Dapple

Easy wearing with near-to-the-skin smoothness, Dapple delivers as the perfect go-to yarn for buttery soft baby sweaters, summer shawls and all-season apparel. This woolen-spun yarn is a blend of 40% Texas organic cotton and 60% Merino wool from Colorado. The spring and bounce of plump wool anchors this 2-ply DK weight yarn, providing structure and memory to your knitwear. Concurrently, cotton’s smooth hand softens wool’s rustic texture, making Dapple a dream for those knitters who crave a downier feel.
Organic cotton slubs shine throughout, creating marled and richly tonal effects within the color ways. With saturation ranging from light to dark in hue, each skein is a unique iteration with no dye lots to coordinate, making every project truly one-of-a-kind. Dive into this inspiring playscape and embrace the creative possibilities of multifaceted color. Experiment with fades, ombres and nuanced, blended fabrics — let Dapple do the work.
If you prefer a lighter or darker tone please let us know in the notes while checking out.

165 yards (150 meters) | 50 grams | DK weight
5¼ – 6 stitches to 1" | Suggested Needle: 3¾-4½ mm (US 5-7)
Tonally-dyed colorways
2-ply woolen-spun construction
60% Merino wool / 40% organic cotton
20.7 micron Merino wool from Colorado
Organic cotton from Texas
Wool Scoured at Chargeurs Wool in Jamestown, South Carolina
Cotton ginned at Woolam Gin in O’Donnell, Texas
Spun at Crescent Woolen Mills in Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Dyed at Caledonian Dye Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

About the Yarn >

The idea for Dapple is rooted in Brooklyn Tweed’s values of domestic sourcing and sustainable textile production. Organic cotton was the perfect choice for our first foray into natural fibers beyond wool. American cotton also has a complex history, which still reverberates today. Sales from Dapple will contribute 3% profit to the National Black Farmers Association in perpetuity to support farmers who have historically been excluded from land ownership. No complex issue can be solved overnight, but moving towards a more sustainable future is crucial to our values of domestic sourcing, equity and antiracism.

Brooklyn Tweed thanks you for joining in honoring the past and celebrating the future, through the lens of a beautiful yarn worthy of generations of heirloom knits. Together, this complex story is Dapple.

Fiber Characteristics >

Brooklyn Tweed fell in love with the idea of woolen-spun cotton, a less-common blending and carding process that preserves the loft and softness of cotton, while maintaining a downy, natural look to knitted fabrics. We sourced organic Texas cotton from Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative to combine with the finest US Merino we could find — with a goal of creating a yarn that “knits like wool and wears like cotton”. Our sweet spot was a 60/40 blend that balances cotton’s breathability and softness with Merino’s memory and bounce. Dapple creates sweatshirt-soft fabrics that are perfect for next-to-skin wear while preserving the natural look of heathered wool.

Dye Process >

Dapple’s unique blend of wool and cotton transcends traditional solid colors. Dyed in the skein with traditional wool dyes, Merino absorbs the majority of the color, leaving desaturated dots of organic cotton throughout. This nuanced result evokes the dimensionality of a good tweed and engages the knitter with rich tonality. Experiment with the greater variability of dark tones or paint your project with a lighter, less variegated colorway.

Wet Blocking >

Fill a sink or basin with cold water and submerge the fabric in water, gently squeezing out any air bubbles so that the piece can remain underwater without being held there. Soak work for several minutes, allowing fabric to become completely saturated. Remove excess moisture by rolling your fabric between clean, dry towels with light pressure. Lay fabric flat and shape to air dry.

Dapple behaves more like a wool than a cotton, and finishing and care instructions follow the same guidelines as other wool yarns.

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