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More Patterns..
Hello everyone, this week's patterns have been uploaded to Ravelry and Loveknitting (soon to be Lovecrafts) We've chosen a mix of Fair Isle and lace this week - and I know it is a heatwave in many places so it might seem a bit strange to be thinking about Gloves and Hats but we are sitting in a usual Shetland Summer day of 11 degrees..! The Fair Isle Cap was a design we published in 2012 at the launch of our Shetland Heritage yarns, worsted spun to match items in the Shetland Museums collection. This hat is knit fully lined with a plain inside and a traditional Fair Isle outer. Skerry Gloves is a design we recently commissioned from Lesley Smith as we felt we were missing a traditional Shetland Glove pattern, it features a traditional Norwegian Star and is perfect for using up your odds and ends of 2ply Jumper Weight. We decided to also make available one of our all-time best selling patterns - the Gibbie Shawl, named after our former manager Gibbie Johnston and designed by Gladys Amedro. Knit in 1ply cobweb the pattern is written out line by line and not charted and the abbreviations used are those Gladys Amedro coined so although different to modern abbreviations once you get them, you get them! The Shetland Bound stole was designed for our Lace Collection in 2012 by Monqiue Boonstra, knit in our 1ply Shetland Supreme yarn, it is a beautiful and impactful lace project. Perfect for when you want more than a scarf but not a wedding ring shawl! We hope you are enjoying being able to get some of our patterns as downloads and we thank you for the feedback we've had, remember if there are specific patterns you would like to see please leave a comment. Happy Knitting!
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Pattern PDF's
Hello everyone, its the beginning of another busy summer here in Shetland. We have lots of tours during the summer and gearing up for another Wool Season but as always we are working behind the scenes on lots of things - for a while now we have wanted to make available our single patterns as PDF's as well as in kits we sell. To begin with we have chosen to make the patterns available on Loveknitting. (also now available on Ravelry!) We decided to start with a selection of our Fair Isle patterns knit using 2ply Jumper Weight: The Roadside Allover, Antarctica Jumper, Antarctica Set and one of our most popular patterns the Hairst Yoke. These are all great examples of Shetland designs by a Shetland designer - Sandra Manson who you will have met if you've ever been in J&S is the designer of all 4 patterns and I think her expert colour sense can be seen in them all. The Antarctica Set was released in 2012 and you may remember they were released after being made for Dr Alexander Kumar on his research trip to Antarctica, the set includes a Double layer hat, neckwarmer/cowl and mittens. The Antarctica Jumper is knit using the same motifs and colours and is knit from the bottom up with steeks for the armholes and neckline, this is a traditional Shetland technique where extra stitches are cast on and then cut open later so you can continue knitting in the round. The Roadside Allover features the same construction, it was knit for Oliver to wear at Edinburgh Yarn Festival as his Wool Week Patronage was announced in March. it features a softer but equally striking colour scheme. The Hairst Yoke is our version of a traditional Shetland Fair Isle yoke, it is one of the most well-known Shetland styles and we released this pattern in 2013, it has been one of our best sellers ever since. A Fair Isle yoke is a great way to use up your odds and ends and if you use a cone for the main shade it can be a very economical project. So you can find these patterns on our designer page on loveknitting here and on Ravelry. We will be adding more over the next while so let us know of any of our self published patterns you would like to see as an individual PDF. Happy knitting!
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Roadside Allover
Hello everyone! We have been delighted with the feedback on the Roadside Beanie, both here in Shetland and at Edinburgh Yarn Festival over the weekend. If you were there you may have seen Oliver in a very striking Fair Isle Jumper - which is what we are sharing today! When Oliver was thinking about going to EYF he asked Sandra if she would make a jumper for her, so in a couple of weeks (!) she knitted up the Roadside Allover for him to wear when he got to Edinburgh. It was a design she had made before and we all agreed he would really suit the colours. It features a mix of blues with some surprising shades thrown in and a lovely all over OXO pattern. Its knit in the traditional Shetland way - in the round with steeks added in for the armholes and neck. Me and Oliver headed down the new pier in in front of J&S a few weeks ago to get some photos and it fitted in perfectly with the fishing boats So if you would like to knit yourself a Roadside Allover you can find the kits on our website here, we are running out of a few shades which feature in both the Roadside Beanie and Allover but we are expecting a stock delivery in the next week or so so if you see anything sold out dont panic, Happy Knitting!
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Roadside Beanie
Hello everyone, today is the first day of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival marketplace, Derek and Sandra are there (if you are going we can be found at stand K8) but Oliver is also down because he has been announced at this year's Shetland Wool Week Patron! We are very excited of course as Oliver was instrumental in organising the first Shetland Wool Week 10 years ago as J&S founded the event. It has gone from strength to strength every year so for the 10th anniversary, it's great to see such an important figure in the Shetland Wool Industry as the patron. Oliver's design - the Roadside Beanie has been launched today and you can find kits here on the website and the pattern here on the Wool Week website. The design features common motifs for a Shetlander, sheep and fishing boats! To learn more about the Roadside Beanie have a read of the pattern. We are extremely proud of Oliver and look forward to seeing all the Roadside Beanies this year. Happy Knitting!
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Post Shetland Wool Week
Hello everyone! Things are getting back to normal after another great Shetland Wool Week, we were extremely busy which meant we couldn't do our usual blog update so I'm very sorry about that but I would highly recommend looking through the Shetland Wool Week 2018 hashtag on instagram - it gives you a great insight into what everyone was up to! As our bags say - Wool Week never ends for us but we have just put some copies of this years Annual on to the online shop which contains lots of great patterns by visiting but mainly Shetland designers as well as interesting articles including one on the Herring industry which features some great pictures of where we are in the North Road including this one below on the right which shows our 'Tin Kirk' shop in the background. There are lots of great patterns in the Annual and 5 use J&S 2ply Jumper Weight in them - You could make yourself a perfect winter wardrobe using just these 5 patterns! l: Antidote Mittens by Outi Kater m: Kliek Cardigan by Marjolein Reichert r: Foula Snood by Donna Smith l: Skalavag Mittens by Tori Seierstad r: Einar Hat by Ella Gordon We also have some 2017 Annuals so if you missed out last year I would snap it up, they are definitely collectors items and very worth having in your knitting library. Of course the Annuals also contain the official Wool Week pattern for that year - so last years has the Bousta Beanie and this year the Merrie Dancers Toorie. That leads us onto another fun Wool Week themed kit we put up just before Wool Week but didnt get a chance to post about: Patron Packs! We asked all the patrons there have been for Shetland Wool Week so far to choose their favourite 8 shades of 2ply Jumper Weight. We've put them together for you and you can find them on the online shop here. Its a great way to build up your jumper weight stash with colours you maybe wouldnt have chosen! If you came to Shetland Wool Week we would like to thank you for visiting and supporting this event, it is an extremly important week for us and we appreciate all of you that came to see us. If you didnt visit us thank you for being patient with us while we try to get back to normal!
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Cunningsburgh Show 2018
Hello everyone, we had a lovely day at the Cunningsburgh Show on Wednesday so I thought I'd share some pictures. Derek and Oliver were down to judge the raw Wool and I came to judge the Colourbox Competition: You will know by now that every year we choose 8 colours of Jumper Weight which is then used by knitters to create Fair Isle garments and accessories - this year there was also a miscellaneous category which included the blanket you can see in second photo. There were lots of entries again and as always it was extremely hard to judge. The garments were also a very high standard and its amazing how different each one can look using the same colours! As I was waiting for Amanda and Janet (seen judging the gloves) to finish their bit so we could decide on the trophy winners I took some pictures of the other knitwear. There is always some lovely stuff entered and the lace in particular was very beautiful. At the Cunningsburgh Show you can enter no matter where in Shetland you live so there is always a wide range of entries. So once we had done our bit I went for a wander around and saw all the other things on show, as has been the case the last couple of years it was a lovely day so it was great to go around and see all the animals and other entries: So tomorrow me (Ella) and Sandra will be heading to Waas for our final Show visit of the season - phewf! there are still a couple more but these (at the moment) are the only ones with the Colourbox Competition. We hope you enjoy seeing the pictures! Happy Knitting!
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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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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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Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters Vol. 1
In March the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers released their latest book of patterns - Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters Vol 1. The book contains 15 original patterns by designers and knitters in the Guild and based at the time of writing in Shetland. It's an inspiring group of patterns ranging from small items up to garments and features a good range of adult and children's items: Seaness Phone Cover by Irene Copperwheat, Quarwall Triangular Shawl by Lauretta Robertson and Quarry Hat and Mitten Set by Alice Pottinger Clover Brimmed Hat by Ina Irvine, Jemina Hot Water Bottle/Ipad cover by Wilma Couper and Kae Waistcoat by Susan Johnson When you think of Shetland knitting the most common weight of yarn used is what we call Jumper Weight - a woollen spun 4ply weight yarn available in lots of colours which make the shading of colourwork pop, these patterns in the book either use our 2ply Jumper Weight or Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight: Sandison Yoked Jumper by Hazel Tindall and Pole Star Mittens by Joan Poleson Meenie Wristwarmers by Barbara Cheyne and Hvarfi Gloves by Pearl Johnson Snow in Kergord Mittens by Outi Kater There are also three patterns in the book which use our Shetland Heritage yarn, both dyed and natural. The Shetland Heritage is slightly lighter weight than Jumper Weight. As it is Worsted Spun the yarn has a softness and drape which makes it perfect for people who find Shetland Wool slightly itchy - the Vailima Cardigan and Frances Frilly Pixie are both for children which the heritage is great for. The Tangwick Tank top in the Natural Heritage is a lovely lightweight top perfect for warmer days but also for layering in the colder months (more often than not in Shetland!) Vailima Cardigan by Ruby Williamson Tangwick Tank Top by Sara Leith Frances Frilly Pixie Hat by Linda Shearer Congratulations to the Guild on the publication of the new book, you can purchase it here on our website and we look forward to seeing Volume 2! Happy Knitting!
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