Let me take you on a journey…

…a journey with a passion for beautiful luxurious yarn, a journey that is inspired by Scotland’s rich colours, a journey that focuses on knitting and that also includes eagles and a very sweet whippet…

The Yarn

All of Iolair Yarn is dyed by me in small batches, taking particular care during the whole dyeing process to ensure the yarn keeps its lustrous softness. My high-quality natural blends are carefully sourced, non-superwashed and the merino is mulesing free.

If you would like to know more about the yarn bases I use, please get in touch.

I have three alpaca blend yarns (70% baby alpaca, 20% silk, 10% cashmere in 4ply (LUING) and DK (EASDALE) and aran (SEIL) weights. Their colours are quite simple, natural and subtle, and when combined make beautiful blended garments.

I am very happy to have my first British Yarn (LISMORE), exclusive and costum-spun in Yorkshire for me. A blend of 50% grey alpaca and 50% bluefaced leicester; its natural colour is light grey with a hint of brown. A beautiful non-superwashed DK yarn - very soft and beyond my expectations.

I also just received another costum-spun, exclusive blend from the Scottish Borders - a combination of alpaca and North Country Cheviot lambswool, I will launch this new local blend very soon. So exciting!

My other, very luxurious blend, is RAASAY, a 4ply weight yarn of 50% yak and 50% silk - wonderful soft, hypoallergenic and lanolin-free. Little jewels of luxury.

My yarn and my colours reflect my own taste — they are what I love, I would knit with and would wear. They reflect in particular my love for the colours of Scotland’s hills and seaside.

I am using synthetic dyes or acid-based dyes, some of them meet OEKO-Tex Standard 100, others comply with the Organic Trade Association Standard.

They are called acid-based dyes, because the dye bath needs to have a slightly low pH to fix the reactive pigments of the dye to the protein fibres of the yarn, I am using mostly food-grade citric acid or sometimes household white vinegar to create the acidic environment. Once the dyeing process is finished, almost all dye has been taken up by the yarn, the water is clear and can be disposed safely.

I am very happy to have changed to using only natural non-superwash (plastic free) yarn bases. Superwashed yarn is very popular, as it can be washed in the washing machine, has a nice colour saturation and a lovely sheen (great if you have kids!). However, superwashed yarn is chemically processed and is usually coated with a fine layer of polymer plastic resin; its treatment uses a huge amount of energy and water and produces chemical waste. I therefore decided to dye only non-superwashed yarn. It needs more care and I am not able to dye a large quantity of yarn each day as the dyeing process takes much longer (i.e. the yarn needs to be heated up slowly, and cooled down before it can get washed in order to prevent any felting), but I like to minimize my environmental impact as much as possible.

I am very excited to sell my yarn online, and I will also attend some yarn festivals (keep an eye on my Instagram account). If you would like to see or feel my yarn, the yarn shops “Fankle Yarns” in Prestwick, “Stitchcraft” in Callander and “the Woolly Brew” in Pittenweem in Fife sell some of my yarn.

And if you are visiting the Edinburgh/ East Lothian area and would be interested to see my yarn, please get in touch and I can see what I can do ;-).

Me

I have been knitting for as long as I can remember — I love the process of designing the next piece, choosing the yarn, knitting it (my mindfulness hour of the day..) and finally wearing the finished piece (or giving it away to a dear friend).

Born in Germany, I came to Scotland for a geological mapping project 25 years ago. During these two months on the Isle of Mull on the west coast, I fell in love with Scotland and everything related to it - so I decided to stay.

AS a geologist/geochemist, I spent many years working in a (often quite stressful) scientific job. Being out and about in nature, wandering through Scotland’s magnificent landscapes, you cannot help but be fascinated and amazed about the ever-changing colours. I was trying to find yarn that represents these colours, but couldn’t find anything: either the colours were right, but the yarn was quite rough and scratchy or the yarn was nice and soft, but the colours not quite what I was looking for. So I thought, why not dye some yarn myself? A friend showed me the basics and I was hooked….I could do this, still using my scientific skills, but at the same time exploring my creative side as well. I needed a change, so I decided to be brave, leave science behind and give it a go — and I haven’t looked back since...

Whippet and eagles

And what about the whippet?

Yula is with me in the studio every day — we often go for a walk beforehand and she sleeps while I dye the yarn. But she also loves to go for a coffee — knowing she will get a treat!

She has to be mentioned here as she plays a very important part in my son’s and my life — she is such a lovely soul to have around.

And eagles?

Iolair (pronounced “Ee-oh-lair) means “Eagle” in Scottish Gaelic — in memory of my late husband Richard, who dedicated his life to protect these wonderful birds and to ensure that they soar through Scotland’s skies again.