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Voe Show 2018
Hello everyone, this past Saturday saw our annual visit to the Voe Show - the first agricultural show of the year in Shetland. I (Ella) headed up to judge the Colourbox Competition. Every year we choose a selection of 8 shades of Jumper Weight which are used by people in a category on its own in the knitwear section of the show. The entrants must use at least 5 of the 8 colours - this year the shades were: 3, 53, 66, 72, 87, 366, fc37 and FC56. The allover on the left was the Trophy winner for this year. It is always very difficult to choose the winners as the standard is extremely high but I was really pleased with the entries. This is the Show where I have the most time so I helped the other ladies with laying out the rest of the knitwear and as a judge I got to help with choosing the trophy winners. There is everything from lace, handspun and machine knitting to yokes, all overs and hats. This 1ply Shawl by Kathleen Anderson won lots of prizes - very well deserved! It was beautiful. I then spent the rest of my time at the show looking at all the other entries. At Voe there are Cows, Sheep, Horses, Chickens, Ducks, Goats, Dogs... the list goes on. The sheep are probably my favourite as the amount and variety of breeds is always so interesting but I also like to have a look at the flowers and vegetables too... I didnt get any photos of the baking or other handicrafts but I can assure you it all looked great too! The rain came on just as I was leaving but I had a great day at the Voe Show, this week sees Cunningsburgh on Wednesday and Waas on Saturday so we will be back with more photos from those shows too, happy knitting!
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Woolfest 2018
photo from woolfest.co.uk Hello everyone! we hope your enjoying your Monday, just a quick post today to remind you about Woolfest! we have had lots of lovely weather the past couple of weeks here in Shetland but we have started organising all the lovely Shetland Wool we will be taking down with us to Cockermouth. Ella and Kharis on our stall last year We will of course have all our ranges of yarn - from 1ply up to Chunky including the full palette of 2ply Jumper Weight and a small selection of kits for things like the Merrie Dancers Toorie. If there is anything in particular you think we should take with us please leave it in the comments below and we will try to make room in the van. So you can find us on stall J210 and J211, for more information about the event have a look at the show website here We had a great time last year so we are looking forward to our trip again and seeing lots of you in Cumbria in a couple of weeks!
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NKCAL 2018 Winners!
hello everyone! its time to share the winners of the NCKAL, there were nearly 600 votes so thank you to everyone that took the time to vote for their favourite. It was all very close in the results but.. The winner in the Garment Category is Alix: And the winner in the Accessory Category is Eva: So Congratulations Alix and Eva, I will be in touch by Ravelry message about your prize, thank you to all that took part and either entered or voted. We will think up another Knit A Long soon! Happy Knitting x
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New Colours KAL 2018 - the entries
Hello everyone! We are back today with the final items made for the New Colours KAL, there is a good mix or garments and accessories. The rules for the KAL was the item had to use at least 3 of our newly brought back colours of 2ply Jumper Weight (16, 32, 90, 1282 and FC21) along with as many other shades of Jumper Weight you wanted. If you want to see more pictures please click on the link on each picture - that will take you to the ravelry project page. We have spilt the poll into garments and accessories so once you've had a look over please vote for your favourite! Garments Wild Flowers by Auchnagaoith Yoke 2 by MaureeninFargo NCKal Clover Cape by Rubyshasha Man Vest by bessie4dogs Never Smile at a Crocodile by Alix Pearson Accessories Merrie Dancers Toorie by Fabclaire New Colours KAL 2018 by Anniejay Babyblanket by Eval8 Decennium by ginny8 Color Challange by Jelibet J&S New Colors KAL by HootersHall Never Smile at a Crocodile Hat by AlixPearson The polls will close Next Wednesday 16th May and we will announce the winners and contact them to send a prize, Thank you to everyone who took part, we love doing our colour themed knit-a-longs and we are glad you do too. Happy Knitting!
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The Vintage Shetland Project
Hello everyone, today I thought I'd share some pictures and information about the above book 'The Vintage Shetland Project' by Susan Crawford which recently came out and uses J&S yarns for a number of the patterns. The book has been many years in the making: 'The Vintage Shetland Project, is the culmination of eight years of hard work and personal determination. Inspired by the patterns and colours of Shetland knitting, the fashion historian, author, designer and publisher Susan Crawford began a journey into the rich heritage of Shetland knitwear, and in particular the pieces held in the Shetland Museum archive. With the help of Dr Carol Christiansen, the museum’s curator, Susan undertook the task of carefully selecting the most stunning and original designs from the 1920s to the 1950s, transcribed them stitch by stitch, and has here recreated them for the modern knitter, in stunning detail and a range of sizes for women and men. In combination with the collection of 27 comprehensive patterns for garments and accessories are carefully researched essays exploring the stories behind each piece and honouring their creators – some famous, some forgotten. Photographed by Susan on the island of Vaila, situated off the west coast of Shetland, this book also celebrates the untameable beauty of Shetland itself. Compiled with Susan’s trademark attention to detail, this book is a fabulous treasury of Shetland knitting design and a valuable insight into its textile traditions. It offers you the chance to delve into a fascinating era for knitwear design and to bring it to life in stitch-perfect vintage style.' Sandra and Me (Ella) can remember helping Susan to match up colours at Wool Week in 2013 and its so exciting to see the final book, it is almost half and half history and essays to patterns. The essays focus on many different aspects of Shetland textiles but also focus on specific story's, people and pieces of knitwear, it's the kind of book you can dip in and out of but still feel you've learnt something! The patterns of course take up a large proportion of the book and focus on unusual or special items which the originals are housed in collections at the Shetland Museum and the Shetland Textile Museum. left: Highland knit in Shetland Supreme 2ply Laceright: Margaret knit in 2ply Jumper Weightphotos: Susan Crawford Munro knit in 2ply Jumper WeightPhotos: Susan Crawford Petrie knit in 2ply Jumper WeightPhotos: Susan Crawford Ralph knit in 2ply Jumper Weight and Shetland Supreme Jumper WeightPhotos: Susan Crawford Unfortunately in the time between the samples and the book being published one of the shades in the Ralph Jumper has been discontinued and finished, the shade is 61 but you could use shade 78 instead. Suffragette and Twageos knit in 2ply Jumper WeightPhotos: Susan Crawford Yule knit in Shetland HeritagePhotos: Susan Crawford left: Vaila knit in Shetland Heritage and Shetland Supreme 2ply Lace right: Peerie Clews knit in 2ply Jumper WeightPhotos: Susan Crawford And when the Vaila was knit we didn't have Shetland Heritage in Natural shades so it uses Supreme 2ply Lace Held doubled in Moorit but you can use Shetland Heritage Naturals in Moorit instead. Harriet knit in 2ply Jumper Weight Photos: Susan Crawford We are so pleased that so many of the patterns can be knit using our yarns, we have been a yarn producer since the 1960's and a Wool Broker since the 1930's so some of the original items may have come from wool handled by J&S which is pretty cool! There is a good range of patterns in the book including both Fair Isle and Lace and garments and accessories so there is something for everyone interested in Shetland Textiles. Of course the creators of the original garments never made them to be multi sized so the amount of work which has gone into sizing and grading the patterns is amazing. Unfortunately due to the weight of the book we are not able to sell it on the online shop (its above our contract weight for a single parcel) but you can buy it in the UK from both Ysolda and Susan herself, we have it in the shop so if you are in Shetland or will be visiting you can pick up a copy in Lerwick. To see more of the patterns in the book and more information visit Susans website, Congratulations Susan on the publication of the Vintage Shetland Project! Happy Knitting :)
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Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2018
Hello everyone, happy Friday! Just a peerie post today reminding you that we will be at Edinburgh Yarn Festival next weekend, the marketplace takes place on the 15th-17th and is located at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh. We have been busy organising all our stuff to bring and we will be heading on the boat on Monday night. Of course we will have our entire range of 2ply Jumper Weight, as well as a selection of all our other ranges from cobweb up to chunky. We are also taking lots of books, knitting belts, patterns etc etc.. basically everything a lover of Shetland Wool would need! We will have samples of all the projects from Jamieson & Smith: A Shetland Story which we released at Wool Week last year so this is the perfect time to see the samples and choose your project. If there is something we don't have with us at the show we can take orders there and we will post it to you for free when we get back to Shetland. Also EYF is where this years Shetland Wool Week patron and pattern will be announced so once you have picked up your pattern you can come over to us and pick up your yarn! I (Ella) have been to EYF the past two years but this is our first time exhibiting so me and Kharis are really looking forward to it, so if you are going come and see us at stand K8 (you can download a map here) So wish us a calm sailing on the boat on Monday night and we will see any of you who are coming in Edinburgh! Happy knitting :)
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New Colours KAL 2018
Hello everyone! things have been very busy here over January as we get back into the way of things but today we announce our KAL for the next few months - the New Colours Kal! from left to right: 90, 16, FC21, 32 and 1282 We are constantly updating and changing the colours we have in 2ply Jumper Weight and we are lucky that we have a huge back catalogue of shades which if we need to we can take from and bring back. In recent years we did that with FC11 and FC7 which has really added to the palette and although this means saying goodbye to some shades its proof that it doesn't always mean forever! This KAL is a bit different than others we've done before in that you can use as many shades of 2ply Jumper Weight as you want but you must use at least 3 of the new shades. Hopefully it will be a lot of fun! As in the Fire Festival Kal at the end we will have a public vote so its always worth putting something in - you might win! So the KAL: what we want you to do is - Knit a garment or accessory using J&S 2ply jumper weight only. at least 3 shades must be from our newly brought back colours: 90, 16, FC21, 32 and 1282. As many other shades can be used as you want. the item must use Fair Isle knitting/ stranded colourwork. That's it! The KAL begins on February the 2nd and runs until until the 2nd of May. Now the new/old colours: 16 is a lovely bright blue 32 is a bright bronze 90 is a peachy orange FC21 is a lovely marled lavender And 1282 is a marled mid green. All the new colours are now on the online shop and if you would like to take part there will be chat and discussion in our Ravelry group, if you share any progress photos on instagram use the #nckal We'll be back with some colour combo inspirations soon but until then happy knitting and planning!
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Jamieson & Smith: A Shetland Story
Hello everyone, we have survived another Shetland Wool Week! I will be doing a post later in the week about what we got up to (spoiler alert: we sold a lot of wool) but for now I have something exciting to share - our newest book, Jamieson and Smith: A Shetland Story is available now!! Its been quite the labour of love and we are all very proud of it. The book contains the history of the company by Oliver which goes from its beginnings at Berry Farm to where we are today - no mean feat, but we have done it in the most concise way we could and it contains lots of photographs from over the years which haven't been seen before. It gives you a great insight into what we do here and where we come from, the green doors have been a fixture of North Road for decades so it was only right they graced the cover. And alongside the history we have a range of patterns beautifully photographed by Liam Henderson and modelled by May Graham and Tim Matthews.. Olivers Hat by Sandra Manson knit in Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight Tussacks Shawl by Gudrun Johnston knit in Shetland Heritage Noostigarth Cowl by Kharis Leggate knit in Shetland Chunky Uyea Legwarmers by Ella Gordon knit in Shetland Aran Worsted Vatn jumper by Mary Henderson knit in Shetland Aran Worsted Houss Socks by Lesley Smith knit in Shetland Heritage Glebe Jumper by Sandra Manson knit in Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight Vaara Vest by Mary Jane Mucklestone knit in Shetland Heritage Hevdadale Tam and Scarf by Mary Handerson knit in Shetland Heritage The Silwick Vest by Sandra Manson knit in 2ply Jumper Weight There is more information about yarn quantities etc on the Ravelry pages for the patterns, see here and if you would like a copy of the new book you can purchase it here. In time there will be a PDF version but for the moment it is only available in paperback, we hope you love it as much as we do! Happy knitting x
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Bousta Beanie KAL - choosing colours
Its been a bit of a dreich and damp day in Lerwick today so the thought of a nice new knitted hat is ideal! Our Bousta Beanie KAL kicks off on Monday and there is already a lot of good chat in the Ravelry thread. I thought I'd do a quick post about choosing colours - that is probably my favourite but also sometimes the hardest part of knitting Fair Isle. The good thing about the Bousta Beanie is there are only three shades needed so that makes it a bit easier - One fail safe way I think is to either choose a nice light main colour.. like these.. (all hats are taken from here ) Or dark like these.. You can see on the lighter background ones that the contrasts are either dark or quite bright shades so they will always stand out well, this is the same with the darker main coloured ones above with the lighter/brighter contrasts. It can take a bit of trial and error but if you follow this general idea you will get a hat with enough contrast. If you take a photo on your phone and put it into black and white you will also get a good idea as to whether there is enough or even too much contrast. You can see above 81 is a perfect dark MC and 202 and FC61 are tonally similar but different enough to make a good pair of contrast colours. If you want to take inspiration from a photo there are a couple of good apps which you can download for Iphone (i'm sure similar ones are available for android) They do much the same thing, which is you add a photo and the programme chooses the main colours in the picture. The one on the left is Adobe Colour and the right is Pantone studio, there doesn't seem to be a way to get less than 5 colours but it still gives you some good ideas and put together pleasing combinations that you wouldn't have thought of! I took those photos in the Flower Park here in Lerwick but you could use any picture to give you ideas, I think this works well if you want to go for a more subtle colour scheme which also looks lovely in this pattern. Another thing you can do of course is swatch! As you will be knitting the hat in the round its best to swatch in the round too and you can follow this tutorial for swatching circularly flat (it is for plain knitting but you can use it for Fair Isle too) You will be able to finalise your colours and also check your gauge! I hope this has given you some ideas and you are ready to start the Bousta Beanie from Monday! feel free to chat in the thread on Ravelry and use the #boustabeaniekal on instagram. We've had a busy week with the Voe Show last week, Cunnigsburgh Show on Wednesday and Waas Show tomorrow so I'll be back next week with some photos from the shows. Happy Knitting!Save
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