This is a blog post aimed at accompanying our first episode of The Wholly Irregular ECY Shedcast where I introduced a new yarn - Keld Fingering. It’s based on a transcript of the video so I hope it helps! Firstly, here it is on our website: KELD
What is it?
So firstly I’ll start by telling you what Keld Fingering is - it’s a beautiful blend of 90% superwash merino with 10% linen, spun as a fingering weight (equivalent to 4ply in thickness) singles yarn. There’s 393 yards/360m to each 100g skein, so it’s a bit shorter than some of our other 4ply/fingering weight yarns - that’s because linen is a dense, heavy fibre so it means you get a bit less yardage for 100g. Please just bear the yardage in mind when you are substituting it for another yarn!
It comes in at 16 wraps per inch, making it a *little* finer than some of our other 4ply/fingering weight yarns - again this is something to bear in mind. What that means is that you will get a slightly more open fabric with this yarn compared to other yarns at the same gauge. The reason it is finer is because with singles yarns - especially with this having the bit of dense linen in - don’t trap as much air or fluff out as much as yarns with multiple strands twisted together (e.g. 4ply/6ply/8ply etc), so you get a very smooth yarn.
When we first got Carlisle Fingering (pure merino singles) I tried swatching with it where I did stripes of that plus Milburn 4ply and Nateby 4ply (three very different yarns) to see if they’d work together and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did. I’ve also tried a swatch of Keld Fingering worked in fairisle alongside Hayton 4ply (in Snow Leopard) on 3.5mm needles, and found that because Hayton is marginally thicker the stitches do sit slightly proud of the Keld stitches, but the fabric looks and feels completely fine. I didn’t struggle with my tension, but if you generally find it a bit tricky you might do.
The texture of this yarn is what really sells it for me. The linen doesn’t take the dye, which means you can see it (apart from on the lightest colourways), so it creates quite a marled or tweedy effect. The linen manifests as silky strands, but also it can be slubby in places too. You could pull the slubs out but they are meant to be there and are a big part of what makes Keld Fingering unique. The linen isn’t tickly/itchy at all, and you can’t feel it - Laura has very sensitive skin and she’s absolutely fine with it.
Gauge
I did a lot of swatching with this yarn, as well as making a Yume tee (pattern by Isabell Kramer), and I found that it was smooth and quick to knit and crochet with, the stitch definition is good, and it worked well on the knitting machine too (I hand knitted the yoke then hooked it onto the machine for the plain body). My tension for Yume was 23 stitches and 41 rows to 10cm square - I thought this might be a bit too open for my liking but I’m very happy with it.
So my recommended tools are:
2.5 - 4mm needles
2.5 - 5mm hook
My swatches were as follows:
2.5mm needles - creates a dense close fabric, more of a sock gauge but would also work for hats (for example);
33sts x 42 rows in 10cm
3.5mm - my go-to size for 4ply/fingering yarns! It’s slightly see through but not too much - just how I think the fabric should be.
25sts x 33 rows
Crochet swatches - UK treble (US double) crochet with a few rows of double for comparison
2.5mm hook: 22 sts x 12.75 rows in 10cm
3.5mm hook: 18sts x 10.5 rows in 10cm
4.5mm hook: 16sts x 9 rows in 10cm
Laura used a 2.5mm hook to make the Seda Top by Linda Skuja. The pattern has quite a tight gauge (22 stitches and 15 rows = 10 cm in dc) which really suited the yarn. Laura had to shorten her stitches from the above swatch and this created a nice tight fabric suitable for a summery top that can be worn without another top underneath.
Let’s talk about colours!
The mid to darker colours really show the linen well, eg. Charcoal and Marigold. Lighter colours will not show off the linen, but they are still pretty!
Colour combinations suggestions (these specific to the update that was mentioned in the episode - these may have sold out at the time of reading although they are colours that are on regular rotation and therefore are likely to be repeated at some point). You can see these combinations in the Shedcast If you just want to see the combinations you can start the video HERE:
Stonechat and Driftwood
Driftwood and Coppice
Tide with Robin Egg
Mountain Hare with Barn Door (plus Clay or Red Kite)
Heliotrope and Meadow Rue (plus Driftwood)
Coppice and Stonechat
Iris and Driftwood/Charcoal
Marigold and Red Kite
Robin Egg and Driftwood
Pattern suggestions:
Este by Justyna Lorkowska (knitting)
Tiny Shoots by Kate Heppell (knitting)
Willow by Victoria Magnus (knitting)
Acer by Joanne Scrace (crochet)
Hut 8 by Joanne Scrace (knitting)
Pleated Cardigan by Kat Goldin (crochet)
Those are of course just a handful of things that sprung to my mind immediately - there are absolutely loads more that you could choose!
Keld Fingering is a yarn that we hope to sell regularly; it’s an absolute joy for me to dye, and so I’m hoping that it will be popular then I can continue dyeing more! I hope this has been a really helpful introduction for you, and that it inspires you. :)