All About Possum Yarns
Learn all about why we love possum fibre and how you can get your hands on this warm, light and sustainable yarn.
We love hand-made garments. They are beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces and an alternative to fast fashion. And when you use sustainable fibres the result is **chef’s kiss**
This week we are deep-diving into one of our favourite sustainable fibres - possum yarn! What makes it so soft and light? How is it produced? How can I get my hands on it to stay warm?
This week we are deep-diving into one of our favourite sustainable fibres - possum yarn! What makes it so soft and light? How is it produced? How can I get my hands on it to stay warm?
Superhero properties
If you’ve been lucky to knit with possum yarn, you’ll know that it is wonderfully soft and surprisingly warm. What is it about possum that makes it a ‘superhero’ fibre?
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Warm & light
Possum is the third warmest fur in the world after the polar bear and arctic fox. The hollow core of possum fibre traps heat making it 55% warmer and 35% lighter than a 100% wool garment. This fantastic video by Zealana Yarns gives more insight into the science behind the fibre. -
Soft & Pill resistant
Possum fur has microscopic scales so there is little friction within the fibre making it incredibly soft and highly resistant to pilling. Cashmere has nothing on the silky and luxurious possum! (ok ok, we love cashmere too). -
Breathable
To make it even more comfortable to wear, possum fibre draws moisture away from the body and expels exterior water. These water-holding properties mean that sweat takes longer to condense and keeps you fresh.
Paws off our forests
The Brushtail possum was introduced to New Zealand in 1837 and has since been a major threat to the native ecosystem. Possums eat up to 21,000 tonnes of vegetation a night. “In the southern rātā–kāmahi forests of Westland, many valleys lost more than 50% of canopy trees within 15–20 years of possums arriving.” They also feed on eggs and chicks of native birds such as kokako, kereru and kaka. It’s no surprise that there are serious eradication efforts to protect our local ecosystem. This is where possum yarn comes in. New Zealand possum fibre is a by-product of those eradication programmes and is 100% sourced from wild pest populations.
In 1991, Fazil Khan developed possum yarn by blending hand-plucked possum fur with as little as 60% merino wool to enjoy the benefits from each fibre.
In 1991, Fazil Khan developed possum yarn by blending hand-plucked possum fur with as little as 60% merino wool to enjoy the benefits from each fibre.
Possum Yarns
Now we get to the good part. We love possum blends and would recommend any of these yarns to anyone looking for warm, soft and light wool.
Brushtail Upcycled Merino Possum
Doubling down on sustainability, Brushtail blends commercial off-cuts from garments with virgin merino wool and possum from traps and spin them into beautifully soft hand-knitting yarn.
You can see the coziness of a finished garment in this plush light Flax sweater (2-4 year size) designed by Tin Can Knits and knitted with only two balls of the Brushtale 4ply in Azure. The pattern is free on Ravelry! and it’s available in an 8ply adult version too.
Zealana
Zealana are huge advocates of possum yarns producing their entire range with possum blends. Whether you knit with Heron 10ply, Rimu DK, Rimu 4ply, Cozi Sock Yarn or the extraordinarily soft laceweight Air you can still enjoy the many benefits of this fibre.
Wild Earth Yarns’ Alpine
One of our newest possum blends in-store, the Alpine 8ply is 80% Polwarth Wool, 20% Possum fur and 100% gorgeous. This woollen spun yarn is extra light and squishy and perfect for colour work.
Happy Go Knitty Āhuru
A wonderful hand-dyed merino/possum blend woollen spun to make it extra plump. We now have Āhuru 8ply and 4ply (in 12 colours!) at Loopine to give you even more knitting possibilities.
You may have spotted the beautiful Magnolia Chunky Cardigan by Camilla Vad in our shop window. The pattern was designed in Āhuru 8ply and this sample was knitted using only 2.5 skeins in the Jacaranda colour.
We hope you enjoyed learning about possum yarns. It’s always interesting to know more about each fibre and what works best with each project we embark on. Are there any other fibres you’d like to hear more about? Let us know!
Happy knitting 🤗
xx The Loopine Team
Happy knitting 🤗
xx The Loopine Team
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