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Focus on Haps: Kate Davies

Published by louise

Two haps that have been firm favourites with people eager to cast on for my hap-along (10th April) are from designer Kate Davies.

A Hap for Harriet and Northmavine hap take a side step away from the traditional idea of the square hap, but the design reinterpretations are fresh nod at the openwork construction and “half” hap shape.

A Hap for Harriet is a laceweight pattern which is knit sideways, from end to end, and those beautiful sweeping lace points are worked along with the garter of the body. The resulting shawl is elegant and timeless and freshens the concept of the hap shawl.

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This shawl would be beautiful in a hand-dyed lace weight yarn and, really, why would you even want to look further than the recommended yarn from Old Maiden Aunt Shetland 2ply? (Grellow all the way, for me!) A very lovely substitution would be Jamieson and Smith 2ply lace.

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The Northmavine Hap, knit in J&S jumper weight yarn, takes the familiar openwork edging of the hap border and re-imagines the design. It is lovely to see how effective the continuation of the border pattern is over the whole shawl and I do love to see these chevrons rippling, like the waves that inspired it…and the ripples of the sand echoing it in the picture is pretty spectacular too.

Northmavine hap is included in the Colours of Shetland book, which is available from Kate’s website, and costs £14.99. Hap for Harriet is available via Ravelry and costs £3.95.

The hap-along cast on date will be 10th April and you can read more and join in with the conversation in the KnitBritish ravelry group.

Next week there won’t be a post as I will be at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, but I will be back the following week with some crochet haps!

If you are still looking for yarns for your hap you could tootle off to Blacker Yarns have a lovely offer for KnitBritish readers – 15% off at the checkout with the code KNITBRITISH2015. What a lovely, enabling offer?!

| Information

all images are copyright Kate Davies and are used here with her kind permission. You can find Kate at her website katedaviesdesigns.com; on instagram as @KateDaviesDesigns; twitter as @KDavieDesigns and on Ravelry.

episode 24: Knitmastery and Edinburgh Yarn Festival Preview

Published by louise

UPDATE: Due to space I can no longer host the audio files on the blog, please use your favourite podcatcher or right click the Podgen link below, to listen in a new tab (y’know, so you can also refer to the shownotes whilst you listen!)

Mere days after episode 23 here I am again with an exclusive reveal of the news from Stitchmastery about the forthcoming Knitmastery app. This is a tool all knitter’s will want and it will revolutionise approaches to chart-knitting! I have a Podcast Lounge preview and Mica, from The Edinburgh Yarn Festival, is here with an awesome show preview with previously unreleased info!

You can listen to the podcast on iTunes, all podcatchers and my podgen page.

| Knitmastery

Knitmastery is the exciting new app that every knitter will be running to the App Store for! It is being developed by Cathy Scott, who created Stitchmastery – the graphic design software that enables designers to create beautiful and professional knitting charts to accompany their patterns. Used by many designers and magazines, such as Knit Now and Knitty, you will be familiar with the charts without even knowing it!

Cathy joins me over Skype for a chat about the app (the sound has been tweaked a bit as the sound outside my window (road digger-uppers!) were interfering). Still in the process of development, Knitmastery will enable patterns – which have been designed in Stitchmastery – to open up a “smart chart” on your gadget/phone/tablet, In this app you will be able to make your own modifications to the chart in order to make it 100% user friendly and personalised for each knitter. Designer copyright is totally retained as the app acts like our own printed copy of the pattern. Features include, the ability to colour code symbols in your chart to your own preference; who doesn’t commonly confuse back slashes with forward or, like me, maybe you need help remembering which cable symbol is which? Colour coding helps assist with this.

Colour coding also relates to your colour-work charts – how awesome to change the colours of a Fair Isle chart to match the colours you are using (without getting out the colouring pens)! Making changes to the colours isn’t something that you have to change each time you enter the app as it will track your progress – everything from colour choice to which row you last knit!

I think that this app will be a brilliant addition to our knitting arsenals and I am sure it is going to be very sought after.

Cathy is going to be at Edinburgh Yarn Festival all weekend and will be offering demos of the app and is looking for your feedback. She will be in the Podcast Lounge from 3-4 on Saturday afternoon and so please drop in and see Knitmastery in action! Thanks so much to Cathy for revealing the details with KnitBritish and I wait excitedly for the launch!

| Edinburgh Yarn Festival and the Podcast Lounge

I have a preview of everything happening in the Podcast Lounge over the festival weekend and tell you all about the Come and Have a Feel session where you can come along and explore some British breed wool with me. Blacker Yarns have provided me with yarn for this session and have also been so generous and provided a discount for you to spend in their online store. They are sadly not going to be at the festival, but this way you can still buy Blacker wool over the weekend….in fact, until 31st May. You can use the code KNITBRITISH2015 for 15% off at the checkout. This is so generous of Blacker and they wanted to make sure that the code is extended to listeners of the podcast, as well as participants in the Podcast Lounge.

In addition to the sessions you will be able to drop into the Lounge all weekend long, whenever you fancy. We will be having lots of door prizes and the Geeky Girls Knit are going to have a #GGKCRAFTYPAD challenge and they want you to post your Shenanigans pics on Saturday 14th and your Enabling pics on Sunday. CC and Damaris will be drawing winners post-EYF!

We also have a lounge WIP – this will be a blanket and West Yorkshire Spinners are sponsoring the WIP by donating the wool. If we manage to knit a blanket (or a wall hanging) we can take it to other yarn shows to flag up the Podcaster meet up area – its often hard to allocate a space for this. It is also lovely to have something made at an event to illustrate the podcaster and listener community – nice bit of symmetry!

Mica pops in with an AWESOME and squee-worthy peek at the weekend and divulges brand new info – including FREE giant photo booths and portrait studios! Please listen into this and get excited.

The podcast will be back at the end of the month with a bumper episode! Thanks so much for all your love and wonderful feedback recently. I can’t wait to meet some of you in the Podcast Lounge and look forward to bringing all the news back to those of you who can’t go. Take good care x

| Information

Opening music: Try by Jillian Edwards Closing music Mind’s Made Up by Antiqcool. Both are NoiseTrade.com

I forgot to announce the winners of the EYF tickets on this episode! Congrats to Maylin and Tracy, who both now should have their tickets! See you there!

Ginger Twist Giveaway!

Published by louise

In the latest episode of the KnitBritish podcast I had a little bit of a giveaway palooza with The Bletchley Collection book, by Joanne Scrace with Eden Cottage Yarns AND this lovely yarn from Ginger Twist Studio.

To avoid the confusion of two giveaway entries on the one post, I thought I would have a separate one for the yarn. You can enter the competition for The Bletchley Collection by following this link.

To be eligible to win this gorgeous skein of 100% British BFLl Super Sheep Aran from Ginger’s Hand Dyed, in colour selkie, please visit Ginger Twist Studio and leave a comment telling me your favourite colourway OTHER THAN selkie.

| The Not-Very-Small-Print

The competition will close on Tuesday, 31st March and this competition is only open to those in the UK and Ireland.

episode 23 give-aways, reviews and haps (oh my!)

Published by louise

You can also listen on iTunes, Podcast app and my podgen page

This episode of the podcast comes to you with a bit of a podretreat hangover, but it was the most fun. I have two reviews and related give-aways for you, namely The Bletchley Collection, by Joanne Scrace with Eden Cottage Yarns, and beautiful yarn from Ginger Twist Studio.

It’s TWO WEEKS until the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (14-15 March). It is nearly time to scrape me off the ceiling! I will be doing a preview next episode and telling you all about Podcast Lounge. I will also announce the winners of the competition of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival tickets next time too.

| PodRetreat

I went to North Wales the other week on PodRetreat. This was organised by Nic, who is Yarns from the Plain, and we holed ourselves up in a beautiful farmhouse near Llansannan. My fellow podretreaters were Shinybees, Gingenie, Stedders, Greenside Knits, Feltaria, Just-Gem and PokedaGoblin and it was a very memorable weekend, which included workshops, pop-up shops, beach trips, fish ‘n’ chips, large gins and an almost-fire! As well as having the class and shop visit from Bee, from Crafts from the Dungeon, Nic also brought her wares from Yarns from the Plain. I bought the GORGEOUS Mobberly Exmoor/Alpaca yarn in DK Dusky Rose and Aran Granny Smith. We were also the lucky recipients of our own PodRetreat goody bag which included a bespoke YFTP Chelford yarn in a Hendre Aled colour!

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It was an awesome weekend and I am full of inspiration and ideas and – after GSK’s lovely scarves and Nic’s new loom – there are quite a few of us who are now considering buying a starter loom! Well done to Nic for a fantastic weekend and thanks to all the Podretreaters who were awesome company!

| Book Review: The Bletchley Collection

Joanne Scrace and Eden Cottage Yarns have brought out a very special collection, which is inspired by the Second World War Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park. The capsule collection of 6 pieces – 4 knit and 2 crochet – is knit in the milburn 4ply range and is playful, very wearable and with a lovely vintage edge. The layout is really lovely, very easy to read and ticks a lot of boxes for knitters with charts AND written instructions, as well as schematics for the garments. The photography, by Victoria Magnus, is shot on location at Bletchley and really gives excellent emphasis on how these items look on. They have a real playful feel too.
I have fallen in love with the clever Baudot hat (with secret code!), Bombe cowl and Hut 8 cardi!

Utterly charming, this collection will be the treasure of your knitting libraries. While the patterns, photography and layout are wonderful, I really love that there is emphasis on where the inspiration comes from and the info that accompanies each pattern – whether inspired by cogs in the cypher machine, or secret code – it is a lovely insight into the collection. The Bletchley Collection book is available from Eden Cottage Yarns and costs £15 and you can purchase the e-book or single pattern downloads via Ravelry.

Victoria, from Eden Cottage Yarns, has given one KnitBritish listener the opportunity to win a copy of the collection – and you really will be a lucky winner! Please comment on this thread telling me which of the Bletchley patterns will be first to cast on?

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| Yarn Review: Ginger Twist Luscious Worsted

Thanks to Jess, from Ginger Twist Studio in Edinburgh, for giving me a skein of her Luscious worsted to review.

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I cast on the Cupido cowl in this yarn as I wanted to knit something special to show off Jess’s colours. This yarn is BFL, CASHMERE AND SILK and is ridiculously soft and shiny and with those 3 fibres you can imagine how wonderful it is next to the skin. It will be a big hit with fans of the soft-soft-soft yarns, but it also has an amazing amount of bounce too so while its drapey, it also has quite a bit of structure too. Also available in a 4ply this yarn cost £23 and the worsted is 115g/200m it will make exceptional one skein projects, as well as a special sweater…did i mention it is BFL, cashmere and silk?????

Jess has also given us a skein of her super sheep aran as a prize. This is 100% BFL and it is so warm and squishy. To enter this competition please follow this link (i.e. please keep the comments on this post for the book giveaway). Thanks to Jess for these lovely yarns and if you are going to EYF please stop by to see her stall.

| Community

Thanks so much for your feedback on last episode’s chat on our craft and knitting communities. Some of you have been adding your experiences to the KnitBritish Ravelry group thread on the topic and I read out a couple. Some of us find it hard to join established groups and it makes me think of Tuckman’s model of groups – some groups have already formed and stormed their norms, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t open to new members or can’t evolve again. Let’s keep up the chat on this. It is really interesting to know about your craft communities and also where they come up short.

| KnitLocal

Last time I asked all of you outside the UK to tell me about your local wool and wool industry. There was lots of feedback on this and we will have a good recurring section on this. Please read Iriberio’s message about the sheep and wool from Portugal, including the breeds Bordaleira Serra da Estrela; Bordaleira do Minho; Churra Galega Mirandesa; and Iberian merino.

| Hap-Hap-Hooray

The cast on date for this is April 10th and we will have a wee virtual Knit Night to kick it off. There is heaps of interest over in the Hap Thread and I will have a hap pattern inspiration post each Friday. Please check out the Gudrun Johnson and Brooklyn Tweed posts. You can post your pattern and yarn/colour choices in that thread too.

| HELLO & GOODBYE

Hello to all the new kids in the KB rav group and thank you all for your recent feedback, messages and reviews – you make my KB heart sing!

| Next time

I will be back on Thursday 5th March….a mere few days! In this episode I will be talking to Cathy Scott, from Stitchmastery, about her exciting new software and I will have a preview of Podcast Lounge and Edinburgh Yarn Festival!

| Information

Opening music: Stress Bitch with Jonesy’s Jukebox from Musicalley

End: Made up your Mind, by Antiqcool on NoiseTrade

Focus on haps: Brooklyn Tweed

Published by louise

Last week’s post with haps inspiration from Gudrun Johnston got a lot of hits and lots of you talking about haps. Lots of people were keen to try a contemporary design and equally as many interested in the more traditional design, Hansel.

To give you even more choice in the upcoming hap-along (cast on 10th April) I have two further Shetland shawl designs from Gudrun included in this week’s design picks from Brooklyn Tweed, first though are three haps by Mr BT himself, Jared Flood.

Tweed Baby is a worsted weight square shawl, which has all of the features of the traditional hap shawl, but with the addition of an i-cord edging instead of lace, which adds a very simple yet modern line to the blanket.

: © Brooklyn Tweed

Available in 2 sizes and with two or three colours, the pattern costs £5.58 on Ravelry. While this looks so beautiful and woolly in the Brooklyn Tweed shelter yarn, I think a great baby friendly washable yarn like WYS Aire Valley BFL Aran would work well too.

Quill appeared in the BT Spring Thaw Collection 2012. Classic and elegant, this looks beautiful in one colour just as it does with different colours in the old-shale edging. It is knit in fingering weight and can be knit in two sizes 40 x 40 and 50 x 50 inches. The pattern costs around £5.58. This would be a really precious christening/baby gift.

: © Brooklyn Tweed

If you like the square hap, but prefer something lighter and more ethereal then you will love Bridgewater, which is Jared’s homage to the Shetland shawl. I love the breathyness of that horsehoe lace border and I think that would be even more pronounced in a whispery soft alpaca, or perhaps mohair. This pattern is charted only, as are many of BT patterns. Please do read the pattern description carefully and see if they have your preferred method, as I do know some people prefer written instructions.

As mentioned, Gudrun Johnston has also designed Shetland haps for Brooklyn Tweed’s Wool People collections, namely Halligarth and Sandness.
Halligarth moves away from the garter centre to using a tree lace pattern. This is enormously effective and really draws the eye to the centre detail. There is no feather and fan border, which would detract from the tree design, but a simple lace point edging finishes it off beautifully. This is also a chart only pattern.

Halligarth© Brooklyn Tweed

Sandness (pronounced Saness in Shetland) is quite possibly my favourite of all these haps, though it is difficult to choose just one. I love that while the border mirrors the ripples of the old shale pattern it is actually a textured pattern that stands out from the surface of the shawl. Perhaps this will be a good choice for the hap-along if you aren’t so interested in knitting lace. The central panel is also stocking stitch rather than garter and, while I think non-garter lovers are odd, I I know there are quite a few of you who may prefer that.

Sandness © Brooklyn Tweed

| Information

Many thanks to Brooklyn Tweed and Jared Flood for the kind use of the images.
You can find all Brooklyn Tweed patterns at www.brooklyntweed.com
Prices are shown as converted from dollars and are the prices currently on Ravelry at the time of writing.

Focus on Haps: Gudrun Johnston

Published by louise

The Shetland hap has definitely had a resurgence recently and it is one of the reasons that I am excited to be hosting the hap-along because whether you like the traditional square shawl or blanket, with the old shale border or if you are interested in more contemporary designs then there is a hap for you!

I want to knit a traditional hap and, if I am being honest, it will be lovely to see people knit these and maybe find a renewed interest in the traditional. However I am aware that there are knitters and crocheters with different tastes and so I have tried to ensure that there is enough inspiration for everyone and give you some suggestions of contemporary twists on the original style.

The cast-on date for the hap-along is Friday 10th April and while that seems an age away, it will be here before you know it. I wanted to share with you some ideas to get you thinking about your haps and I will be sharing various designs and designers with you over the coming weeks.

One designer who has really embraced the hap design and traditional Shetland construction is local-born Gudrun Johnston, aka The Shetland Trader. I took Gudrun’s Shetland Wool Week class on haps and it’s fair to say that is where this KAL has its roots! Hansel is a pattern that I will be knitting, it comes in a full square version and a triangle (half) version, but no need to worry about which to choose as you get both patterns when you purchase one (£3.94).

I love how this is a very traditional style of shawl, but it shows that with colour choice it can be a really fresh and modern.

If you are looking for something more contemporary to knit in this KAL you can definitely look to Gudrun’s designs which feature the traditional Shetland construction – this follows the same construction as the hap, with knitting the central triangle first and then using the YOs that you knit at the start of each row to pick up for the border.

Aestlight and Simmer Dim are really great wonderful and contemporary turns on the original construction method. Fresh and very versatile both of these would be beautiful in a skein of special hand-dyed fingering or a yarn like the incredible Titus

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Loren is a triangular design which very much reminds me of the intricate lace wedding ring shawls. Not quite cobweb, but knit in 2ply lace, you can buy the pattern or purchase it as a kit from Jamieson and Smith (£20.50).

Flukra, like Loren, is true lace with patterning on both sides. I love that bold, oval lace pattern and the simple lace border, surely a nod to traditional haps. I have also seen versions of this in the project pages with garter edging, which is also very effective.

We will be looking at more of Gudrun’s designs in a future post, but I am sure you will agree that her shawls are really beautiful and very hap-along worthy! Another thing I am certain of is that Gudrun’s patterns are always beautifully written and laid out and this makes them a joy to knit. There are also tutorials available for the traditional Shetland construction.

By hap-py co-incidence Gudrun is hosting her own hap KAL at the moment to celebrate her recently released Traditional Shetland Hap class on Craftsy. You can join in with her KAL in the Shetland Trader group on Ravelry.

More hap inspirations coming soon!

: : Information : :
Many thank to Gudrun for the kind use of her images. All images are © Gudrun Johnston – please do not reproduce without permission.

Gudrun Johnston can be found at www.theshetlandtrader.com; on Ravelry; she tweets @ShetlandTrader and on instagram @gudrunjohnston

spotlight on haps

Published by louise

There has been a lot of interest in the KnitBritish Hap-along over in the ravelry group and it is really lovely to know that so many of you think that a hap will make an exciting KAL. Some people have been interested in taking part in the KAL but weren’t too sure what a hap is, or does.

A hap – a word meaning to cover, wrap or keep warm – was a traditional shawl of everyday wear for Shetland women. In it’s more common form a garter square was knit first and stitches were picked up to knit an old-shale lace border around, using different colours of wool to create interest. Haps were not originally knitted in fine wool as this was kept for knitted items which were sold. These practical shawls were folded in half to make a triangle and worn over the shoulders, crossed over the front and the ends tied at the back. The excellent image, from Shetland Museum, shows women dressing haps in Lerwick in the 1900s. As you can just about see from the hap boards on the bottom right of the picture, shawls could also be one colour.

Shetland lace shawls – those that the finest Shetland wool was kept for – were also knitted in the same way to the hap and this is often referred to as traditional Shetland construction. These were knitted in 1py or cobweb lace and lace designs were incorporated into the central square as well as the border – such as these stunning examples that were at the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers exhibit, during Shetland Wool Week 2014.

From practical wear to finery you will find examples of haps which are square or “half” (triangular) and you will also find baby blankets and throws, as well as hap inspired garments and contemporary designs, such as Emma K Williams’ cardigan and Kate Davies‘ amazing Northmavine Hap.

© Kate Davies Designs Image used with kind permission

I love getting lost looking at archive images of haps and today I was struck looking at the images on the Shetland Museum and Archives photo archive of just how *everyday* they were.

image from Shetland Museum and Archives. Photographer J Leisk. Albert Wharf, Lerwick, C 1880

Image: Shetland Museum & Archives. Photographer: A Abernetht, 1890s. Herring station at North Ness

Image: Shetland Museum & Archives. Photographer: A Abernethy, 1890s. Herring station at North Ness

At work or at play the hap seemed a staple wardrobe garment. I particularly love the lady in the white hap in the top image. I wonder if it was her “good” hap, in the same way that there were dress ganseys and work ganseys for fishermen. I also love seeing images of Shetland women walking and knitting – I pass this stretch of the Lerwick waterfront a lot and am quite sure I’d fall in if I were concentrating on knitting!

If you are interested in learning more about the traditional hap and patterns I really reccomend Sharon Miller’s Heirloom Knitting: Shetland Hap Shawls, Then and Now, which is a great resource. It also has a recipe to create your own hap design.

I am proposing a #HapAlong cast on date of Friday, 10th April (I don’t like Sunday or Monday cast on dates, we miss so much good weekend knitting time!) and while that is still quite a way off it gives plenty of time for pattern and yarn selection.

I will create an official KAL post nearer the time, but there will be small prizes up for grabs and the only real rules to be eligible for a prize are no casting on until the official start date and your item must be either…

a) described as a hap on Ravelry in the pattern name or in the pattern notes/description,

b) described as having traditional Shetland construction which, like the traditional hap design, means the centre is knitted first and the lace border is attached.

The cast off date will be 12th July (and so you must be finished by then to be eligible for the prizes) which give PLENTY time for knitters of shawlettes, shawls and blankets alike.Your item does not have to be knitted in British wool, but there will be a prize for my favourite British wool FO. I will be posting hap suggestions and inspirations from now until then and happy to try and answer any hap questions you may have. The time has never been so right for hap fun as Gudrun Johnson has recently launched a hap class on Craftsy and is also hosting a hap KAL too!

I am leaving you with one final photo featuring a hap. Its not really for the hap, I just adore the spirit of fun in this picture with the cuddling couple – lots of images from Shetland in this era (if not of people at work, etc) are a bit posed or set. It has a lovely “snap” quality and feels very modern because of that.

Image: as before. Photographer unknown. Man woman hugging. Whiteness/Wesidale area 1900s

THE LINNE FOIRTHE CLUB

Published by louise

*happy dance. happy dance. more happy dancing*

The Golden Skein have created a very special Power of 3 yarn club especially to celebrate this year’s Edinburgh Yarn Festival (14-15th March). The luxury yarn club enablers always find wonderful inspiration pictures, but just look at their jaw-dropping image, at the top, for their EYF club!

The image is called ‘Face over the Forth’ by Chris Combe and the special edition offering will follow the same format as the usual Power of 3 Club. All three dyers will be given the same inspiration photo and will dye the 100g skeins of fingering weight yarn in their own style. I am sure, like me, you are excited about what the specially chosen dyers are going to paint on these yarns. I cannot resist posting that photo again – how delicious are those colours and textures?

Image: Chris Coombe. Used with kind permission

The dyers of The Linne Foirthe club (Firth of Forth in Gaelic) are a secret at the moment, as are the bases, but that will not stop you from stalking The Golden Skein website tomorrow when the club goes on sale….

…yes! you heard correctly, the club goes on sale tomorrow at 7pm and you should follow @TheGoldenSkein on twitter, on facebook and check out the ravelry group for teases and the release details. If you are lucky enough snag a club before they all sell out, the special Edinburgh Yarn Festival Power of 3 package will be released on 12th March, just in time for the festival itself.

This is a brilliant idea as a lasting memory of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, but it will also be a much sought after club for those who are unable to attend.

I am really excited to see those yarns and will definitely be queuing up for a skein…. get out of the way…no pushing….*get’s sleeping bag*…..