Ireland’s arrival.

Something exciting arrived in the post this week.

It cam in a big red plastic vacuum-sealed envelope:

To be honest, I was very surprised how quickly it arrived since the estimated shipping dates were 4 – 6 weeks. I ordered about 2 weeks ago …

The customs label doesn’t fully express the contents of said red envelope with it’s simple statement, “Wool.” What is actually inside is luxurious, grey-green, Donegal tweed from Kilcar, Ireland. The yarn is Donegal Yarns’ Aran Tweed.  Donegal, and the tweed yarns we associate with the name that come from that area, is in northern Ireland but the company (or rather, store) that ships their yarn all over the world is Commodum Art and Design, which is located in Dingle, Co. Kerry, which is located in southern Ireland. They re-skein the yarn into 200gm hanks, I suspect for ease of shipping, which is the equivalent of 4 x 50gm balls. The 200gm hanks are about 350 yards. I bought 4 for a jacket with the intention of having a little leftover to add a belt if I want.

Gorgeous, ain’t it?

I had hoped to buy some Donegal Tweed from my LYS but unfortunately, it seems to be no longer available … and I was starting to think I should choose another tweed for this jacket project (to be revealed later) like Berroco’s Blackstone Tweed or Aran Tweed from Rowan. But I was torn.

What I really wanted, though, was an authentic Donegal like the one’s I had seen a few years ago when we backpacked all of the British Isles and Ireland. But how to get them? They generally aren’t available in Canada – or at least not in my area of the country out West. I have heard of people back East being able to get these yarns more easily… what to do?

I stumbled across a Canadian Raveler who had Donegal Yarn’s Aran Tweed in her stash and listed Commodum as the supplier she had been able to buy it from – I followed the link and purchased! It arrived without a hitch :)

It’s funny. Yarns that aren’t 100% wool don’t interest the dogs but as soon as I lay real-deal 100% wool, rich with the smell of lanolin on front of them, they can’t seem to get enough of it [Charlotte, above, proceeded to steal a hank and carry it around].

The more I knit and work with a variety of yarns, the more I am realizing I am much like my dogs – 100% wool makes me really happy and satisfied. It’s my favourite to work with and wear (I’m lucky that I grew up in a northern BC town because wool against my skin doesn’t bother me – thank goodness!). What are your favourite yarns to work with? I am quite interested to know :)

ps. Thank you for all the wishes of congratulations from last post!