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Sandra and the SWRI!
On a beautiful Easter Monday night Me (Ella) and Sandra headed down to the South End of Shetland to meet with the local SWRI group who had invited Sandra down to talk and show some of her beautiful knitting. We arrived at the hall, and while the ladies had their monthly meeting we judged as visiting speakers some of their arts and crafts. Once we had done that we layed out as much of Sandras knitting as we could fit in her car (shes prolific!) Unfortunately I didnt get any pictures of her giving her talk as I was helping her hold up things to show the ladies but afterwards Sandra invited everybody to come up and have a look and chat about knitting We were very pleased to see a Chunky Fair Isle Yoke Cardigan which Sandra designed a few years ago, on this lady on the right. We love her colour choices, Haar as the main shade with Kryn Mylk and Fuschia as the contrast shades, it reminds us of Rasberry Ripple Ice Cream! And of course there was some beautiful knitwear to be seen on the ladies, including some lovely yokes and all over cardigans. she spoke about all her designs for Jamieson & Smith, such as the Antarctica Set, , Tobys Coat and lots more but she also had some of her own family's knitting including the shawl which was knit for her as a baby! We had a lovely time chatting with everybody and would like to thank the SWRI for inviting us down to see them. Well done to Sandra for a great talk, it was so great to see so much of her knitting in one place!
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Contemporary Textiles Student Visit
A few weeks ago Oliver and Ella went over to the Shetland College UHI to meet with the Contemporary Textiles students and present prizes for a design competition we set the students earlier this year. As part of the course the students are often set live briefs and competitions and we took the chance for the students to use and design with the unique Heritage wool, since we now have the yarn available on cone and in ball it was a perfect opportunity to see what the students would come up with. The students were asked to create short garments which incorporated aspects of Shetland knitwear in a contemporary way. Dorothy Fraser was inspired by the Old Shell pattern, a traditional lace motif. She reversed the knitting as a design detail and also explored the use of very large needles and traditional stitches which created a very open lacey top. Elaine Nicolson also used traditional stitches and techniques to create a modern hooded cape. Using a mix of knitting and crochet Joyce Leask was inspired by vintage garments and she also embellished her garment with fleece, an interesting technique. Kirsty Nicolsons garment used the traditional technique of Fair Isle, taking a new approach to the Fair Isle yoke, by using a subtle striping effect on the body. The bright Yoke utilises the new shades which we released early last year. Kirsty knitted her prototype on a domestic knitting machine with the possibility of the design being transferred on to the industrial Shimi Seiki machines of which the Colleges Textile Facilitation Unit has three. Kirsty Nicolsons garment was chosen as the overall winner of the competition and Oliver presented her with a gift token for Jamieson & Smith photo courtesy of Dave Donaldson Oliver said 'Jamieson & Smith have always supported the textile course and College since its conception so we think its a great way for younger and mature students from Shetland and further afield to enhance their skills. We look forward to more design projects with the students in the future in collaboration with Jamieson & Smith, Curtis Wool Direct and the Real Shetland Company' photo courtesy of Dave Donaldson Thank you to the College for inviting us to see them and we look forward to more projects with them in the future!
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Recent Ravelry Projects
One of our favourite aspects of what we do at J&S is seeing all the different things you make with our yarns, we have a very active group on Ravelry with over 3000 members! You can easily look at the all the projects people have entered into Ravelry using the wide range of Jamieson & Smith yarns. I thought i'd show you some of my favourite recent finished objects. handepandes Fair Isle wristwarmers a lovely use of colours (Jumper Weight shade 122 and FC43!) and peerie patterns Hanna has made a beautiful pair of very cosy looking wristwarmers. Daucus' Tigs in blanket using local designer Outi Katers Jacks Jacket pattern, this lovely dog looks so great in his new jacket! Maud-Baileys Anar Yoke Jumper, this classic Jumper looks so vintage and I love that Kate was inspired by one of the Whalsay bairns jumpers. mitumames Follow Your Arrow Shawl, Ysolda recently released a mystery shawl KAL and Shetland Heritage was one of the yarns suggested. I love how the Indigo shade looks in a shawl and it shows how good the Heritage is for Lace as well as Fair Isle! As well as Ravelry, we also have a facebook page and twitter and we love to see the things you have made so please share them with us! Happy Knitting, x
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Lerwick Up Helly Aa 2014
Up Helly Aa day dawned wet and windy, I could hear the Jarls Squad cheering from my bed so I got up and headed to the Street.. One of the main parts of the day is The Bill on the Street, it was surrounded by tourists having a look. A Up Helly Aa flag flying on the Lodberrie. Me and my Sister and her bairns battled our way back to the street to see the Jarl squad at the Market Cross, I even caught a glimpse of Oliver among the beards! It was a very damp morning but my head was especially cosy with my Up Helly Aa hat Sandra made for me, it depicts the torchlight procession which takes place at night Due to the strong winds the Galley was moved to the Hillhead, I was able to get some nice photos once it had calmed down and the Jarl Squad had headed into the Town Hall In the afternoon I headed to the Shetland Museum and Archives to see the Jarl Squad in a drier environment! This gave me a chance to see the suit a bit more up close and see some of the details Stuart mentioned in his post on Tuesday After a bit of a rest I wander down to watch the Junior Procession, which takes place at 5.30pm Although the rain had stopped the wind had picked up and by the time for the senior procession at 7.30 it was very windy! But everything went to plan and the warmth from the torches made the wind not seem so bad! Oh and of course my hat was still keeping me warm! After the procession its time to get ready for the night of revellry, all the squads (and there are 50 or so!!) go around all the halls and do an act and a bit of dancing. I was at the Gilbertson Park Games Hall and it was great night, the Jarl Squad was last at the Gibbie so it was 8.30am before I went home.. luckily just a short walk across the Park! I cant believe its over for another year! there are still lots of Fire Festivals that go on in different parks of the Islands until March so there's plenty of fun still to be had! If you would like to see any more photos from the day, have a look here and here. xx
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Viking visits J&S!
Up Helly Aa arrived at J&S today in the form of a viking named Oliver, who most of you will be familiar with. We are currently in the middle of the worst weather in over 20 years but in true Shetland spirit no one has let that put a dampner on the day. So after a hectic day of touring the town and performing all the Jarl Squad duties Oliver popped in for a quick visit to show off the Jarl Squad suit, which was stunning! Every part of the suit was beautifully designed to the last detail: the intricate metal inlay on the shields; the ornate helmet an axe; cow-skin cloak complete with dragon brooch; heavy scale armour; and most exciting of all, for us, the kirtle and pouch woven using J&S yarn. The kirtle was made from our Coll Black Shetland Heritage yarn. It was knitted in a way to make it look woven, giving a beautiful, smooth fabric that ties in perfectly with the Jarl Squad's Viking-themed suit. Since this is a day we have all been looking forward to for years, especially Oliver, we thought we would need to get a group photo of him in full costume with the J&S staff (minus Ella who was out getting plenty of photos for a blog post later in the week). All of us here at J&S hope Jarl Ivor Cluness and his squad, the 900+ guizers and everyone attending this years Up Helly Aa have had a fantastic day and enjoy the long night ahead!
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The Knitter Issue 66
We recently received our copy of the December issue of The Knitter which has three patterns in it using Jamieson & Smith Yarns! the first is a lovely stole by Judy Furlong which uses Cobweb Yarn alongside 2ply Jumper Weight for a 3D effect photo copyright: The Knitter/Jesse Wild This ethereal stole, which is named Eirwen, has textured 'boxes' which are knit in the Jumper Weight alongside a Cobweb stocking stitch and a Shetland Lace Edging. The next pattern is a beautiful pair of beaded arm warmers by Barb Brown photo copyright: The Knitter/ Jesse Wild The Samarkand arm warmers extend almost up to the elbow has peerie Fair Isle patterns with subtle beading to bring out the colours of the Heritage worsted spun yarn, they are knit in Berry Wine and Auld Gold, I think the colours are perfect for this time of year! photo copyright: The Knitter/ Jesse Wild The last pattern is a sampler cushion by Judy Furlong which uses both Shetland Aran and 2ply Jumper Weight together photo copyright: The Knitter/Jesse Wild This Cushion features Scottish themed sampler panels in Fair Isle and Sanquhar designs with a beautiful cabled Aran pleat joining them together. The Scottish Mood Cushion is part of a Knitalong in the Magazine, which had the Aran sections in Issue 65. its very inspiring to see the different things designers can do with our wool! Happy Knitting x
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Sandra's 2013 Collection for J&S
They're finally here! After many months of designing, knitting, writing, editing, test knitting, checking, checking and checking again then printing, our shiny new patterns have arrived back to J&S and are available on our online shop as kits. Sandra constantly has new knitting ideas popping into her head that she tries out on new designs in all different shapes and sizes such as her last patterns the Sheep Cushion, Monster Mitts and Monster Muff. The following four new designs reflect a broad range of her designs; featuring Fair Isle, lace and cable knitting techniques and various weights of yarn. Noughts & Crosses Cushion Sandras Noughts and Crosses Cushion uses the worsted spun Cushion Yarn used in the Shetland Flag Cushion, this unique cabled design which is inspired by the OXO Fair Isle patterns has holes in the cablesfor you to pull through Shetland Comb Tops which gives the cushion texture and a bit extra squash. You could use any colour of Comb Tops to co-ordinate with any colour scheme or leave the holes empty on one side for a more subtle effect. There are lots of possibilities! You can find the Noughts & Crosses Cushion here. Lace Ella The Lace Ella can be made using two of our newest yarns, Shetland Heritage and Shetland Supreme Lace Weight, this warm but surprisingly lightweight jumper features lots of different lace patterns on the front and back, with a beautiful lace patterned V on the back, and the sleeves have a classic lace motif all over. Sandra was inspired by a popular lace pattern from the 1970s and 80s in Shetland in which a signature lace V on the back was knitted by a particular knitter and any cardigan or jumper was known to be knitted by this one knitter, this is Sandra's interpretation of this classic style. You can find the Lace Ella here. Aran Star The Aran Star Jumper has a retro feel, Sandra was inspired by Vintage patterns to create a modern version of the jumpers you used to see all the time in Shetland. It is quite a simple design but with the bold Norwegian star its very effective, using the Shetland Aran it makes a very warm and cozy jumper for this time of year. The simple Fair Isle motif and thicker wool makes this pattern a good choice for beginners. You can find the Aran Star here. Hairst Cardigan Fair Isle Yoke cardigans are a classic in Shetlands knitwear history, and now we have a J&S version, Sandra used a beautiful palette of subtle but bright shades of Jumper Weight, we called it Hairst which means Autumn in Shetland Dialect, the classic Norwegian star and tree motif has always been passed down from family to family and with the resurgance of the popularity of Fair Isle Yokes Sandra finally wrote down her technique to pass on to you. The pattern is written with both working flat and in the round as options so you can make the Cardigan in your favourite way. You can find the Hairst Cardigan here. As an extra little gift all orders up until and including Friday 20th December for these new kits come with a free J&S Big Project Bag to keep your knitting tucked up in. Happy knitting!
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Coming soon...
...four new patterns by Sandra Manson for J&S. These include a cosy jumper made from Shetland Aran, a much sought after yoke cardigan made from our 2ply Jumper Weight, a lace jumper made in your choice of 2ply Shetland Supreme Lace or Shetland Heritage and a beautiful cushion made from yarn developed especially for our Shetland Flag Cushion pattern. The proofs are in and have been checked so they are all ready to be printed just down the road here in Lerwick. These are the result of months of work so we are so excited to get them out to you! More to come very soon...
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Christmas Delivery Dates
With it now being less than a month until Christmas we're excited to be able to give you a guide to help you prepare for any Christmas gifts you get from J&S. You should order by the following dates at the very latest: Australasia & Asia - Tuesday 3rd December Africa & South America - Thursday 5th December Europe - Sunday 8th December North America - Monday 9th December UK - Tuesday 17th Dec These dates are taken from a guide by the Royal Mail and are not a guarantee of delivery by the specified dates. Please order early to ensure delivery of your order. Thank you!
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