Introducing our Ancient Nettle Yarn

Transcript

It’s the season now for collecting nettles for risotto or soup, but did you know you can also use nettles to make yarn?

Ramie is an east Asian kind of nettle plant, and it’s been used in China to make yarn for at least 6000 years, making it one of the world’s oldest fibre crops.

It’s natural antibacterial and anti-mould properties mean it may have been used for wrapping mummies in ancient Eqypt.

The aboriginal people of Taiwan have used ramie fibre for their traditional clothing for millennia. As you can see dyes very well and takes on strong colours.

Our Nettle yarn is made from 100% ramie fibre. It has an irregular slubby texture, it is slightly fluffy, and gets softer and fluffier the more you wash it.

This is part of our wide range unique and plant based yarns on cones for machine knitting, which you can check out at knitworkslondon.com