Blog
5ply Shetland
Hello everyone! The dust has settled on another Shetland Wool Week and we had a great and really busy time, during SWW we launched a new yarn range in the shop and we are delighted to say it is now available Online - 5ply Shetland! As a company that's been around for a while (we just had our 72nd birthday in September!) we have produced many different ranges over the years, our main focus has always been creating yarns that work for both traditional and timeless knitting styles. One thing we have often been asked about is a yarn that would work for knitting fine textured patterns like Ganseys. Alongside Shetland's traditions of Fair Isle and Lace knitting there is also evidence of this kind of workwear knitting, as we are a place with so much Fishing and Fishermen coming through this also meant traditions from other knitters came to Shetland and were exchanged with knitters here. Many women who worked in the fishing industry, often as Gutters would also travel down to different places to work, from Shetland along the Scottish north East coast, further south to the East Yorkshire coast of England and to East Anglia. In this way they would have seen, learnt and absorbed Gansey style patterns and techniques. Fishermen and Herring Workers in Lerwick Harbour, reproduced here with thanks to Margaret Wright So when we had the opportunity to develop a new range we thought why not make the kind of yarn we have probably been asked for the most, and 5ply Shetland is the result! The yarn is 100% Real Shetland Wool and uses the Grade 3 wool, this is slightly hardier than what we usually use for our knitting yarns but we wanted a hard-wearing quality and due to the yarn being Worsted Spun (combed rather than carded) it meant we could use a slightly rougher grade as the spinning process improves the handle of the yarn. It's really important to try and utilise as much of the wool clip as we can and we are really happy to be able to add some more value to this grade. For the colours we worked with local photographer John Rollo to see the common shades in our environment, the colours of the sky, sea and land in Shetland are so varied and such a constant for us here that they are an endless source of inspiration. The yarn is a standard 5ply/Sportweight yarn and is available in 50g balls and 250g cones. We started with White and a Natural Grey mix as our two bases, there are 13 shades dyed on the White as seen below: then for something special we chose 5 of these shades and also dyed them on the Natural Grey base, these are the Twilight shades: Turquoise Twilight, Lavender Twilight, Mustard Twilight, Scarlet Twilight and Rust Twilight Lavender Twilight and Lavender It's really interesting to see how the base changes the colour of the yarn and this adds a heather to the colour that will not detract from any stitch pattern. The mix of solid and heathered shades is really beautiful and we are delighted with them. The yarn itself has beautiful stitch definition and we hope you like it! Mustard Yarn Information 100% Real Shetland Wool Worsted Spun 5ply/Sport Weight, wpi 16 115m/125yds per 50g ball 575m/625yds per 250g cone suggested needle size 2mm-3mm Available in the shop and online here We have made quite a small batch for the first lot so it is not currently available for our wholesale customers but if you own or have a Local Yarn Store that you would like to carry it in the future please contact wholesale@shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk to register interest. It will be available to our stockists as soon as the next batch is ready. Happy Knitting!
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The Power of Sorting
Hello everyone, today we are discussing one of the more hands-on aspects of the wool side of our business: hand sorting. This is physically sorting each fleece into different grades for its intended final use. If a fleece is not sorted and split into its different grades and then the wool is used for making knitting yarn you will end up with an inconsistent yarn - it will be thick and thin and may break easily. This is because there has not been uniformity in the wool. You can see how different it can be in the examples above - these samples both come from the same fleece, the fine soft yarn on the left and the much rougher wool on the right containing the longer guard hair. This guard hair can be and is combed out but if it goes into yarn along with the finer wool it becomes an irritant and changes the balance of the wool. We grade and sort into 5 grades 1 being the finest. Within the same fleece you can find all five grades, we recently filmed a video about preparing a fleece for shows here in Shetland but the information might also be helpful here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D0EpiOVl1Y So for an example the boys in the Woolstore took a typical Shetland fleece we would receive and we laid it out.. We then sorted it and removed all the rougher grades.... Leaving behind what we keep for knitting yarns, you can see how much is removed... From a 1.5kg fleece we were left with: Off Sorts, not for knitting yarn: 800g Finer wool for yarn: 700g So in that fleece there was more to be removed than was kept for yarn. None of the yarn not suitable for hand knitting yarn is wasted, our parent company Curtis Wool Direct is able to either comb (to remove a lot of the longer guard hair) and use in a Worsted Spun Yarn or clean (dirty, heavily soiled or full of vegetable matter) to be used in carpet or even wool insulation products. Neckband wool, you can see how fine and high quality the wool is but due to its location, there is a lot of vegetable matter! We sort the neckbands on their own and keep them all together so once cleaned this wool can be used for yarn. For our woollen spun yarns like 2ply Jumper Weight to name one this sorting process is extremely important, even in a fine fleece you can get areas with both a long and short staple which is why grading alone is not enough. Due to the volume of wool we take in we are able to be more discerning with our sorting to ensure only the best graded and sorted Shetland Wool is used for our knitting yarns, because of this volume we are unable to sort it all here on-site but once it gets to Curtis Wool Direct what's not is sorted and the wool for knitting yarns goes into our 'Wool Bank' which we then create our yarns from. During the winter and quieter months, we also sort here alongside our everyday grading. We have had a busy summer here in Shetland, the wool season is fully underway and we had the Tall Ships Race in Lerwick last week, if you want to keep up with what's happening at J&S be sure to sign up to our newsletter, Happy Knitting!
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Knitting With Cones
Hello everyone, thank you for the good feedback on our last post! Today we will go into something else we always get asked about - knitting with cones! cones in our new back-shop area. We offer quite a few of our ranges on cone but by far the most popular is our 2ply Jumper Weight, this is our traditional Shetland 4ply thickness wool that we have been producing since the 1960s. It's available in over 100 shades and we often have most of these available. We produce them in 500g cones. This is equal to 20 balls – approximately 2500 yards/2300 metres Two shades we took back last year, left 9 and right 8 What is the difference between the yarn on cone or ball? Nothing at all – when we order a shade we get a certain amount on cone and the rest on ball but initially the whole order is made on cone, the yarn to be turned into balls is then scoured and balled. What would I use it for? Lots of things! In Shetland cones are probably mostly used for knitting the body and sleeves of Yoke cardigans and jumpers and it is perfect for that but anything which needs a substantial amount of one shade will benefit from using a cone. Also if there is a shade you use a lot – it might be worth investing in a cone to always have to hand. Why would I buy a cone over balls? Cost: Because there are less production costs (no scouring, balling, bagging etc) the overall cost of a cone works out a lot cheaper than buying the balls - its over a 45% discount if you purchase it directly from us! Ease of knitting: you just plop the cone down and knit! Compared to balls there are less ends, and within the cone you should find few if any knots which means a seamless garment will be just that. Knitting Machine: If you have a knitting machine a cone is by far the easiest way to knit and because we sell the cones in oil (meaning the yarn is oiled with a synthetic oil – like sewing machine oil) that means the yarn will glide through the machine and not catch, and therefore break. FC11 Can I handknit with a cone? Of course, because the yarn is oiled it doesn’t feel the same as the balls but once washed it feels exactly the same. Anything made with the oiled yarn must be washed – we would advise this for any item made with Shetland Wool anyway but for the oiled yarn it is crucial, the oil is not meant to be next to skin and may irritate it. Some people do not like the feeling of the oiled yarn to knit with so you can hank/skein the yarn, wash then wind it into balls if you prefer but it is not necessary. The only time we would advise taking care would be if you were knitting with a very strong colour (black, red, blue etc) alongside a lighter colour as the stronger pigments can attach to the oil and bleed when first washed. In this case, we would wind off and wash or use a colour catcher when washing. 1281 What about swatching? If you need to swatch you must wash the swatch – the gauge is not reliable until its washed as with the oil it can look much thinner and therefore not give you a reliable tension. How do you wash out the oil? To remove the oil you need to submerge the item in very hot (not boiling) water along with a wool wash or hand wash wool detergent. You will see a lot of grey water which is the oil and perhaps some of the colour of the yarn as the dye can attach to the oil. Its best to leave the item (without agitating for up to an hour. Then rinse and repeat until the water runs completely clear. We also offer our undyed Jumper Weight range on cone too - Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight is completely undyed and available in 9 Natural shades. Because this is a rarer fibre we don't always have all the colours on cone available but as is the case with any product on our website you can add your email address to an 'in-stock alert' and it will email you as soon as we add more. Sometimes there can be a long wait between us getting more of particular shades or ranges on cone, its important to understand that the cones are something we have chosen to offer to our retail customers as an extra to balls. We have to order large amounts of individual shades, and we are always trying to find the balance in ordering enough to sustain our physical shop, online shop and all our stockists. This is all done by us here in Shetland so we are grateful for your patience and understanding. If you are a Lace knitter we also sometimes have our 1ply Cobweb, 1ply and 2ply Supreme Lace and Shetland Heritage ranges available on cone. You just need to keep an eye out on our online shop if the shade you want is not available. If you have any more questions about knitting from a cone - just ask. Happy Knitting!
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Choosing A Lace Yarn - Woollen or Worsted
Hello everyone, today we are going a bit more in-depth about something we get asked about all the time - what is the difference between the Supreme Lace and 'non' Supreme Ranges aka 1ply Cobweb and 2ply Lace, and why would you choose one over the other? left: 1ply Cobweb right: 1ply Supreme Lace There are some differences but the main one is the Supreme Lace 1 and 2ply are Worsted Spun whereas 1ply Cobweb and 2ply Lace are Woollen Spun. Worsted Spun - all the fibre is combed before spinning, this results in a softer and stronger yarn because the fibres are all aligned and not poking out (this is what can make wool scratchy) Woollen Spun - before spinning the fibre is carded which disrupts the fibres trapping air and making a lofty and warm yarn. The Shetland Supreme Lace yarns were developed alongside research through Shetland Amenity Trust in 2010 as part of the Fine Lace Project to add and increase value to the coloured clip and to replicate yarns used in handspun and vintage Shetland Lace. Shetland Supreme 1ply 1ply/single 25g ball 400m/436yds100% Real Shetland WoolSuggested Needle Size: 3mm This yarn is available in Optic White (which is bright white) and Natural White, Fawn, Moorit, Light Grey, Dark Grey and Shetland Black Shetland Supreme 2ply 2ply 25g ball 200m/219yds100% Real Shetland WoolSuggested Needle Size: 3mm This Yarn is available in Natural White, Fawn, Light Grey, Dark Grey, Moorit and Shetland Black. Sletts Shawl knit in 2ply Supreme Lace The Woollen Spun lace yarns have been produced by us since the 60's, Cobweb was the traditional weight most 1ply Shawls were made in and 2ply Lace was the classic choice for Lace Cardigans, 'thicker' shawls and lightweight garments. left: Sheelagh Shawl in cobweb right: Grace Jumper in 2ply Lace 1ply Cobweb 1ply/single 25g Ball 350m/379 yds 50% lambswool 50% Real Shetland Wool Suggested needle size: 3mm This yarn is available in White and Dyed Black. 2ply Lace 2ply 25g ball 169m/185yds 50% lambswool 50% Real Shetland Wool Suggested needle size: 3/3.25mm This yarn is available in over 30 dyed Shades. 1ply Supreme Lace on the left and 1ply Cobweb on the Right Why would you choose one over the other? finish: items made in Worsted Spun yarn have more drape and a silky smoothness due to the spinning process, they have a 'halo'. Our Woollen Spun lace yarns are crisper and have more stitch definition. Left: 2ply Lace right: 2ply Supreme Lace ease of knitting: due to the finish mentioned above the Cobweb and 2ply lace are easier to knit with because the yarn doesn't 'melt' together in the same way the Supreme Lace does - the Supreme is much harder to take back if you make a mistake. However, the Cobweb and 2ply are our only mixed yarns in that they both contain 50% Lambswool which is a weaker fibre than Shetland so the Woollen Spun ranges are not as strong as the Supreme. left: 2ply Supreme right: 2ply Lace recipient: it's worth considering if your item will be used as an 'heirloom' piece like a Christening Shawl you may want to use the Supreme as it has a very high-quality finish and is lovely and soft, similarly if its for a scarf to be worn around the neck the supreme would feel nicer and has a good drape. The Cobweb and 2ply Lace will result in excellent stitch definition so if the pattern and motif is the most important element to your design it might be a preferable choice. Elizabeth Williamson Turvie Stole knit in 1ply Supreme colour: In the 2ply Woollen Spun range there are 30 shades including a mix of dyed and dyed naturals, so there is obviously a lot of choice and options for more colourful lace. In Supreme only the 1ply Optic White is bleached all the other colours are 100% Natural and as they come off the sheep here in Shetland. thickness: the 1 and 2ply Supreme are finer than the Woollen Spun counterparts, you can see in the 1ply the Cobweb is 350m per 25 ball and the Supreme 1ply is 400m per 25g ball - this means the yarn itself is the thinnest we produce. So if you are looking for some of the finest Lace yarn commercially available the Supreme 1ply could be it. detail of a Rosemary Shawl knit in 1ply Supreme In conclusion, we know it can be confusing that we have different ranges in the same thicknesses but we hope this makes it clearer and you can see they are both not only needed but necessary! Let us know if you have any questions, happy knitting!
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Shetland Aran Worsted Naturals
Hello everyone, long time no see! we have had a jam-packed summer in the shop and as you probably know last week was our first in-person Shetland Wool Week since before 2019! So to mark the occasion we launched a new yarn which is now available online, Shetland Worsted Aran in 5 natural shades: Left to Right: Shetland Black, Dark Grey, Moorit, Light Grey and Fawn. we already have this yarn in a range of 12 solid shades, but adding these undyed ones opens up a whole new world of possibilities! This yarn is spun in the same way as our Shetland Heritage range - in that they are worsted spun from combed tops. This spinning process removes a lot of the shorter fibres which can make Wool feel itchy to some (for more information see our blog post here) The resulting yarn then feels much softer than you would normally think for a Shetland Yarn. We are currently working on reworking some of our older patterns to work with this new range but a couple of our patterns like Gremista Gansey and Aran Harpa already use the Worsted Aran range so would be ideal in the undyed colours, the yarn is a standard Aran thickness so any Aran pattern should work - including these two we have for the WYS ranges: Alana and Finlay. black, dark grey, moorit, fawn, light grey and snaa white We haven't added a white in the undyed colours as we already have Snaa White and Optic White which work perfectly as you can see above. The natural colours of Shetland Wool are precious to us and we are happy to be able to use them in another range - this all helps at adding value to the coloured wool, something we are passionate about. So you can find the new shades alongside the dyed ones on the online shop here, we look forward to seeing what you make with it! a quick swatch worked up in Shetland Black and Light Grey Shetland Aran Worsted: 50g ball 61m/66yds 100% Real Shetland Wool Suggested Needle Size: 4mm Tension: 22 sts and 24 rows over 4 inches using 4mm needles over stocking stitch. 22 sts and 20 rows over 4 inches using 4mm needles over Fair Isle.
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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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Elizabethan Cowl and 50g Jumper Weight
Hello everyone, you may seen our post on social media last week but we thought we'd share more detail about one of our new patterns and the perfect yarn pairing to go with it! Sandra designed this cowl - The Elizabethan Cowl in 2ply Jumper weight to use two shades in a fully reversible design, the motif is inverted from one side to the other. It's worked in the round - you cast on, work one side then switch the colours and work the other side. It's then cast off and seamed together. For the yarn, we had a balling mishap recently whereas 8 shades of 2ply Jumper Weight were balled into 50g instead of the normal 25g BUT our mistake is your gain and we are offering them at a discount individually here or in a full pack for a bigger discount here. They ended up working perfectly for the Elizabethan Cowl because you only need one 50g ball (or two 25g balls) of two shades so you can find the paper pattern here, or the kit or if you already have the wool the pattern is available digitally on payhip and raverly. So if you fancy any of these slightly bigger balls this is your chance to pick them up - we dont think they will last long.. Happy Knitting!
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Our Raffle Winners!
2ply Jumper Weight in shades 132 and 23 Hello everyone, happy Friday! today we are announcing the names of the winners of our recent Raffle! 2 weeks ago today we decided (very last minute) to hold a raffle to raise money for the children caught up in the conflict in Ukraine, like all of you we have been so shocked and saddened and wanted to do something to help. So we selected a group of prizes and made a product for a raffle ticket and left it over the weekend, we were amazed at the response locally and around the world. Aptly that Saturday here in Shetland we attended a vigil held at the Market Cross in Lerwick, it really felt that in Shetland we were supporting people in Ukraine. We decided to hold the raffle from Friday 5th - Tuesday 8th so that we could get our money raised donated as quickly as possible so it could help. Amazingly in those 4 day's we sold over 2500 tickets, and with a £1000 donation from J&S as a company and our staff members contributions we managed to raise £6,040 and donated it directly to UNICEF on 11th March, we were so happy at what we managed to achieve and thank you to all that entered. The raffle numbers were drawn by an independent party and we then matched it up to a spreadsheet where we had added everyone who bought a ticket, giving each entry a line, this was then randomised as the numbers and winners were matched as follows: Skye Weavers Rug: Sara Allredge, USA Sheelagh Shawl Kit: Karen Gunn, Scotland Full set of Supreme Jumper Weight: Margaret Franco, USA Fair Isle Cap Kit: Marlene Sim, Shetland Sorcha Cabled Tunic Kit: Nancy Leher, USA Antarctica Allover Kit: We are still waiting to hear from this winner, if your initials are DP please check your Junk Mail Folder, we have been trying to contact you! the prizes! So we have posted out 5 out of 6 prizes and hopefully this post will alert our final winner! We are really grateful for the support we received from our customers and how generous you were, thank you again! If you still want support UNICEF you can donate directly at this link. Happy knitting x
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Subscribe to our Newsletter!
Hello everyone, a quick post today! We are setting up our newsletter so if you want to receive a monthly update from us at J&S can we ask that you either follow this link or update your account on the online shop to ensure you are signed up (just click 'Update Contact Information and Preferences' and tick the Subscribe to commercial newsletter.) If you are already signed up via the online shop you don't need to use the form - that may result in you getting two newsletters! Don't worry - we will continue posting here but you can guarantee a monthly update (and maybe some offers!) if you sign up. We will be sending out our first Newsletter before we finish up for Christmas next week. Happy Knitting!
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