The Fibre Co.’s first brushed yarn is made in a mill in Southern Peru, home of the alpaca. Cirro is a sport weight yarn combining long lustrous Suri alpaca with Merino wool, and then wrapping this fluffy fibre around an organic cotton thread to make a light and airy yarn perfectly balanced for body and drape. Cirro creates a delightfully soft haloed fabric that is light as a feather and easily worn next to the skin.
Fancy Yarn
One of our newer yarns, Cirro is what we would call a ‘fancy yarn’. Although ‘fancy’ may sound like general description and might even make you think of the eyelash yarns or sequinned novelty yarns that are not so popular these days for hand knitters, it is also used as a technical term for a category of yarns that ‘are made with a distinctive irregular profile’ and are also known as ‘novelty’ or ‘effect’ yarns. These yarns are often constructed with three elements: a core thread, an ‘effect’ material and a ‘binder’ which holds the core and effect together.
Fancy yarns are made with fancy machinery. In the early days of The Fibre Co. founder Daphne would card and spin the yarn herself, and they had no access to such fancy machinery. As time went on and the business grew, Daphne partnered with mills who had more sophisticated machinery at their disposal, and Daphne was excited by the possibility of creating a fancy yarn for The Fibre Co. Recognising that there were already plenty of beautiful silk mohair blends in the world, Daphne set about developing a yarn that would delight knitters with its fluffiness, while remaining true to The Fibre Co.’s ethos of sustainability.
What came out of this development was a truly wonderful yarn that incorporates everything The Fibre Co. stands for and more. A cloud of fluffy fine Merino wool is added to silky Suri alpaca and then this super soft and lustrous fibre blend is wrapped around a core of organic cotton. The cotton core gives substance to the cloud of fluff, which means you can knit Cirro on its own for a light-weight but very wearable fabric, but it is also thin enough to hold together with another yarn to add a beautiful halo and softness to a thicker fabric.
New Colours
The Cirro family has grown this season with three gorgeous new colours. Ghost Dunes, Uranus and Pink Planet add soft pastel tones that bring an even lighter touch to the collection and don’t they look dreamy together!
The Almanac Series
Based on the original farmer’s Almanac guide to the seasons, this collection acts as a guide to knitting with The Fibre Co. and celebrates each month of the year by giving knitters the chance to sample our Yarn of the Month, with a new design launch.
This year The Almanac Series has a theme of herbalism to recognise the importance and heightened appreciation of maintaining health in these times.
In the second half of our first Almanac Series collection we embrace the Spring Summer season, where each month’s yarn has been specifically chosen for its qualities to compliment colder conditions. February is the month of Cirro, March is Acadia, April is Canopy Fingering, May is Luma, June is Amble and July is Meadow.
Why Cirro for February?
Although it is still a very cold month, we see the first signs of spring emerge with delicate blossom and snow drops that rise from the cold frosty earth. This delicate reincarnation reminds us strongly of Cirro, a light and airy yarn that is made by combining Suri alpaca with Merino wool, and then wrapping this fluffy fibre around an organic cotton thread.
Better Together
With the introduction of Cirro to the range of The Fibre Co. yarns, we started to think about adding that fluffy halo to yarns that we already know and love.
Our experiments with yarn combining were so tactile and rich that we were keen to reach out to some of our favourite designers and see what they would do with it.
Better Together is a six-piece collection launching on 17th February 2022 based around the joy of connectivity. It is an ode to the fact that after so much time apart of the last few years, life is better together.
If you have enjoyed knitting with Cirro, please don’t
forget to share it with us! Please use the #TheFibreCoCirro 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!
