each of the 26 base colours. Each colour base is then blended with the undyed Zwartbles fibre creating the amazing mélange effect. Once the yarn is spun it is sent to Edward Hill’s Ltd in Bradford to be steam relaxed and balled into 25g balls. The steam finishing ‘opens up’ the yarn creating the full, light appearance and handle.
Yardage & Tension:
British Breeds has an approximate length of 85m (93 yds).
Tension of 28 sts & 29 rows to 10cm measured over Fairisle knitting using 3.25mm needles.
Stocking stitch tension is 26 sts & 34 rows to 10cm using 3mm needles.
Care:
To care for your British Breeds yarn, please keep any unused yarn in a plastic storage box or bag so there is less chance of a moth attack!
To care for your British Breeds garment, please hand wash carefully using a mild, natural liquid soap detergent in lukewarm water. Once washed, ensure that as much water as possible is extracted from the garment before drying. This can be done by squeezing the garment between two towels. Reshape the garment whilst damp and allow to air dry naturally.
It is worth noting that 100% wool garments require minimal washing, wool fibre is naturally self-cleaning! To freshen up your knitwear, just hang on a line outside to ‘air’, any stains can be spot cleaned. In the summer, store your knitwear away in plastic storage bags with a natural moth deterrent, such as a cedar balls or lavender bags.
2285 projects
stashed
5829 times
- Page created: September 3, 2018
- Last updated: July 2, 2026 …
popular colorways

80 stashed
73 projects

34 stashed
44 projects

269 stashed
245 projects

329 stashed
285 projects

8 stashed
5 projects

154 stashed
134 projects

154 stashed
128 projects

331 stashed
319 projects
331 stashed
343 projects

145 stashed
101 projects

204 stashed
158 projects

349 stashed
335 projects

321 stashed
309 projects

244 stashed
235 projects

9 stashed
2 projects

74 stashed
69 projects

238 stashed
204 projects
0 stashed
12 projects

331 stashed
312 projects
354 stashed
394 projects

309 stashed
311 projects

324 stashed
296 projects

82 stashed
63 projects
277 stashed
244 projects

47 stashed
30 projects

167 stashed
145 projects

7 stashed
8 projects

16 stashed
23 projects

71 stashed
63 projects

89 stashed
56 projects

222 stashed
172 projects

339 stashed
271 projects

