Donegal Twists

Donegal Twists is a subtle twist of two beautiful yarns, giving the perfect balance of strength, color, and hand. It blends together worsted spun luxury British wool and woolen spun supersoft Donegal Merino.

This traditional yarn is designed by the Baa Ram Ewe team and is made in Kilcar, Ireland at Dongal Yarns woolen mill. The shades in this range are named after Irish folklore creatures, and all have lovely color depth with delightful pips of tweedy accents.

All Baa Ram Ewe wool yarn is mulesing-free.

Our notes

After making a few of our own projects with this yarn, here's what we've found:

Delightful texture: Because of the two different spinning methods for each ply, Donegal Twists has a wonderful, plush texture that combines the durability and drape of a worsted yarn with the warmth and loft of a woolen yarn.

Between soft and rustic: It's on the softer side of rustic. Less sensitive people can wear this next-to-skin without issue, though people sensitive to the prickle factor should test a swatch before committing to a full garment. It's the perfect yarn for people used to super-soft merino who want to experiment with a more rustic yarn.

Not as splitty as we thought it would be: The yarn stays together nicely, more so than most other 2-ply yarns we've worked with. This could potentially make it troublesome to frog, though, especially when worked at tighter gauges or after some wear.

Springy and drapey: The finished fabric is very springy and likes to keep its shape, but also blooms beautifully and has a nice drape once blocked.

Lots of character: The little tweedy pops of accent colors or the contrast in tone between plies in some colorways lend a lot of visual interest to the yarn. The thickness varies slightly as well, which gives finished fabric even more character.

Can be fiddly to wet-splice: Like many other smaller-weight yarns, it's a little more involved to wet-splice ends together than with thicker chunky singles. Take your time and gently check each splice to make sure it's secure. Because of the texture of this yarn, splices shouldn't be as visible in the finished pieces.

Swatch details

All swatches were wet blocked before measuring.

Knit

• Color: Merrow
• Swatcher: August
• Needles: 4mm (US 6)
• Stitch: Stockinette with a seed stitch border
• Gauge: 25 stitches and 36 rows per 4" / 10cm

Crochet

• Color: Merrow
• Swatcher: Avery
• Hook: 3.75mm
• Stitch: Half double crochet
• Gauge: 19 stitches and 15 rows per 4" / 10cm

Nalbind

• Color: Merrow
• Swatcher: Stephanie
• Tension: Needle, 20mm circumference
• Stitch: Oslo F1
• Gauge: 33 stitches and 20 rows per 4" / 10cm

Weave

• Color: Merrow
• Swatcher: Stephanie
• Sett: 8 ends per inch
• Structure: Plain weave, 35 picks per inch
• Warp: Size 10 crochet cotton

Yarn details