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Tips and Tricks

Pilling - what causes it and what can you do about it?

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Pilling - it is so frustrating! You have spent hours knitting or crocheting and your item is perfect, and then, over time, little balls or fluffy strands of fibre appear on the surface. Why does this happen and what can you do about it?

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Weight of wool - why does a 50g ball of yarn not always weigh 50g?

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So you have bought some yarn and you suddenly realise that some of the balls or skeins are a bit lighter and some maybe a bit heavier than it says on the label. Is this a mistake? Are you missing out? Or what is going on?

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Help - I have some gorgeous yarn in my stash but is it enough?

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You may have experienced this yourself - there is that beautiful yarn that you bought at that gorgeous little yarn shop one time, and now you have a jumper in mind and you are just not sure whether it's going to be enough. What do you do?

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What is Bluefaced Leicester?

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We have recently added Bluefaced Leicester yarns for hand-dyeing to our collection.  Bluefaced Leicester is a breed of sheep which was first developed by Robert Bakewell in Leicestershire in the 18th century. For a long time, the breed was predominantly used for meat, but the wool is becoming increasingly popular among hand-spinners and hand-dyers. The wool is curly, fine and soft. Photo: Bluefaced Leicester Ewe and Lambs, @Wikipedia, @Magic Foundry, used under creative commons licence.  Chester Wool purchases Bluefaced Leicester fleeces from small farms across the UK and processes the fibre into beautiful yarns for hand-dyeing, knitting and crocheting. 

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What does superwash treated mean? And is it safe?

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Some of our yarns are 'superwash treated' or 'superwash yarns'. But what does superwash actually mean?

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