Several years ago I was in Ireland and was surprised and disappointed to learn that there wasn’t much Irish yarn. I thought there would be loads of it. The person I was talking to said that their wool was too rough and their sheep were mostly raised for meat.

However, Julie found an Irish yarn company, Eriu, that is changing the reputation of Irish yarn! In a nutshell, Zoe, one of the founders of Eriu, received a baby gift from her grandmother knitted from the softest Merino. She started looking for an Irish equivalent and couldn’t find anything but along the way, she discovered a community of small farmers who were interested in reclaiming Ireland’s woolen traditions and cottage industry. You can read her full story here.

Fast forward 9 years and Eriu is producing yarn that I can’t wait to get my hands on. Our order arrived at My Sister Knits this week! Our DK weight Elements yarn was ordered in May, just to let you know.

Zoe and her business partner Lionel Mackey source their wool directly from Irish farmers. They look at each fleece before they buy it and oversee every step of the process from farm to yarn. All of Eriu’s wool comes from small flocks on family run farms.

This yarn is a 50/50 blend of Romney and Bluefaced Leicester. Romney sheep produce a wool that is durable with a balance of strength and softness and has great stitch definition. The farmers’ focus is on genetics and creating the most impeccable lines of this breed. The sheep are hardy and love to live and have their lambs outside without aid.

Meanwhile, the Bluefaced Leicester is a bit more delicate and requires the utmost dedication from their sheep farmers. Their extremely fine and soft wool is indicative of their need for special care. They lamb inside, with farmers close by in case they need help. BFL yarn is strong and durable with a gorgeous luster that gives softness, sheen, and drape to any garment.

We have 16 colorways of Elements DK. I always love the color names of yarns and what story they might tell. They have Irish names such as Fae, Dryad, and Selkie. It comes in 100g skeins with about 255 yards each.

I love that I can now knit with Irish yarn from this special company. I urge you to take a look at Zoe’s farm to yarn journey (different from her story from above) and then come into the shop to see it for yourself! I think that a pullover might be too hot for me so I’m going to look at loose vests, sometimes referred to as popovers or slipovers. I also want one with cables, because….Irish! I went to Ravelry, chose patterns, then advanced patterns, and then over on the side filters I chose Vest under Clothing, DK weight, and Cables under Fabric Characteristics in the Attributes filter. I also chose Ravelry Download under Availability. Now I have 10 pages of patterns to choose from!

We can help you choose a pattern when you come in to feel this yarn if you’d like some ideas!

Happy knitting,

Introducing Eriu, a Lovely Irish Yarn

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