Blog
Northern Lights KAL Update
Photo Copyright: David Gifford Hello everyone, we hope you are all doing well and keeping safe in these scary times! We are all fine here in Shetland for the moment but we are of course keeping an eye on all the advice coming in. Since we may all have a bit more time on our hand's thanks to Coronavirus I thought we would remind you about our Northern Lights KAL, which ends in a couple of weeks. What we would like is for you to knit or crochet something inspired by the Northern Lights, that could be using the colours, motifs and shapes often seen - for more info have a look at our original post. There have been some lovely finished objects appearing in the Ravelry group so if you thought you might have time to whip something up that would be great! Here are a few of the shared projects to whet your appetite.. L-R: Eval8, cutty-sark and brisch's projects L-R: NortherlyKnitting, deborahgray and klakla's projects We have a Pinterest board with pictures you can use to get colour and imagery inspiration and we did another post with more ideas. So if you want to take part there is still time and we look forward to seeing all the projects, Happy Knitting and stay safe!
Learn more
Northern Lights KAL Inspiration
Hello everyone, today we thought we'd share some inspiration if you are thinking about taking part in our Northern Lights KAL, there are projects starting to appear on Ravelry and still plenty of time to enter. Now Christmas and New Year are past us there is more time for knitting and certainly, here in Shetland, we are having very dark, windy and rainy nights that just ask for hunkering down and doing some knitting. Photo Copyright: David Gifford I thought I'd share some patterns which could easily be used to convey the feeling of the Northern Lights or even take their inspiration directly from it: L-R: Prairie Stars Gloves - Outi Kater, Sky Gazing Toque - Simone Van Iderstine and Pole Star Mittens - Joan Poleson. L-R: Merrie dancers Toorie - Elizabeth Johnston, Aurora Polaris Cowl- Lou Lachance These patterns all use Fingering Weight/4ply so would work perfectly with 2ply Jumper Weight, this is the range in which we have the widest range of colours but you could take motif inspiration from the patterns and use any weight of yarn - 2ply Lace, Shetland Heritage, The Croft, Shetland Aran Worsted.. Of course, you could choose to go down the Shetland Lace route - I found these two patterns, one of which is directly inspired by Northern Lights: L-R: Merry Dancers - Heather Pfeifer, Shetland Stars Shawl (rectangle) - Monique Boonstra. If you would like to put together your own motifs or patterns there are lots of great books to help with that - some of the best selling ones are: Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila MacGregor and 200 Fair Isle Designs by Mary Jane Mucklestone. The Magic of Shetland lace Knitting by Liz Lovick and Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller I've focused on knitting styles more common in Shetland - Fair Isle/Colourwork and Lace but remember you can use any style of knitting as long as you use all J&S yarns – you can use any, from cobweb up to chunky but to be eligible for a prize you must be able to show it is made in our wool. If you are struggling with colours I've found a few websites you can use, Coolers.co lets you upload an image and puts together a palette from that picture: Adobe Color is another website that lets you search palettes: Some other colours inspiration websites are: Design Seeds, Colour Lovers and Colordot. I hope this has given you some inspiration if you would like to take part, the details of the KAL are: KAL will run until 1st April 2020. You can make any type of Knitted Garment/Accessory or Home item. What you make must only use Jamieson & Smith yarns. Item must be inspired by Northern Lights either in colour, motif or effect – or all three! You can share what you’re making with the #northernlightskal on Instagram and you must tag Ravelry projects with #northernlightskal Happy knitting!
Learn more
More Pattern PDF's Available Online
Hello everyone, we've added 4 more PDF patterns to our Lovecraft's and Ravelry stores this week, they cover a range of classic Shetland patterns: First up is the Yuglet Hat designed by Lesley Smith this is a classic Shetland cap with corrugated rib, traditional motifs and an easy but very effective crown. Its knit in Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight in all Natural shades. The next pattern is our Circular Shaded Shawl knit in Shetland Heritage Naturals, originally designed by Gladys Amedro and knit in 2ply Lace we updated this pattern a few years ago with charts and written instructions. Our Natalia Yoke by Sandra is a classic Bairns Yoke knit in Jumper Weight, 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. Our final pattern this week is the Shoormal Hap, also knit in Shetland Heritage Naturals, this Hap pattern is taken from the Traditional Shetland Scarves and Shawls booklet (Bestway K133) This pattern is described as ‘one of the most widely known and characteristic of Shetland designs..’ we made improvements on the pattern making it easier to follow and knit and have provided both written and charted instructions for the border and edging. So you can find all these patterns on both our Ravelry shop and Lovecraft's page, if you would prefer a paper copy and kit they are all available on the website. Happy Knitting!
Learn more
Shetland Wool Week Scarf Project
Hello everyone, happy Friday! Today we thought we'd share some images of a project we took part in during Shetland Wool Week which was coordinated by Faye Hackers of the Shetland College. The project took inspiration from people known in the Shetland Textile industry who provided Faye with imagery and text about what they love about Shetland, this was then taken by Faye and designed into one-off scarfs which were auctioned off for charity during a silent auction at Wool Week. Among the people asked were J&S's own Oliver and Ella, former patrons Donna Smith, Elizabeth Johnston and Hazel Tindall. For more information see Fayes Instagram posts. We love how different each scarf was: We were happy to donate all the yarn for the project meaning the scarves were knit in 2ply Jumper Weight or Shetland Heritage, in total the auction raised £1,776.00 of which 100% will be donated to charity as we provided the yarn for free. The charities chosen by the individuals were: Cancer Research UK, CLAN, Shetland MRI Scanner Appeal, Mind Your Head, GlobalYell, Lerwick Brass Band and Whalsay Heritage Centre. All and all it was a great project! Model and white photography: Faye Hackers Museum Photos: John Hunter Models: Akshay Borges and Alanah Young
Learn more
Ollie Dolly!
Hello everyone, happy Friday! A few weeks ago we received an email from a customer in Australia, Debra Hinton who had made a doll featuring our very own, and this year's wool week patron, Oliver Henry! Debra had kindly mentioned in her email she would be happy to have the pattern available free so we are offering it to you here if you would like to make your own peerie Ollie! I (Ella) decided to make one and for my first knitted doll - I'm very pleased! I found the pattern easy to follow and it just took me a few nights of working on it before he was finished. It's knit using 2ply Jumper Weight and stuffed with our Wool Balls - I went for shades 21 (blue), 53 (peach) 54 (dark grey) 203 (light grey) and 9097 (red). For the boiler suit details, I used sewing thread held double in a bronze shade. So if you would like to make your own Oliver you can get the pattern by clicking here: oliver henry man of wool doll. Although it is free (for non-commercial use i.e you can make it for yourself or for a gift, not for sale) she did mention she would be happy for people to make a small donation to the MRI Maakers appeal. If you are coming to Wool Week and would like to make one we would love for you to bring your doll so we can take a picture and show Oliver, we'd love to see how many we can see before the Week is out!
Learn more
Unst Show 2019
Hello everyone, me (Ella) and Sandra headed up to Unst on Saturday for the Unst Show. This is a trip which involves getting two ferries so we were up early and make our way up there to judge the knitwear entries which for the first year also included a colourbox section! You will know if you regularly read our blogs or look at our facebook and Instagram that this year we have been to Voe, Cunningsburgh and Walls to judge the Colourbox. This is a selection of 8 shades of 2ply Jumper Weight which we chose - the entrants then have to use at least 5 of the 8 shades in their creations. There was a great mix of garments and accessories and we were really pleased with the number of entries for the first Colourbox at Unst. We also judged the rest of the knitwear and as expected for Unst (known for its beautiful lace) there were some amazing entries - and quite a few Roadside Beanies! Sadly it was a very wet day and although Sandra and I thought we were suitably attired it became apparent very quickly we were not! Luckily our judging was indoors but it meant we didn't get to see all the animals, I had a quick look around the sheep though so thought you might like to see a few damp but happy enough sheep. We also went to the Unst Heritage Centre which was across from the show field (to try and dry off) to look at the amazing lace on show and we really enjoyed that, it is well worth a visit. It was a good trip and marked the end of our show season, the Yell show is on this weekend and that is the last. Summer certainly feels like it's over now but that means one thing - soon its Shetland Wool Week! Happy Knitting! :)
Learn more
New Croft Shades
Hello everyone, happy Friday! You may have seen on our Instagram last week we welcomed 6 new shades of the Croft Yarn, this is a yarn produced by West Yorkshire Spinners using raw Shetland Wool purchased from us! Initially, there were 8 speckled shades then 12 solid were added and with this batch 4 more speckled and 2 solid shades bringing the total up to 26 shades! L-R: Lunna Quendale, Copister L-R: Huxter, Hillswick and Marister It is a great yarn for both colourwork and textured knitting, although named as Aran weight by WYS we would say its more of a Heavy DK / Worsted weight so it can be knitted at a wide range of gauges and it is treated so its machine washable but it still holds a Shetland Wool feeling - just not as rustic as some of our own ranges. Another pattern book has also been added to the range featuring patterns by Mary Henderson and Rosee Woodland, it contains a mix of garment and accessories all knit using a range of the colours. We were also sent a pile of free patterns for this nice hat - which is perfect for one hank! So if you order any Croft Yarn we will include a free pattern (until we run out!) You can find the Croft Yarn on our the online shop here Me (Ella) and Sandra are heading to the Unst Show tomorrow so keep an eye out next week for a post about what we see, till then have a nice weekend and happy knitting!
Learn more
Voe Show 2019
Hello everyone! this past weekend saw the first of this summers agricultural shows here in Shetland and it was the Voe Show, I (Ella) headed up to judge the Colourbox Competition - this is something we do every year with some of the shows, we choose a selection of 8 shades of 2ply jumper weight and then people make things using at least 5 of the 8 shades. This years shades were: 5, FC44, 16, FC46, 32, 23, 91 and FC47 As always the standard was extremely high and it was very hard to judge, its amazing how much the way the colours look changes depending on how they have been put together. I took lots of pictures at the show so here are some of the Colourbox entries: You have to choose a trophy winner from all the firsts and I chose this allover, I loved the corrugated rib collar and cuffs and thought the colour use and pattern were really excellent: The rest of the knitwear entries contained a huge variety of different styles from Fair Isle and Lace and everything in between - you always see amazing uses of colour, design and finishing. After I had finished in the hall with the knitwear I had a wander around the rest of the Show - the sun had come out and it was a lovely day. Apart from knitting, there is all the sheep, cows, horses and ponies, baking, plants, wool, hens, ducks etc etc.. there are also lots of places to get food, ice cream and stall selling things so it's easy to spend a lot of time (and some money!) I hope you've enjoyed this look at some of the things to be seen at this year's Voe Show, Sandra will be judging at Waas and Cunningsburgh in the next week so keep an eye on our Instagram for some pics from those shows, happy knitting!
Learn more
Another Batch of Patterns
Hello everyone, we have had a busy couple of weeks here in Shetland. The Wool Season is well underway and often we struggle to see the boys in the Woolstore under the mountain of Oo! We have been busy in the shop too with lots of visitors and groups, we also recently had the end of our Seasons of the Shetland Crofter competition so we are looking forward to showing you the results of that project - the photos which were entered were great! We have added another batch of 4 patterns to our Ravely and Lovecraft's pages, this week we have chosen the Sissal Mitts and Hat, Eva Shawl, Fair Isle Vneck Jumper and the Pam Shawl. The Pam Shawl is another Gladys Amedro pattern, its knit in 2ply lace and alongside the usual Hap motifs, it also features a cable border and twist motif. it was originally in the Shetland Lace book (now out of print) but we have always had it as a paper pattern so now its available as a PDF. As with many of Gladys' patterns, they follow her abbreviation style which may take a moment to get used to but once you do it makes sense, it is an entirely written out pattern and contains no charts. The Fair Isle Vneck Jumper is from our Shetland Heritage collection and is knit from a garment in the Shetland Museum and Archives, you can see that every lozenge is a different pattern - making it the perfect knit to keep you on your toes! knit in the Shetland Heritage yarn, a worsted spun light fingering weight it is a great layer for when it's not too cold (amazingly like Shetland at the moment!!) The Eva Shawl was originally sold as the Shoulder Shawl but for the Wool Week Collection in 2011 we redeveloped it as the Eva Shawl and it was knit in Shetland Supreme 1ply and the pattern had charts added. Its a beautiful and elegant shawl which has been used several times as a wedding veil due to the shape. The final pattern this week is the Sissal Mitts and Hat, these are the perfect project for Fair Isle beginners and enthusiasts alike, the background colours stay the same the whole way through throughout the project. Its knit with Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight as the main colour and 2ply Jumper Weight as the pattern colours - we are often asked if you can knit them together and you can! You can see how they work great together. So you can find these patterns and the others we have made available as PDF's on Ravelry and Lovecrafts, happy knitting!
Learn more