~ Pre-orders will close 10:00am [bst] 6th May. Club parcels will be dispatched before end-May. Extra skeins will be available in the shop early-June~

The // non club // is a bi-monthly club focussing on our favourite non-superwash yarns and inspiring non-fiction books.

We love working with non-superwash yarn but it doesn't always get the space in our dye pots that we think it deserves, so we've carved out a special place for it. We're choosing a non-superwash yarn base every other month, and using one of our favourite non-fiction books to inspire a micro-collection. Three shades; one ~core~ semi-solid, one ~fluid~ variegated, and one ~flash~ shade that stand alone or work together in whatever combination you like. Order as many skeins of one, two, or all three shades as you need...

Non-superwash yarn can require a little more thought and attention to care but the rewards are plentiful! Fibres that haven't been superwash treated tend to have more memory, bite, and structural interest, and the lack of chemical/processing intervention makes them better for the environment. Sometimes it feels like non-fiction books share a lot of those qualities! They might feel a little bit like they require a greater investment from us as readers but they reward us with stunning stories and insight that can live with us for years...

I'm particularly drawn to creative non-fiction; nature memoir, modern stories with a historical context, travelogues that offer geographical or political insight, and I'll be rummaging through my bookshelves (and making good use of my local library) to root out my past and present 'must-reads' as inspiration for this series.

A Flat Place by Noreen Masud is a memoir quite unlike anything else I've read. From her early life in Pakistan with a British mother and domineering, violent Pakistani father, Noreen weaves together her love of those places unencumbered by contours and hills and works out why she is so drawn to them, the spell they have over her. Via Orford Ness, Morecambe Bay, the East Anglian Fens, and the Orkney islands she slowly reveals the violence and the resulting trauma in both her own life and the places she is drawn to. Their beauty and their complicated histories. The stories she tells and the pictures of the landscapes that she paints with her words are visceral and haunting, and this book will stay with me for a long time...

The yarn base for this instalment is a blend of 80% non-superwash extrafine merino and 20% linen with 400m per 100g skein. It has been designed with socks in mind, for those who prefer their fibre untreated and want to avoid nylon. The linen gives this yarn strength and longevity, and while it is perfect for socks, it's also great for lightweight garments with a little bit of structure and it gives great stitch definition for lace and cables. I've called it lode | sock and I'll be dyeing three shades that work together or hold their own. A semi-solid ~core~ shade, a subtly tonally variegated ~fluid~ shade, and a ~flash~ shade that's space-dyed to show off the soft tonal transitions we can create using our slow non-superwash dyeing techniques.

Head over to Pinterest to see our mood board and get an idea of our palette inspiration...

We're sticking with our favourite flexible yarn club model; just purchase the yarn options you'd like during the month that pre-sales are open and we'll do the rest. Alongside the yarn, I'll also be sourcing a little treat or two that I think compliment both the yarn and the book.

Running bi-monthly, each club instalment will go on sale at the start (or thereabouts) of *every other* month, starting in October, with parcels being dispatched before the end of the following month; so the first club orders will be sent out late-November, before the next instalment opens for pre-orders at the beginning of December, and so on.... It’s a super-flexible club; just choose and purchase your yarn before the pre-sales close at the end of the month. There's no need to cancel, and no pressure to repeat purchase. If you're signed up to our newsletter (see below if you're not!) or follow us on social media, you'll get all the info on the book, yarn base, and mood board/palette clues when each instalment opens and a gentle reminder when it's about to close.

Not a fan of yarn clubs? There will be extra skeins! I'll also be dyeing a couple of extra batches across all the yarn options and those will be available to buy ‘ready to ship’ once the club subscriber parcels have been delivered. So, if you’re not a fan of mystery yarn, you can wait and see if it grabs your heart (but you might have to be quick!)