New Yarn - Riverknits Chimera

It's time to introduce you to Chimera from Riverknits. This unique yarn features the most gorgeous range of hand dyed marls on an all British Blue Face Leicester base.

Riverknits was created by Becci and Markus and first began life on their narrowboat home. Directly influenced from their daily life on the canals and rivers. Their colour inspiration draws on the history of the waterways and the wildlife and landscape they see around them. After a couple of years and as the business began to grow they moved Riverknits to a studio in Weedon, Northamptonshire and reclaimed the boat as their home.

Riverknits work sustainably and are constantly looking for ways to improve their impact on the environment. All fibre's are sourced from British Breeds which are also spun the the UK. They only use natural fibres which are all non-superwash and nylon free. All their packaging is reused or recycled, even down to the yarn label which is printed on 100% recycled paper and fastened without staples or tape.

Chimera is a 4ply weight 100% non superwash British Bluefaced Leicester yarn with the magic of being marled. Marled yarn is a yarn that is created by twisting together two different colours or shades. In this instance two hand dyed colours. The fibre that makes up each strand or ply is first hand dyed in the Riverknits studio on a single ply of yarn. Each skein of Chimera is created from a pair of single plys dyed with multiples of colours.

Each ply is dyed with different colours as you can see in the above image. All the colours on the left are dyed onto one single ply and the colours on the right on another. When twisted together you can see how the different colours interact. Beautifully melding from one shade to the next giving you fun tonal stitches that are exciting to knit and look great. I particularly like marled yarn when it is knit with a solid and makes stranded colourwork look stunning, but they would also look just an impressive knit on its own.

When the pairs of single plied yarns are dyed it is sent to be spun in a mill in Yorkshire creating a sturdy worsted-spun 2-fold yarn. Blue Faced Leicester is one of the softest British Breed sheep and this yarn is no exception and I would have no problems wearing it against my skin. Great for any garments or accessories.

If you are interested in trying this yarn out have a look at some pattern inspiration below:

Beetle Magic (link to etsy) by Katie Green. This cute jumper is designed for Chimera and the little beetles in the yoke take just one or two skeins depending on the size. Knit seamlessly from the top down it's a great way to use one or two Chimera. I think I would then pair it with Hillesvåg Sølje for the rest of the body.

Sparks (link to designers website) by Andrea Mowry. This fun sock pattern has been on my knit list for a while so I have cast on my own. I think though as Chimera is non superwash I will use a sock yarn for the toes and heels.

Selbu Cowl (link to ravelry) by Inga skeie. This colourwork cowl would look really great with Chimera as the background. A great small colourwork project with really striking results.