'You Inspire Me' ~ McLana Yarn by Garnmanufaktur.

September 1, 2021 Andrea Clements

I am regularly asked various questions about our yarns. Let's be honest, I don't mind this at all and I could chat away all day about yarn (if you have chatted with me before you can attest to this)!

Some of the most frequently asked questions are: how does it work up; what is the drape like; what patterns work well with it; is it easy to use and are the colours true to life. In order to answer these questions, and also for my own curiosity and the love of creating, I make (and design) a large number of creations using our yarns. Unfortunately though I only have one pair of hands and never enough time to try everything myself, I would love to have the arms of the Hindu Goddess Durga so I could create more!

I was wondering how I could better showcase a broad range of yarns made up in creative and different ways knowing that I can't do this alone! I was thinking that maybe this would be a perfect opportunity to showcase some stunning makes by our Yarn Me Calm Community Members. I thought this would be something we could share regularly showcasing their phenomenal talent using our yummy yarn!

I put out a call on the Facebook group and some of our fabulous Community Members have generously shared their pictures for our first 'You Inspire Me' blog featuring McLana yarn from the amazing humans at Garnmanufaktur in Germany!

I hope you enjoy seeing their amazing work and if you have a chance to check them out on Instagram or Facebook don't hesitate as they are all phenomenally talented!

I hope these beautiful creations inspire you as much as they inspire me!

McLana by Garnmanufaktur.

I have been asked what is the difference between McLana and her well known big sister, Lola. The answer is.... fundamentally nothing! Both yarns are made from the exact same 50% cotton and 50% acrylic yarn blend, both are made by Garnmanufaktur in Germany and both are hand wound!

The biggest difference between McLana and Lola is choice. McLana comes in two different weights 3 ply or 4 ply whereas Lola has more options available - 3 ply, 4 ply, 5 ply, 6 ply and 8 ply.

McLana 4 ply is 200g and 750m and comes in two different colour transitions:

The 8000's comes in 65 colour options. They start with a solid colour, blends the colour through the transitions and ends with a solid colour.
The 3000's comes in 25 colour options. They start with a blended colour, continues to blend the colours through the transitions and ends with a blended colour.

McLana 3 ply (9000's) is 200g and 1000m and comes in 43 colour options and like the 8000's they start with a solid colour, blend the colour through the transitions and end with a solid colour.

Lola however can be purchased in multiple sizes and lengths and you can buy pre-designed colour options or you can design your own (like this stunner of an example that was created for one of our fabulous customers below)!

This yarn as a subtle but beautiful sheen to it and whilst it might be a little tricky to get used to the fine weight of the yarn, it lends itself to the most beautiful creations!

One of the trickiest things about using this yarn is that it is an untwisted yarn. That means that the strands lie next to each other rather than being twisted around each other. The phenomenal Simone of @simone.makes recommends popping a bead onto the threads before you start your project to keep all the threads together! Thanks Simone you are amazing it works brilliantly!

Ruth @ruthy_gloom on Instagram.