The Making of Mouliné
Some yarns reveal themselves slowly, taking time to get to know. Mouliné is one such yarn; its character emerging through colour, texture and the way it sits within the knit. It is a yarn for the senses: as pleasing to wear and touch as it is to look upon.
What is Mouliné?
Mouliné takes its name from the French mouliner – to twist – a reference to the way the yarn is formed.
It is created by twisting together wool lengths of different colours – in this case, three – to form a single yarn. Rather than a single, uniform colour, it carries depth and nuance. Subtle variations sit within the surface, becoming more apparent over time and through wear.
It’s this individuality that gives mouliné its quiet complexity. The gently shifting palette feels held within the knit, rather than applied to it.
In the Making
Our mouliné yarns in RWS (Responsible Wool Standard) lambswool and cashmere are crafted with care by our makers Todd and Duncan in Loch Leven, Scotland, where colour and tension are delicately controlled at the spinning stage. The length of the fibres and the pure waters of the loch combine to create mouliné yarns beyond compare.
Three lengths of different shades are twisted together into a slightly heavier yarn, a process that requires precision at every juncture. The balance is exacting: too tight, and the colour loses its clarity; too loose, and the structure begins to soften.
The result is a yarn with body and lightness in equal measure, sitting comfortably on the wearer, but still holding its form. It is not easy to make. Each step builds on the last, and the final character is shaped long before it reaches the knitting stage.
A Yarn Apart
Once knitted, mouliné takes on a different quality. The surface holds a gentle movement, with colours revealing and receding as the eye moves and the light shifts. It brings depth to even the simplest forms. Our makers in Hawick, Scotland, then work with the yarn to create our knitwear by the traditional technique of ‘fully fashioning’. Each constituent part is knitted individually and then linked together and finished by hand.
It gives the final piece a balance between softness and structure. The yarn retains enough weight to feel grounded, while remaining easy against the skin.
The Pieces
Mouliné is used selectively across our collection. In the Ada Cardigan, the yarn brings soft nuance to a neat silhouette. The structure of the cardigan holds, while the variation of colour and texture keeps it from feeling fixed.
Through the lens of the Sligo V-neck, the effect is quieter. The shape remains simple, allowing the yarn to do the work: intriguing shifts in tone emerge as the piece is worn and seen in different lights.
Even in smaller pieces, such as the Rib Trim Cashmere Hat, mouliné’s changeable nature gives texture and depth, as well as warmth, enriching an otherwise simple form.
Across each iteration, the result is consistent in its variation: a knit that feels considered and interesting, not through extraneous design, but through the character of mouliné itself. These one-of-a-kind pieces are shaped slowly and made to be worn often.
