Merlot - Gentile di Puglia

I've been long searching for an Italian yarn, and was so happy when I found about Pecore Attive, a little company from Altamura, Apulia. They've been working for over 10 years to bring back value to the native Gentile Apulian sheep and wool, through traditional processing techniques, but with a contemporary vision.

Gentile di Puglia is a woollen spun yarn, so it is spun from carded wool, rather than combed wool. This means that even the shorter fibres coming from the sheep are used to create the yarn, and those short fibres help retaining air in the yarn, which is thick, but very light and oh so warm, as the air trapped in the yarn insulates and don't let the cool air outside in. In return, the yarn is more fragile, easier to felt, and subject to wear and tear. But it also mean you don't need to weave in your ends, as they'll stick to each other anyway! ;-)

This yarn will work nicely for scarves, shawls, blankets, and all kind of items you'll like to wrap yourself in. It will also make lovely sweaters, like my Ranunculus by Midori Hirose. I easily got gauge with 6 mm needles and used less than 2 skeins for my short sleeve version.

Yarn: Gentile di Puglia - 100% Italian wool

Composition: 100% Gentile di Puglia wool (aka italian merino)

Weight: sport

Meterage-Yardage: around 350m/382y per 100g skein, however due to the artisanal quality of the yarn, skeins are not all exactly the same, so consider buying an extra skein if you're planning a bigger project.

Colorway: Merlot - a deep red with purplish tonal variations

Recommended needle size - gauge

This yarn is extremely versatile and will knit beautifully at different gauges, at around:

22 sts on 3.5 mm (US4) needles / 20 sts on 4 mm (US6) needles

18 sts on 5 mm (US8) needles / 16 sts on 6 mm (US10) needles

While it is always recommended to swatch yarn for your project, this is especially true with such a unique yarn.