Categories: Yarn Reviews

Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club 2018 – A Year In Review

As we come to the close of another busy year at Baa Baa Brighouse, I like to take time to reflect on what we have achieved over the last 12 months. Our Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club, which was launched four years ago, has gone from strength to strength this year and now has six permanent indie dyers working for it on a rota basis. It is a blessing and a privilege to be able to work alongside such a talented and diverse team, who whilst sharing a passion for British wool, bring their own brand of uniqueness to the creative process. We began 2018 with a brand new dyer, Homespunwonders, a mother and daughter team from Sheffield, South Yorkshire., who rose to the challenge of dyeing January's yarn based on the picture, 'View Above Langsett' by Shutterspot Photography. Heather and Katie did a marvellous job of capturing the colours of the...
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Speciality Yarn Boxes

Here we take a closer look at our speciality yarn boxes which have become more of a regular feature here at Baa Baa Brighouse during 2018. Our speciality boxes are exclusive and are only available for a limited time period from when we open and close sign ups. They celebrate special periods and occasions throughout the year and always include 200g of Baa Baa Brew DK 100% British Bluefaced Leicester yarn hand dyed in a unique colourway. Each box also contains a range of superior quality gifts, many from fellow Yorkshire based businesses such as The Yorkshire Soap Company, Betty's, Taylor's of Harrogate, Lottie Shaws, Lucy Pittaway and Kate Broughton to name a few. Our most recent box was our May Day Yarn Box which featured a one-off colourway, 'Maypole Ribbons'. Boxes also featured lots of lovely goodies based around the May Day...
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Baa Baa Beats

Introducing the brand new yarn from Baa Baa Brighouse. Baa Baa Beats consists of unrepeatable, exclusive, one-of-a-kind, hand painted skeins that take their names from song titles. This is the second completely unique batch of this yarn that we have released. The first was inspired by the music of California based band, Counting Crows and included 'Sullivan Street', 'Perfect Blue Buildings', 'Miller's Angels', 'Hard Candy' and 'Mercury'. The current batch is inspired by the work of Seattle band, Pearl Jam and includes 'Jeremy', 'Even Flow', Corduroy', 'Indifference' and 'Amongst The Waves'. Baa Baa Beats is a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester High Twist 4 Ply Sock Yarn. It’s variegated nature means it is perfect for both socks and shawls. However, these skeins are complete one-off originals so once they're gone, they're gone!...
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Monthly Themed Yarn Boxes 2018

In January 2017, we launched our Monthly Themed Yarn Boxes. Each month, inspiration for the box comes from popular culture including film, television, art, music, literature and historical events. So far, we have featured the hit TV show, 'Sherlock', the celebrated British author, Jane Austen, Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast', Cameron Mackintosh's critically acclaimed musical, 'Les Miserables', Shakespeare, The Brontes, Disney's 'Snow White', the TV drama, 'Poldark', the 'Outlander' series, crime writer, Agatha Christie, the music of Queen and 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens. In 2018 we have taken inspiration from the film, 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', 100 years since the Representation of the People Act allowed women to vote and the radio series, 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy',  by Douglas Adams. Boxes feature...
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Studio Linen Has Arrived

Following on from our promise to introduce more vegan friendly yarns to our range, we have introduced Erika Knight's Studio Linen to our shelves this week. Linen is an ancient, sustainable, natural fibre that is spun from the flax plant. Fortunately, flax is naturally resistant to pests and therefore practically no pesticides or herbicides are necessary to grow these eco-friendly stem fibre plants. Also, flax plants produce large amounts of usable fibre per acre and do not require irrigation. Linen is durable, soft, lustrous and flexible and will naturally soften with wear and washing. Erika Knight's Studio Linen is 100% linen made up of 85% recycled rayon-linen fibre, sorted from selected wastage and regenerated using the eco-friendly hydrolysis method. It is then blended with  15% premium natural linen. These fibres are...
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Gossypium Cotton Is Here

We have some exciting news for fans of non animal based fibres - Erika Knight's Gossypium Cotton is now available at Baa Baa Brighouse. Our range of Gossypium Cotton had its first outing this month at Spring Into Wool which was held at Leeds Grammar School and the interest we had from customers was overwhelming. Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fibre that grows in a protective casing around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus gossypium. Although there are concerns that cotton can be intensive to farm, it is sustainable to grow, naturally soft, breathable and hypoallergenic making it ultimately comfortable to wear and an ideal alternative for vegans and those not wishing to wear animal fibres. As a natural plant fibre, cotton is also completely biodegradable meaning that harmful micro fibres, such as you might get with man made fibres...
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Introducing Baa Baa Blends

Baa Baa Blends is the brand new yarn for Spring/Summer 2018 from Baa Baa Brighouse. It is a 100% British Wensleydale 4 Ply yarn that is hand dyed to a very subtle gradient. Each 100g skein is wound into a tight ball before being dipped in a dye bath, allowing the dye to be absorbed by the outer strands of yarn whilst the inner strands of the ball retain their natural colour. The result gives a beautiful subtle gradient and slight variegated effect to the middle of the skein before returning to the lustrous natural tones of undyed Wensleydale. Baa Baa Blends is available in six gorgeous shades that take their inspiration from summer puddings – Lemon Meringue, Peach Melba, Strawberry Tart, Gooseberry Fool, Blueberry Pie and Blackcurrant Sorbet. With a length of approximately 350m, our latest yarn is perfect for shawls, scarfs, wraps...
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We Review Rowan Super Fine Merino 4 Ply

Rowan Super Fine Merino 4 Ply is one of those dependable yarns that really does what it says on the tin, or ball band, so to speak. Finding myself in the rare position of lacking a work in progress on my needles and faced with a week on the windswept Isle of Harris, I wanted to pack some yarn in my Baa Baa Brighouse Knitting Bag that would knit up easily and adapt itself to a range of projects, having yet to decide what I actually wanted to knit. I had some Yan Tan Tethera Yarn Club hand dyed yarn lurking at the bottom of my bag and hastily grabbed some Rowan Super Fine Merino 4 Ply in colours that I thought might complement the deep purple and burnt orange tones of the bespoke yarn. I chose the shades Lilac 163 and Fresh 167. I had an inkling that a shawl might be on the cards but one that wasn't too complex in its construction so that...
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Put Some Baa Baa Brew On Your Bonce!

Back in June we launched the Sprig Beanie Hat Knit Kit featuring our very own Baa Baa Brew DK hand dyed British Bluefaced Leicester yarn. Of course, June wasn't exactly the right time to be donning woolly hats but now that we're moving into Autumn, it's the perfect season to think about knitting stylish, cosy beanies to keep the chills at bay. The pattern and kits were designed and developed by Sandra Nesbitt of The Feminine Touch which, like Baa Baa Brighouse, is based in West Yorkshire. Sandra regularly designs for magazines such as The Knitter, Simply Knitting and Knit Now. Sandra discovered our Baa Baa Brew Mini Skein Boxes on Yarn Shop Day and decided our range of colours would be perfect for the mosaic hat pattern she had in mind. She teamed our yarn with some gorgeously soft natural alpaca to create the Sprig Beanie Hat Knit...
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Time for a Baa Baa Brew

Yorkshire based online yarn store, Baa Baa Brighouse, has launched its very own brand of hand dyed yarn – Baa Baa Brew. Known as ‘The Brighouse Collection’, the DK yarn is available in six subtle semi-solid colours, each of which is named after an area of Brighouse, the town where it was ‘brewed’ or dyed. They are Rastrick, Woodhouse, Brookfoot, Hove Edge, Clifton and Thornhills. Available in 100g skeins, Baa Baa Brew is a 100% British Bluefaced Leicester yarn which is spun in Yorkshire before being dyed by hand in Brighouse using traditional, small scale methods. During the dyeing process, each skein is immersed in its own dye bath and left unagitated, allowing the dye to absorb naturally which results in subtle variations in colour. The yarn is then air dried, wound, re-skeined and tied by hand before a Baa Baa Brighouse...
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