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Garment Patterns
Hello everyone, a few weeks ago we launched Sandra's most recent garment pattern - the Joseph Slipover: This tank top features traditional motifs and techniques but uses 10 zingy shades of 2ply Jumper Weight, we have the sample in the shop and everyone comments on just how bright it is! It's knit completely in the round using steeks for the neck and armholes, you might recognise the motif and colours from the Parrots of the Rainforest Mitts, Sandra just wasn't finished with it.. We thought we'd go through our other single garment patterns we have available at J&S, knitting a full garment can be intimidating - especially in fine yarn but we have a wide range of styles to make your entry (or re-entry) into garment knitting as easy as possible! Our heritage and traditions here in Shetland are important to us and our main focus will always be Shetland/Fair Isle or inspired styles so we have a number of Allover garment designs which are as the name implies patterns featuring an all-over pattern: Roadside Allover Lynsey Jumper Fair Isle V-Neck Jumper Antarctica Allover Click here to see the patterns: Roadside Allover, Lynsey Sweater, Fair Isle V-Neck Jumper and Antarctica Allover As well as the Joseph Slipover we also have the Cruden pattern, if sleeves are not something you fancy (unfortunately there are usually two of them..!) Cruden Click here: Cruden and another popular Shetland style - yokes! Adenia Yoke Eid Top Moorie Cardigan Ola Yoke Winter Yoke Sandvoe Hairst Click here: Adenia, Eid, Moorie, Ola, Winter Yoke, Sandvoe and Hairst Yoke Bairns patterns are something we also have a few of - this can be a great introduction to Shetland Garment knitting, all the main skills being used just on a smaller scale: Natalia Bairns Crofthoose Peerie Lynsey Gremista Gansey Perrie Bairns Jumper Click here: Natalia, Bairns Crofthoose, Peerie Lynsey, Gremista Gansey and Peerie Bairns Jumper So that's just some of the garment patterns we have available at J&S, unfortunately, our website doesn't have the capabilities to have kits for all the different sizes but it means you can change colours, add extra balls or just purchase the pattern if that's how you feel! We have the amounts and shades listed on the pattern pages so you can just make a list and add the colours to your basket. Please note: many of these patterns are available digitally either from us on Ravelry or payhip or directly from the designer. If you are outside the UK you might find the p&p is expensive for just a pattern so we would encourage you to see first if it's available digitally or add the pattern to an order. 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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New Colours
Hello everyone, today we are posting about a few new colours we have got back in over the past while in Jumper and Lace Weight, we are lucky that because we have been making yarn since the 1960's we have a huge bank of shades from over the years that we can refer to. We are always looking at what's missing from the 2ply Jumper range and we have recently added 4 new colours: 92 - bright marigold yellow 135 - mid navy 1285 - bright rust mix FC13 - dark red mix We have all 4 shades available on cone and ball at the moment, we are waiting for Shade cards to be printed for the new shades so for the moment they are not on the cards but they will be soon and they are on our digital shade card which you can find here, this is good for looking on a device (phone, laptop etc) but I wouldnt suggest printing it as it wont be accurate. The new shades really add to some of the blending options for Jumper Weight - you can see below how they give just a bit more dimension which works great for Fair Isle knitting. 96, 23 and 1285 21, FC41 and 135 FC55, 87 and FC13 FC38, 122 and 1285 We have also taken back two shades of 2ply Lace Weight: L38 and L62, thes shades round out the 2ply Lace really well: L38 - Bright Sherbet Orange L62 - Marled Blue Purple Mix You can see below how well they go with some of the other lace shades: L-R: L40, L69 and L62 L-R: L125, L38 and L53 And last week we took in a batch of 2ply Lace in L1a - this is our natural white 2ply lace shade which we discontinued a few years ago, so if you are interested in a more 'off white' look for your project in the Woollen Spun 2ply Lace this is a great option and we are not planning to take it back in permanently so grab it while you can! Below you can see it alongside the other 'Natural' - (all shades in the 2ply Lace are Dyed) colours, L-R: L1, L1A, L202, L3, L78, L4 and L5. So thats a few new colours for us, we hope you like them - happy knitting!
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Da Crofters Kep Kit Pre-Orders
Hello everyone, you may have seen that today the new Shetland Wool Week hat pattern - Da Crofters Kep was launched!! Sadly again this year Shetland Wool Week will be online (keep an eye out later in the year for more on that!) but this means that Wilma Malcomson has continued her reign as Patron for another year and designed another beautiful hat, Da Crofters Kep. Unfortunately, even with planning and ordering ahead, we are out of stock of one of the shades (FC38) in the J&S colourway :( Lockdown, coronavirus etc etc has really impacted our production chain as it has for many people and businesses but we are offering a pre-order option for our colourway. If you order it you will pay for it now but it will not be posted until we have the full kit in stock - we are hoping it will be less than a month but we cannot guarantee this, we are asking for your understanding and patience with this and you can be sure AS SOON as that missing shade appears we will be getting those kits out! 2021 Shetland Wool Week Hat J&S Colourway: 2ply Jumper Weight FC46, 82, FC38, 122, 32 and Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight 2005 Shetland Black. As always with the Wool Week Hat patterns we love to see the variety in everyone's finished hats and for this design you need two balls of your main shade (one if you use Shetland Supreme Jumper weight) and one ball each of 5 contrast shades of 2ply Jumper Weight. We cant wait to see everyones Crofter Keps! Happy Knitting! UPDATE 30/4 We now have kits available and have fulfilled all the pre-orders. You can order kits here
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New Rugs!
Hello everyone! today we have some exciting news to share! we just received more of our Skye Weaver Rugs - we've replenished our original grey colourway and added two new colourways: All the rugs are woven in our undyed Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight, 100% Real Shetland Wool in its beautiful natural colours. So our new colourways are: 2007 and 2006 - Sholmit and Shetland Black, 2004 and 2006 - Gaulmogot and Moorit and our original 2003 and 2009 - Sholmit and Yuglet. These woollen spun yarns make for a truly cosy blanket (ideal for the snowy weather we've been having here in Shetland) and are perfect for the back of a couch or on your bed. They measure approx 140cm wide and 190cm long. They are woven by pedal for us by Skye Weavers, we are so excited for them to have arrived! You can find them on our website here.
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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 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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Hand Knits
Hello everyone, happy weekend! Today is just a quick post to show you some of the hand-knit accessories we have in stock just now, first off we have a limited amount of hand-knit versions of Olivers Hat from 'Jamieson & Smith A Shetland Story' These have been hand-knit by the designer, our very own Sandra Manson so this a special opportunity to get your hands on one! We have added a J&S star tag to mark its authenticity: We also have a selection of hats which are knit by a lovely lady here in Shetland, they are all made using vintage and new shades of Jumper Weight and each one is different, so you will never see another the same! And we have some Fingerless Gloves (although that sounds wrong - they do have fingers, just small ones!) and also Fingerless Mitts (no fingers at all, just ribbing at the top) again knit by a selection of ladies in Shetland using vintage and new wool in a range of one-off patterns. Now as most of these are one-offs you need to get in quick if you see ones you fancy! If they have sold out before we get to your order we will be in touch but I thought we would mention them for (ahem ahem) Christmas gifts as due to the ongoing COVID related delays Royal Mail has put in extremely early last recommended posting dates for international Christmas Delivery - we have already passed one of them!! : Monday 5 October All non-European destinations (except South Africa, Canada, Middle and Far East, USA) Monday 12 October Middle and Far East, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa Monday 2 November Canada, Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Turkey, USA Monday 16 November Western Europe So that's some of the accessories we have in stock, they are selling fast already! Happy knitting!
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