Archive for February, 2012

25 February, 2012 | No comments

Cestari: Locally produced yarn that’s also a great value

You’ve seen their yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, and now it’s available at A Tangled Skein. It’s the perfect product for thrifty fiber locavores: Cestari Yarn from Churchville, Va., a few miles northwest of Staunton in the Shenandoah Valley. The yarn is made from sheep raised on two Cestari farms, spun in a mill located right in Churchville. In short, Cestari is one of the few makers and distributors of commerical-quantity yarn entirely sourced and manufactured in the United States. Francis Chester, Cestari’s founder and proprietor, stopped by the shop recently to introduce us to his line. We decided to start with two DK lines, the Island and Heather collections, pictured here. Francis explained that the traditional process used by his mill results in yarn that retains an unusual amount of natural lanolin. The yarns are soft but durable, and become softer with each washing. We’ve saved the best news for last: Cestari yarns are a remarkable value. The Island and Heather collections retail for only $6 a skein for a full 254 yards! You can read more about Cestari, and watch a video, at www.cestariltd.com. The company is also featured in Knit Local: Celebrating America’s Homegrown Yarns, an excellent book by Tanis Gray that is currently available at our shop.