Undyed pure wool for hand knitting?

[Cumberlover76]

Anyone use pure undyed wool? I want to knit a cardigan and have a pattern that uses chunky and have seen some large lots of undyed yarn on ebay but wonder what its like to knit with before i buy some? There seem to be different kinds, ie swaledale and blue faced leicester. Any knowlege on this greatly appreciated!

I sometimes dye my own yarn, so buy undyed all the time. I have knitted without dyeing it first too. I have some knowledge of the differences between yarns.

Are you sensitive to wool? Does it make you itch?
Do you like sturdy and hard wearing or ultra soft?

Bluefaced Leicester is a very nice yarn, but not the softest. I am biased though because I'm very sensitive to wool and can rarely use it for next to skin projects.

Swaledale is a course yarn, so I would never knit garments out of it but, like I said, I'm sensitive to wool and you may be fine with it.

Merino is generally the softest sheep yarn available.

Merino is soft and more like yarn you might be used to, but blue-faced Leicester is lovely, as above.
I ended up just learning to spin as it was a bit cheaper.

www.blackeryarns.co.uk/undyed/

Look at companies like Blacker Yarns rather than buying off eBay. They match up their yarns to patterns so you get some idea of the thickness and drape.

Thanks for the replies. I rwally like the idea of using undyed for a nice natural look. Im not iverly sensitive to wool but would orefer something softish. I'm wanting to knit a cardigan pattern that says to use chunky wool. It will be worn over a tshirt so on bare arms. Is it easy to dye your own? Any suggestions to where is best to buy? I probably need about 1kg and lookjng to spend maybe up to £60. UK wool would be good. Thanks.

www.bluefaced.co.uk/
They are the non-wholesale site for Chester Wools, who supply just about every dyer around. I would choose them for merino, in particular, as other suppliers’ merino has been a bit stringy imo. Merino isn’t really a ‘British’ wool, either, although Chester Wools do responsibly source it from high welfare flocks.

West Yorkshire Spinners have several ranges and there is usually an undyed option. Their Bluefaced Leicester is very soft and wearable. I love the colour before dyeing too.

Debbie Tomkies is a good place to start for hand dyeing. I’d advise practicing on a skein or two before you commit to a whole cardigan’s worth.

Brilliant, thanks, I'll have a good look later.

@Cumberlover76

Thanks for the replies. I rwally like the idea of using undyed for a nice natural look. Im not iverly sensitive to wool but would orefer something softish. I'm wanting to knit a cardigan pattern that says to use chunky wool. It will be worn over a tshirt so on bare arms. Is it easy to dye your own? Any suggestions to where is best to buy? I probably need about 1kg and lookjng to spend maybe up to £60. UK wool would be good. Thanks.

I wouldn't say that it's easy, no. You need dedicated equipment and need to keep it away from food areas. It would be incredibly difficult to dye an amount for a garment as you couldn't fit all the yarn in one pot and have enough room for it to dye evenly. Dyeing in batches would produce different results in each batch.

I buy from Bluefaced website, but postage is very expensive. It's worth it to me because I like the range of yarns and prices are good overall.

I've ordered dye stuff and yarn from Debbie and been very happy with it.