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Laebrack Colourways
The Laebrack pattern, designed by Margaret Stuart is a classic Shetland Lace jumper, featuring bands of colour which due to the stitch pattern - Old Shell, creates a lovely wave effect. Its knit in the round to the armholes then the front and back are worked separately, the sleeves are knit in the round too. Laebrack is shetland dialect for the breaking of the waves on the Seashore and you can really see why! We recently reprinted this pattern and have added a chart for the motif but its also in written form in the pattern too, its a very simple but effective pattern, its made in our 2ply Lace Weight: L-R: L95, L101, L203, L27, L54 The original colourway in the pattern is above, its a lovely mix of greys and pops of pink, but we thought we would share some other possible colourways: Naturals L-R: L1A, L202, L3, L4, L5 Green & Grey L-R: L69, L40, L27, L54, L77 More pinks L-R: L43, L95, L203, L27, L54 Yellows and Naturals L-R: L96, L28, L202, L3, L4 Orange & Browns L-R: L38, L53, L78, L4, L5 You might also remember a few years ago an image from the Netflix drama 'Rebecca' went semi-viral as people looked for the pattern, it is extremely similar to the Laebrack and may even have been made at one time from that pattern, we put together a colourway based on it too!: Rebecca - L-R: L152, L150, L14, L40, L69 for Laebrack we would put them in this order but would always advise swatching: A - L40, B - L150, C - L69, D - L152, E - L14 2ply Lace is a great yarn for lighter weight and more summery garments, its available in 30 shades, many of them vintage inspired and there a great selection of dyed natural shades in the range too. You can find the Laebrack pattern here in a paper copy or here and here digitally, its also in a book which is out of print but you can find it used very cheaply - The Traditional Sweater Book by Madeline Weston (ive linked to amazon but you should be able to find it from many used book sellers) the book contains lots of great traditional patterns from around the UK so its a great purchase anyway! We hope you are having a nice Summer however the weather is beside you, we are in a spell of dull, windy, rainy weather here so we are hoping for an improvement soon, happy knitting!
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Videos
Hello everyone! You may remember during 2020 and 2021 when we had no in-person Shetland Wool Week we decided to produce along with Keiba Clubb online videos, featuring some of the classes we usually host at Wool Week. They are a great source of tips, tricks and information, so we thought we'd highlight them here! In 2020 we had two videos from Wool Week patrons, one being the current one, Alison Rendall and Fair Isle Cuffs and Thumb Gussets and Knitting a Fair Isle Bookmark with Hazel Tindall, this is one of our most popular classes we hold at Wool Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CZmq60jkSA&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbdrvBhuZSwNKyzjm7PcsmJ_ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cygWM1e_sw0&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbdrvBhuZSwNKyzjm7PcsmJ_&index=3 We also have two videos from J&S staff, one from Ella all about our yarn ranges, and one from Oliver about sorting and Grading Shetland Wool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rCR3WHHSIs&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbdrvBhuZSwNKyzjm7PcsmJ_&index=6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMMpv-k2p4&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbdrvBhuZSwNKyzjm7PcsmJ_&index=5 in 2021 we added more videos, one from Alison about Edging and Ribbing in Fair Isle, another from Hazel about Belts and Basics, a great all-around tips video and a great video about knitting glove fingers in Fair Isle with Lesley Smith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoY6ypmFfpc&t=878s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YIPTy26vmI&t=1783s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAqJy76a1Bc&t=524s We also had a few more videos from J&S, one about Speed Swatching for Fair Isle with Ella: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKbE4XL8QiI&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbcXGS7ROlKZuFaZPXHmZezS&index=4 And two videos from Oliver all about his working life at J&S: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSGp1e4FTls&list=PLE1uY31y5ZbcXGS7ROlKZuFaZPXHmZezS&index=5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-R3bc5vYOs We hope you agree there are some great tips and stories in these videos, you can find these and all our other videos on our Youtube Channel here, happy knitting!
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5ply Shetland
Hello everyone! The dust has settled on another Shetland Wool Week and we had a great and really busy time, during SWW we launched a new yarn range in the shop and we are delighted to say it is now available Online - 5ply Shetland! As a company that's been around for a while (we just had our 72nd birthday in September!) we have produced many different ranges over the years, our main focus has always been creating yarns that work for both traditional and timeless knitting styles. One thing we have often been asked about is a yarn that would work for knitting fine textured patterns like Ganseys. Alongside Shetland's traditions of Fair Isle and Lace knitting there is also evidence of this kind of workwear knitting, as we are a place with so much Fishing and Fishermen coming through this also meant traditions from other knitters came to Shetland and were exchanged with knitters here. Many women who worked in the fishing industry, often as Gutters would also travel down to different places to work, from Shetland along the Scottish north East coast, further south to the East Yorkshire coast of England and to East Anglia. In this way they would have seen, learnt and absorbed Gansey style patterns and techniques. Fishermen and Herring Workers in Lerwick Harbour, reproduced here with thanks to Margaret Wright So when we had the opportunity to develop a new range we thought why not make the kind of yarn we have probably been asked for the most, and 5ply Shetland is the result! The yarn is 100% Real Shetland Wool and uses the Grade 3 wool, this is slightly hardier than what we usually use for our knitting yarns but we wanted a hard-wearing quality and due to the yarn being Worsted Spun (combed rather than carded) it meant we could use a slightly rougher grade as the spinning process improves the handle of the yarn. It's really important to try and utilise as much of the wool clip as we can and we are really happy to be able to add some more value to this grade. For the colours we worked with local photographer John Rollo to see the common shades in our environment, the colours of the sky, sea and land in Shetland are so varied and such a constant for us here that they are an endless source of inspiration. The yarn is a standard 5ply/Sportweight yarn and is available in 50g balls and 250g cones. We started with White and a Natural Grey mix as our two bases, there are 13 shades dyed on the White as seen below: then for something special we chose 5 of these shades and also dyed them on the Natural Grey base, these are the Twilight shades: Turquoise Twilight, Lavender Twilight, Mustard Twilight, Scarlet Twilight and Rust Twilight Lavender Twilight and Lavender It's really interesting to see how the base changes the colour of the yarn and this adds a heather to the colour that will not detract from any stitch pattern. The mix of solid and heathered shades is really beautiful and we are delighted with them. The yarn itself has beautiful stitch definition and we hope you like it! Mustard Yarn Information 100% Real Shetland Wool Worsted Spun 5ply/Sport Weight, wpi 16 115m/125yds per 50g ball 575m/625yds per 250g cone suggested needle size 2mm-3mm Available in the shop and online here We have made quite a small batch for the first lot so it is not currently available for our wholesale customers but if you own or have a Local Yarn Store that you would like to carry it in the future please contact wholesale@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk to register interest. It will be available to our stockists as soon as the next batch is ready. Happy Knitting!
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Catch Up
Hello everyone, happy weekend! Sorry things have been a bit quiet here, we have had a really busy few months since our last post! Things are cooling down fast here in Shetland and we had our first snow last week - it's all gone already of course but it will be back! We thought we'd do a quick catch up post of some of the things we've been enjoying lately: Over the past few weeks we've been working on adding all our Yoke Cardigan and Jumpers to the Online Shop, we work with a number of local knitters on our yokes so each one is totally different - something we love about them but it means it takes us a while to get them all up! but for the moment the current stock is all online and available, you can see them here A few weeks ago we got in stock of our 1 and 2ply Supreme Lace in a shade we've not had before - Light Grey! this is a truly beautiful undyed and completely natural Shade which we have in other ranges but have never had before in the Supreme Lace. As its a natural shade we don't know if we will have it again but we currently have it in both ball and cone in both weights, it really adds to the palette and offers another light shade, you can see it here alongside the other 2ply Shades: We also added recently added some new patterns and kits, on our new online shop we can offer the paper patterns individually which means you can add them to your order or change colours and we are loving seeing how many of you are picking them up, you can see all the Patterns we have here Some of the new kits we've added are the Radiant Star Mitts, Croft Cowl and Radiant Star Cowl by Ella Gordon and Jacks Jacket and Allium Hat and Mitts by Outi Kater. You can see all the kits we have available here There have also been some great new books come out recently - the Shetland Wool Week 2021 Annual, Shetland Trader Book 3: Heritage, and Shetland Wool Adventures Journal Volume 3. They are all filled with beautiful patterns using Shetland Wool and the Journal and Annual both contain articles all about Shetland. Finally, as things have been cooling down we've been keeping warm under our Skye Weavers rugs and are delighted by how many else of you are also enjoying them during this winter! They are made for us by Skye Weavers using our Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight, another of our completely undyed ranges, this week you might have seen our post about the Coloured Wool - we are currently working through these amazing shades in the Wool Store, and its amazing to see these natural shades come back to us as cozy blankets! Oliver in the Woolstore working on the coloured wool. So that's some of the things we are enjoying just now, we are being kept busy with all your orders. We have had some poor weather here which does impact the boats and planes so its worth keeping in mind although we try our hardest to get everything out as quickly as possible there are some delays outwith our control, we hope you are enjoying your December and happy knitting!
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More Wirsit Inspo
Hello everyone, As promised on our last Wirsit Inspo blog here are all the inspiration pictures we have posted on our Instagram and Facebook. Every week I (Ella) scour my photo archives for pictures from all seasons and match them up with 2ply Jumper Weight (mainly due to the shade range but I am always looking to use other ranges too!) So here they are and as long as you keep enjoying them we will keep posting them: Puffin in Fair Isle: FC21, 54, 91, 125, 1, 77 and FC12. Wintery Walks, Lerwick. Shades 1, 75, FC34, FC38 and FC44. Laburnum and Aliums, Lerwick Flower Park, Summer 2020. Shades 23, 123, FC24, FC11 and FC12. 2020 Lerwick Up Helly Aa Galley, shades 1, 121, 1403, 132 and FC41. Stenness Haaf Station, Eshaness. Shades 1A, 90, 142, 78 and 54. Sandy banks of a Shetland Beach, Yell. Shades FC15, FC12, 121, FC43 and 202. Wild and Windy Seas, Lerwick. Shades 1280, FC61, FC35, FC41 and 81. Sea Pinks on the Rocks, Fair Isle. Shades 1, 54, 81, FC11, 52 and 1284. Ronas Hill on Boxing Day, shades 1A, 14, 121, FC55 and FC44. Kegord Trees in the Summer, shades 1, FC11, FC12, 82 and 4. A wintery day on the Westside, shades 14, FC61, 1281, 122 and FC44. Wintery Shetland Pony Foal, shades 122, FC44, 5, FC24, 14 and 1. I hope you enjoyed that, happy knitting!
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Wirsit Inspo
Hello everyone, If you follow our Instagram or Facebook page you will have seen over the past few months we have started doing weekly 'Wirsit Inspo' posts. basically, its where we take an image of something in Shetland and put a palette together inspired by the picture. I have mainly done them in 2ply Jumper Weight but have done one in 2ply Lace and I'm going to try and use more ranges too. When we post them they always get really good feedback so I thought we would share them here too: Seaweed at the Shetland Museum Slipway. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 2. 1281, FC38, FC44, FC11 Seapinks and Sea, Northmavine. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: FC61, 203, 121, 1283, FC12, 4 Wool Bales. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 81, 54, 1281, 2, 202 Peerie Boat, Shetland Museum. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 202, 66, 125, 16, 122, FC14 Scalloway Haa. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 3, 27, 1, 16, 101 Stratsraad Lehmkuhkl, Lerwick Harbour. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 36, 21, FC47, 91, 66, 1 Fading Heather, Nesting. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: FC12, 80, FC38, 1284, FC21, 16 Sunset. 2ply Lace Weight top to bottom: L63, L15, L53, L96, L95 Wintery Beach. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 203, FC39, FC47, FC21, 2 The Lodberrie and Bains Beach. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 77, 54, FC61, 1281, 32 Seapinks, Sumburgh Head. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 81, FC41, FC11, FC6 and 1A As we head into winter here (the sun set at 3.22pm yesterday..) it's great to look back at pictures from seasons past, I will post them here every couple of months but you can follow the #wirsitinspo hashtag on Instagram to keep up with them as we post them, hope this has given you some inspiration, happy knitting! Ella
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Keep Making KAL 2020
Spockies Heylor Gloves Hello everyone, you may remember earlier in the year (somehow this year has been extremely long yet short at the same time!) we announced our Keep Making Knit-A-Long. Our aim for this KAL was to inspire people to just keep making - we are lucky that knitting, crochet, spinning etc is a great help to us all at this time! We wanted to create a place in our Ravelry group that people could share progress, encourage each other and then post their finished objects - we are delighted with how many people posted a finished object, here is a small selection (see here for them all) : trevsters Shetland Heritage Vest ladywulfs Shetland Homespun Hap ginni's Davern Mittens and Tam griseldis's Lockdown Project Bealavenders Porty Pullover We have chosen a winner at random and I can reveal it is Melissa aka silvershoes on Ravelry (I've sent you a message!), thank you to everyone who took part - it has been a great KAL. We try to have one or two knit-a-longs a year so if you would like to take part keep an eye on our Ravelry group* Silvershoes Northumberland Pheasant Happy Knitting! *in the middle of this KAL Ravelry did their site design update which is why we didn't post too much about it for those of you who could no longer use the site, we are hopeful that it will/has become more accessible for those with issues or if you have ideas of other places we could host a KAL please post below.
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Sandra's Supreme Shoormal
Hello everyone, today we thought we'd share something inspiring that Sandra worked on during lockdown - A Shoormal Hap knit in Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight! We launched our Shoormal Hap a couple of years ago, its a classic and timeless Shetland Hap, which is a square shawl that usually has a middle, borders and an edging. These have been made in Shetland for hundreds of years and used for babies, as outerwear and just as a blanket - its a surprisingly versatile item! In the pattern version, Sandra used Shetland Heritage Naturals which worked beautifully - the yarn has an excellent drape and handle but for this version, she decided to use our undyed woollen spun Jumper Weight, Shetland Supreme for a cushier version and I think you will agree it is beautiful! My (Ella's) boyfriend Peter also made me this Hap Board during Lockdown, following the excellent Tutorial on Kate Davies blog but he is a joiner so it came out perfect, so we thought the new Shoormal was a great opportunity to try it out - Nothing looks better than a Hap on Hap board! If you want to make your own Shoormal in Supreme Jumper weight you can find the pattern here or here and you will need: Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight - 50g balls 2005 (Shetland Black) x 6 2008 (Katmollet) x 1 2007 (Sholmit) x 1 2004 (Moorit) x 1 She used the same size needles throughout (5mm) so although the yarn is a bit thicker it came out the same size (45 inches square) perfect for the back of the couch or on your bed. Truly a timeless piece of knitting!
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Shetland College Project 2020
Hello everyone, You may know that every year we work with the Shetland College and their Fine Art and Contemporary Textiles students on a project in which the students create a piece of work inspired by J&S and its buildings and yarns, even though things have been very different this year we did manage to have the usual visits with the students at the beginning of the year before everything shut down so they were able to continue the project and last week I (Ella) headed to the college to see the results of the project. As always we will go through the students work and I'll write a little bit about their inspirations: Shannon Leslie Shannon was inspired from her visit to us and hearing Oliver speak about the importance of Shetland sheep and their colours, marking and existence - She created this collection of beautiful 'lugs' - ears in Shetland dialect from raw wool and combed tops. She said 'We never want these ears to become mere ‘specimens’ of what ‘once was’'. I found the ears very tactile and cute, and I could see links to Museums and Taxidermy which was very effective. Elouise Spooner Elouise was inspired by the markings on the floor in the Woolstore and the colours and textures in the woolstore from the walls, floors and wool. She worked into a sheet using sewing, painting and distressing. She said: 'The phrase ‘Common Land’ took a whole different meaning when put into the context of today, as before it just meant a field used by many crofters for sheep, but in the context of COVID-19 it stands for how people have had to come together in the ‘Common Land’ of the internet and how people have had to become more empathetic with each other as this virus affects everyone. This piece was not what I expected when I first stepped into Jamieson & Smith, but I’m very happy with the outcome.' It was a really effective piece and I liked how it linked into the present as well as the every day in the Woolstore. Jean Urquhart Jean created a selection of sculptural pieces and painting in her work as well as small art book containing samples of fleece paintings which she then took out onto bigger scale wall pieces. She was inspired by the textures and colours of the woolstore which I think translated well into her use of natural colours in the Heritage and Tops. She said: 'I really enjoyed discovering the wool shed, loved the untreated wool, the atmosphere, the history: found it inspirational. The natural yarn is very beautiufl and makes me want to learn to knit' Elaine Thomason Elaine was inspired by visiting J&S and its buildings to create a 'Taatit Rug' which incorporated lots of elements of what we do - including our logo and bannisters! She said: For the last sixty years, J&S have bought fleeces from the Shetland crofters…who graze their hardy peerie sheep on the stark hillsides. In the 1960s the old United Free Kirk was purchased to be used as a grading shed…it is now the Wool Shop. In the 1900s this part of Lerwick was a hive of activity with numerous fishing stations spread along its shores. The shore being the work-place of the Herring girl’s as they gutted and salted fish. The kirk was a place of worship and relaxation for them. The herring girls had a restroom and knitted in any free time. Marriages also took place and even a Post Office made use of the building. This colourful history inspired me. I thought of the poverty of material things and how nothing was wasted. From conception to creation the coming together of the Tattit rug, historical a wedding gift to the bride and groom from both families.' I found Elaine's rug really moving and could totally see all the inspiratrions and how they had translated into the piece. Cilla Robertson Cilla was inspired by the textures in the woolstore and decided to work with crochet and balls to represent the reach of Shetland Wool all over the world. She combined these into hanging almost 'mobiles' Shet said 'I wanted my final work to highlight the environment that supports the production of wool. I used peat, clay, heather and rams’ horns.' I loved the use of different materials withing the work and found them very beautiufl to look at and stand under. Jane Ridland Jane worked with audio and visuals to represent her visits to J&S and what that ignited within her and she made her film from a Grandaughters perspective. She said 'I used film to recreate the rhythmic movement and sound of my grandmother’s knitting needles and highlight the importance of yarn quality, and the essential knitting belt. Finally, to remember a small flock of twenty sheep.' I think the work the students produced considering everything that's happened this year was really great and it's always amazing to see what is produced and how others see coming into J&S and we love seeing work from so many different perspectives. To find out more about the creative courses at the Shetland College click here, we hope you've enjoyed seeing the students work.
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