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Vintage Shetland Project

Vintage Shetland Project

"Fashion and history intertwine in the Vintage Shetland Project as Susan Crawford recreates and explores cherished pieces from Shetland's rich knitting heritage" Here at Jamieson & Smith we are lucky to know and call lots of designers our friends, one of these designers is Susan Crawford. Her latest project as you probably know is the Vintage Shetland Project. In this unique book Susan will recreate and publish the patterns for a number of designs featured only in the collection of the Shetland Museum and Archives. For the past 4 years Susan has painstakingly reknit and de constructed (mentally not physically) the pieces to find out how they were made. photo: Susan Crawford Susan has used crowdfunding website Pubslush to help raise the funds to publish this book herself, at the time of writing this post the amount raised is nearly double what the initial target was of £12,000 but in this last few weeks of the campaign we would encourage you to contribute if you can. For £15 you can get a digital copy of the book and for £25 you will get a signed copy of the print edition as well as a host of other goodies depending on how much you put in. photo: Susan Crawford We have been trading since the 1930's in buying wool and making yarns since the 1950's so it is quite possible and extremely likely that a number of the pieces were knit using J&S yarns. Luckily as a part of this blog tour we are able to share some of the pieces that will be in the book. Today I'm going to talk about this piece: photo: Susan Crawford This short sleeved jumper is a lovely example of a 1940's piece of Shetland knitwear and features nice little puffed sleeves, the jumper would have been knit in the round to the oxters (armpit) and then extra stitches cast on for the neck and sleeves to allow it to be knit in the round, the back neck has also been steeked so a zip could be inserted, you can see the maker or owner has written their name on the zip tape I asked Susan about what she found out about the piece, she said the yarn is most likely worsted spun (like the Shetland Heritage range) especially as the gauge is quite small at 34 stitches and 34 rounds. This means the yarn is combed before its spun, resulting in a very soft but also strong yarn. As you know from our post on the heritage range we based the colours on traditional knitwear and although this piece is from a bit later than we were looking at some of the colours are still a good match: L-R: Mussel Blue, Indigo, Berry Wine, Auld Gold and Fluggy White The Indigo shade is a bit brighter than the original but as Susan pointed out the piece may have faded over time and it could have been brighter when first knit. You can see from the first picture of the whole garment how well these yarns last over time, apart from the wear under the arms the yarn is incredibly well preserved. photo: Susan Crawford This book will be a welcome addition to anyone interested in Shetlands textile heritage, here at J&S we work very hard to keep this strong heritage alive and well so we are really excited to see the book when it comes out! The full blog tour schedule is below so go back and have a look at some of the posts from our knitterly friends! Thursday 9th July KnitBritish Saturday 12th July By Gum By Golly Monday 13th July Hazel Tindall Wednesday 15th July Ella Gordon Friday 17th July Jess James Saturday 18th July Jen Arnall-Culliford Sunday 19th July Maja Karlson Monday 20th July Karie Westermann Tuesday 21st July Rachel Atkinson Wednesday 22nd July Woolly Wormhead Friday 24th July Deb Robson Saturday 25th July Julia Billings Sunday 26th July Helen Magnusson Monday 27th July Tom Van Deijnen Wednesday 29th July Kate Atherley Friday 31st July Jamieson & Smith Sunday 2nd August Donna Druchunas Monday 3rd August Felix Ford aka knitsonik Tuesday 4th Aug Ysolda Thursday 6th August Donna Smith Friday 7th August Susan Crawford

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Wool Season 2015

Wool Season 2015

At long last we have had some fine weather in Shetland which has spurred on the shearing and we now are well and truly into our wool season. All manner of vehicles roll up to our large green doors and unload their wool clip, so far we have shipped 2 loads, over 40,000 kilos, and are well through grading and packing load 3. We would encourage our crofters and farmers to take great care of their wool clip, especially avoiding shearing damp wool, as this can affect the financial returns to the producer. Our prices remain very high and this season we are pleased to say we are increasing the price of our Super Fine white grade by thirty pence per kilo. We are able to maintain and in the case of our Super Fine grade increase it due to our various products using all the grades of wool. As the main buyer of the Shetland wool clip handling approximately 80% of Shetland's Wool from between 600 /700 crofters and farmers, it is our responsibility to seek out new products and marketing opportunities to ensure a secure and fast payment to all our customers. Our registered brand the three sheep logo guarantees the user of our products of the authenticity and traceability of our Real Shetland wool. In the Woolstore Derek, Jan and Scott are working at baling up the clips coming in everyday in the large baler, we also have a smaller baler in the middle store which Oliver is currently using, in the middle store we also have some of the oldest pieces of equipment at Jamieson & Smith, our wicker wool baskets. These baskets are now nearly 100 years old, we took ownership of them from another Shetland Textile company, Pole & Hoseason of Mossbank in 1960 and their sturdy construction, flexibility and durability make them ideal for grading and sorting wool. Prior to the mid 1960's there were many rural and island shops in Shetland that would also trade in Wool, now there are only 3 other handlers of the local clip who deal with the remaining 20%. This photo from the Shetland Museum and archives shows one of the same baskets in use in 1958. photo courtesy of the Shetland Museum and Archives As technology improves in the industry its interesting to see how although many things move forward because we still hand grade and hand sort all the wool that comes in we still have a need for these timeless items. I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the Woolstore in the wool season, til next time.. Happy Knitting! x

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Yarn Series - Shetland Heritage

Yarn Series - Shetland Heritage

Following on a few years after the successful launch of our Shetland Supreme Lace Yarns as featured in the last post, which was a joint collaboration between Jamieson & Smith, The Shetland Museum and Archives, The Shetland Amenity Trust and our parent company Curtis Wool Direct we developed the yarn we are talking about today, the Shetland Heritage Range. We were approached by Carol Christensen, Textile Curator of the Shetland Museum in 2010, to create a 'wirsit' worsted yarn reminiscent of some of the yarn used in their historic knitwear collection, of which some pieces date back to 1870. We were invited by Carol to view some of their collection held in the museum store at the North Staney Hill. On show was a mixture of distinct Fair Isle 'keps' caps, scarves, all-overs and slipovers all laid out on tissue paper. a piece from the museum collection. Our first impression was the distinct rich colours and how the Fair Isle patterns stood out and were crisp and well defined. Many of the articles were very old, Carol explained the yarn was hand-spun, the wool was combed and not carded, and the dyes were natural dyes. There was little or no wear visible in these garments, testifying that worsted yarn has different wearing properties than woollen spun yarns, a stronger smoother yarn, which retains its elasticity despite being washed and rewashed. We were allowed to handle these precious articles and were immediately impressed by the smooth soft handle. a piece of Fair Isle knitting in our Heritage Yarn Carol asked if it would be possible for us to produce a similar 'wirsit' worsted yarn as used in the construction of their garments. Carol said could we judge the thickness of the yarn by sight and handling the garments, a big ask to get the finished article correct. Having only worked with a woollen spun yarn and also in the days of the Gala cut, a woollen spun count system that was used by our old spinners Hunters of Brora. We settled on a 2/22.5 cut, which was a 2ply woollen spun yarn used by Hunters of Brora. This yarn would be slightly thinner than our present woollen spun yarn 2/8 nm. We passed on the images and information to Martin Curtis at Curtis Wool Direct, who put the process into action, firstly preparing the superfine Real Shetland wool, which they buy from us. Then combing and dyeing and finally having the yarns spun by one of the few remaining worsted spinners left in the U.K. The resulting yarn has a beautiful soft handle, much softer than traditional Shetland or Shetland type woolly yarns. It is perfect for traditional Fair Isle but becuase the yarn is slightly lighter than Jumper Weight this also means it works well for lace. Initially we launched 6 traditionally inspired shades: Indigo, Madder, Fluggy White, Peat, Auld Gold and Berry Wine. We then added Coll Black, Snaa White, Mussel Blue, Moss Green and Silver Grey to round out the palette in 2013, the non marled and matte colours give the yarn a lovely sheen when knitted which looks very traditional. detail from the Fair Isle V-Necked Jumper kit, available here The yarn was described by Carol as perfect, yet again we proved that partnering with local bodys like the Shetland Museum and Archives and the Amenity Trust helps us in recreating our living past in Shetland. The finish of the yarn makes it a diverse fibre and the Coll Black colour way was used by the 2014 Jarl Squad of which Oliver our manager was a member. we have the suit on permanent display in the shop so you can see the heritage yarn used in the Kirtle, the tunic worn underneath the breastplate. You can see from our post about that day here it was a horrible rainy day but according to Oliver they didn't feel cold! There is no doubting the luxury of our Heritage yarn, however most people encountering it today as well as being impressed they have not seen this type of yarn made from Real Shetland Wool, this in itself makes our job of marketing the yarn all the more difficult as it was lost in the age of time and only now has been resurrected, you can buy the Heritage yarn here.

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Yarn Series - Shetland Supreme Lace Weight

Yarn Series - Shetland Supreme Lace Weight

Of all the Shetland wool products produced over our long history, this yarn marks the beginning of a new era of yarn development in which we aim to recreate a very important part of our Islands culture and heritage. True yarn for knitting Shetland lace which has played such an important part in Shetland’s knitwear and textile industry. women carding and spinning, Shetland. Photo courtesy Shetland Museum and Archives In 2007 we were approached by the General Manager of the Shetland Amenity Trust, a public body and amongst their responsibilities is to preserve our heritage, culture, and environment. Jimmy Moncrieff, the general manager of the Trust wanted to try and further and develop the one of Shetland most well known crafts - Shetland Lace Knitting. He approached us to see if we could help in developing the main ingredient - the lace 'wirsit' (yarn) used by our predecessors. This product aims to replicate the traditional worsted effect of hand spun Shetland Yarn on a more commercial scale. In order to replicate this intricate yarn, we started by grading and sorting the finest fleece as we have always done - by hand, making sure there was no guard hair in the blend. We has to ensure the fleece had all the characteristics required: a superb handle (softness), strength, fibre fineness and uniformity of quality. The next task was to source a worsted spinner, who were very scarce in present times. When we settled on a spinner in West Yorkshire the next task was to produce a similar yarn to the original hand spun. With the help of local experienced knitters Mary Kay and Mary Eunson of Lerwick alongside one of Myrna Stahmanns groups at a knitting retreat in the USA settled at 16s worsted count for the single 1ply and 2/16s for the 2 ply. Worsted spun yarns differ from Woollen spun (1ply Cobweb and 2ply Lace are Woollen spun) in that the fibres are combed rather than carded. This process aligns the fibres but also removes short and coarse hairs as well as any vegetable matter left in the fibres. This process creates a yarn which is extremely strong but also soft as the fibres are quite aligned and not sticking out (these tiny fibres are what makes wool 'itch') What makes this yarn so perfect for lace is that the worsted spinning process makes a yarn which has very good drape. The 1ply Shetland Supreme is available in 6 shades, Optic White, Natural White, Fawn, Moorit, Grey and Black. The Optic White is a lovely bright white which makes it perfect for traditional lace items like veils, shawls and scaves. The 2ply Supreme is currently only available in the 5 natural Shades, as we explained in our last post this helps strengthen and further the Coloured Shetland clip, by offering the natural colours in more than one weight of yarn this means it can be used in lots of different ways and the strength of the yarn means it can be knitted on a knitting machine at different gauges and be used in weaving. You might wonder why we keep the 1ply Cobweb as well as the Shetland Supreme but we feel they both have something to offer depending on what you are looking for from your 1ply lace yarn. For more information about the cobweb see here. The Woollen Spun nature of the Cobweb makes for a crisper, more cotton like feel whereas the Supreme has more of a halo and drape. It is confusing we know, but we are always able to help you make a decision. We are very proud of the Shetland Supreme Lace Yarns and we hope you like them too, you can see them on our online shop here Til next time, happy knitting!

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Yarn Series - Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight

Yarn Series - Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight

Hello! we are back with another post in the yarn series, this time it is the turn of Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight - a totally undyed and natural 4ply Weight Yarn. This yarn is perhaps best known in recent years for its use in the designs by Kate Davies, however we have been singing the praises of this natural woollen spun yarn for many years. Supreme Jumper Weight comes in a range of 9 completely undyed shades, ranging from Natural White (Shade 2001) to Yuglet (Shade 2009) The other shades are either as they are on the sheep or carefully blended from the natural wool to create a well-rounded palette. Historically Coloured Shetland Wool was used by knitters in Fair Isle patterning and Lace knitting like Haps before the dyed wool was available. As time went on however the Coloured wool lost its value and it became almost worthless because white fleece was easy to dye and much more uniform in texture. Up until around 1997 almost all Shetland Yarns in 'natural' shades were dyed to create these tones, the reason being the dye house could make it a set shade each time. This differs from our supreme range in that each batch, for example Shetland Black (shade 2005) will not be the same each time as all sheep are not the same shade. So if you plan to use this yarn its best to get all the yarn at one time, it may be quite different in the next lot! Another reason most of the mills have to dye or 'add a touch of dye' is that we at Jamieson & Smith buy roughly 80% of the entire Shetland wool clip , the majority of which is white with only a limited amount of natural coloured which we use for these our 9 shades. We need a substantial amount of natural coloured fleece in order to produce all the shades in the palette. This means we have to do a lot of hand sorting to separate the various fibre qualities and of course shades which can be found in one fleece. For more information about the Natural Wool and the Sorting process see our earlier posts here and here. In 1997 we began a journey to further and strengthen the value of the coloured fleece. This came about as a joint venture between Jamieson & Smith and Yarns International, a now sadly closed down business in Maryland in the USA. Betty Lindsay, a partner in the company visited J&S and was saddened when we told her that the coloured wool had little to no value. Betty vowed to do something and true to her word we set up the totally dye free range which was named Shetland 2000. She employed Ron Schweitzer to design a range of patterns using the yarns, you can see some of his designs on his Ravelry designer page here. Since then lots of desingers have found how well all the natural colours blend together, you can subtely blend them or do some quite striking patterns. Peat Hill Waistcoat, Adult Lynsey and Karelides Cardigan, some of our current kits made using Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight At the beginning of the post I mentioned Kate's Sheep designs, the Sheepheid and Rams and Yowes blanket. Both these patterns are extremely popular and use all 9 shades to maximum effect, they both feature motifs of Sheep and Rams which is obviously reflected in the yarns. You can order kits for these patterns here on our online shop Hopefully this post has helped you understand the work that goes into the Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight range. There a a number of crofters and farmers in Shetland who are very comitted to the coloured Shetland Sheep and we couldnt do this range without them! The coloured Shetland Wool would have been at a time one of the only ways to get different shades into your knitting, now we are extremly lucky to have so much different colours that we can use. Sometimes you cant go wrong using what nature provides us. til next time, Happy Knitting! PS. we are now on instagram! search thewoolbrokers to follow us.

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Shetland College Project 2015

Shetland College Project 2015

As you know we have for the past few years done a few projects with the students at the Shetland College, (see here and here) We recently set the Second Year students on the Contemporary Textiles course a brief to create a contemporary piece of knitwear using our worsted spun range of Yarns - The 1 and 2ply Shetland Supreme, Shetland Heritage, Shetland Aran and Shetland Chunky. A few weeks ago me (Ella) and Oliver headed out to the college to see the final pieces. Megan Smith drew inspiration from Fair Isle and Nordic knitwear to inform her lace and striped cardigan. She incorporated pointed lace making techniques and we thought her use and combination of different weights and styles of yarns together was very successful and we loved her inspiration from blue china and combining all the things connected with Shetland in blue and white. Sophie Manson started out by looking at traditional cables on both V-bed and domestic knitting machines; which led to her knitting a contemporary boxy jumper. Inspired by chunky, modern fashion, she started to look at ways to create 3-D textures using partial knitting. Her finished garment combined techniques used by both types of flat bed hand machines and we felt Sophie’s grey jumper was a brilliant use of three dimensional techniques combined with a finer yarn. The way she combined the yarns (Shetland Heritage and Supreme Lace) and her professional finish on her garment meant she created a very successful wearable jumper. Rebecca Scanlon used the brand new Aran weight yarn together with the Shetland Chunky to create a retro inspired round skirt. Her piece incorporated layering and ruffles, and utilised chunky domestic knitting machines. we were impressed by Rebecca’s bravery to use the chunkier yarns in a skirt and we thought her use of colour and problem solving with the fit made a very successful garment, as you can see from her samples she did a lot of work on making the fit and shape how she wanted. Nicole Taylor created a cape using float jacquard techniques. Using a combination of jumper and lace weight yarns knitted together, using contemporary colours and textures, she was able to produce a very modern piece. We thought Nicole’s poncho was a very well designed and extremely well made garment. We loved how she also combined yarns together and thought through her design at every level which resulted in us picking her garment as the best use of Jamieson & Smith yarns. We love visiting the college and seeing what the students have made with our yarns, we think this project was very successful and we felt all the finished items were extremely wearable. We often get asked if the students would make patterns from the projects with us but that's not really how we organise the projects with them,One day one of the students may publish their patterns themselves! I hope you've enjoyed this look at a different way of working with Jamieson & Smith yarns. Happy Knitting!

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British Knitting Awards 2015!

British Knitting Awards 2015!

Happy Friday! We have some exciting news today, we have again been nominated for Best British Brand in the British Knitting Awards! You might remember last year we were nominated and we came third so we are very happy to have been nominated again. last years award sits proudly on our counter! If you would like to vote for us, please click here or the vote for us button below. Everything we do here at Jamieson & Smith is to further and strengthen the Shetland Wool Clip meaning we have the lovely Shetland Wool for generations to come. Hopefully this comes across in some of the recent blogs (see here here here), and also the yarn series we are currently doing going through all our yarn weights.(see here here here) speaking of which we will get back too in the next couple of weeks. Summer is quite busy in the shop which is a good thing! but it means less time for blogging. So please give us a vote if you appreciate what we do here, and til next time Happy Knitting!

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Yarn Series - Shetland Chunky

Yarn Series - Shetland Chunky

Todays post is about one of our smaller (but no less important!) ranges, the Shetland Chunky! In the past Jamieson & Smith mainly concentrated on the more traditional yarns such as Jumper Weight and Lace Weight which were most commonly used by Shetland’s hand knitter's. However we did have a heavier chunkier woollen yarn which was a 3/11 cut Gala count, this yarn was called ‘Embo’ named after a village in Sutherland in the north of Scotland. This was a woollen spun yarn made from the lower grades of Shetland wool with a very robust handle and was made for coarser out door wear garments, Sadly this yarn died out with the closure of Hunters Mill in 2004. We were often asked by customers to provide a heavier weight yarn and in 2010 we developed this worsted Real Shetland Chunky Yarn. The yarn is similar in thickness to the Embo, however being worsted spun it is much kinder to the wearer in handle and has a beautiful softness. The worsted process means the fibres are combed and by doing this it acheives two things, the short fibres are removed and the remaining fibres are then left in a straight order for spinning. This increases the strength and also the softness of the yarns. In relation to the colours, we have a small but specialised range inspired by a selection of Shetland colours. We added the Charcoal shade a few years ago and it has been a good addition to the range. The colours available lend themselves well to Icelandic style garments, but Kate Davies also designed the lovely Port 'O' Leith Jumper and Cowl in this yarn. Although we call it a Chunky yarn, and compared to Jumper Weight it definitely is, you can achieve a wide range of effects using this yarn and different needle sizes: a 4mm needle will give you a dense fabric and the higher needle size you go the more loose and drapey the fabric will become. Although it is becoming a bit warmer in Shetland, some days you could definitly still wear something knit in this lovely yarn! Available in 100g balls (120m/131yards) one ball will give you a hat and a few balls will do for a cushy scarf. We'll be back next week with another range so until then have a good weekend and happy knitting!

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Real Shetland Wool - part 3

Real Shetland Wool - part 3

Thank you all for the great feedback from the past few posts. Before we get into the actual yarns we produce I have one more post about the wool that goes into our yarns, back to Oliver.. Shetland Wool Processing. To understand the first part of processing the fleece, we have to look to the wool quality and go back to the first report on Shetland sheep and its wool. As we talked about in another post the report by John Shirieff compiled in the 1790s, states there are two distinct breeds in the Islands. The 'Kindly' wool sheep with a very fine fleece and a the coarser wool sheep 'although some of its fleece be fine , it is of a quality unfit for any general purpose of manufacture, some of it is as shaggy as a Welsh goat' The kindly wool was much sought after in order to hand spin and knit into fine lace shawls, stoles etc. The coarser wool was of little use, some of it was used for the 'grund' the base of a 'Tattit' rug, which was constructed by the crofter and used as a bed covering, later on it was used on the floor as a mat. It is interesting to note that the 'Tattit' rug collection some over 100 years shows little or no wear, meaning it was ideal for a floor covering, Shetland's Tattit Rug collection will be the focus of a major exhibition at the Shetland Museum from the 23rd of May - 19th July. Shetland sheep genetics ensure that these two distinct breeds survive to this day, through the centuries they cross bred between the two, so you can have both wool types in one fleece. Superfine wool at the neck and shoulder through to the much coarser guard hairs toward the hips, which forms the britch. Some of the older crofters maintained that even the finest wool sheep should have a heavy britch in order to protect it when it was lying down amongst the coarse springy heather. Shetland Fleeces waiting to be sorted in our Woolstore After we have graded the wool into five grades selecting the fleece by style 'crimp' uniformity of quality, strength, springiness and handle - softness and of course fibre fineness. Next step is hand sorting of the fleece which means the coarser guard hairs are separated from the finer fibre. If the guard hair is not separated at this stage you will end up with a coarser itchy yarn. Definitions of terms used are as follows: Degree of Fineness. The diameter of the wool fibre influences to a large extent the use to which the wool can be put and also the length of yarn that can be spun from a given weight of wool. Users and manufacturers normally use a series of quality numbers to indicate fibre fineness. These numbers in ascending order of fineness, are 28s ( the thickest, coarser fibres)32s,36s,49s,44s,46s,48s,50s,56s,58s60s,64s,70s,90s,100s ( the very thinnest, finest fibres.) Most British wools are within the range 28s to 58s. An average Shetland fleece is around 56s/ 58s . Quality numbers are not based on any particular unit of measurement, they are standards handed down from generation to generation of woolmen and can be learned only by practical experience and handling of wools. Length of Staple. This is the measurement of the unstretched staple from tip to base. The figures quoted are the standards for each grade. Handle of Wool. The softness or harshness of the wool when handled. Degree of Lustre This refers to the amount of gloss or sheen visible on the fibres. Degree of lustre varies greatly between different types. A bright lustre is an asset for certain manufacturing processes. Colour The nearness of the wool to white (or black in the case of black fleeces.). Strength The ability of the staple to resist breaking during manufacture. The word 'sound' is used to describe wool of satisfactory strength rather than 'strong' which, in wool terminology, refers to thick or coarse fibres. The opposite to a sound wool is a 'tender' wool. Tender wools may have a break in all the fibres at one point in the staple as a result of illness or drought. Other Terms used include the following: Grey Fibres The presence of grey or black fibres in a fleece restricts its dyeing range to the darker shades. This fault occurs in many of the white- woolled breeds. Kemp. A brittle white fibre, shed during the growth of the fleece, which is extremely difficult to dye. In Welsh wool red kemp is often found. Light Arable A term applied to wool which contains up to 6% soil, peat moor, or sand due to the sheep having been run on arable crops or peat moors. Arable. A term applied to wool which contains over 6 % of soil or sand. Hog (yearald ). This refers to wool from a sheep that is first shorn as a yearling. Ewe & Wether Refers to wool from the second and subsequent shearing's. Yield The amount of clean, dry wool remaining after the dirt and grease in the fleece has been scoured away commercially. raw wool bales being shipped away for processing, a common sight at J&S during the Summer months. Various Stages in wool processing. The wool process begins with shearing which takes place once a year usually during the early summer. Once the sheep has been shorn the wool is taken to us at Jamieson & Smith, then graded and sorted as described earlier. The wool is then shipped away to be processed and dyed on the mainland, something we have always done. Originally at Hunters of Brora and now via our parent company, Curtis Wool Direct. After grading and sorting the wool is then passed through the scouring and washing plant, where five different washes remove the natural grease and other foreign matter. A by- product of scoured wool is Lanolin which is extracted from the grease and is used in the manufacture of fine soaps and cosmetics. Carding is the next stage. The object of carding is to separate and straighten the long fibres whilst eliminating vegetable matters such as heather, peat lumps etc. The carding machine produces a continuous ribbon of loose fibres approximately the thickness of one’s wrist, known as carded silver. At this stage you can choose two different avenues of spinning, they are the worsted and the woollen process. To deal with the former first the wool goes through a stage called combing. The worsted process uses only the long fibres, the carded silver is combed to separate the long fibres from the short (noil ). After combing the fibres run parallel with each other to form a combed top in preparation for spinning. Dyeing is often done at this stage. Spinning - Worsted process. Prior to spinning, the carded 'top' is drawn into a finer ribbon and a slight twist added which is then called a 'roving'. The 'roving' is then placed on to the spinning frame, drawn out and twisted into a fine single ply yarn. Depending on the end use of the yarn can be twisted into a fine single ply yarn but also to form two, three or multiple ply yarn. Moorit 2ply Supreme Lace Weight, one of our Worsted spun ranges. Spinning - Woollen process. Spinning for the woollen process produces a softer bulkier handle to the yarn as opposed to worsted spinning which produces a stronger finer quality yarn. A considerable quantity of yarn produced by the the woollen process goes into knitting wools and knitted products. Shetland Supreme 2ply Jumper Weight, one of our Woollen Spun yarn Ranges In the next post I will start with our most famous yarn, 2ply Jumper Weight! so look out for that next week, happy knitting and have a good weekend! x

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