Daughter Of A Shepherd Yarn Goes On Sale April 13th

Image courtesy of Rachel Atkinson

If you didn't make it to Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March then you won't have had the chance to buy a skein or two of Rachel Atkinson's special edition Daughter of a Shepherd yarn. It sold like hot cakes but Atkinson wanted to make sure that the wider knitting community can get their hands on some as well. As a result at 8pm on Wednesday 13th April some skeins and Daughter of a Shepherd cotton tote bags will go on sale at her online shop.

Atkinson really is the daughter of a shepherd, her father is John Atkinson, and her love of sheep and yarn stems from her childhood experiences on the farm.  Her yarn is 100% pure Hebridean DK weight spun from the fleece from her father's flock.

Says Atkinson of the wool: "the overall colour is a complex dark pitch brown which becomes silvery grey or tan in different lights. A soft and lustrous handle produces a fabric with bounce and structure when knitted. The yarn captures the scent of the fields, flock and new lambs in straw-filled barns."

Each skein costs £18 and, to ensure as many people as possible have a chance to buy it, purchases are limited at two skeins per customer. The cotton tote bags cost £4.

It's great to see a truly British yarn on the market that can be traced back to the flock the fleece came from.