New Yarntelier, Kate Davies and Arnall-Culliford Yarn Shades

Three of our favourite Brit indie yarn companies have released new yarn ranges and/or shades for the summer. Here's a quick round-up:

Arnall-Culliford Knitwear's Something to Knit With 4Ply

Image courtesy of AC Knitwear

Jen and Jim Arnall-Cullford have long worked behind the scenes as technical editors for other designers but last year branched out on their own to launch Something New To Learn About Cables. The book contains patterns both from themselves and others and has spawned a series: Something New To Learn About Lace will be published in early June and is now available for pre-order. There's also a third, as yet unnamed title promised for the Autumn.

Says Jen Arnall-Culliford: "We intend for this series to cover each subject in some depth, without becoming indigestible, and for each book to be the perfect size to throw in your project bag along with your work in progress."

To complement their books the couple have launched their own yarn range, with the rather long title of Something To Knit With 4Ply.

Image courtesy of AC Knitwear

The yarn comes in ten shades ranging from pastel to vivid. They describe it as having "the bounce of wool - forgiving in cables and lace, and looking smooth and even in colour work - combined with the softness of superfine alpaca." It's a blend of 70% Highland Wool and 30% Superfine Alpaca. Each 50g skein costs £8 plus P&P.

I'm looking forward to giving it the squish test when I can get my hands on a sample.

Kate Davies' Milarrochy Tweed

Last year Kate Davies launched her Milarrochy Tweed yarn and this Spring she has added three new colours to the range: Cranachan (a bright red), Hare, (brown - named after the animal), and Tarbet (maritime blue).

Image courtesy of Kate Davies

Millarochy Tweed is a blend of 70% wool and 30% mohair. A 25g ball costs £4.25 plus P&P. The balls are small because the yarn was originally designed for colour work - be prepared to sew in all the ends if you're knitting something that's all in one shade!

I love the bright hue of Cranachan. To show it off Davies has written a short-sleeved sweater pattern called Pabeigh.

Image courtesy of Kate Davies

Davies is selling a Pabaigh pattern and yarn kit from £39.50 depending on the size you with to knit, which gives a 15% discount on the two sold separately.

Yarntelier's Cashmere Lace

Designer Louisa Harding's company that specialises in Yorkshire-spun cashmere yarns has brought out four limited edition shades for the Spring and Summer season. They are Starfish, Lilac, China Blue and Storm.

Harding recommends the shades for knitting light summer scarves and shawls. Each 50g ball costs £25 plus P&P but contains a hefty 425 metres of yarn. To the touch the samples are delightfully soft and squishy with a very faint halo and superb stitch definition.

The Yarntelier website contains lots of designs to knit with the yarn and a new pattern book is planned for October.