Review of Cove by Blacker Yarn

I was approached by Blacker Yarns (link) to see whether I wanted to review their new Birthday yarn. 

Blacker specialises in British breed yarns that are spun at their sister company, The Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall, so that makes it a “yes” from me.  For the sake of transparency, I did not pay for this yarn and am under no obligation to talk about it publicly. 

Every year they create a new, limited edition birthday yarn and this year it is called Cove, comes in a palette of seven shades (six dyed and one natural).  All seven shades are very much in my colour palette of teal, aqua, mustard and neutrals. 

Available in both 4ply and chunky, both weights are woollen spun and have a nice, even, medium twist to them. 

The 4ply is actually 306m/332yds per 100g which puts it to a heavy sportweight rather than a 4ply weight yarn in my opinion.  The chunky weight comes in at 101m/110yds per 100g. 

Cove is made up of 7% Merino, 36% Norfolk Horn, 36% Shetland and 21% Bluefaced Leicester.  This all blends to create a nicely heathered cream base wool.  It’s soft to the touch, plump, with a nice amount of elasticity. 

Sometimes woollen spun can create issues for crocheters.  Unlike worsted spun yarns where all of the fibres are combed into the same direction, woollen spun yarn is carded up in different directions.  This traps air and creates a plump yarn but for crocheters, it can create fibre tangles around your hook that can slow you down and become annoying. 

Even though Cove is woollen spun with a medium twist, it was a real pleasure to work with.  I didn’t get any real fibre tangles on my hook and even though it’s a medium twist, the wool rarely split on my hook.

I used the 4ply mini skeins to make Hanging Storage pouches (Issue 125 of Inside Crochet, designed by Lucy Djevdet) and a new clutch purse for all my design bits and bobs (based on the hanging storage pattern but made into a purse).  The chunky mini skeins were crocheted into The Croix Coasters from Modern Crochet by Debrosse.  I also used the 4 ply scraps to make partial Dorset button hoops for all of the items to hang from. 

I haven’t washed and blocked any of the items, so can’t review that for you.  I tested a couple of spit splices and it does spit splice well, but takes a little longer than other 100% wools I have spit spliced with. 

I always like to sum up yarns that I am reviewing in five words:

plump

seaside

soft

heathered

natural

Things that I would use Cove for are:

Garments, shawls, cowls, gloves, mittens and homewares.

Both yarn weights are £19 for a 100g skein and are available from 11th September.