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J&S Staff Profile: Ella Gordon
Welcome to the first post in a new series about the people behind Jamieson & Smith (Ella Gordon) We'll start by introducing Ella Gordon, who I'm sure many of you will already know as she is the 2016 Shetland Wool Week patron! From her early days at J&S as a Saturday 'shop girl' in 2012, while studying textile design at Shetland College, Ella has continued to develop her creative skills and passion for knitting. We are so lucky to have her working with us as our main blog writer, as well as the everyday busy shop duties of making up orders and assisting customers with their projects. Ella is also great at the graphic design side of things and coming up with ideas for KALs and other fun woolly stuff! What's the best thing about working at J&S? "My favourite thing about working at J&S is meeting so many people from all over the world passionate about Shetland Wool and Knitting. Through things like Wool Week, Ravelry, tours and our blog I feel like I've met lots of people with the same interests as me. I also really enjoy being in the shop and helping people choose colours and patterns. I'm very thankful for being able to have a job in the industry I am interested in which not everyone can say." Do you have a favourite place in Shetland? "I love lots of places up north like Uyea and Fethaland and I recently walked to Lang Ayre but it was such a trek I don't know if I'd do it again! I like walking around the Town as well and I love the south end of Lerwick where the Lodberries are." Uyea (Ella Gordon) South End of Lerwick (Ella Gordon) How do you like to spend your time when you're not at work? "Knitting.. haha! I do spend most my time either thinking about knitting, looking at Ravelry about knitting, reading about knitting and a little bit of time actually knitting! I also like all the usual things like spending time with my boyfriend and family, reading and walking." What's your favourite J&S yarn? "I would say my favourite yarn is probably 2ply Jumper Weight, the longer I work at J&S the more different colours I like. I love greys so 203, 54 and 81 are up there in my faves but I really love FC11 and FC58 - two of the shades I decided to use in my Crofthoose hat!" (Jamieson & Smith) You can follow Ella on: Instagram Ravelry Wordpress Pinterest Save Save Save
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woollen and worsted
You may notice when looking at our website we have quite a variety of different yarns in much the same weights but available in Worsted and Woollen spun variations. I thought today we'd go through and look at the differences of both and why you may choose one over the other depending on your project. l-2ply Lace r-Shetland Supreme 2ply Lace In relation to the fibre preparation before spinning - Woollen spun fibre is carded and this means the fibres are still overlapping having been carded back and forth over each other, this creates a very airy fibre which when spun is warm and springy. Worsted spun however is combed so all the fibres are lying relatively parallel to each other which creates a smoother and stronger yarn, the combing process also removes many of the shorter fibres, one aspect which can be found itchy by the wearer. our new Shetland Heritage Naturals are Worsted Spun I've made this very rudimentary illustration to show what I mean when these two methods are used in a finished yarn: (ignore the similarity to a hairy leg!) The image above also illustrates what it is people sometimes find itchy about wool, those fibres poking out are what irritates the skin and this is why worsted spun can be less itchy than woollen, although worsted spun can still have a visible 'halo' the location of the fibres are not actually poking out in the same way as woollen spun. The reason we have similar weights available in both woollen and worsted is because both approach have pro's and con's and depending on your intended final finish it is always good to have a choice! Woollen Spun Worsted Spun Equivalent 1ply Cobweb 1ply Shetland Supreme 2ply Lace 2ply Shetland Supreme Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight Shetland Heritage Naturals (slightly thinner) 2ply Jumper Weight Shetland Heritage (slightly thinner) Shetland Aran (discontinued) Shetland Aran Worsted In relation to the thinner 1ply yarns Woollen Spun has a crisper feel, whereas the Worsted Spun has more drape and softness. In this photo below you can see the 1ply Supreme (worsted) on the left has more of a halo whereas the 1ply Cobweb (woollen) on the right has better stitch definition - it almost feels like cotton although it is 100% wool. For projects using 1ply you need to think what the finished item will be used for - a baby's christening shawl which wont be used often may benefit from being knitted in the crisper 1ply Cobweb but a stole that will be worn close to the skin and often may be better in Shetland Supreme.The loftiness in the fibre of Woollen Spun yarn means air is trapped within the yarn making it warm to wear, it also is known all over the world for its use in Fair Isle knitting because of the way the fibres interact with each other. In the below image you can see the effect of the two different spinning processes in Fair Isle, worsted spun on the left and woollen on the right. Both successful and traditional in there own right, its only down to your preference. You can see the Shetland Heritage garment has a sheen and flatness whereas the Supreme Jumper Weight garment has a slightly fuzzy look due to the fibre preparation we mentioned earlier.At the top of this post you can see an image of 2ply Lace and Shetland Supreme 2ply Lace next to each other, the loftiness of the Woollen Spun 2ply is evident to see in the thickness of the yarn and the smoothness of the 2ply Supreme Worsted spun is also clear to see. In finished garments these two aspects can still be seen, In the 2ply Lace the crispness works extremely well in traditional Lace patterns and similarly the drape of the Shetland Supreme 2ply also works well in Shetland Lace patterning.Due to the fibres being combed and all the fibres aligning Worsted Spun yarns are very strong and quite hard to break, Woollen spun has the short and long fibres jumbled together so it is easier to pull apart, this is another thing to think about for your finished garment - Shetland Lace can need quite aggressive blocking so it may be worth looking into the Worsted Spun ranges if this is something that concerns you. I hope this quick look into our worsted and woollen spun yarns has been informative and it might make a bit more sense why we have similar weights in both Woollen and Worsted spun! Happy Knitting!
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Spring/Summer KAL 2016
hello! Thank you for the kind comments on our last post, today I'm going to speak about another fun thing we are doing this Spring and Summer. After the success of our Winter Woollies KAL last year we thought we'd try another one! So these are the shades for our Spring/Summer KAL 2016 L-R: 141, 125, 29, FC55, 122, 1281, FC45, 121 The Rules for the KAL are: You must use at least 5 of the 8 shades (no additional shades not listed above) You can make any kind of garment or accessory The item must feature some Fair Isle knitting (two colours per row) The Knit a Long will run until 1st August 2016 I had a look on Ravelry and came up with some patterns which would work great with the KAL, all use Fair Isle knitting and a number of colours. First up is Hats! Clockwise from top left: Green Memories, Seasons Hat, Saudade and Crofthoose Hat Next up is Gloves and Mitts.. Clockwise from L-R: Blomkrans, Maggies Gloves, Margots Garden and Swedish Fish Since it is getting into the warmer months I thought rather than Jumpers I'd share some good vest patterns which are out there, they are perfect for trying out all the techniques like stranded knitting and steeks but without the huge investment which a jumper can be.. Clockwise from L-R: Cruden, Wartime Farm, Islay and Tortoise and Hare I hope this has given you some ideas for the KAL! if you want to take part we have a thread on Ravelry about it which you can see here, so come and join the conversation, and you can buy the shades here from our site. Happy Knitting!
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Natalia's Yoke
Today we have an exciting new pattern to share, we often get asked about childs yoke cardigan patterns, much like our adult Hairst Yoke. This is one of the many kinds of patterns Shetlanders pass down generation to generation which makes it difficult to find a traditional pattern to make, but now Sandra has designed one for us! The cardigan is called the Natalia Yoke, named after our very cute model and Kharis' niece. It is knit using 2ply Jumper Weight and comes in sizes 22 inches up to 28". It is knit traditionally in the round with a steek but it also includes instructions for if you wanted to knit it flat, the relatively small size makes it a great first steeking project, and as there are only 3 different contrast shades a great first Fair Isle project too. If you would like to order the kit for the Natalia yoke you can do so on our website here! happy knitting!
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2358
Sometimes here in Shetland its easy to forget how far-reaching our yarns can be. As you probably know, every year we take place in the Colourbox challenge with local agriculture shows, see posts here and here. Well our friend Mary Jane Mucklestone was teaching at Vogue Knitting Live last week and she had the idea to try a mini colourbox challange with her students, so using this years colours, the students set about knitting their own Fair Isle using the colourbox shades They were very lucky because there were a few Shetland Ladies kicking about New York last week and noted Shetland Designers Hazel Tindall and Wilma Malcomson were both available to judge the entries, just like we do here! After some deliberation (by the looks of it!) Hazel and Wilma chose their winners.. So congratulations ladies! We would have loved to have been there and seen J&S in the wild in New York Happy Knitting!
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Winter Woollies KAL 2015
We have had a busy few weeks since we came back after the Christmas break, so one thing I haven't had a chance to do is reveal the winner of the Winter Woollies KAL we had towards the end of last year. If you want to read more about what we did, see here and here. So after a lot of deliberation we choose Bev's project as our winner! Bev actually used all the shades in her Hat and Mittens, we only required 5 or more to be used but we thought she put them together so well in her finished project, look at that lovely corrugated rib! For her prize we sent her a copy of our book Knit Real Shetland and a selection of 2ply Jumper Weight in her choice. If you want to see some more examples of what people made, have a look at the finished objects thread on Ravelry here. If you have any ideas of different kinds of Knit a Longs you would like us to do, leave a comment here or send us an email: mailroom@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk we had great fun doing it and would love to do more! Happy Knitting xx
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Winter Woollies KAL - so far...
We are now less than a month away from the end of the Winter Woollies KAL, and we have been so pleased with the amount of orders going out all over the world!! I thought I'd share some of the finished projects so far.. clockwise from top left: selkie72's beret, nirua68's fingerless gloves, finelighness's hat and deborahgray's boot toppers To see some of the pieces people have already finished have a look at the finished objects thread in our Ravelry group here. Theres also lots of chat and discussion in the general Winter Woollies KAL thread and people are sharing some of their progress shots, you can see that here Photos taken from the Winter Woollies KAL thread The KAL runs until the 15th December, we are loving seeing all the things people are coming up with so keep it up! The weather has turned in Shetland and on Saturday we had our first bit of Snow, in true Shetland form it is windy and rainy today but it was nice while it lasted and we are beginning to get very thankful for our woollens at Jamieson & Smith, til next time, Happy Knitting!
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Winter Woollies KAL: colour and patterns
Hello! We are so excited as to how many of you have picked up the colours for the Winter Woollies KAL! there is still plenty of time left to get involved so today I thought I'd share some of our thought on the colours and a few ideas for free patterns available on Ravelry. As you know the Knit A Long requires you to use at least four shades so we (Me -Ella, Amy and Kharis) tried to pick 2 lots of four shades of 2ply Jumper Weight that worked together. Our first group is shades 1,203,FC34 and FC41 To us these colours make us think of dark nights, snow, ice, stormy skies and seas.. all typical of a winter in Shetland! our second group is FC43, FC38, 65 and 9113 These colours are more 'inside' inspired shades - roaring fires, christmas trees, baking and mulled wine. We hoped by having these two groups it might give people more ideas - of course you can mix and match to your hearts content, it is just a starting off point and by changing one or more you get a different look - Sometimes it can be daunting to try and come up with a pattern too, even once you have decided on your colours.. To that end I thought I'd show you some fun patterns all available for free on Ravelry - they all call for fingering weight yarn which is what 2ply Jumper Weight comes under and a few even call for 2ply Jumper Weight exactly (Fair Isle Cuffs, Kite Mitts, Shwook hat) so all you have to do is pick your colour arrangement.. clockwise from top left; fair isle cuffs, kites, far me socks, classic colourwork cowl retro sampler, snowflake fingerless mitts, solidago socks, shwook hat sheep may safely graze, tourbillon, stem and leaf cowl, fair isle flower sock You will see some of the patterns only use 2 or 3 shades, all this means is you will have to add a couple more shades in to get to your 4 colours. This is easily done by doing a bit of background shading or foreground shading. If you feel you need to rechart the Fair Isle into your colours there are a few good free options - one is this Chartmaker which is free, there are also a few good tutorials online about using Microsoft excel to colour a chart (like this one) I hope this has given you some ideas! We cant wait to see peoples ideas begin to take shape - remember to tag your project on ravelry and instagram using #winterwoolliesKAL and to share your projects in the group on the Jamieson & Smith Lovers group page Happy Knitting!
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Yarn Series - 2ply Jumper Weight
As mentioned in our last post we are starting this part of this series with our most famous yarn - 2ply Jumper Weight! This yarn is a Shetland classic and this weight of yarn is what almost all knitwear in Shetland is made from. From hats,gloves,scarfs,mittens and up to classic allovers and yokes this weight of yarn is perfect for colourwork and lace alike. Lightweight, warm but strong 2ply Jumper weight is a Woollen Spun yarn made from 100% Shetland Wool from sheep in Shetland. We currently sell this yarn in over 90 colours, spanning all colours of the rainbow and a few in between... It was 1968 when Jamieson & Smith began to introduce knitting yarns into our business in order to sustain the employment and increase returns. It was decided to enlist T.M Hunters of Brora as the spinner, this was an obvious step as Hunters had been the main spinner of Shetland Wool since 1901. J&S had been hand sorting Shetland Wool for many years and they then created a 'Wool Bank' at Hunters and it was kept there in storage and the wool was drawn from the stock as and when it was needed. At first we started with the five natural shades: fawn, moorit, black, silver grey and dark grey. These shades were dyed to give a constant shade which you can't do with undyed yarns as they tend to change due to the coloured wool stock available. These shades are still available and are numbered 202,4,5,203 and 54 respectively. The yarns were spun to a Gala count, a woollen spun count system used in the Wool trade in Scotland and Ireland, the count is the number of hanks of 200 yards in one pound weight of yarn. Gala is short for Galashiels, an area in the borders of Scotland famed for its once buoyant textile industry, the 2ply Jumper Weight is a 2/21 Gala count and the New Metric count is 2/8.4nm. In handknitting terms 2ply Jumper Weight is equivalent to a 4ply weight yarn also known as fingering weight. We call it 2ply as it is made from 2plys of yarn but this doesn't refer to the thickness of the yarn. The yarn used to be supplied in hanks or skeins but we have balled it in 25g balls since 2002 which is a good size for Fair Isle knitting. You can see the hanks in this old picture of the shop Knitting comes in and out of fashion in Shetland as it does everywhere, although we have always and will always have knitters in Shetland various things over the years has meant the popularity peaks and dips. Unfortunately it has always been that Shetland knitters skills are highly undervalued and therefore underpriced, see Rosalyn Chapmans article in 60 North Magazine (page 11) Sadly this was the fact of life over the centuries where the merchant dictated the terms to the hard pressed knitter. Things like the Oil Boom era in the 1970's and its subsequent higher wages meant Shetland knitting began a steep decline and the 1980's were particularily tough for us and other textile businesses in Shetland. The reason I talk about the decline is to highlight than in order for us to keep making Shetland wool we have to make some tricky decisions and that did mean that over the years we had to cut colours of the Jumper Weight but we are refining it as we go, adding and removing colours as the trends change. Luckily at the moment we are currently experiencing a huge popularity in Shetland Wool and the Shetland style of knitting and rightly so thanks to things like Shetland Wool Week, the work of designers such as Kate Davies,Gudrun Johnston (and many,many more) and tied to that the strength of social media and how the internet open us up to a huge audience. As well as the yarn being availlable on ball we also sell 2ply Jumper Weight on 500g cones, on cone the yarn is oiled for machine knitting as it helps it go through the machine better but we are often asked if you can use it for Hand knitting and you can. The oil is synthetic and will easily wash out, we would always encourage you to wash your finished items anyway but if you have used oiled yarn it is a must. The yarn will feel a bit thinner and might stain your fingers while you knit with it (especially darker shades with stronger pigments) but once it is washed the yarn will bloom and relax into its normal thickness. You might also wonder why we dont have all the shades available on cone at all times, the reason is we order balls and then get some on cone so we dont reorder until the ball stock goes down and as a result the cones will usually run out before we reorder. If you have every visited our shop in the North Road in Lerwick you will know almost half the shop is taken up with the 2ply Jumper Weight, It runs in numerical order up the right hand side of the shop from shade 1A up to FC64 (If you every wondered FC stands for Fashion Colour!) As you can believe Sandra spends a lot of time filling up those shelves to keep the shop looking lovely and tidy. This is also where we gather up all the orders so we are forever running up and down this side of the shop! If you are interested in seeing the colours available in Jumper Weight you can order a Shade Card here We'll be back next week with a look at one of our other yarn ranges, Happy weekend and happy knitting!
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