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
Wovember 2012
It is already half way through Wovember 2012 and we have realised that all has gone quiet on the J&S blog front recently. So to contribute our little bit to this magnificent month we thought we would give you a little sneaky peek behind the scenes here to show you where all your wonderful wool comes from. We start off in the wool-store, which could be described as the hub of Shetland's wool industry with more than 700 local crofters delivering their wool - ranging from bundles of a few kilos to trucks full with a few tonnes in some cases - through our big green doors. We then sort through the bags, fleece by fleece, to separate them into the different grades and natural colours with the finest being used to make fine lace and the toughest for durable wool carpets. The wool is then squashed into bales by our trusty old baler ready to be shipped and scoured, carded, combed, spun and dyed into the cushion filling, combed tops and lace and yarn that we send off to you. Some of it comes back to us transformed into beautiful rugs, carpets, duvets and even the life-changing Vi-Spring beds. We sent off our last load of wool for 2012 yesterday which has left room in the main store to clear out the coloured wool-store and sort each coloured fleece into the different grades, ready to be sent away in the final load of this year's wool season - usually in April - and processed into all of our natural, undyed products. This final 12th shipment will bring this year's total to over 240 tonnes of wool: a total which is usually greeted with a look of amazement from anyone who hears it. When the products finally arrive back here after their long transformation they take pride of place in our shop that is joined onto the wool stores where they first became part of J&S as raw wool. The shop was expanded in 2010 to make it three times its original size and give all of our treasured woolly products room to show off. It is now much-loved by knitters who can rummage around, comparing and contrasting colours to create their very own Shetland Wool knitwear. The shop also doubles up as the mail-room where we make up, package and send out orders from all over the world. This makes it a very busy place every morning until our postie comes just after 12 to take away the parcels. However, we love making up the little woolly bundles so thank you to each and every one of you who has ordered from us and helped support Shetland's wool industry. I just thought I'd end with an image of what makes this all possible. The humble Shetland Sheep with its world-beating wool in its wild, exposed habitat that makes it all so magical.
Learn more