Our 100% Nettle yarn, also known as Alloo is gathered from wild plants and comes from the fibre of the giant Himalayan Nettle Girardinia diversifolia. It is a single ply, hand spun, hand dyed and textured yarn with a natural and rustic appeal suitable for all your favourite fibre arts. 
 
Nettle fibre has been used for thousands of years for textiles and clothing and is now making a strong comeback as the push for natural and sustainable alternatives to plastic based fibres such as nylon, polyester and acrylic grows.
 
There are so many reasons why we love Nettle as yarn and some of these are
It is biodegradable
A natural moth repellant
They use much less water and pesticides to grow and process than many other plant fibres
Nettle fibres are hollow giving them insulating properties
The fibres are long, fine and very strong
 
The Nettle fibre is extracted from the plant stem which is cut and the bark removed, including the thorn like stinging hairs many of us associate with Nettle plants. The process for growing and gathering nettle fibre is much kinder to the planet then it is with Cotton and some other plant based fibres as it uses much less resources to complete the cycle. 
 
Like hemp and some other natural yarns, nettle does get softer with each use and by washing. Given the properties of a natural and hand spun product, you may find some areas are overspun with a thick and thin nature to the overall skein averaging a lace weight to super fine weight. 
 
Each skein is approx. 100g providing approx. 130 metres in length