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Yarn Series - 1ply Cobweb and 2ply Lace
Hello everyone and happy Friday to you all, in this post I'm going to share some information on our 1ply Cobweb and 2ply lace woollen spun yarns. As well as Fair Isle knitting Shetland is also famed for its Lace knitting. This is often attributed to Unst, one of the many islands in Shetland but it was popular all over Shetland and there are still many talented lace knitters. Our 1ply Cobweb yarn remains one of our best sellers as it is the main yarn bought for knitting 1ply Heriloom and Christening Shawls. As thin as thread this yarn is blended with some lambswool to enable it to be spun so fine, and this results in very fine crisp stitches in lace knitting. We have it in the 4 shades seen above, white is the biggest seller as it creates timeless traditional items like this shawl designed by Gladys Amedro: It was in 1977 Jamieson & Smith first asked Gladys Amedro to help provide them with fine lace patterns. Gladys had moved to Yell and in Burravoe she became close friends with with the late Nellie Tulloch, a native Shetlander whose knowledge of Shetland knitting was bred in her bones and she taught the skills to Gladys. Her first design using 1ply Cobweb was published in the Women's Realm in 1978, many other designs followed including a Christening Robe and Shawl commissioned by Womens Own in 1988 to celebrate the birth of Princess Beatrice, the designs (still available from us as kits here and here) incorporated the Rose of York and an Anchor, to represent the babys Mother and Father. The result of this design led to Jamieson & Smith placiong such a large yarn order for Cobweb that it was queried in case an extra digit had been added.. the next stage thicker is the 2ply Lace Yarn: Currently available in over 20 shades our 2ply Lace yarn can also be used in any pattern calling for 3ply Yarn, making it a perfect yarn for Vintage patterns. Like the cobweb it is also blended with Lambswool to give it some added strength. Having the yarn slightly thicker than the 1ply means it gives a bit of substance to lace patterns but also means it will keep you warm in a scarf or stole. Perfect for making a lighter weight hap, or a heavier weight shawl 2ply Lace is the medium ground between 1ply and our 2ply Jumper Weight. The different shades we offer and carefully shaded meaning they are just right for blending in Cockleshell or New Shell lace scarves or even this: The Circular Shaded Shawl We'll be back next week with another look at one of our ranges, until then have a good weekend! (just a note Monday is a bank Holiday in the UK so any orders posted wont be sent til Tuesday) Ella x
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Up Helly Aa 2015
My yarn 'torches' One day to go til Lerwick Up Helly Aa! I cant believe it was one year ago when head wool man at J&S, also known as Oliver was in the 2014 Jarl Squad (see here and here for more details) some details of Olivers 2014 suit from my Up Helly Aa window But now its another squads turn to be the Jarl Squad! For those who dont know, Up Helly Aa is a fire festival held all over Shetland, tomorrows Up Helly Aa, the biggest of the lot, is in Lerwick and the whole day is given over to Vikings.. the night-time torchlight procession (live feed can be watched here!) contains over 800 men and results in the burning of a Viking Galley. a photo from last years procession After the procession, local halls are open and there is a big night of dancing! Each of the squads involved (usually about 40-50!) are dressed up and come up with an 'act' for the people in the halls. understandably Wednesday is a public holiday in Shetland so we wont be open, but we'll be back at work on Thursday. Til then, happy knitting and Happy Up Helly Aa!!
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some knitting books at christmas time..
Im so sorry for the bit gaps in posting but I thought I'd begin with our lovely Christmas tree! We have recovered from the brilliant Shetland Wool Week and since then things have been very busy at Jamieson & Smith, of course our usual day to day is busy as we have lots of customers coming into the shop.. Wool is readily bought all year round in Shetland but in the Autumn and Winter even more so! Of course things are busy on the online shop as we gear up to Christmas time! Knitters can be quite tricky to buy for (speaking from experience) but one thing that cant be beat is a good book. Tying in nicely to this is the fact that over the past couple of months some great knitting books have come out written by some of our lovely knitterly friends, all using J&S yarns ! YOKES by Kate Davies I thought I'd begin with the most recent, so recent in fact we haven't got our copies in stock yet but soon we will and until then you can buy the book from Kate's online shop here. This book follows the story and cultural variations in the classic Yoke patterning in knitwear and is followed by 11 beautiful patterns, a number of which are made from J&S - including the yoke on the cover! This book is a MUST for anyone interested in stranded knitting, although Yokes also includes patterns using beading and cabling. Kate's knowledge on knitting shines through and makes this the perfect gift. The Shetland Trader: Book Two by Gudrun Johnston Next up is the newest publication from American based, Shetland born designer Gudrun Johnston. This book was launched in Shetland at Shetland Wool Week, and we sold out in one night! So luckily we have the books back in stock again. I (Ella) may be biased as I am one of the models in the book but the landscape and imagery is all very inspiring, and there are 9 patterns to choose from. From hats,scarves to sweaters and cardigans, there is something for everyone. Available from us here Unst Heritage Lace by the Unst Heritage Centre This is a smaller book, but would make a great stocking filler for the Lace knitter! Unst is famous for its fine lace knitting techniques and this year the Unst Heritage Centre have launched this book with some patterns and history about its strong heritage. This book makes a great edition to the shelves of anyone interested in Shetland Lace knitting. The fact its written and put together by the Unst Heritage Centre makes it all the more interesting. Available from us here The Knitsonik Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford You will have seen some of our posts following the progress and completion of Felicity's brilliant book on designing your own colourwork on the blog (see here and here) but this book makes a brilliant gift for someone who is experienced in stranded knitting but ready to take it to the next level! Felicity guides you through all the stages of designing your own colour work motifs,charts and projects. We have copies for sale in the shop but if your not in Shetland you can buy the book from Felicity here I thought i'd finish this post with a couple of lovely Japanese books we have received recently. We send a huge amount of yarn to Japan and their books are truly some of the most beautiful around. Shetland Lace by Toshiyuki Shimada Toshi is an amazing Japanese knitwear designer, we have worked with him for years and this new book on Shetland Lace is absolutely beautiful. The patterns, photography and layout is so inspiring the sense of style and remaking of traditional motifs in a contemporary way (like the cockleshell seen above in a hooded wrap) makes this a great gift for anyone interested in Shetland lace. The book is in Japanese and all the patterns are charted but I have found this great helpful sheet for knitting Japanese patterns. You can buy this book here Mariko's Knitting Tour by Mariko Mikuni We met Mariko early this year when she visited us for this book, we recently received it and it is a lovely little book, full of pictures from Mariko's tour of the UK. Again this book is all in Japanese but the layout and pictures makes it an inspiring read. She visited Shetland, Fair Isle, Edinburgh and Mainland Scotland (She included a visit to Kate Davies too) and many more The book contains a number of patterns also, and it can be purchased here Wouldn't it be lovely to find all these books under your tree this Christmas? Happy Knitting!
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New Shetland Heritage Shades
From one launch on Friday to now another on Monday, its been an exciting weekend at J&S. The long-anticipated new Shetland Heritage shades have finally arrived and we are delighted to now be able to release them for you to begin creating beautiful knits with. These new shades have been created using feedback from our customers with the most requested colours being developed to blend with the original 6 shades. Coll Black and Snaa White provide the classic black and white combination, perfect for Sanquhar Gloves, and are much needed shades for colourwork or for creating simple, yet beautiful, white or black garments. Shetland Heritage also knits up well in lace if you want to experiment with thicker lace garments. Mussel Blue provides the much-requested dark-blue, and Moss Green gives a lovely, warm green that blends in beautfully with the other shades. Finally Silver Grey adds a nice neutral shade, similar to Shade 203 in our Jumper Weight yarns, that can be used as a background colour to tie together all the other shades in colour work. These new shades compliment the original 6 and open up a whole range of new options for working with this beautiful yarn, highly regarded for its softness and stitch definition. You can find all 11 shades here. The original 6 Shetland Heritage shades were inspired by traditional, hand spun and dyed yarns found in garments in the Shetland Museum and Archives textile collection. These were the first dyed yarns used in Fair Isle knitwear in Shetland and would have been made from whatever dyes were available to the people of the time, including madder root and indigo. You can find out more about the development of the Shetland Heritage range in the original 6 shades here. All in all a great start to the week!
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Shetland Knitwear's Future
A few weeks ago we had a special visit from a group that is very important to the future of Shetland Knitwear: some of Shetland's next generation of knitters. They came from the island of Whalsay to the east of Shetland's mainland to spend a few hours knitting in the shop with a little guidance and amazement from Sandra and Ella. Whalsay is the quintessential 'Shetland' community with a strong fishing industry, traditional crofting and an abundance of knitting talent. It is therefore not surprising that a knitting group was set up in the school there, allowing school age bairns the chance to learn how to knit. From what we saw they have been doing really well and will hopefully progress even after they leave school. Groups such as this are vital as knitting amongst young people in Shetland is far less common than it once was. Not too long ago every child in Shetland was taught to knit at primary school, but this was scrapped by the Shetland Islands Council in a round of funding cuts. This was a very unpopular move as knitwear is part of Shetland's culture and identity and has contributed towards its economy for centuries. Hopefully Whalsay's knitting group will inspire more around the islands and keep this tradition alive. They knit with the colours we selected for a competition at the Voe & District Agricultural Show in Shetland and can enter their finished pieces to that if they wish. They will be back at J&S knitting during Shetland Wool week; the programme for which is very close to being finalised so more information will become available soon. If you happen to be around you could see for yourselves how great they are. The future of Shetland Knitwear is in safe hands!
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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!
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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)
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