Wednesday, February 09, 2011

We Are In Love With Blacker Heritage Wool Yarns

You may know that we at Fancy Tiger can get really nerdy about sheep breeds. It has been a long time goal of ours to carry un-dyed yarns of various heritage breeds. Our dreams have finally come true! We are very proud to introduce Blacker Yarns pure breed wools. A UK company that works with and supports small sheep farmers by giving them premium prices for their wool, Blacker mills the fleeces themselves, making yarns that wonderfully represent the qualities of the wool of various traditional breeds.

May we introduce you to some of these cuties?

Southdown

Amber's favorite breed because of their cute smiling faces, the Southdown sheep is one of the oldest purebred sheep in the world and originated in Sussex, England.


Shetland

One of the smallest breeds of sheep, the Shetland is originally from the Shetland Isles. The wool comes in eight distinct colors and is considered one of the finest wools in the British Isles. We are stocking it in the natural colors, fawn and moorit.


Ryeland

These sheep are quite little and almost resemble teddy bears. The fleece is fine, crimpy and warm. We are stocking Ryeland in a natural heathered grey-brown.


North Ronaldsey

A rare sheep that grazes on seaweed, the North Ronaldsey sheep is mainly found on the island for which they are named. They are small sheep with strong wills. We are stocking it in two beautiful natural shades.


Jacob

Jacob sheep have distinctive dark brown and white fleece. They are an ancient breed of horned sheep that can have up to six horns. The two colors of their fleece are sorted to create up to five different shades of grey--brown and white together appears grey!


Wensleydale

These beautiful tall and elegant sheep have long shiny coats with fine wavy wool. This yarn is the most lustrous of all the wools and is incredibly soft.


Gotland

Gotland is a Swedish breed developed by the Vikings on the island of Gotland over 1,000 years ago. This breed is Jaime's favorite because of it's lustrous grey wool and it's magical properties. The Gotland wool is the exclusive wool used for the Elvin cloaks in the Lord of the Rings films.


Blue-Faced Leicester

Blue-Faced is known for its lovely, fine soft wool. The softness is comparable to Merino, but it has a beautiful loft and lustre. The breed has a distinctive Roman nose which gives them an aristocratic air.


Black Welsh Mountain

Black Welsh produce a near black fleece that is best for outerwear, as the beautiful dark colored wool is coarse and durable.


We are so excited about this beautiful palette of natural colors and textures and we can't wait to see what you make!


6 comments:

Terrie D. (StarSpry) said...

These sound great! It's really nice to see the sheep that create the yarn :)

westknits said...

Wow! Those yarns looks incredible! I think Ryeland is my favorite color of the bunch.

Jeanne Lois said...

I LOVE Jacob sheep! I want to hang out with them inmy living room.

mokkakissa said...

Wow, I didn´t know there are so many...and I guess that is just the beginning. I Finland we a have a few different types including an ancient Kainuun harmas, old and grey...

Anonymous said...

Yummy! I want that pale Gotland already. Not to mention plenty of the others. . .
-- Stashdragon

Pink said...

Ah sheep faces, always good for a laugh! Can't wait to go finger some heritage yarns...