Skip to content
Blog
New Patterns for the Shetland Lambing Season 2013
The Shetland lambing season is in full swing at the moment so there are thousands of little lambs running around the somewhat chilly countryside just now. At home on my own croft we stared lambing 2 weeks ago tomorrow and almost all our breeding ewes have lambed already, so it has been a busy couple of weeks! To celebrate the coming of the next generation of wool providers, we at J&S are releasing 3 new woolly patterns dedicated to them. All these patterns have been designed by Sandra Manson, our knitter-designer extraordinaire here at J&S. They are fun little knits perfect for this time of year as you grab any knitting time you can in between all the little jobs that spring brings. They all use loop stitch and garter stitch and are good projects for a beginner or should only take a few days for the more experienced knitter to make. Monster Muff The Monster Muff came to Sandra around Halloween last year, inspired by the spooky holiday and a desire to create a nice little phone protector. Although it sounds scary it actually turned out quite cute with its pom-pom nose and button eyes. It was designed as a phone protector but can easily be adapted into a little bag, perfect for children, through simply adding on a strap made from leftover yarn. My mam tried this out for my niece; she loves it and has been taking it everywhere and putting all her things in it. You can find the Monster Muff here and can choose any shade you want to make it in here. Monster Mitts The Monster Mitts developed from the Monster Muff as we noticed how cosy this type of knitting is and how amazing looking a pair of gloves made in it would be! At first they just look like a rather woolly pair of gloves until you see the flap on the cuff which makes it look like a little monster has eaten your hand. They're great fun and also a pleasure to knit. You can find the Monster Mitts here and can choose any shade you want to make it in here. Sheep Cushion The Sheep Cushion is personally one of my favourite patterns that we've ever released! It was the idea of Derek Goudie, one of the 'wool men' here at J&S and was developed into this unique cushion by Sandra. Its loop-stitch body emphasises the warm, woolly nature of our Shetland Aran yarn and the garter stitch head, body and legs gives it a beautiful finish. It is also stuffed with our wool cushion filling, a perfect - and eco-friendly - way to finish off this little Shetland Sheep. We purposefully simply called the pattern 'Sheep Cushion' so that you can name your own one anything you wish. As with all our other patterns we would love to see pictures of them when you've finished, as well as hearing what you've named your own little sheep and where they are living now. My mam is currently working on one now in very special colours which I think we're going to call Jeemie Smith. More to come soon... You can find the Sheep Cushion here and can choose any shades you want to make it in here. For most crofters the Shetland lambing season begins a few months later than mainland Britain, at the end of April or start of May, when the weather has hopefully calmed down and is warm enough for the newborn lambs. This includes a mix of breeds including Suffolk, Cheviot, Texel and of course Shetland. Some yarns that claim to be Shetland wool are a mixture of breeds such as these, meaning you don't get the quality of Real Shetland Wool yarns. Most of the wool from Shetland's sheep comes in to us here at J&S where it is hand graded and sorted to make sure only the best Real Shetland Wool is made into our yarns, making sure they are soft, bouncy and beautiful to handle.
Learn more
New patterns in J&S yarn
It has been a crazy couple of weeks at J&S getting some exciting new projects up and running or to the final stages. More about that later. But now we finally have time to share a couple of new designs that are out there that use our yarns with you. Firstly is the Alcott slipover that is highlighted on the front page of The Knitter magazine, where it is featured, as a 'Fair Isle tank top in candy colours'. It is designed by Mary Henderson who is a designer and knitter from Somerset. Mary has a great skill in combining colours in Fair Isle designs. She will be here for Shetland Wool Week giving a class in our shop on using the steeking method, in which participants will be able to knit, finish and take away their very own mug hug in an afternoon. You can find out more about Wool Week classes and events here. Photo: Jesse Wild The following is from the lady herself on the inspiration for the Alcott and looking forward to her Wool Week class: Inspiration comes from many places and happens in unexpected ways. Since the age of 8 I have been in love with Fair Isle knitting - I saw a photograph of a jumper in the Lady's Home Journal (US publication) and wanted to learn how to knit it. It was the start of a lifelong journey. I have been knitting and learning ever since. In 2009 I realised a lifetime dream and travelled to Shetland for the In the Loop conference and finally visited Jamieson and Smith Woolbrokers (having ordered from them many times over the years). I was able to see all the colours and play around with colour combinations: traditional ones plus some unlikely ones. It is great to see how colours work together: how the colours 'in between' change and enhance the main colours and how a single, strong contrast in the horizon line can pull a colourway together and make it sing. Luckily the staff are very tolerant! I put together various colourways and organised for it to be posted home to Somerset. Roll on 18 months. I was very fortunate to be part of the commissioning process for The Knitter - one of the possible samples was entitled Fruit Salad. I worked on a traditional OXO pattern with the colourway based on cross sections of citrus fruit - oranges, strawberries, blueberries - it was based on a colourway I had played with on the counter of the Woolbrokers. I wanted a bright colourway- it is a summer take on the traditional blue, red, yellow, white colourway - pinks and orange with red, shades of blue (towards the green side) with natural white as the background to lift the other colours. I wanted the colours in the 1x1 rib to shimmer as well as mirror the colour sequence in the main body. A word about steeking: after decades of knitting Fair Isle designs - it was time to give steeking a go. It was a revelation! Placing the steeks at armholes and the neck made keeping track of decrease sequences really easy. As a knitting teacher I want to spread the word that it is a useful technique, easy to do with the right materials - Jumper Weight wool is perfect. I will be teaching how to steek during Wool Week in October - participants will be making a Mug Hug in a traditional OXO pattern. It should be great fun. You can order the Alcott kit in a variety of sizes from our website here. This will come with all the yarn required to knit the kit in your specified size but please note that we cannot supply the pattern. You can find that in Issue 56 of The Knitter magazine or purchase it from Ravelry here or The Making Spot here. Photo: Jesse Wild The second of these two new designs done with our yarns is the Damaress jumper by Liz Lovick. This beautiful contemporary garment is done in a classic design which lends itself well as an 'everyday favourite' jumper or one for showing off at a special occasions. Photo: Liz Lovick Liz is a knitter and designer who lives in North Ronaldsay in Orkney and has been a friend of J&S for many years. She has done a number of patterns for us in the past, some of which are being made ready to print to be released soon. Quoting from the Yarn Review in the feature on the Damaress jumper in Yarnwise, Issue 59, she states that "J&S's 2ply jumper weight has been the best yarn for Fair Isle work for generations! The shades blend well with each other, and the yarn is 'sticky' enough to make steeking easy", which is a great compliment for us! You can order the Damaress kit from our online shop here. This will come with all the yarn required to knit the kit to the size you select but please note that we cannot supply the pattern. You can find that in Issue 59 of Yarnwise magazine or purchase it from Ravelry here. Photo: Liz Lovick
Learn more
'Shetland'
As some of you may have noticed Shetland has featured quite prominently in the media recently. First came the 'Shetland Ponies in Cardigans' which made two locals the faces of Visit Scotland's 'Year of Natural Scotland'; then the Dance Pony Dance advert filmed up at Eshaness with ponies from Burra went a bit mad last week; and over the weekend our beautiful islands have featured not once but twice on the BBC with a little snippet of island life shown in 'The Great British Winter' on BBC2 on Saturday and finally the long anticipated 'Shetland' mini-series on BBC1 last night (Sunday). 'Shetland' is a 2-part murder-mystery drama based on Ann Cleeves' novel 'Red Bones' and heavily features Shetland's beautiful landscapes, culture (somewhat skewed for dramatic licence) and knitwear. We were quite excited to spot a few familiar pieces cropping up throughout it, including the Eid Top, Ireland pullover and something that looked remarkably like the Puffin Sweater by Kate Davies, but knitted in natural, undyed Shetland colours. Though it wasn't the Puffin Sweater it was beautiful and gave us great ideas for producing one in our Supreme Jumper Weight... If you recognised any other pieces we would be love to hear about them from you! Also look out for more on the second part of the series shown at 9pm tonight. Kate Davies' Peerie Flooers hat on the left One piece that featured prominently was the Peerie Flooers hat by Kate Davies. If you fancy making your own one Kate recommended shades from us that you could use, creating one that is truly Shetland made from Real Shetland Wool! You can purchase the pattern from Kate here and the shades she recommended are 202 and 14 for the background, and 29, 65, 131, 93, and 91 for the contrast colours.
Learn more
Tobys Coat
Carrying on with the theme of natural colours from yesterdays post we have a new kit to show you today. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Tobys Coat) Last year Sandra knitted her peerie dog Toby a coat to keep him warm, She used the motif's from the Rams and Yowes blanket. When Kate saw the coat on her one of her visits to Shetland last year, they chose to release it as a joint pattern between them, A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing is the result! Toby in his coat, photo by Kate Davies A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing (Tobys coat) uses all nine shades of Shetland Supreme 2ply Jumper Weight and includes the essential pattern features of the Rams and Yowes by Kate Davies. This coat is made from the tail upwards, casting on stitches for the belly and using contrast yarn to create and 'afterthought' front leg openings to be made later. The body is worked back and forth in stocking stitch. The neck is shaped by decreasing, and a ribbed edging is added all around the sides. if your peerie dog could use a coat just like Tobys you can buy the kit here and if you already have the wool you can download the pattern from Kate here woof woof!
Learn more
Christmas Time at J&S
Christmas time has arrived at J&S so we have been happily decorating the shop in between serving customers and packaging up & sending off hundreds of little woolly parcels. Our new kit samples look so Christmassy that they are taking pride of place displayed opposite the Christmas tree. My mam has already finished the Annie Jumper for my baby nephew (with a few alterations, as knitters can do, to fit the little fellow) and is now moving on to the Peerie Bairns Jumper for my neice, so that's some of their presents nearly finished! We also have three new kits on-line to add a little bit more celebration to the occasion. The Fair Isle Cap, like the Fair Isle V-necked Jumper, is from the textile collection in the Shetland Museum and Archives and is made from our Shetland Heritage yarn. It is thought the original came from Fair Isle itself and would have been a fisherman's cap made from local wool, hand spun and dyed. It has a plain lining made from the Peat Heritage Yarn and so it is doubly warm, keeping your head cosy and snug over a cold winter. It is also soft and beautiful and definitely something to treasure. The original Fair Isle Cap from the Shetland Museum and Archives collection The second new kit is the Karelides Cardigan by Outi Kater, a beautiful, Finland-inspired Fair Isle cardigan which makes excellent use of the natural shades of Shetland Wool. Its design reflects the beautiful, subtle nature of this undyed Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight yarn. Kate Davies' Warriston is now available from us not just as a bundle of yarn but complete with beautiful pattern from Kate herself. It is a raglan smock knitted in Shetland Aran with inset pockets, cowl neck, and raglan shaping, perfect for this cold winter weather. This is just one of Kate's stunning designs in our yarn and we hope they keep on coming as she is great to work with. The Heritage Yarn, with its beautiful warm shades that fit so well into our shop's Christmas decorations, has been a huge hit with knitters so far so we are planning on expanding the range of this worsted yarn. It would be great to hear all of your opinions on this and what colours you would like to see, including those discontinued shades of ours that you long to make a comeback. You can leave a message on here regarding this or email ella@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk with your thoughts. We would really appreciate your input. We will be closing on Friday 21st December and won't open again until Monday 7th January so any orders received during this time won't be sent out until next year. But when we get back we will get them out to you as soon as possible. Have a great Christmas period and happy knitting!
Learn more
Brand New Kits!
The hard work is done and the patterns are printed so we can finally reveal four new Fair Isle kits to add to the J&S collection. Two of these are in our 2ply Jumper Weight yarn which I'm sure most of you are familiar with. The other two are in our new Shetland Heritage yarns that are inspired by the original hand spun 'wirsit' that used to be commonplace in the Isles. Three of these were designed by our very own Sandra Manson who is an expert at picking out colours and blending them together in beautiful patterns to create amazing garments. The first of these is the Antarctica Hat, Mittens & Neckwarmer. Sandra initially designed, knitted and gifted these to Dr Alexander Kumar whose address throughout 2012 has been Concordia Station, Antarctica. Dr Kumar learned of the wonders of Shetland wool for keeping you warm when reading of Sir Earnest Shackleton's trip to Antarctica over 100 years ago, when he was protected from the bitter cold with the aid of Fair Isle wool garments. We have had reports back that Sandra's knitting has helped keep Dr Kumar comfortable, or as comfortable as you can be in as cold as -91°C! You can learn more about Alexander's trip here. The second of Sandra's designs is the Peerie Bairns Jumper. This is an extremely cute little thing inspired by traditional Fair Isle patterns handed down over generations. It is completely flexible, with options available in blue or purple and for ages 2, 4 and 6. Though the more adventurous among you could try knitting it in different colours if you prefer - just make a note of the different shades of 2 Ply Jumper Weight you want in the Delivery and Order Comments box at checkout. The Peerie Bairns Jumper will definitely keep your peerie bairn cosy whilst making them look oh-so-cute. The third of Sandra's designs - and her first in our new Shetland Heritage yarns - is the Annie Jumper named after our Ella's neice. The Heritage yarn just oozes authenticity when it comes to Fair Isle knitting and Sandra's use of patterns brings it all together into a lovely little gansey. This yarn is also perfect for knitting for children as it is worsted spun, making it bouncy and soft to touch. The Annie jumper would also be suitable for boys or girls and is available in options for ages 2, 4, 6 and 9. My mam is currently knitting one for my nephew and I cannot wait for him to try it on! The final one of our new kits for now is the Fair Isle V-necked Jumper. The pattern for which is based on a garment in the Shetland Museum's Textile Archive which was one of the inspirations for the new Shetland Heritage range. The yarn for these original pieces was commercially spun but hand-dyed and it looks almost as good as new and very much like the new range. This shows just how well Shetland wool can last if cared for. One of the striking features of the garments in the Shetland Museum's Textile Archive is how they have been patched over time to match the original colours and pattern, giving them a real sense of history and emphasising their beautiful hand-made quality. This jumper truly is an heirloom piece of real Fair Isle knitting and we are very excited to finally be able to offer it to you. Detail from the original museum piece. Image courtesy of Jen Arnall-Culliford The kits are all available now and can be found here! (or directly by clicking on each kit's name above)
Learn more
A Legacy of Shetland Lace
A Legacy of Shetland Lace is a new book released by the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. A collection of 21 stunning projects designed by members of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. The book contains everything from scarves and stoles, to wraps and lace tops. As well as the patterns the book has wonderful pictures and explanations of abbreviations, Shetland words to do with knitting, grafting and finishing. Each pattern is supported by a biography of the designer which charts their story with lace and knitting. There are patterns in this book from some of the best lace knitters in Shetland. Hazel Tindall, Mary Kay, Ina Irvine and Kathleen Anderson to name but a few.. The Legacy of Shetland Lace is a modern and contemporary book that encapsulates our lace knitting history in a group of well designed patterns. photo courtesy of the Shetland Museum and Archives Shetland ladies were (and still are) renowned world- wide for their superb knitting skills and their ability to produce designs from their environment and surroundings. Not only did they carry out most of the croft work they also were accomplished hand spinners and would spin a gossamer fine lace yarn which would be knitted into shawls or scarves. These works of art would be sold to the local merchant or knitwear shop and provide much needed income. All the patterns in the book can be knitted with our Shetland Supreme 1 and 2 ply worsted yarns which come in a range of five natural colours, any patterns calling for 2ply can also use our 2ply Lace Weight Yarn which comes in twenty five shades. There is a lovely pattern by Hazel Tindall which calls for Chunky Shetland wool, in which our Shetland Aran BSS16 would be a perfect match! We at J & S are proud to say that we have reproduced such a fine yarn as used to produce these unique garments all these years ago. In conjunction with our local museum we attempted to revive the art of Lace knitting which was becoming a thing of the past. Part of our inspiration was taken from reading in the local archives that Queen Victoria had stockings made in Shetland from Shetland wool. The yarn used was a combed worsted yarn and not a carded woollen spun yarn, the worsted spinning produces a smoother finer stronger thread which captures the unique characteristics of Shetland wool, especially the soft handle required to wear next to the skin. We congratulate the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters,Weavers and Dyers on their superb publication A Legacy of Shetland Lace. Their efforts and skill carries on the distinct culture and heritage of some of the finest knitters in the world. The book is available here for £23.99
Learn more
More Leaves
We love it so much we can't get enough of the leafy goodness... Get it here, and stick it in a project bag. OOof.
Learn more
New pieces
Some special releases from the Jamieson & Smith archive, because it the company's 65th birthday! And some new designs...Specially for Shetland Wool Week 2011. 1 Eva Shawl 2 Fischou 3 Yuglet Socks 4 Yuglet Hat 5 Harpa Gansey 6 Winter Yoke 7 St. Ninian's Scarf 7 Eid Top x 65, and feeling fresh.
Learn more