Latest Posts

Off and Running

Published by louise

I have three items on the pins at the moment. I don’t think I have ever allowed myself that before, usually because it feels way too dis-organised – like I can’t settle on a project, but I am in love with these yarns and am in full-swing KnitBritish!

Before the end of last year I cast on Ysolda Teague’s Marin with Babylongleg’s Radiance in colourway Petrolhead. I am a bit of a sucker for a teal and this is nothing if not radiant!

British dyer Mamalonglegs (Sarah) is a fibre artiste extraordinare! you should really hop right on over to her shop and have a look. I can just about guarantee there is something for everyone. Right now I am in love with the look of the LoveLace yarns. It is somewhere between sock and lace weight, which is perfect for the laceweight wimp that I am! Its 55% BFL and….45% Silk…yum!

Dyeing is done in small batches so every skein in really special. She also does custom dyeing too, so if you have something specific in mind, or need more of a particular colourway check out the website for contact details.

On the website you will also find really funky stitchmarkers and kits for gorgeous Rock and Purl & Woolly Wormhead patterns

MARIN

The pattern itself is really lovely and unusual to any crescent shawl pattern I have knit before. A lot of Ysolda’s patterns have fantastic construction aspects and this is no exception. It is knit side to side, with short row shaping to form the centre.

I have had this pattern since it was released, but I have to admit that I was a little put off by some of the comments of the forum asking for help with the construction I should not have been worried. The pattern, as with all of Ysolda’s, is really well set out. The written instructions are easy to follow and there are also charted instructions. Sometimes I think one should read the pattern a couple of times before starting and not get too worried by other’s project woes – certainly good advice for me!

The only thing is…I thought I was using the correct needle, but I appear to have gone down a needle size. I think once it is blocked it should be fine though. Only the last chart to go and I can cast off!

BIFFLE

…is my second project. It is off the needles, but is need of weaving and blocking. I cast on with this wool as soon as it arrived from Laal Bear’s Etsty shop.

Laal Bear mainly sells hand dyed yarn and fibre, as well as handspun and other items, but she has sourced really beautiful natural British yarns. I ordered some BFL and Jacobs and as soon as I opened the packet I knew right away I had to squidge and cast on!

To break up the brown a little, I knit in a little Portland/Manx “tweed” from Natural Yarn. I will be using this for a future project, and tell you more about that another time.

The lovelyfella (lovelyfiancé now, btw) bought a new wool, tweedy coat before Christmas and needed a new topper to go with it. I really don’t think he cared one way or another for a new hat, but he was very sweet listening to me “oooh” and “aaahh” and wax knitical about its sheen and softness as I knit it for him. I think it certainly came in handy today when we went on a little filming shoot around the chilly Shetland back-of-beyond!

SNOWFLAKE

My third project on the pins is from Tin Can Knits. I eagerly watch out for new patterns from them ever since I saw their Low Tide Cardigan. They offered a free pattern as a Christmas Gift and I chose this one. LovelyFiancé has a new niece in NZ and what better than to put a baby in lovely, soft, natural, BRITISH, fibre?

I am knitting this with the natural white BFL from Laal Bear and some – sadly now discontinued – Organic Corriedale and Alpaca DK from Blacker Yarn. I am sad that this has been discontinued as it is super soft and very nice to work with. I am assured that the new Swan range is very close to this yarn, should you need an alternative.

Both wools are just a soft, squidgey delight and will be so gentle next to baby’s skin.

My only gripe with the pattern is that there aren’t written instructions, which isn’t really a gripe at all as I can read charts, but I think some people see a chart and can read it whole, work it row on row easily and others – like me – see it as a little less conquerable (if that makes sense) and I feel I am putting more of my brain to work that with just written. But then I like to challenge myself!

I have finished the yoke of this top-down sweater and I will post pics of these unfinished items soon.

DISCOUNT!

To give you a Happy New Year Laal Bear is offering a 15 % discount until 12pm on Monday – just enter NEWYEAR15 at the checkout.

Reading this after the Monday? Don’t worry, there is a 10% discount after this time, until 12pm on Monday 21st January (NEWYEAR10)

A British Wool-Along: Throwing down the gauntlet

Published by louise

I have mentioned before that the Woolsack group on Ravlery have a thread to discuss ideas for your own projects knit with British wool. I was late catching onto the group and if you a not familiar with Woolsack I highly recommend that you have a browse of the website.

It was the brainchild of Sue Blacker to create gifts for the Olympians & Para-Olympians during London 2012, gifts which were made from British bred fibre and created by UK crafting talent.

Soon knitters, felters, crocheters, weavers and schools, clubs, community groups, etc were all creating cushions – made and stuffed with British wool – which would be presented to an Olympic athlete.

Sue, along with a team of dedicated volunteers, created, stuffed and distributed thousands of cushions during London 2012. If the smiles on the faces of these Australian swimmers are anything to go by the project was a total success!

Since the end of the Olympics, Jane Cooper has been maintaining the woolsack website as a reference to home-grown fibre & yarn. Jane is an absolute enthusiast when it comes to British wool and the website really is outstanding when it comes to finding wool stockists, links to information on the 60 different breeds of British sheep and to stockists and designers of clothes manufactured in UK fibre.

I really found the stockist listings of yarn totally invaluable; not only does it have some of the more well-known brands – such as Jamieson & Smith and Rowan – but it has such a brilliant resource of small, independent yarn producers and dyers of British wool. I discovered online shops such as Little Houndales Knits selling wool from their own flocks. Of course, the resource does not just apply to the ovine – there are stockists of UK angora, cashmere, mohair & alpaca!

If you tweet, you can follow Woolsack there too, Jane is always sharing really interesting stories & blogs about UK fibre, as well as tweeting about wool in the news and about UK stockists. Woolsack is all about promoting, informing and enabling people to access the wonderful resource of wool and fibre we have in this country.

Inspired to immerse yourself in a project using UK fibre?

Well, if so I am going to challenge you! Head over to woolsack’s stockist pages and give yourself a little time to browse through the wonderful array of yarn sellers, spinners & dyers – some of them may even be local to you.

Once you have chosen your British bred yarn and you have a project in mind head on over to the Woolsack ravelry group and join in with the Knit-Brit-2013 project. JaneKAL is a wonderful hostess and you will be very welcome there.

You can do one project, your project could be a long term biggie or you could knit all year round in UK fibre, like me. There are no deadlines. All you are asked to do is tag your projects knit-brit-2013 and you are not confined to just knitting – crochet, weave, felt, whatever you like!

If you don’t have a Ravelry account (and you really should, it’s great!) I would love to hear about your projects and your British wool here.

A lot of people have an attachment to natural fibres and particular breeds, as well as an interest in supporting home-grown ventures – joining in with this project is a really lovely way to celebrate UK grown/dyed fibre and support your favourite breeds and local producers.

Don’t forget you can also tweet about your projects or anything to do with knitting British by using hashtag knitbritish

My first “official” (whatever that means!) KnitBritish 2013 project hasn’t yet begun as I am still knitting from last year – My wool is dyed by a wonderful British dyer, though! More on that later.

Have you recovered from the end/arrival of the year? I think I would like to get back to normal now, don’t you?

*removes every card, scrap of tinsel, dismantles the tree & sighs with relief*

Wrapped in wirsit

Published by louise

A New Year is almost dawning. We are closing the door on one year and opening it again on a whole load of new possibilities.

What do you fancy doing in 2013? Will you take on a new hobby, will you challenge yourself to try something new… Maybe you would also like to challenge yourself to crafting with UK wool too! (or wool local to you…if you do, let me know, I’d love to hear about it)

I will probably say “Ooh! I want to do that!” or “I’m going to learn..” a hundred times.

With knitting though I feel I am always learning and I love to challenge myself. I know I am not the greatest knitter in the world. I know I will never create masterpiece designs, but I truly get satisfaction from what I create. Maybe because I managed to knit with two colours at once (that was a big deal), maybe because I ripped that shawl back ten times before I got it right. A lot of the satisfaction of the thing is how you got to the finished object, isn’t it?

Occasionally my FOs will bear just some small ID tag, which says “This was handmade”. It may not be visible to your eye, but I know its there. Maybe its the slightly loose row on my sweater from when I started knitting in the dark during Skyfall at the cinema. Maybe it’s the extra hole, where a YO shouldn’t be in my shawl. But I like that. It says “I was made by a human person, who is a bit sketchy at some of the techniques used in this garment – but hey! Who’s perfect?!”

I have loved creating with wool and I know 2013 is going to be another adventure in yarn, but before I begin the next 12 months of waxing knitical about British bred, spun and dyed wool, here are my treasured challenges from the last 12 months.

Curlie dodie tieve Moch Cardi by Gudrun Johnston (Shetland Trader wordsmith cowl Stasis sleeve Etterscabs ysolda shawl Stenness Jumper Making Maureen's Cria whilst wearing my own! Cardi's for Baby Willow Simon Cowl diantha by Susanna IC

A very happy, safe, (warm!) and wonderful New Year to you.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you will continue to wander along with me in 2013.

This Little Birdie…

Published by louise

A little birdie may have mentioned last time that LovelyFella had knitbritished up a webspace for me….Well here it is!

Okay, so I am no *insert popular blogger of choice here*, but I love it and I hope you will continue to pop in and if you want to let your RSS Feed Reader know I am here, that would be nice too! Have a look around, tell me what you think.

Christmas is almost upon us and it has been a busy old time. We decided to take a trip to Aberdeen last week and brave the shops. Brave is right! I think Christmas shoppers should be rewarded with a large glass of something strong after hitting the shops. I am not a fan of shopping at this time of year, so I was glad to get back on Sunday.

After a few days of wrapping presents and writing out cards I still wasn’t feeling much in the spirit of the season – until I decided that a bit of creativity was on the cards.

I still haven’t really decided what my first project of my knitbritish year will be, but I remembered the other day that I had some Jamieson & Smith wool tops and I also remembered that I had four brand new needles for my felting tool, all of which had been lying idle for quite some time.

The result was a happy couple of hours and 8 little, fat robins – my first completed project with British wool. I even discovered that the snap poppers I used for eyes (ancient notions from the bottom of my sewing box) were made in the UK too!

I was planning to attach them to presents, but I think they look pretty content nesting in our tree!

I hope your festive season is starting well and you are all safe and warm. I think the forecast is going to stop a few people moving between the mainland and the isles this week. Boats have already been cancelled, but some extra flights have been laid on and Tesco certainly managed to LAND themselves some great PR in their attempts to keep us Shetlanders fed this Christmas!

Very good wishes to you, wherever you are and what ever you do

Knitbritish: Sheeps wool, Alpaca & Mohair, Oh my!

Published by louise

I have been having the most fun!

Since throwing myself head first into the idea of knitting British I have had nothing but fun and joy seeking out local grown, spun or dyed wool.

JEWELS

Have a look at just some of the utter jewels in the British Wool crown that I have stashed so far….

“Seeking out” is perhaps a redundant term as there is just so much British fibre out there, just yearning to be used.

And it isn’t just our sheepy friends either, I can’t believe I have been buying alpaca wool imported from South America when there is an absolute wealth of yarn grown from flocks (packs?) all over the UK, even here in Shetland!
My wishlist is continuing to bust! I really hope Santa thinks I have been a good girl this year. Currently I have coveting this sumptuous green UK Alpaca sock from John Arbon! It just yearns to be squeeshed!

I will introduce more of the yarns in more detail as time goes on, but needless to say it is all wonderful stuff and I am really looking forward to working with it.

(I have just realised I have included all dyed in that picture. There is lots of natural too!)

HOW MUCH?

I know there will be some people out there who will simply disregard yarn because of the price. We all like a bargain, especially if you are a prolific knitter! But I am quickly beginning to realise that I would rather pay a little more for a quality item produced here in the UK.

Before I really began to knit with hand-dyed wools, I would baulk a bit at the prices, but look at this beautiful British BFL from The Yarn Yarn …no really, have a good look…

The Yarn Yard BBFL

It’s not a very good photo, but I am sure you can appreciate the different nuances and how each colour plays with the light. Can you imagine how lovely this will look knitted? You will never buy a ball of wool from your LYS that has detail like this unless it is hand-dyed. I feel this is the epitome of an artisan craftsmanship.

The wool is was grown on the back of a happy British bred sheep and the wool was dyed by a wonderfully talented British based dyeing artist. There is no comparison really.

HAPPY COINCIDENCE?

And as luck would have it two wonderful British designers have just brought out beautiful pattern collection books all made in British fibre!

Ann Kingstone had been releasing patterns in what I can only describe as salivatory manner; drip feeding beautiful designs in Yorkshire wool on Ravelry, which lead up to the launch of her book Born and Bred in conjunction with BaaRamEwe (my new favourite online store). I certainly cannot wait to knit this!

Hild by Ann Kingstone

Kate Davies has published her first collection of patterns Colours of Shetland, all Shetland inspired and using Jamieson & Smith wool. I am a sucker for a yoke and just look at this glorious example.

Puffins by Kate Davies

I am just giddily excited to be knitting with all this home-grown loveliness. If you are on Ravelry head on over to the Woolsack forum. JaneKAL has started a new forum where you can discuss your own ideas for projects knit in British wool.

I’d also (eventually) like to host giveaways, perhaps a blog tour or two and have a gallery of your own projects, if you care to share them.

New website going live soon so all will be revealed in good time and due course, but needless to say, like Christmas, it will be here before we know it!

Ann Kingstone’s book, Born and Bred, is available from Baaramewe & is priced £12.99

The Colours of Shetland, by Kate Davies is available via her website priced £14.99

Etterscabs

Published by louise

Here is Etterscabs. The last item I will make in non-British wool for the next year.

The design is Aftur, by Védís Jónsdóttir and I knit it out of two necessities. 1) I wanted a lopapeysa style yoke jumper and 2) I had a lot of Drops Alaska in my stash that, while a wonderful wool, it was taking up too much space in the stash. Stash space that is needed for British wool for 2013!

I am so delighted with this jumper, as you can see! I haven’t done a lot of colour-work, but I am so pleased with how it turned out.

I altered the yoke pattern from the original and I made the sleeves a little longer and added just a little waist shaping (as I always look boxy in jumpers) my only slight regret is that I didn’t allow for more…ahem…movement…in the bustular area. But one needs to feel snug in this cold weather.

I really don’t think I have been so happy with a creation in a long time. It had been blocking for over a week (I bent every single pin I had! But Dear Mother is going to lend me my Nannie’s jumper board for the future!)

I can’t think of a nicer project to close the chapter on one knitting year and embark on another.

More news of my 2013 adventures in British Wool soon…very soon. Meantime Lovely Fella – not content with dodging showers this morning to take my picture at Scalloway Castle – is in the process of KnitBritishing up a new web-space.

So exciting developments aside, I am about to go and marinade the lamb for dinner!

Catch up with you soon, and keep coming with your British wool suggestions. What breed of wool do you prefer to work with?

Ohh! Before I go, the name Etterscabs. Are you wondering? I don’t think it is an actual word. It was a word chosen by a writing group I attended as a theme for the following meeting. It was chosen from this book. It was during the course of this meeting that I realised I am not someone who can write something on a time limit and procrastinating this was the most creative thing I had achieved in the allotted time. Hence, Etterscabs.

Knitting British Project Idea

Published by louise

It’s been tugging at my knitting belt for some time, ever since I was waxing knitical about a new yarn I was swatching, which came from a flock almost over the back garden from me (as the crow flies)… wouldn’t it be a great idea to knit as local or as British as possible?

This year (belatedly, granted), I set myself the Great Cardi Knit of 2012 challenge and I have loved having a theme to knit to, so it has got me thinking about what I might challenge myself with in 2013…(ocht! I know it’s only September, but it’ll soon be upon us!)

Last Monday I was on a train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, and while sipping my East Coast Trains, First Class coffee (which was a bit second rate, truth be told) I was looking out the window. We passed a fairly large field of sheep, resplendent in their growing winter fleeces…it got me to wondering what the price of wool was for this year and if farmers were coming off any better this year, than in the past. And it tugged at me again…

…Wouldn’t it be great to try and knit with as much British wool as possible? I tweeted right away…

A deluge (for someone with 75 followers!) of suggestions came my way and it soon became clear that there are lots of folk out there who are growing, spinning, dyeing British wool – from big producers to the smaller, indy chaps trying to carve out a career selling and promoting brilliant UK woolly products.

Quickly ideas started forming. If I wanted to try and knit UK, I should really try and do my bit to promote the British yarn growers, sellers and dyers I will be buying from, through blogging, yarn reviewing etc…and maybe it’ll turn more folk on to them too. Not only would it plug great local & independent businesses, it would promote British wool and fibre and our native breeds, as well as supporting and promoting local purchasing.

It’s all ideas yet, but it is something I am considering doing…a regular blog on Knitting British and highlighting really deserving chaps and reviewing their yarn…

…what do you think? Would you read it? Would you share it? Would you be likely to visit the websites and shops that I blog about?

Would it make you think about buying British; for example, alpaca wool from Shetland Alpaca or Toft rather than imported? Or how about considering hand-dyed yarns from Ripplescrafts or The Yarn Yard?

I am really interested in knitting with and blogging about the smaller, independent chaps… … would you consider an Artisan (if that isn’t too quaint a description) UK Knitalong too in 2013?

…Who would you recommend me to try? Or if you are a British yarn producer or dyer, would you be interested in taking part?

I’d really love to hear from you and hear your suggestions and see what we can do in our own small way to plug our brilliant local products and our great yarnies! Maybe I can even arrange some sort of giveaway or discount to have at the end of the Knit British year!

You can leave a comment here, tweet me or email me via the contact page. And please do share with your knitterly/crocheting/craftsty friends! I am compiling a list and would love to know of other UK independent yarn businesses.

#knitbritish

Swatches & Challenges!

Published by louise

Not that my stash needs adding to at the moment (with 3 projects worth of wool currently taking up space in the bedroom cupboard!), but I can never resist a native wool!

A couple of weeks ago we were at the new Museum in Scalloway and we were just about to leave when I spotted a lovely kishie, full to the brim with beautiful cakes of yarn. The colours – broomy yellows – heathery purples = licheny greens…all reminiscent of the colours of the landscape.

On returning home I did a quick internet search and found the product not just local to Shetland, but it was wool from sheep that were in spitting distance. What more could you want!

Uradale Yarn are based in East Voe and their product is 100% local, native and organic – the triple whammy. Their certification means that the wool can be traced back to the sheep on the hill who grew it too. Amazing stuff!

The Uradale wool is spun at the mills in New Lanark and then dyed at Organic accreddited Paint Box Textiles. Sue, from Uradale Farm, was nice enough to drop round a shade card (What a service!) and I think you will agree that the colours are just lovely…

…and all named after the plants their flock feed on.

I purchased a ball, just to swatch it up and get a feel for it.

This is what I would call a lovely “Sheepy” wool. Not as rough to touch as a lot of Shetland wools (This occurs a lot in the dyeing process, with the use of harsh chemicals), in fact, I felt there was still a bit of the natural oil in there (which I prefer), but it could be the organic dyeing process.

The stitch definition is really good and it was a really compliant wool to work with.

In washing and blocking, there was a little dye which escaped into the water, but nothing which detracted from the overall colour (this is the Self-Heal colourway). I used Eucalan wool wash and I would give it two soaks, just to get that lovely softness and bloom it deserves.

I was using the DK weight (130m) and thought I might try a little woolly jacket for a baby friend, which just flew off the pins and the finished item is soft and lovely!

I cannot wait to purchase more Uradale Organic Yarn for my next project (after the 3 queued!) and will be keen to try the yarns in the Aran and Chunky weights, as well as some of those other delicious colours!

If you are interested in the wool and Uradale Farm, please do seek them out at http://uradalefarm.blogspot.co.uk

….and in other news….

The Humble Cardigan

It’s had a bad wrap (pardon the pun) over the years, with Soap Opera matriarchs standing on street corners, bemoaning life and pulling their badly shaped, acrylic, beige cardi’s around them.

But I have a huge love of the cardigan, I think it is a very under-rated piece of clothing, which goes from slobbing out comfort to high fashion.

Having been a knitter and trying to hone my skills for a few years now I have always shied away from big projects, but this year I thought that if I wanted to master my skills I really need to move on up from accessories. So I proclaimed that this year will be….(insert fanfare)…. THE GREAT CARDI KNIT OF 2012!

I have spent a long time salivating over the cardigan designs of Gudrun Johnston, Kate Davies and Ysolda Teague and decided that if I could knit one pattern from each designer this year I would be very happy.

So far I have knit two Ysolda and on my second Shetland Trader one! – with 2 Kate Davies cardigans in my queue! (colourwork AND steeking involved!)

I’ll not say it has been easy…. you wouldn’t have thought something as simple as a button-hole would cause tears, but it did….I think I need a blood transfusion from all the blocking injuries I have sustained…and I think I have inhaled half an alpaca…. but I have to say I am really enjoying tackling larger projects. It feels good to be adding to my skills!

Moch Cardi by Gudrun Johnston
DO NOT use Drops Karisma Superwash, It pills after ONE use. Very upsetting, but a lesson to always follow the designers tips on wool!

This is Cria, designed by Ysolda Teague Made with Drops Alpaca…the one with the troublesome, tearful buttonholes

I have just finished another Cria for my pal Mavra, who is a tour guide at Rosslyn chapel. Don’t you think the buttons are very fitting?

And it’s not just the Great Cardi Knit for Morrolesssocks! Oh no! I have also managed two wee person sized ones too…so I am off and running! I don’t think I’ll manage one for every month of the year, but I’ll give it a damn good go and I can only hope that I will straighten out my buttonholes (and tension and other wee problems) along the way

I even managed a little poncho for Jeremy!