Get To Know Garthenor Snowdonia Sock

In the Autumn of last year, we permanently introduced a selection of carefully curated, sustainably made yarn to the webshop. Our aim for selling yarns was simple; we wanted to bring you an opportunity to shop beautiful yarns with the confidence of knowing they were sustainably produced. We wanted to take all the guesswork out of knitting sustainably for you, knowing we'd done all the research for you!

When we were thinking of yarns we'd like to sell in the webshop, one name came up immediately; Garthenor. They started, back in 1999 with a small flock of sheep and worked with a local mill to produce their first yarns using organic sheep, and environmentally friendly, traceable spinning. At the time though, no organic standards existed for wool yarns, so they went about fixing that! They worked with the Soil Association and helped to write the first-ever organic standards for woollen yarns, and in 2003, became the first company in the world to produce fully certified organic wool yarns. And they've never looked back, continuing to produce sustainable, thoughtfully made yarns, each one even better than the last.

Today, I want to chat about one of their yarns in particular; Snowdonia Sock. High twist worsted-spun Romney and Hebridean make up the most beautiful and very deliberately designed natural sock yarn that comes in a range of gorgeous undyed and dyed shades. Garthenor created this yarn specifically with socks in mind, and that attention to detail really shows when you get it on your needles.

"Everything about Snowdonia Sock is deliberate: the fibre is chosen for its strong, smooth characteristics, the twist has been carefully measured to keep the gorgeous integrity of these two breeds whilst achieving the necessary long-lasting ruggedness of a good, honest sock yarn." - Garthenor

We couldn't have said it better ourselves, and we know that you have fallen in love with it too because we've just had to have a big re-stock with new colours added! If you haven't tried Snowdonia Sock before and need a little project inspiration, we've put together a Pinterest board with lots of ideas on it, so be sure to check it out!

Snowdonia Sock pattern ideas on Pinterest:

Our new Snowdonia Sock video:

We've also recorded a new "Get To Know" video where Hanna Lisa talks about the story behind Garthenor and Snowdonia Sock, what makes it a great non-superwash natural sock yarn, and shows off our new colorways:

Our favorite patterns for Snowdonia Sock:

If Pinterest or Youtube isn't your thing though, we're sharing some ideas below also!

The Vår Socks by Fiber Tales have the cutest woolly flowers that would look beautiful in Stonecrop.

Fleuriste socks by Sari Nordlund feature a beautiful lace pattern that would really shine in new colourway Juniper!

Mathilda Socks by Anja Heumann have crisp twisted stitches which would really stand out in natural colourway Glaslyn.

 And just because Snowdonia Sock is perfect for socks, you don't have to limit yourself! It would look beautiful for Summer Sorrel by Wool & Pine in new-to-us colourway Thrift!

So we'd love to know, are you a fan of Snowdonia Sock, or is it on your list of yarns to try?! If you've used it before, we'd love to hear your pattern recommendations too! Let us know in the comments below.