Dererum Natura Robinson

£14.45

Fibre: 70% Organic merino d’Arles and 30% recycled cotton, including 2% other recycled fibres
Yardage: 270 yards (250 m) / approx 100 g*
Gauge:  19-20 st
Recommended Needle Size: 4 – 4.5mm

 

Plant dyed organic wool blended with cotton textile waste, this one is the answer to your summer knitting conundrums. Robinson has the same technical characteristics as its pure wool sibling Gilliatt: it is a 250 m / 100g yarn, with a round 3-py structure. But the addition of cotton gives it a little more softness, a fresher feel and more compactness.

Made from a combination of Dererum’s signature organically farmed Provencal merinos d’arles wool, and recycled cotton textile waste, Robinson has been spun with a patented technique, which preserves the length of the cotton fibres.

The palette has been created by dyeing part of the wool with natural plant extracts (indigo, chestnut, reseda, madder and cochineal)  – each one selected for their shade and strength. The dyed and unbleached yarns are then mixed to create the colour range according to the chosen blends and then woolen spun.

The yarn takes its name from the eponymous shipwrecked hero of Defoe’s famous work, re-imagined by Michel Tournier in  “Friday or the other island” when he abandons his project to tame the island and control Friday in favour of living in harmony with nature, and is finally able to discover happiness. The sweet and unexpected twist to this story is that Defoe once lived just up the road from this shop on Stoke Newington Church Street where he was educated at the Dissenter’s Academy.

  • loutre
  • nougat
  • sucre glace
  • eau de rose
  • barbe à papa
  • muscari
  • grand bleu
  • azur
  • sirène
  • citronnade
  • pêche melba
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Description

The range includes two undyed colours: the unbleached sucre glace and the nougat which blends 60% unbleached merino d’arles with 10% black French merino and 30% recycled cotton.

The yarn is dyed and spun in France in the Tarn region by companies with the “living heritage company” label.

You can read more about the Robinson production story in  this article on the Dererum Natura blog.

For an even result, we recommend using slightly finer needles (4 to 4.5 mm) than for Gilliatt and aiming for a 10 x 10 cm swatch size of around 20 sts for 28 rows.

We particularly like it in textured stitches but it also brings a very nice natural and relaxed touch to stockinette and garter. It can be used for a wide range of patterns written for worsted or heavy DK yarns.

It is an ideal yarn for mid-season projects that will benefit from the lightness of wool and the coolness of cotton.

 

RECOMMENDED CARE

Natural dyes are more “living” and fragile than synthetic dyes. These colours are likely to change over time as they soften slightly. We have selected the most resistant plants and natural extracts but we advise you to avoid exposing your balls or knitted garments for a long time to direct sunlight.

The colour “grand bleu” (big blue), which contains a high concentration of indigo, may bleed slightly when knitted. Indigo pigments are non-toxic and even have beneficial anti-bacterial properties. This excess dye is easily washed off with soapy water.

This yarn is not superwash treated. It is advisable to wash your knitted fabric in lukewarm water with a suitable soap or detergent and leave it to dry flat away from direct sunlight, avoiding rubbing or stretching. If you wish to test the cold wool programme of your washing machine, we advise you to do so first with your swatch.

Additional information

Yarn Brand

De Rerum Natura

Yarn Weight

DK