Soft Donegal

When a new tweedy yarn arrives at the shop, I am usually drawn to it immediately. I zeroed in on the lovely baskets full of this beautiful new Aran tweed from Studio Donegal, expecting a rustic and crunchy wool...which is not what I found.

The Soft Donegal is as cushy as a cloud, my friends. Those of you who are little more aware of the "scratchy" wool feeling will surely approve.

This pure merino tweed yarn is produced in the Irish village of Kilcar, which can be reached by taking roundabouts outside of Killybegs after leaving Donegal. That sounds fun, doesn't it?

Photo borrowed from Ravelry pattern page.

This lovely yarn will be great for just about anything at all. I have been oggling the Baa-ble Hat for some time now. Soft Donegal would be the perfect choice for the sheep-centric design. We recently received a fresh batch of colors, and I have been dreaming about the possible combinations. Soft baby blue sky with a peaty green field, stormy dark grey skies and a golden field, or go a little crazy with a pink or purple sky. So many fun choices.

The pattern is currently available as part of the Shetland Wool Week 2015 Annual online magazine. So generous of them to offer it for free! The other designs in the publication are really lovely, too. If you have a soft spot for stranded knitting, you might just fall for each and every one.

Pop in and have a look at the Soft Donegal. If you like the look of a crisp tweed but not the crunch, this one will certainly surprise you. I hope you all fall in love with it, too.