Our lace-weight Spindle is a gorgeous mix of 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% mulberry silk. Made in County Donegal, it embodies that region’s long fiber-making history, reminiscent of the fine strands spun by hand for centuries in local cottages.

• With its small bits (or “burrs”) of fiber, Spindle is an exquisite twist on Irish tweed yarn, with a rustic look but a softer hand than strictly traditional versions. Spindle conjures nature with its down-to-earth heartiness but also evokes elegance with its light touch and single-ply simplicity.

• A cousin of our worsted-weight Hedgerow, Spindle’s lace-weight beauty is a quiet roar, and we love if for lace shawls, lovely cowls, and stunning scarves!

• Spindle is a single-ply woolen-spun yarn. Woolen-spun yarns are made directly from carded fiber, which creates a bit of a “fuzzy” finish compared to worsted-spun yarns, which are combed first to align all the fibers for a smoother, denser yarn. Another difference is that woolen-spun yarns trap more air, making them lighter, loftier, and warmer than worsted-spun yarns. Woolen-spun yarns also tend to be very elastic and bouncy and, like Spindle, bloom beautifully after washing.

• It’s available in 17 beautiful colors, each recalling the yarn’s origin, from the green hills of Ireland to the bright flowers in the meadow, from the woodpile outside the cottage to the embers of the hearth within. Pick your favorites and explore our free knitting patterns in Spindle to cast on for something truly lovely!

• Please Note: Saturated colors may cross-stain during blocking, so if you’re knitting them with lighter colors, we recommend taking the precaution of soaking the dark colors first in a vinegar and cold water bath to remove excess dye.

• Please Also Note: Because this is a fine single-ply yarn, we recommend pulling gently and avoiding a tight tension as you knit. If you plan to wind your skein into a ball using a ball winder, go slowly to avoid breaks.

• Spindle’s merino wool meets the International Wool Textile Organization’s standards on Wool Sheep Welfare and is Woolmark certified, to ensure the quality and traceability of the fiber. It is 80% sourced from Australia and the rest comes from New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe.

• The mill in Ireland avidly modernizes their equipment for more energy efficiency and also has its own waste water treatment plant that is monitored to comply with the local Environmental Protection Agency. It adheres to European REACH regulations that protect human health and the environment from harmful chemicals, and they also send their wool waste to be recycled. We love this mill!

• Looking for more yarn like this? 100% merino Line Weight can be knit at a similar gauge and, like Spindle, is a single-ply yarn. Our pure Mongolian cashmere Nigh Fine, our merino-suri Quartz, and our linen-cotton Oleander are also great options to consider, and you’ll love our other two Irish tweed yarns, too: worsted-weight Hedgerow and chunky-weight Wild Donegal!

• More generally, shop our other lace-weight yarn, merino wool yarn, silk yarn, cashmere yarn, and woolen-spun yarn, all available only at Purl Soho.