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British Wool For a Few Pennies More

Published by louise

| June 2016 Update – There have been lots of changes and new yarns since this post first went out and I have updated the post to reflect these. 

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It’s nice to have seen the other on this subject so well read and shared, not because I am all about the hits – nothing further! – I am just so pleased to know that you are spreading the British wool love. I have had a few lovely emails, tweets and Rav messages from people saying that they were going to try buying British yarn for the first time – that is what this is all about!

I started these posts on British wool to show you how affordable and widely available it is and I do think that I have shown that there is a great range of prices for delightful woolly yarns grown, spun or dyed right here on your own doorstep – however there is no denying that there is more than a little love of the luxurious and precious in British wool – and that must be celebrated, as too must the awesome dyers in the UK and the craftsmanship that goes into creating these special yarns.

Tamar

all so stashable

This year Blacker Yarns have launched their luxe yarn brand, Tamar. This is a yarn which shows how incredible British breeds are blended together expertly, with all the knowledge, skill and craftmanship at The Natural Fibre Company to create a very special hand-knitting yarn. Tamar is made from Wensleydale, Teeswater, Cotswold and Black Leicester Longwool – these sheep are on the Rare Breeds Watchlist ad their fleeces are sought after for their beautiful lustre and incredible staples. These leaner, silky fibres are mixed with Cornish mule fleece to add bounce and woolliness and the resulting yarn is really incredible. 

Tamar is available in 4ply and DK and costs £14.70 per 100g. I reviewed this yarn in episode 54, if you require more enabling!

 

Triskelion Yarn 

Triskelion Yarn have a gem of an online shop and if you have been lucky to see dyer Caethan, at events you will know of the sumptuousness and colour that his stall exudes. The semi-solids are mouthwatering as are the more variegated colours and in terms of fibre there is BFL, Falkland Merino, alpaca and silk in the different bases – so lustrous and silky and in really radiant colours – and Caerthan specialises in locally sourced fibre wherever possible, so what could be better?  Prices range from £16-23

 

Dovestone

Dovestone_ss16_new_shades

Baa Ram Ewe are no stranger to creating special blends of British fibre. Their Titus yarns (£14.99) – alpaca, BFL and Wensleydale – have been truly delighting knitters since its launch three years ago. BRE have added a DK wool to their home-gown range and the fibre content in Dovestone is 50% BFL, 25% Wensleydale and 25% Masham. I am a big fan of Masham, it is soft and lustrous but it has a robustness too. The yarn has a really lovely spin – keeping it soft, drapey and with a lovely soft fibre halo. Dovestone really deserves a squash when you see it, but it will quickly beg to be cast on! It costs £14.00 for 100g/230m and do visit the Baa Ram Ewe website for more info!

Old Maiden Aunt

Old Maiden Aunt Yarns is a feast on the eyes and makes me rub my knitting hands together gleefully whenever I visit the website. The colours Lilith dyes in her studio in West Kilbride are as delicious as some of the yarn names: Granny Sooker, Buttermint; Treacle Toffee….yum! Though not all colours are inspired by sweet treats: this year’s colour collection is called Bad Girls Go Everywhere – inspired by some of cinema’s bad girl characters! With lots of bases, including merino, bamboo, Shetland, Corriedale, BFL and more besides I can pretty much guarantee that there is a base and most definitely a colour for everyone. Prices start around £13 and go up from there.

Countess Ablaze

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So many dyers are really embracing British fibres and locally sourced and produced yarns and I firmly believe that these dyers are helping open knitter’s eyes to just how awesome UK fibre can be via their luxury hand-dyed skeins. Recently I was lucky enough to visit Countess Ablaze’s studio, in Swinton, and OH.MY.WORD does she *get* British wool and awesome colour! First of there is BFL…there is a blend of BFL and Masham…there is North Ronaldsay…there is Falkland merino… and there is the might Cheviot (check out my prized skeins). Second of all there is the Countess’s incredible and ballsy colourways and their equally awesome names…Plug in Baby, Zombie Princess, Yarnarchy in the UK… 

Please do visit The Countess Ablaze website to take a trip through these incredible yarns. Prices range from about £14 – £20 … and there is lots of spinning fibre and awesome clubs too.

 

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Of course, since I first posted this in 2013 I have reviewed, mentioned, squooshed and petted LOTS of awesome yarns. The yarns i mention here are just a small, representative sample. I am in the process of thinking out and creating a links facility of the yarns I’ve featured at KnitBritish, which has been requested a few times – however the list will not be exhaustive and I am not sure a page of hundreds of links is all that helpful or a pleasure to read, so I need to think about the best way to do that. Also there is no point of creating a KB database of yarns mentioned when Woolsack has an INCREDIBLE resource of British wool stockists for all that you could possibly need. 

| Information

Images of  Blacker Yarns, Triskelion Yarns, Dovestone and Old Maiden Aunt are copyright to each. Other images are my own. Information correct at time of posting (2013, 2015, 2016). These views are 100% my own. I have not been paid to feature yarns/companies here.

British Wool Under a Tenner

Published by louise

| January 2019 Update

There have been a lot of changes and new yarns introduced since this post first went out six years ago and so I have updated it to reflect this.

Previously I highlighted a few UK wool yarns which hopefully wouldn’t dent even the tightest yarn purse strings. If you have a few extra pennies to spend on your stash this month (does anyone else *try* to budget for stash?) then you might be interested in reading on.

I don’t pretend that when the price goes up so does the quality (for example, I would say that the Jamieson & Smith I mentioned last time is worth its weight in gold and it carries a relatively small price tag for 100% Shetland wool) and I do not claim that one wool is better than another, but what I would like to do is show a little example of what is grown/spun/dyed right here in the UK and show that just because it is wool doesn’t mean it has to be extortionately priced.

Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop

DSC_1047_DK__1200px.jpg July 29, 2017 162 KB 1200 × 799 Edit Image Delete Permanently

© Wensledale Longwool sheep shop

I first discovered this lovely yarn at the first Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I don’t remember the name of the stall, all I could see was the brilliant lustre on the yarn and the gorgeous colours – from natural to earthy tones to pastels and bright jewelled solid tones. I made my lush cardigan in this and I think this is my favourite knitted item. The fabric has never lost it’s lustre and I hardly ever need to de-pill it. Wensleydale is an incredible hardwearing yarn and the wool of the breed is considered the finest lustre fleece. Do not let the surface halo of fibres on the yarn and knitted fabric make you believe this yarn is coarse! I love wearing this next to my skin and the spin of this particular brand is perhaps the best I have seen in terms of producing a great stitch definition and a lovely knitted fabric (some Wensleydale yarns can be spun very loose to create a fuzzier yarn with more of a prickle).

 Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop  has come under new management since I first wrote this post. They have a wonderful online shop and have added more lines, also other products including hand-dyed and socks. Their 4ply starts at £5.50, with DK and aran £8 to £9.

John Arbon

(c) John Arbon

I am a huge fan of John Arbon, a small scale mill based in Devon. I first met with their sock yarn (then it was a blend of British alpaca and Exmoor Blue Face wool ) and quickly I was checking out the rest of their yarn range. The sock yarn (above) has now been updated with the fantastic Exmoor Sock Yarn which costs £7 per 50g skein (Exmoor Blueface, Corriedale, Zwartbles  and 10% Nylon)

I’m also a huge fan of their Zwartbles DK yarn; the darkest is 100% Zwartbles and the lighter shades have been blended with Exmoor Blue Face. This is a beautiful yarn with a lot of great character and texture. The three together would look stunning in a gradient design, don’t you think?

Image: John Arbon

The Zwartbles DK is £9 for 100g/250m and John Arbon have a whole range of other yarns, in the over £10 range if your budget can stretch further.

New Lanark

New Lanark yarns have been moved from the Under a Fiver post, as their prices have doubled in the last year. I am not quite sure why that may be, but perhaps their costs have gone up. 

New Lanark is particularly great if you are looking for a work-horse yarn for sweaters and a great range of colours too. It is worth reminding you that New Lanark yarns are a Scottish-spun yarn, but they cannot guarantee that 100% of the fibre content is British. Please bear that in mind if British wool is what makes your purchase decision.

Their DK now starts at £7.95 and their Aran and Chunky yarns costs from £9.95 .

 

Buachaille

Image: Kate Davies Designs

Buachaille was the first yarn by designer Kate Davies.  Kate worked very closely with Curtis Wool to source exactly the right kind of Scottish fibres to create a blend, which is not only the perfect bouncy, woolly, most knitable fibre, but it has been spun beautifully and has a colour palette to get really excited about! Buachaille is 100% wool yarn, grown in Scotland and made in Yorkshire and I think it is such an important British wool – it really shows you how unique and full of character British wool can be.

Each sport weight skein comes in 50g/110m and her shop is updated weekly. Buachaille costs £7.49. I reviewed this in the podast in episode 53, if you need further enabling. 

A Yarn from North Ronaldsay

Image: BritYarn

Image: BritYarn

Based on the Orkney island where the sheep are native, A Yarn From North Ronaldsay have a small-scale mill where they process and produce yarn from the rare, seaweed eating breed. Since establishing the mill in 2003 the company has evolved from selling hand knitting wool to selling rovings, batts, felt and knitwear. This is a very strong wool – soft and hairy. Its one of those wools that you might says has an initial coarse handle; I have to admit when I first took mine out of the parcel I thought “this is not soft”! But it is actually an incredible texture of crisp and soft and I think that’s due to the double coat –  a protective outer layer to guard against the elements and a softer, finer layer beneath.The hanks come in the natural colours and range in weights and meterage, so please be aware that some of the hanks may go over our £10 mark,

Garthenor

(c) Gathenor (instagram)

Garthenor have been selling 100% certified organic wool products since the 1990s. They are a great source of single breed and blended wool yarns in a variety of knitting weights from lace to chunky, mostly in natural shades. In recent times they have added the Henorius range, which is breed specific, and also features dyed shades. 

Henorius starts at £10 and their range of undyed, breed specific and blended breed yarns start at £9.00

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Again, I am not stating that one wool is better than another (they are all wonderful – I want them ALL!) and I could probably give you a list as long as my arm, but I think this is a great representative sample if you wanted to experiment with local bred fibre and I hope, if you haven’t sampled some of these before, you might feel inspired to give it a go.

You can also tweet about your projects using the #knitbritish hashtag too.

| Information Images are copyright to owners as stated, other images are mine. Information correct at time of posting (Jan 2013, update June 2016, Novembe 2018, January 2019) These views are 100% my own. I have not been paid to feature yarns/companies here.

British Wool Under a Fiver

Published by louise

| November 2018 update

I first wrote this post in 2013 and it has been updated to reflect changes to prices etc

Unfortunately, 6 years on, some of you still tell me you think that buying wool is too expensive. I have a given very good examples of yarn for every budget on this website. I’d point you to this post on What is your cost of making if you wish to further investigate costs of your own crafting.

Often, when it comes to yarn – particularly hand-dyed or rare breeds – I hear the following words ring out, in high-pitched & often disgusted tones…

…”HOW MUCH???”

It is worth reminding readers that whenever you pick up a ball of yarn in store, or you see a skein of yarn online, before you baulk at the price, think about what has gone into making that skein of yarn.  From the sheep, to the shearing, to the mill, to the dyeing, to you…think about the work, time, process and money that’s gone into that yarn and all the skilled hands it has gone through to get to you. 

And yes, it is true, there are some larger yarn price tags out there that are outside what many of us have to spend on yarn,  but I am also aware that a lot of knitters use acrylic or wool blends simply to keep down on the cost of their obsession hobby. 

There is no reason to avoid buying British wool – even if you are on the strictest yarn budget.  During my research into suppliers and stockists of UK wool I have found a plethora of affordable UK fibres which, I am positive, your pockets and stashes will appreciate…here are just a few.

Jamieson & Smith

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Firstly, (I wouldn’t be allowed to call myself a Shetlander or a knitter if I didn’t remind you about…) Jamieson & Smith. Their Shetland jumper weight (4ply) is available from £2.85 (25g/125yards) in a wealth of dyed and natural colours.  This is a lovely yarn for those who love a really “sheepy” wool. Perfect for Fair Isle, awesome for shawls and other accessories too. When you visit the website, or are lucky enough to visit the shop, it is the perfect sweetie shop for colour lovers. 

Their Shetland Hertiage range was created to speak of the hand-dyed hand-spun yarns used in Shetland’s pasrt It is a worsted spun yarn, incredibly soft and is available in jumper weight and aran for £3.20 and £4.00 respectively. I am currently making a hap in their natural heritage range. 

Baa Ram Ewe

Last year Baa Ram Ewe added a new yarn to their range, which also includes the amazing Titus and Dovestone yarns. Pip Colourwork cost £3.20 (25g / 126 yards) and is described as wonderful for colourwork. It is described as British wool and it is a blend, which is known as 56s English, a blend of mixed fleeces which create a standard ecru yarn with a lovely handle. The range of colours are excellent and I’m very pleased to see this great UK LYS add a lower priced yarn to their range.

West Yorkshire Spinners

wys new colpirs

 

WYS have an incredible range of pure wools and machine washable blends which are incredibly well suited to many knitter’s budgets and yarny needs. Their Aire Valley yarns are 75% British wool and 25% nylon and are excellent value at under £5 for a 230m ball of DK (200m for aran). Since the launch of the Aire Valley there have lots of additions to the colour ranges, including the Cocktail Range (2016)  Also check out their 100% Blue Face Leicester yarns 50g/112m £4.85. In the last  2 years they’ve added a superwash Shetland wool to their range, Croft, and they’ve expanded their colours in the Wesnleydale yarns, but these (at over £8) will stretch the budget for this blog post 

 

Jamieson’s of Shetland 

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Another British mill close to my heart is Jamieson’s of Shetland. (We are over getting Jamieson’s of Shetland and Jamieson and Smith confused now, yes? Two very different companies!) I love their Shetland Heather Aran, £4.50 for  50g / 92m, but they also have other yarns in their range which come under £5 – Ultra (lace), Spindrift (4ply) and Double Knitting are all, in fact, under £4!

 

What a gem Sheepfold is for local British wool. You can search for wool by natural or coloured yarn and not only can you see which breed the wool comes from but, where possible, the website can tell you where the flock is from, the status of the breed (e.g. rare, endangered, etc) and where it was spun. What an invaluable resource for the discerning knitter!

Prices for natural wool vary according to breed, but start at £2.25!

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Well, I hope that has been of some inspiration and has illustrated that buying wool doesn’t have to be bank-breaking. I think even if you were going to be knitting a large project these wool yarns would still be easier on the pocket.

Next time some more lovely UK wool for under £10!

 

| Information Images of West Yorkshire Spinners, Blacker Yarns, Wendy and Sheepfold are copyright to each. Other images are my own. Information correct at time of posting (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018,2019) These views are 100% my own. I have not been paid to feature yarns/companies here.

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 IMG_0619 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

x

 

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