In the thick of it.

A couple of the development yarns we are playing around with at the moment.

 The best thing about working on yarn development is you get to try almost every style of yarn, colour, weight & thickness.  Recent years have seen the rise of very thick, lofty yarns for garments & home wares.  We make our Texas yarn which is such a perennial favourite for fashion conscience knitters and the perfect yarn for teaching beginners.  A Ravelry search in Super Bulky yarns reveals a multitude of patterns that all knit up in a matter of hours.

These Cushions are so easy to do
Use either Texas or by double/triple stranding a DK yarn.

We have also been working of yarns that are even thicker.  Fiddling around with a cable yarn construction for a yarn ideal for arm knitting or "Bag Smith" style Tunisian crochet.  However one of the easiest and thickest of all the 'yarns' we have isn't yarn at all - it's our Skeinz Slivers.  These are carded and gilled to create an untwisted rope of sliver, which can be knitted.

The Giganto Blanket made from unspun roving

Now this isn't a 'pop out & buy' a super thick set of needles type yarn.  Start scouring your hardware store for drainage piping, broomsticks or thick dowling.  These unspun slivers are knitted on "needles" with diameters of 30, 40, 50mm or more.  Patterns are even available for these blankets - the Giganto Blanket on Ravelry is a great place to start, also hit Pinterest & see what others have been checking out to get ideas.

Double stranding Texas would achieve this look.

Much of the fun is letting your imagination go wild.  Check out our rovings - they are in 4 natural shades which complement most homes.  If you want to inject some colour - then multi-strand a variety of yarns, especially of they have fuzz or loft to them.  So, go on, get into the tick of it!

Team Talk

Em and Robynne - the lovely ladies at the end of the phone & the emails

When you call of email & inquiry to Skeinz, it's more than likely it will be answered by one of these two special ladies.  Em & Robynne are the familiar faces, voices & names behind the retail Skeinz store.

Em is our 'Bookend' lady, working in the shop on Mondays & Fridays & for another part of our parent company the rest of the week.  An Aussie implant, we have now totally 'kiwi-fied' Em & she now know more about yarn than she ever thought possible - pretty impressive considering she isn't a knitter!  When Em isn't with us, she's kept extremely busy with two very active sporty children, we often joke that we come to work to take a break!

Robynne has been the linchpin of the Skeinz store for almost 3 years now & she is the smiling calm influence that we all love so much here.  If you've dealt with Robynne you'll know she has a ferocious knowledge around yarn craft & she has knitted many of the beautiful samples featured in the store.  Robynne gave up teaching to indulge her passion for yarn craft & when she's not with us she's indulging in her two delicious grandchildren who live locally or taking time off to visit those who live farther away.

For the next team profile, I will shed light on the inner workings of what Peter & I get up to behind closed doors.....