Winsome Speckled Hen is as soft as a feather, inviting, and playful... It is a true pleasure to knit! This yarn starts with a super soft and fluffy baby alpaca roving, which then gets wrapped with an undyed fine merino strand to make a sport-weight yarn. This construction is called "ingabbiato," which means "caged" in Italian, and the term perfectly describes how the alpaca roving is encased inside a delicate web of merino. When you knit Speckled Hen, you create an appealing marled fabric, the colors of the alpaca roving and the merino strand mixing together in an all-over stippled pattern, kind of like a speckled hen! Another reason this yarn's structure is so enticing is that you get the softer feel of a single-ply yarn alongside the strength and durability of a plied yarn. Although we no longer sell Speckled Hen, we do have lots of great substitutes that are available and in stock. Check out our yarns with similar gauge and fiber!