Marie Wallin British Breeds yarn shown in basket on wooden table.
Marie Wallin's BRITISH BREEDS yarn
A basket of balls of Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, fingering weight, on a white background
Ball of Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn in colorway Russet, a rust color.
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Acer, a deep burgundy
Marie Wallin's BRITISH BREEDS yarn
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Blossom, a ballet pink
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Chestnut, a warm reddish brown
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Corncockle, a light cornflower blue
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Dahlia, a rich orange-brown
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Dark Apple, a rich apple green
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Eau de Nil, a light aqua blue
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Foxglove, a raspberry pink
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Evergreen, a pine green
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Lime Flower, a light yellow-green
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Mallard, a medium teal
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Mulberry, a warm royal purple
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Pale Oak, a warm natural tan
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Ocean, a rich blue
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Quince, a warm straw yellow
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Raw, natural
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Rose, a medium raspberry
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Russet, a warm deep brown
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Seagrass, a grass green
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Storm, a medium charcoal
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Silver Birch, a silver grey
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Walnut, a cool deep brown
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Thistle, a deep lavender purple
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Willow, a cool rich straw yellow
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Woad, a medium blue-green
Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Wood, a chocolate brown

Marie Wallin's BRITISH BREEDS yarn

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  • BREED: 100% British Wool (Blend of Bluefaced Leicester, Exmoor, Romney, and Zwartbles)
  • PACKAGE: 25 gram ball
  • WEIGHT: Fingering
  • BALL/SKEIN LENGTH: 93yds / 25g ball
  • GAUGE:  28sts and 29 rows x 4" over Fair Isle knitting using 3.25mm needles; 26 sts and 34 rows x 4" using 3 mm needles on stockinette stitch.
  • CARE:  hand wash in cold water only, using a mild liquid detergent suitable for delicate woollens and reshape while damp.
  • Made in the UK

Marie Wallin's exceptional yarn, British Breeds, is even more beautiful in person and is supported by Marie's books GentleWildwood, Shetland, Meadow, Cherish, and Cumbriain which you will find patterns written especially for British Breeds.  We also offer various Yarn Sets from each of the book which you can look at here!

Along with her Cumbria collection, Marie recently added six more shades to her British Breeds yarn collection: Acer, Ocean, Willow, Walnut, Storm, & Seagrass! Now available! 


Marie Wallin's BRITISH BREEDS took two years to develop into the beautiful, soft, bouncy 4 ply yarn that it is today. Worsted spun in Devon by John Arbon and his wonderful team, BRITISH BREEDS is available initially in twenty lovely shades. It took Marie a long time to finalize the color palette as she had to be sure that all of the colors worked well together in Fair Isle knitting as well as having each shade stand on its own as a beautiful individual color for single color knitting.

BRITISH BREEDS is made from four different British sheep breeds:

  • Bluefaced Leicester
  • Exmoor Horn
  • Wensleydale
  • Zwartbles

The wool fiber from each breed adds a certain characteristic to the yarn.  Bluefaced Leicester adds the beautiful softness, Exmoor Horn adds the softness too but this sheep produces a white fleece therefore adding a ‘cleanness’ to the blended tops making for more successful dyeing. Wensleydale adds the strength and luster and Zwartbles adds the bounce or springiness. To produce the yarn, the Bluefaced Leicester, Exmoor Horn and Wensleydale wool fibers are first blended together and then dyed into various colored tops. These colored tops are then blended together using a ‘recipe’ to create each of the twelve base colors. Each color base is then blended with the un-dyed Zwartbles fibre creating the lovely mélange effect. Once the yarn is spun it is sent to Edward Hill’s Ltd in Bradford, England to be steam relaxed and balled into 25g balls. The steam finishing ‘opens up’ the yarn creating the full, light appearance and handle.


    Not enough inventory available.
    Color: Acer
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Acer, a deep burgundy
    Color: Blossom
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Blossom, a ballet pink
    Color: Chestnut
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Chestnut, a warm reddish brown
    Color: Corncockle
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Corncockle, a light cornflower blue
    Color: Dahlia
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Dahlia, a rich orange-brown
    Color: Dark Apple
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Dark Apple, a rich apple green
    Color: Eau De Nil
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Eau de Nil, a light aqua blue
    Color: Evergreen
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Evergreen, a pine green
    Color: Foxglove
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Foxglove, a raspberry pink
    Color: Lime Flower
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Lime Flower, a light yellow-green
    Color: Mallard
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Mallard, a medium teal
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Mulberry, a warm royal purple
    Color: Ocean
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Ocean, a rich blue
    Color: Pale Oak
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Pale Oak, a warm natural tan
    Color: Quince
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Quince, a warm straw yellow
    Color: Raw
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Raw, natural
    Color: Rose
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Rose, a medium raspberry
    Color: Russet
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Russet, a warm deep brown
    Color: Seagrass
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Seagrass, a grass green
    Color: Silver Birch
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Silver Birch, a silver grey
    Color: Storm
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Storm, a medium charcoal
    Color: Thistle
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Thistle, a deep lavender purple
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Walnut, a cool deep brown
    Color: Willow
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Willow, a cool rich straw yellow
    Color: Woad
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Woad, a medium blue-green
    Color: Wood
    Marie Wallin's British Breeds yarn, a fingering weight, in color Wood, a chocolate brown

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    Customer Reviews

    Based on 38 reviews
    95%
    (36)
    5%
    (2)
    0%
    (0)
    0%
    (0)
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    m
    mkg
    Lovely and soft

    This yarn can be a joy to work with. And I’ve found that if I run slightly short of a color I can usually find a similar color to substitute in my Jamieson’s stash. My only complaint is that it has a tendency to pill over time—but that’s what soft yarns do, so it’s a bit of a trade-off, and I’ll still give it five stars.

    N
    Nancy
    Lovely colors and lovely to knit with

    The color range has grown! I find it easy to knit with. Much softer than other fingering weight color work yarns such as Jameson. Blocks beautifully. With Marie Wallin's patterns it is definitely a win! I've now knit Beech - an allover cable and twisted stitch oversized cardigan and also Primrose, an allover color work sweater and both are very special sweaters in my wardrobe. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that it is pricey if you are just looking at the price for 25 gram balls. However I have felt it is worth it especially if you are knitting Marie's color work patterns which are genius - not worth substitution if you are making the time commitment to knitting her designs.

    L
    Linda
    Love this Soft Shetland Yarn

    I love this yarn. I've always used Jamieson's and this is much softer. The colors are fantastic. It's a joy to knit. I'm knitting Marie Wallin's Honeysuckle design from the Gentle brochure. It's so pretty and fun to knit. I can't wait to see what new colors Marie Wallin's add to the collection in the coming year!