This yarn makes hemp yarn nonbelievers into converts. Soft and easy on the hands, each individual strand is separately dyed before plying. This time-consuming process creates an incredibly luminescent color and deep saturation.

Called "allhemp6Lux" by the maker, LanaKnits, you can tell this is a special hemp yarn. Why? For one thing, part of what makes 100% hemp so marvelous -- yet so difficult to work with -- is that it softens over time and with repeated washings and working. This yarn's already been through that process, so it's incredibly soft from the very beginning.

Unmercerized so it's more eco-friendly, this yarn has an outstanding drape and strength so it should keep its strength for years to come without excessive pilling, stretching, shrinking, or fading.

With a gauge of 22 stitches and 28 rows over 4 inches using 3.75 mm (US 5) needles, the yarn is machine-washable and dryable; it's made in an Italian factory that produces many high-end yarns with very high standards and quality control. Colored with fiber-reactive dyes, of course. The hemp is grown in China, under organic-but-not-certified conditions.

We've chosen five colors that should work well in many projects -- try combining the gin, roux, and green tea for a great sweater, or pomegranate and olive for a marvelous Kids' Crochet Crossover. A gin and olive Striped Hemp Head Hugger would be a great gift for a favorite person, or a flattering, feminine crochet capelet in any of the colors ... Any of the patterns designed for allhemp6 will work with this yarn; they'll just be softer and, in my opinion, a bit easier to work.

Ordering a swatch will get you small pieces of all five colors; there's no need to specify which one you're interested in.