England’s stunning north-western landscape with its deep blue lakes and sheep-grazed fells inspired this classic fingering-weight yarn made from fine Merino for softness, wool from the English Masham sheep for a beautiful heathered colour and Argentinian mohair for strength and lustre. Fabrics made from Cumbria are soft yet strong, making it a perfect yarn for everyday knitwear.
The Beginning
Originally based on the east coast of the United States, Daphne and her husband Iain moved to England to be closer to family and found themselves a home in the dramatic English landscape.
Cumbria is a rural region of fells and lakes in the northern-most part of England. It contains the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its outstanding natural beauty. Daphne was keen to create an addition to The Fibre Co. range that reflected the new environment she found herself in.
The Qualities
Every hank of Cumbria Fingering yarn has 60% Merino wool for its softness and warmth, 30% Masham wool and a bit of Argentinian Mohair for its lustrous sheen. The Masham wool is either a natural brown colour, which creates deep saturated tones when overdying, or it is a natural ecru colour used for lighter and heathered shades.
This combination of fibres come together to create a smooth, authentic wooliness, with a very practical warmth.
Daphne’s inspiration extended from the fibres in the yarn to the colours of the landscape around her. The deep blues of the glacial lakes, to the pinks of the heather covering the hills and the many shades of grey cloud can all be found in the Cumbria palette.
Knitting Cumbria Fingering
The fingering weight (also known as 4 ply here in the UK) of our Cumbria blend is a perfect yarn for transitional seasons: a sweater that can be a lightweight layer that holds the body’s warmth.
Cumbria Fingering is also a perfect yarn for accessories, as seen in the Fell Garth Collection, which was born from a love for beautiful handmades with a practical purpose. Each piece is worked in Cumbria or Cumbria Fingering yarns that were created to be evocative of the mood, light and places that characterise the North West of the UK. All of the pieces in the collection feature rich textures from cables and twisted stitches. In particular, Ingwer and Tamdou patterns show off the beautiful shawl potential of Cumbria Fingering.
The Almanac Series
Every month we are releasing a pattern for The Almanac Series which compliments our Yarn of the Month. This month it is a gorgeous shawl designed by Béatrice Mase.
Milk Thistle is a unique kite-shaped shawl featuring a beautiful abstract flower pattern. This version is knit in neutral shades of Cumbria Fingering yarn: Scafell Pike, Fair Hill and Blackbeck. Each shade has a different stitch pattern; garter and stockinette stitch in Scafell Pike, herringbone stitch in Fair Hill and a stunning flower stitch in Blackbeck. Milk Thistle is the third pattern in our collection The Almanac Series.
The Almanac Series is a seasonal guide to knitting with The Fibre Co. yarns, inspired by medicinal plants and traditional herbal healing.
If you have enjoyed knitting with Cumbria Fingering, please don’t forget to share it with us! Please use the #TheFibreCoCumbriaFingering when you post about it on social media and tag us with @thefibrecompany on Instagram and @TheFibreCo on Facebook when you post so we can admire your beautiful projects!