Munrospun 3ply

My mom knits patchwork afghans together with a group of women from her church.  Each afghans go to a graduating high school senior student of the church at the end of the school year.  Another woman at the church, hearing that she knits, offered to give her some matching yarn and woven fabric that she had bought maybe 20 years ago in Scotland and had never used.  My mom passed it onto me.  It arrived the other day in the mail.  There are 9 one-ounce skeins of 3 ply, green, heathered wool yarn(no yardage per ounce given) and about 2 yards of matching, woven, woolen fabric yardage.  It all spent a few days in the chest freezer to kill off any potential moths larvae. The woven yardage has a few minor thin spots which don't appear to be moth damage but I wasn't taking any chances.  There are even matching buttons and woven tags for sewing into the finished garments.

It's all so lovely but I can't imagine what to do with it.  An initial swatch turned out at 28 stitches x 40 rows over 4 inches on #2 aluminum needles.  I won't be knitting an entire women's sized sweater at this gauge and the wool is too fine and fragile(?) for children's garments.  I doubt I'd ever wearing a "matching separates" outfit that I'd make from both the yardage and the yarn anyways, at least not at the same time. 

I can see a skirt made from the fabric with the smallest amount of embroidery or applique somewhere on it.  I can just as easily see this fabric felted into a dense, soft, and wooly fabric to use for other projects.  Is that wrong?  As for the yarn, I'll have to try doubling it and swatching again.  I could see knitting an item to be felted from this as well. 

What shall I do with this?  Any ideas?  Does anybody else know anything about this yarn or have any patterns designed for it?  What was it dyed with, natural or synthetic dyes?   The tag reads:  "100% Pure Virgin Wool.  Munrospun.  3 ply Morning Haze.  Made in Scotland."  On the reverse:  "Please purchase sufficient of one blend to complete your garment.  Shade 3147.  Blend 6.  Net weight when packed 1 oz. (28.35 gms)  In case of complaint please return this ticket with wool.  Munrospun Limited.  Restalrig, Edinburgh."  Here are some pictures I found from googling Munrospun.  The one on the left is not all that different from Salina from Rowan Vintage Knits:

Comments

[melody]

Wow- what a great gift and such a terrific color! it's presents a tough decision though... It's always a problem for me to decide what to do with something that is so obviously useful and can be made into so many different types of things... there are a couple of pieces of small yardage vintage fabric that I have that I LOVE but can never seem to fit them into the perfect project. Take your time...but I would at least felt a small amount of the fabric...

[Lolly]

That does look like Salina! What a wonderful gift! You could always double the yarn and make a shawl, or you could always use it for socks ;) I love the idea of the skirt with applique embellishment or embroidery. Such a pretty color!

[Kay]

That's beautiful. I would make a skirt and a cardigan or vest. And I'd make it in classic, flattering lines so that it would be useful for many years.

[Old Knitter]

The color is wonderful.....what about a generous shawl out of the fabric and a vest, hat and gloves knitted to match? What an outfit.

[Ruth]

Hello!
My uncle used to be a commercial traveller for Munrospun, in Scotland, back in the 1970's. My mother and aunt used to inherit his samples at the end of the season! I remember the excitement in the house every time Uncle John was due to visit!
My mum used to make simple a-line skirts out of this fabric. I also remember a really hideous fringed waistcoat - there is "good" and "bad" vintage isn't there!
I will ask my aunt and my mother if they still have any knitting patterns, but I think both have had major "clutter clearances" since moving to smaller houses.
Any 3-ply pattern would work for this. You might find some on Ebay's UK site.

[Ruth]

Munrospun pattern book on sale at ebay UK!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Munro-Spun-Knitting-Book-Number-13-circa-1960_W0QQitemZ220046594772QQihZ012QQcategoryZ83930QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220046594772

[kmkat]

How about combining the two into a sweater-jacket? Body sewn from the wool, sleeves knitted from the yarn. You could also knit a collar and/or ribbing for the bottom of the sweaterjacket.

[Juti]

Yes! I second kkmkat and add that you could sew some kind of simple garment with the fabric and add lace edgings with the yarn, it's so fine.

That's some gorgeous stuff, you lucky thing!

[larissa]

Oooh, I think I'd make a blanket with a knitted lace edging.

[Spinningfishwife]

I live five miles from Restalrig in Edinburgh, but Munrospun is long gone, I do assure you.

What you have there looks very like the kits that you used to get in woolen mill shops. Often you got a ready knitted Fair Isle yoke to knit the plain body of a sweater or cardigan onto. To have a Fair Isle yoked cardigan and matching tweedy skirt was a very popular thing here once upon a time, for middle aged ladies back in the 60`s and early 70`s. Not for a long while now though...I haven`t seen one of these kits for years.

It would be synthetic dyes that were used, I think. It`s not an artisan product, but comes from a commercial factory. Good quality but not so ludicrously expensive that you should be afraid of it. Just make into whatever speaks to you.

[Jean]

I think Larissa has said it all. I remember those kits, too, including the Fair Isle Yoke ones. I used to consider them the absolute acme of elegance, at least if you looked like Barbara Goalen. I suspect the package is more than 20 years old. You lucky person!

Jean, in Edinburgh

[Lucette]

You know this is a great chance to make something original in your own style. I know that you have a lovely style from all your other knitting and photos. My suggestion is a felted jacket with knitted sleeves. Oh and some great embellishments, maybe leaves or embroidery.

[gwendolen]

That woven fabric is just amazing! I don't have any great suggestions for use but I like the idea of a skirt! Or felted, how wonderful that would be. How lucky!

[jean]

I love your skirts, so that would be my suggestion. I dig the color and the embroidery idea. I love that folks above shared what they know about the company and the kits. I'm totally into the history of it all.

Jean, in Maine, wishing she could visit Edinburgh someday.

[alison]

The blanket idea is interesting. I would not have thought of that.

I would suggest combining it with a strand of something else to get a thicker gauge. Kidsilk Haze or a fingering weight wool.

[aimeedewar]

So that's what you've got--the body and sleeves of a fair-isle minus the yoke. My guess would be that each 1oz. is about 150 yards, like Jamieson and Smith. So, you could buy a bit more jumper weight J&S and do the fairisle and matching skirt. Although I'm not sure if that's your thing:) The idea of felting it kind of makes me sad, maybe I'm too sentimental. Lucky you though, quite a fantastic gift.

[Teddy_Laura]

Have you thought of making a jacket with fabric body and knitted sleeves? And you could make a matching bucket hat with the fabric and a scarf too if there is enough of both.

[FairIsle Faerie]

Munrospun 3ply knits up to the same gauge as shetland jumper weight/jamissons spindrift yarns.

Used to be produced in a factory in Edinburgh but its long since gone out of business much to the dismay of many knitters.

[Marlena]

How about an a-line skirt with an inset border of some kind of geometric-patterned lace an inch or two from the bottom? You could add some trim above or below it to folk it up a little . . .

[Elizabeth]

Since it is so very lovely and you really can't figure out what to do with it, I think PASSING IT ON would be a good alternative! Not naming any names, of course (cough) but there are those who really like knitting with finer yarn and really, really dig the colour.
Just sayin' :)

Failing that, felt it...

[Sue]

I totally agree with making a jacket of some sort, with fabric body and knitted sleeves and maybe a collar too. The color is gorgeous, and maybe since its 20 years old you can take your time to decide what to make of it. I loved your little hats too, pity it did not bring your new nephew/niece along any quicker, but will check back soon to see what your new family addition is.

[aj]

No ideas, but I had to say what a lovely gift! Good luck on finding the right project!

[Shelley (Pink House)]

That is so pretty and special. And even more so because I've been to dreamy Edinburgh and love that city. You are a lucky gal. I'm thinking the obvious sweater with the wool yarn - I have one Rowan book that is photographed in Scotland and has kind of classic patterns (I think it's called Highlands or something, if you want to know email and I'll check up in my bookshelf). I was thinking you could make a lined jacket with that wool fabric - but two yards isn't really enough. I'm thinking an a-line skirt is probably all you could do. But it would be nice. I could see adding a bit of cream color wool yarn in the same gauge in with it to add a bit of color to the green-green outfit. It's very nice.

[Barbara Lloyd]

The comments received have been so helpful -I too acquired 8 x 1oz of the same Munrospun yarn (Shade 3189, Blend 5), which looks a similar green to the picture. I found the info of metreage particularly helpful.
Barbara, Sydney

[Lyn Quigley]

My daughter and I recently purchased a similar kit for £4 from a charity shop. I could not believe my luck as I am a 1940's re-enactor and am continually knitting 1940's knitwear. My next project is to make the skirt and jumper from my new kit. You will find that many of the 1940's knitwear was made in 3 and 4-ply yarn. A wide range of patterns can be purchased from e-bay. Good luck.