Nocturne
Beltane - Striga
Beltane - Striga
Low stock: 2 left
- Need more? Click here for Custom Orders!
Couldn't load pickup availability
Beltane (or Beltaine) is a rich, deep orange colourway with dark brown, orange and red speckles. Because it reminded me of bonfires, I named it after the Gaelic May Day festival.
Rituals were performed to protect cattle, people and crops, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, whose flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí (supernatural race in the Gaelic folklore, similar to elves). Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire.
Striga Fingering
Fiber contents: 100% Superwash Bluefaced Leicester Wool
Weight per skein: 100 g / 3,5 oz
Running length Fingering: 400 m / 437 yds
Yarn Weights Available: Fingering & DK
✓ Oeko-Tex 100 Certified Yarn Base
A beautiful, soft and robust yarn with a gentle texture, Striga creates a light weight fabric, with a particularly crisp and even stitch definition that will charm (not only) the texture knitters. Ideal for cozy sweaters, shawls and accessories. Well-suited for knitting socks and gloves despite the lack of nylon, the yarn doesn’t wear out easily.
Striga is named after a slavic folklore figure, very similar to a witch or crone. She is a semi-demonic being, which in folk beliefs was characterized by supernatural properties and the ability to harm its surroundings. She typically appeared as an old woman or a young girl, and had the ability to transform into animals (cats, toads, owls).
Strigas could summon storms, destroy crops, harm people and animals, summon spirits, tell fortunes and influence the future, take or spoil milk from cows and cause enthrallment. After using magical ointments, they gained the ability to fly through the air, especially on the dark nights of the winter and summer solstices and at the beginning of spring, when the witches' sabbath was held.
The origin of strigas trace back to the mythological Strix of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, and was a bird of ill omen, the product of metamorphosis, that fed on human flesh and blood. It also referred to witches and related malevolent folkloric beings.
Share
Collapsible content
Essential Information for buying our Hand-Dyed Yarns
When purchasing hand-dyed yarn, we recommend buying enough for your entire project.
Our yarn is handmade in small batches. While we follow precise recipes for repeatable colorways and carefully measure our materials, slight variations between skeins are inevitable. No two skeins will ever be identical, as is the nature of handcrafted products.
We take new photos for each dye lot, so images on our website may differ from skeins you’ve purchased in previous batches.
For a more uniform appearance in knitting, crochet, or weaving, alternate skeins every few rows.
We ensure all dyes are fully exhausted before rinsing our yarn. However, mild color bleeding can still occur, especially with bright, dark, or speckled skeins. To prevent unexpected color transfer, rinse your skein in cold water with wool wash and let it dry before starting your project.
For detailed care instructions, please follow this link.
This listing is for one (1) skein of yarn unless stated otherwise. Photos of multiple skeins are for comparison purposes, showcasing differences between yarn bases and/or skeins.
Please note that colorways may appear slightly different due to display settings on your device. Especially keep this in mind if you are using apple devices, which are known to alter colours. While we optimize our photography for color accuracy, viewing images on a monitor provides the most reliable representation.