The variety of colors of Peru in a soft yarn

The Balayage yarn was the product of the idea to develop a high-quality yarn in accordance with a specific colour concept. We wanted to create colours that provide unlimited creative options and flow harmoniously into one another, almost as if dyed by hand. This gave rise to a yarn that is excellent for shawls but, of course, for any other knitting project too, and is particularly well suited to colour techniques such as jacquard or Fair Isle. A well-known designer and good friend, Melanie Berg, who is known as Mairlynd, contributed to the development of this yarn concept from the beginning. Important key skills such as her instinct for colours and talent for creating appealing colour palettes together with our expertise in producing high-quality and exclusive yarns, are therefore combined in one yarn: Balayage.

It’s all about the yarn! 

Why did we call it Balayage? The term comes from the hairdressing industry and refers to a hair colouring technique in which a particular colour gradient is achieved on the hair. This colour gradient principle embodies the colours of Balayage. Colour groups of five colours are designed to work together and can be combined with colours from the other groups to achieve a contrast. The colours are inspired by the variety of colours in Peru and are named after places in Peru.

The unique nature of the yarn, i.e. the mixture of white organic merino wool fibres with white and grey baby alpaca wool, creates a mottled grey tone (colour 617 Ishinca). The colour gradient effect is supported within the individual threads and very natural colour accents along the lines of hand dyeing techniques.

The wool is produced in a fair and sustainable manner

The concept of sustainability runs through from the animal fibres to the packaging materials.

The yarn itself is obtained and produced in a continuous process in Peru. In the plateaus of Peru, the alpacas are able to move around freely and are kept in a manner that is appropriate for the species. The animals are shorn with modern machines in order not to subject the animals to any kind of stress. However, sustainability is about more than just species-appropriate farming. The working conditions are fair and great value is placed on a recycling economy in order to protect the environment. This means that the entire process is self-contained. For example, the mud produced when the fibres are washed is used to fertilise the pastures. Care is taken to ensure that energy consumption is made more environmentally friendly by using solar energy, and the water that is used is recycled in the recycling system.