Discover The Perfect Re:Treat With West Yorkshire Spinners

We've all heard in the news that knitting has mental health benefits and that some GPs even recommend the hobby to people who are anxious and depressed; plus you'd have had to have had your head buried in the sand to miss the mindfulness and wellbeing trend. West Yorkshire Spinners has blended knitting and the self care trend to produce their chunky wool range Re:treat and support the mental health charity Mind in the process.

Re:treat image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

For each kilo of Re:treat wool sold WYS will donate 50p to the charity. WYS says "Mind's tips for maintaining a positive wellbeing include taking time for yourself, doing something you enjoy and find relaxing... Re:treat was developed with well-being in mind. The yarn has a silky smooth finish that slides easily off the needle for a relaxing experience that helps knitters unwind. In 11 calming and uplifting tones and two marled colour ways, Re:treat helps crafters create a little stress-free oasis where they can enjoy making something beautiful."

It may sound a little like a marketing ploy to target stressed out millennials, but the more people who discover knitting's health benefits the better and the tie up with Mind shows that WYS is putting its money where its mouth is.

The Wool

Re:treat is described as 'chunky roving' and is a 100% wool blend of a cross breed of Bluefaced Leicester and Kerry Hill. WYS sent A Woolly Yarn a sample in the green shade Serene (each colour has a calming-sounding name) and pattern book for review. Each 100g ball costs £6.50 plus P&P - not bad value considering that works out as £3.25 for 50g.

Serene image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

The ball is adorably squishy and has a reassuring faint aroma of sheep. It's not tightly spun and has a very slight halo.

The question is, what to knit with it? This is where the accompanying pattern book The Perfect Re:treat, containing 12 designs by Georgia Farrell, comes in.

The Pattern Book

The Perfect Re:treat contains women's garments and home accessories. There's a mixture of skill levels, the easiest at one out of five being the Metanoia snood pictured below.

Metanoia snood image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

The Metanoia hat, also pictured above, comes out at skill level four. There is no level five pattern!

In my opinion most of the women's jumpers and cardigans don't stand out apart from the level four Meraki jumper with its chevron colours on the front and accompanying pattern stitch pattern on the arms.

Meraki image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

Beginner knitters will enjoy knitting the Hygge cushion, at skill level two. One version is solely knitted in garter stitch.

Hygge image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

The Trouvaille blanket, which is skill level four, looks great for snuggling under on the sofa and watching TV.  It requires 13 balls to knit. There's also a matching cushion pattern.

Trouvaille image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

The Verdict

Re:treat is a good value pure wool yarn that'll suit both beginner knitters and people wishing to knit speedy projects - it goes without saying that chunky yarn knits up faster than its 2ply or lace weight cousins.

The book is strong on homewares and the hat and snood patterns but more advanced knitters may be less interested in the women's jumper and cardigan designs. To me they're aimed at younger people new to knitting, rivalling international brands such as Wool & The Gang and We Are Knitters.

If, however, Re:treat introduces new customers to British wool and West Yorkshire Spinners, and Mind benefits from donations, then all the better!