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Return of the Squish

14/02/2025 Written by Lauren Yarn & Fibre

A stack of Squish specials: one a warm burgundy-ish brown, the other an orange-leaning pink.

Our Alpaca-Merino Special is back and more squishy than ever!

Like many beloved big-screen franchises, our limited-edition Squish is back – hurrah! Here in its third reincarnation, we have ‘Return of Squish’, with the same trusted Alpaca-Merino formula and two lovely contrasting colours. We can’t wait to see what you think of it!

Available in both tops and 100g skeins of aran-weight, Squish is the perfect medium to create your winter essentials, from hats and neck warmers, to jumpers and cosy cardis. Our blend is 60% Falklands Merino / 40% undyed Alpaca, so not only is it super soft and cuddly, it’s delightfully bouncy and smooth – perfect for showing off textured stitches or cables.

Each iteration of Squish features two complementary shades – ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’, and this time we have focused on a warm-toned palette, blending the natural white and brown shades of the alpaca fibre, with hues of pink, orange and a smattering of purple, to create these deliciously contrasting shades that pair wonderfully together.

Return of Squish tops in light (white, brown and orange) and dark (brown, orange and purple)

In their light and dark tops form, Laura decided to leave these beauties fairly unblended to allow you folks at home a bit more versatility as to how you spin them. We can imagine more heathered jots of colour being delightful if you fancied spinning from the fold. The tops also really show off the beautiful rich shades of the naturally coloured Alpaca – yum!

Return of Squish being made on some of our vintage machines

We’ve spun these up to the same specification as our original Squish – a proper Aran weight with 176m per 100g skein – just perfect for the cosy cables and floofy garter stitches your crafting dreams are made of. Squish by name, squish by nature!

To celebrate these skeins, our Helena and Sonja have both been working on exciting new knitting patterns!

Helena’s Devon Redlands Hat

a hat with folded, ribbed brim. Dark brown is used for the rib and crown while a pinky-orange creates a broad chevron stripe in the middle containing three thin brown chevron stripes.

We just adore Helena’s bold and graphic, but immensely wearable hat pattern, don’t you? The simple colourwork in the Devon Redlands hat shows off each shade marvellously, and we think the star effect created by the crown shaping and the chevrons is stunning! Helena was inspired by the red soil and rolling hills of the local mid-Devon area, and we think this hat is the perfect way to keep our ears toasty this winter. Helena’s sample uses one skein of ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ which pair perfectly!

Sonja’s Peperomia Cowl

cowl with a central section of vertical lines, bordered by diagonal rib. Styled three ways: under a coat, loose around the neck and pulled down to cover the shoulders

The Peperomia Cowl is the best way to keep warm in the wintery months, but throw it over a dress or shirt on a spring morning and you have the perfect layering piece to keep the chill off your neck and shoulders. We love a year-round knit! Sonja knit up her sample in our scrummy ‘Return of the Squish’ in ‘Dark’, and we love the tiny pops of colour peeking through the naturally dark alpaca fibre. The Peperomia uses simple knits and purls to create a fabric that looks complex but is, in fact, a breeze to knit. We’ll take one in every colour please!

More Pattern Inspiration

We also have a few other pattern recommendations that we think will look fab knit or crocheted up in our Squish…

Melisima: A hat and scarf with cables that merge beautifully with the ribbed background; Roddin mitts: ribbed mitts in which the thumb shaping creates a bold diagonal like across the palm; Beechmast: drop-shoulder sweater with a round neck and textured, deep V design bordered by cables. — Photos © of their respective designers.

Melisma Hat and Scarf by Amy Van De Laar. A hat and scarf set is always a joy to wear, especially when it’s as gorgeous as this cabled duo.
The Roddin Mitts by Ysolda Teague Long. If you just fancy picking up a skein or two, you can’t go far wrong with a versatile pair of fingerless mitts like these ribbed beauties.
The Beechmast Sweater by Marina Skua. Knit originally in our Appledore Aran, Squish would substitute wonderfully, and look fabulous in a textured stitch pattern like this.

Fall Into Winter: symmetrical quarters with V stripes pointing toward the centre; Shake a Tail Feather: circular yoke sweater with a colourwork feather design at the yoke and cuffs. — Photos © of their respective designers.

Fall into Winter by Fay Dashper Hughes. If you’re into a wee bit of crochet, we can’t imagine anything more snuggly than a blanket like this, worked in the two contrasting shades of light and dark.

The Shake a Tail Feather Sweater by Rachel Illsey. Want to make use of the two contrasting shades. A sweater with some simple and effective colourwork would be the perfect way to use ‘Dark’ and ‘Light’ together.

Pattern Links

Whatever you make using our Squish, we know it will be a stunning and practical addition to your knitwear collection. Let us know what you decide to make, and be sure to tag us in any posts over on our social media channels.

Tags:

Pattern Inspiration, Squish