YARN RESTOCK: Julie Asselin Leizu DK
We have recently received a new shipment of Julie Asselin Leizu DK in the shop in sweater-quantities of the most stunning colourways! We love this DK version for slightly quicker finished objects. With a combination of 90% merino and 10% silk, this is a luxurious blend from a very talented Canadian dyer proudly spun in Canada.
The addition of silk in this base creates a beautiful drape and stitch definition, as well as luxurious touch and glow. One of our staff, Janice, recently knit up a Sandoval by This.Bird.Knits which flew off her needles. She’s happy to share she’s been living in it since, finding it to be the perfect weight for our West Coast winters.
Leizu (Chinese: 嫘祖; pinyin: Léi Zǔ) was a legendary Chinese empress and wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to tradition, she discovered silk, sericulture, and invented the silk loom, in the 27th century BC. Leizu discovered silkworms while having a midday tea, and a cocoon fell in her tea.
According to one account, the silkworm fell into her tea, and the heat unwrapped the silk until it stretched across her entire garden. When the silk ran out, she saw a small cocoon and realized that this cocoon was the source of the silk. Another version says that she found silkworms eating the mulberry leaves and spinning cocoons. She collected some cocoons, then sat down to have some tea. While she was sipping a cup, she dropped a cocoon into the steaming water. A fine thread started to separate itself from the silkworm cocoon. Leizu found that she could unwind this soft and lovely thread around her finger.
Due to its lovely stitch definition, it is one of the yarns we have recommended for our upcoming Bloom Handmade Studio Reversible Embroidery On Stockinette class.
According to the Julie Asselin website you can machine wash this yarn but we also advise hand washing in cold water and laying flat to dry. As with other hand dyed yarns, we recommend purchasing sufficient yarn for your project in one go as tones may vary between dye lots and from skein to skein. In case you are not already aware, but Baaad Anna’s has a very forgiving policy on yarn returns (allowing returns of many months past the regular purchase return date to make sure people can purchase enough with spare for their project requires with fear of extra costs, as a just in case!). Another great trick with hand-dyed yarn is to alternate your skeins as you knit to avoid any striping if you are using multiple skeins of one colour in a project.
- Fibres: 90% Superwash Merino / 10% Silk
- Gauge: 20 – 24 sts = 4” (10 cm)
- Needles: 4 mm (US 6)
- Weight: DK (3)
- Length: 115 g / 260 yards (238 m)
