Tweed Yarn

Tweed yarn has small flecks or nubs of a different colour spun into its base colour. The knitted fabric has a subtle speckled appearance reminiscent of traditional tweed cloth, even when you knit a very simple stitch pattern. The tweed effect in yarn describes its appearance rather than its fibre content, so here you will find tweed yarn made from wool with alpaca, virgin wool, cotton, a blend with acrylic, and plush polyester. The range includes DROPS Soft Tweed, Austermann Classic Tweed, Schachenmayr Denim Tweed, YarnArt Tweed and Himalaya Dolphin Tweed.

How does tweed yarn differ from heathered yarn?

Heathered yarn is made by mixing fibres in several shades, giving it an evenly mottled appearance. Tweed yarn has one base colour with distinct coloured specks. In DROPS Soft Tweed these are small felted nubs, while Schachenmayr Denim Tweed has short coloured fibres.

The specks are scattered randomly throughout the yarn. They stand out most in stocking stitch or a simple rib pattern, where a complex texture will not hide them.

Which tweed yarn should you choose by fibre content and thickness?

• Wool with alpaca: DROPS Soft Tweed (50 g / 130 m) is made from 50 % wool, 25 % alpaca and 25 % viscose, for 4 mm knitting needles.
• Virgin wool: Austermann Classic Tweed (50 g / 175 m) is made from virgin wool with polyamide, for 3 – 3.5 mm knitting needles.
• Cotton: Schachenmayr Denim Tweed (50 g / 210 m) is a cotton blend with polyester and polyamide, for 3 – 4 mm knitting needles. The manufacturer makes it from recycled cotton and PET bottles.
• Wool with acrylic: YarnArt Tweed (100 g / 300 m) is made from a blend of wool, acrylic and viscose.
• Plush yarn: Himalaya Dolphin Tweed (100 g / 80 m) is a thick chenille yarn made from 100 % polyester with tweed flecks in the yarn.

You can find more plush yarns in the Chenille Yarn category and the full range in the Knitting Yarn category.