Catch Up

Hello everyone, happy weekend! Sorry things have been a bit quiet here, we have had a really busy few months since our last post! Things are cooling down fast here in Shetland and we had our first snow last week – it’s all gone already of course but it will be back! We thought we’d do a quick catch up post of some of the things we’ve been enjoying lately:

Over the past few weeks we’ve been working on adding all our Yoke Cardigan and Jumpers to the Online Shop, we work with a number of local knitters on our yokes so each one is totally different – something we love about them but it means it takes us a while to get them all up! but for the moment the current stock is all online and available, you can see them here

A few weeks ago we got in stock of our 1 and 2ply Supreme Lace in a shade we’ve not had before – Light Grey! this is a truly beautiful undyed and completely natural Shade which we have in other ranges but have never had before in the Supreme Lace.

As its a natural shade we don’t know if we will have it again but we currently have it in both ball and cone in both weights, it really adds to the palette and offers another light shade, you can see it here alongside the other 2ply Shades:

We also added recently added some new patterns and kits, on our new online shop we can offer the paper patterns individually which means you can add them to your order or change colours and we are loving seeing how many of you are picking them up, you can see all the Patterns we have here

Some of the new kits we’ve added are the Radiant Star Mitts, Croft Cowl and Radiant Star Cowl by Ella Gordon and Jacks Jacket and Allium Hat and Mitts by Outi Kater. You can see all the kits we have available here

There have also been some great new books come out recently – the Shetland Wool Week 2021 Annual, Shetland Trader Book 3: Heritage, and Shetland Wool Adventures Journal Volume 3. They are all filled with beautiful patterns using Shetland Wool and the Journal and Annual both contain articles all about Shetland.

Finally, as things have been cooling down we’ve been keeping warm under our Skye Weavers rugs and are delighted by how many else of you are also enjoying them during this winter!

They are made for us by Skye Weavers using our Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight, another of our completely undyed ranges, this week you might have seen our post about the Coloured Wool – we are currently working through these amazing shades in the Wool Store, and its amazing to see these natural shades come back to us as cozy blankets!

Oliver in the Woolstore working on the coloured wool.

So that’s some of the things we are enjoying just now, we are being kept busy with all your orders. We have had some poor weather here which does impact the boats and planes so its worth keeping in mind although we try our hardest to get everything out as quickly as possible there are some delays outwith our control, we hope you are enjoying your December and happy knitting!

Tirval’s Toorie

Hello everyone, you may have seen our post on instagram with our new pattern earlier today, Sandra has designed this lovely hat in Shetland Heritage in two different colourways and lengths -Tirval’s Toorie!

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The pattern is written for a longer Kep style and a shorter Beanie, both use the Shetland Heritage yarn – the shorter style in the Dyed Heritage and the longer one in the Natural:

The Shetland Heritage is a great option for a hat as we move into Spring, its Worsted Spun (meaning its been combed before spinning) which creates a drapier, softer yarn and its slightly thinner than Jumper Weight making for an overall lighter weight hat. The pattern uses traditional Shetland motifs and corrugated ribbing and is finished off with a plain crown and a tassel.

So if you have a stash of Shetland Heritage the pattern is available to download on ravelry here, payhip here or the kit is available on our online shop here, Happy Knitting!

Wirsit Inspo

Hello everyone, If you follow our Instagram or Facebook page you will have seen over the past few months we have started doing weekly ‘Wirsit Inspo’ posts. basically, its where we take an image of something in Shetland and put a palette together inspired by the picture. I have mainly done them in 2ply Jumper Weight but have done one in 2ply Lace and I’m going to try and use more ranges too. When we post them they always get really good feedback so I thought we would share them here too:

Seaweed at the Shetland Museum Slipway. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 2. 1281, FC38, FC44, FC11

Seapinks and Sea, Northmavine. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: FC61, 203, 121, 1283, FC12, 4

Wool Bales. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 81, 54, 1281, 2, 202

Peerie Boat, Shetland Museum. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 202, 66, 125, 16, 122, FC14

Scalloway Haa. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 3, 27, 1, 16, 101

Stratsraad Lehmkuhkl, Lerwick Harbour. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 36, 21, FC47, 91, 66, 1

Fading Heather, Nesting. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: FC12, 80, FC38, 1284, FC21, 16

Sunset. 2ply Lace Weight top to bottom: L63, L15, L53, L96, L95

Wintery Beach. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 203, FC39, FC47, FC21, 2

The Lodberrie and Bains Beach. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 77, 54, FC61, 1281, 32

Seapinks, Sumburgh Head. 2ply Jumper Weight top to bottom: 81, FC41, FC11, FC6 and 1A

As we head into winter here (the sun set at 3.22pm yesterday..) it’s great to look back at pictures from seasons past, I will post them here every couple of months but you can follow the #wirsitinspo hashtag on Instagram to keep up with them as we post them, hope this has given you some inspiration,

happy knitting!

Ella

Gift Ideas 2020

Hello everyone, the season of gifting is nearly upon us and although it seems unthinkable Christmas will be here before we know it! This year we expect there to be delays in delivery times as we get closer so we would encourage you to order as soon as you can for presents – we have organised our most common knitterly and knit appreciative gifts on one page on the website which you can see here

RUGS – we have a limited number (don’t worry, more are coming!) of our beautiful rugs woven for us using our Supreme Jumper weight by Skye Weavers, they are so cosy!

YOKES – We have a range of Jumper Weight and Heritage Yokes Cardigans available (and some Jumpers) these are completely made in Shetland. The body and sleeves are machine-knitted on a domestic machine then the yokes are hand knit. Each one is different!

CREW – we also have a selection of plain crew neck jumpers knit in 2ply Jumper Weight, these are classic and timeless garments that will last a lifetime!

GIFT KIT/BOXES – we have also put together a selection of our patterns into gift boxes which contain the yarn and pattern, we have chosen a mix of patterns but if you have anything specific in mind we can always put something together for you – just email us!

COASTERS KEYRING MUGS – perfect peerie presents, our range of mugs, coasters and keyrings are made in Shetland and depict a range of our patterns.

SOCKS – we also have a selection of Toonie and Crofter socks which are knit in Shetland Heritage Naturals, these are some of the warmest socks ever and the two thicknesses are perfect for either in normal shoes (toonie) or in wellie/walking boots (crofter)

HATS MITTS – we also still have stock of our hand-knit mitts and hats, these are all totally unique and knitted by expert Shetland knitters.

We have just restocked our hand-knit Olivers hats too which are made by the designer – our own Sandra Manson and finished with an exclusive J&S tag.

NATURAL CUSHIONS/RUGS We still have a small stock of these undyed Cushions and Rugs which make great presents and keep you warm!

SELECTION BOXES If you want to buy someone Wool but are not sure what to get our Selection Boxes make a great gift!

You can also buy any yarn and add a kit box to make your own gift box.

KNITTING BELTS We have two styles of Knitting Belts, both made in Shetland so we have lots of colour options – Whalsay Belts and Tomas more muted colours

BOOKS and as always we have lots of books, including our own publications and some newer ones which have come out this year like the 2020 Wool Week Annual and the Wool Adventures Journal Volume 1

ACCESSORIES We have lots of good accessories too for gifts, many a knitter love an accessory!

Phew, if you’ve reached here Well Done and hopefully that has given you some ideas, you can find all the products mentioned here on our gift page.

Happy Knitting xx

SWW Online at J&S – A Taste!

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for all the comments and feedback on our Wool Week videos and content – it was a weird week for us, we are used to a totally different experience which definitely doesn’t adhere to the current rules so we, like many others in Shetland, tried to take Wool Week online!

We knew Olivers Woolstore talk would be one of the most missed events by visitors so that was top of our list to film:

 

We also filmed a video of all our yarn ranges to try and give you a semi-being in the shop experience:

 

 

And we asked two of our great Wool Week teachers Hazel Tindall and Alison Rendall to film their classes which we usually host during the week:

 

 

 

We also had videos documenting the production of our yarns:

 

 

 

 

As well as some exclusive videos from the Campaign for Wool, Vispring and West Yorkshire Spinners:

 

 

 

 

During the week we also had Anne from the ‘I Thought I Knew How’ podcast using our new upstairs space to host a few interviews including this one with local knitter and designer Janette Budge:

 

We also posted a couple of blogs from local designer Lesley Smith and artist Vivian Ross-Smith in case you missed those.

This is just a selection but to see all the videos we posted head over to our youtube channel and sit down with a cup of tea and your knitting, while you are there: lots of great videos were also posted by Shetland Wool Week themselves which you can see on their youtube channel and we would definitely suggest looking through the posts and hashtags on Instagram relating to the event – its a rabbit hole for sure but a good one! (start with #shetlandwoolweek2020)

We hope this has helped soothe the sadness of the event being cancelled – we are waiting to get our Annuals so as soon as we do they will be on the online shop! Happy Knitting x

Wool Week Videos at Jamieson & Smith

Hello everyone, This weekend would have seen the beginning of Shetland Wool Week, sadly but unsurprisingly it was cancelled this year but we, like many others have put together some online content for you throughout the week. The following list breaks down what you can expect from our Youtube channel over the next week or so (all UK time):

Sunday 27th September

Slowing Down Fast Fashion (Campaign for Wool)

Monday 28th September

10am – Wool Sorting and Grading with Oliver Henry (J&S)

2pm – Shetland Story (J&S/Curtis Wool)

5pm – Vispring Beds (Vispring)

Tuesday 29th September

10am – The J&S Yarn Range with Ella Gordon (J&S)

2pm – Haworth Scouring (J&S/Curtis Wool)

5pm – Why Wool – Protect our Oceans (Campaign for Wool)

Blog Post – Afterthought Heel with Lesley Smith

Wednesday 30th September

10am – Fair Isle Bookmark with Hazel Tindall (J&S)

2pm – Wool Combing (J&S/Curtis Wool)

5pm – There’s no Wool in the Sea (Campaign for Wool)

Thursday 1st October

10am – Fair Isle Cuffs with Alison Rendall (J&S)

2pm – Spinning with Lighthowlers (J&S/Curtis Wool)

5pm – Synthetic VS Wool and Two Jumpers, What’s the Difference? (Campaign for Wool)

Blog Post – Vivian Ross Smith on Working with Wool

Friday 2nd October

10am – WYS with Sarah Hatton (West Yorkshire Spinners)

2pm – Shetland Wool Week 10th Anniversary with Prince Charles (Campaign for Wool)

5pm – Two Carpets, what’s the difference? and Two Curtains, what’s the difference? (Campaign for Wool)

Saturday 3rd October

10am – Bonus Video! The Difference Between Woollen and Worsted Spun (J&S)

2pm – Choose Wisely – Check its Wool (Campaign for Wool)

Sunday 4th October

Throughout the day – Woolabilities, short cartoons produced by the Wool Carpet Focus Group.

We have been provided with great videos from the Campaign for Wool, Vispring and West Yorkshire Spinners and here in Shetland, we worked with Keiba Clubb so we really hope you enjoy them. Thanks also to Adam Curtis for helping us with filming on the mainland, Haworth Scouring and Lightowlers Yarns. To see what else is happening make sure to follow Shetland Wool Weeks social media and visit the website for more online events.

Happy knitting/watching/listening/reading!

New WYS Shetland Yarns!

Hello everyone, sorry for being quiet on here – we are in the middle of the Wool Season so things are pretty busy in the wool store and we are working on lots of things which we will share soon! but today we happy to share the two new ranges which have been launched with our ongoing collaboration with West Yorkshire Spinners.

In these ranges, West Yorkshire Spinners purchase the raw Shetland Wool from J&S and using their state of the art dyeing and spinning capabilities to create now 3 different ranges using Real Shetland Wool.

First up is the Croft Double Knit range:

The Croft Double Knit carries on from the success of the original Aran Croft range with 12 solid colours and 6 speckled shades, and alongside the range is a pattern book containing garment and accessory patterns by Sarah Hatton and Rosee Woodland.

Technical Information:
Hank Size: 100g
Composition: 100% Shetland Wool
Weight: Double Knit
Needles: 4mm US6
225 Metres / 246 Yards
Tension: 28 Rows – 22 Stitches

You can find the Croft DK on our online shop here, and the pattern book here.

Next up is something new and exciting – The Croft Wild Shetland Aran Roving Yarn:

This yarn is a really unusual loosely spun Aran yarn available in a range of 4 colours inspired by Shetland and its landscape, we also have the undyed Ecru to go along with it. The yarn has long colour stretches resulting in an interesting effect on the finished item as you can see in the swatches

l-r: Rolling Hills, Stormy Skies, Fired Earth and Turning Tides

Technical Information:

Hank Size: 100g
Composition: 100% Shetland Wool
Weight: Aran Roving
Needles: 5mm US8
166 Metres / 182 Yards
Tension: 24 Rows – 18 Stitches

We also have two kits available for this range, the Finlay and Alana Sweaters, you can find them on the online shop here and here.  You can find the Wild Shetland range on the online shop here.

We look forward to seeing what people make with these new ranges, happy knitting!

Lockdown Inspiration

Hello everyone, we hope you are staying safe and well. I thought today we’d share some inspiring finished projects which have been shared to our Ravelry group, it’s always interesting to see what other people have been working on using our yarns and it can give you great ideas on patterns, colours and yarns to use:

Starting with this beautiful version of Vaila from the Vintage Shetland Book, we love the colours Kim chose in 2ply Jumper Weight and although the shades are quite modern and bright it still gives off great vintage vibes!

We shared this project on our social media last week but its so lovely, its the Quaarl Hat pattern knit in Supreme Jumper Weight. We love the big motif on the main body of the hat – it’s so impactful and in the natural shades it’s just beautiful.

This cardigan knit in Shetland Heritage really stood out to me when I saw it and its a great example of someone taking elements from a pattern to make something perfect for them. The lace pattern is from one of the designs in the Legacy of Shetland Lace book. Light Grey Heritage is such a beautiful colour!

This scarf is knit using 2ply Supreme Lace held together in a marl and the finished project is so great! We love that it shows the different things you can do with laceweight and the way all the natural colours work together is so inspiring. The pattern is from the new Cecelia Campochiaro book ‘Making Marls‘

This project stood out thanks to the use of Purl Bumps in this pattern, aptly called Purl Bump Mitts is so great and the cuff and fingers texture is so good. simple but so effective! Although it looks like black and white the dark shade is actually Jumper Weight shade 82 which is a really dark green – it works so well with the white.

This project shows off the beautiful finished texture of the Shetland Aran Worsted, it looks so soft and the colourwork is so strong, The pattern is Speedy Selbu Mittens and the colour choice is that bit different than usual but still so effective (Berry Wine and Fluggy White).

Looking at the recently shared projects on Ravelry always leads you down a happy rabbit hole so during this time when many of us have a bit more time you can spend time looking at some really inspiring projects knit using J&S yarns.

Again we’d like to thank you for your support during this time, happy knitting! x

2020 Calendar

Hello Everyone, just a quick post today to share with you our 2020 calendars which have just arrived!

During our Seasons of the Shetland Crofter Competition we received so many amazing photographs displaying the life and work of crofters and farmers in Shetland, we included as many as we could in the book but then we had the idea we could share even more of the photos in a calendar!

here is a peerie look at the photos featured:

Clockwise: Dave Wheeler, Ian Reid, Heather Gray and Anne MacDonald

Clockwise: Margaret Towriess, Heather Gray, Anne MacDonald and Dave Wheeler

Clockwise: Sally Sanford, Ian Reid, Heather Gray and Elaine Tait.

The calendar is A4 folded so opens up to A3, if you would like one you can find them on the website here.

Wool Week 2019 – a photo roundup

Hello everyone, happy Friday! It’s hard to believe that Shetland Wool Week 2019 ended over a month ago, we had such a busy time but the dust has settled so we thought we’d share some pictures from throughout the week:

The Opening Ceremony L: lots of Roadside Beanies R: table decoration featuring scarfs mentioned in this post

Oliver giving his speech

Judging at the Marts L: on the hoof R: a beautiful Moorit fleece

L: Prizewinning fleece R: the winners

The Hub L: Lots of Knitters R: Amazing giant Jumper Board

Vivian Ross-Smiths’ exhibition was on in the Hub space during Wool Week, for more information about Vivian’s work see here.

L: Burra Bears R: Faye Hackers of the Shetland College and Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman of the Campaign for Wool

Oliver giving his talk ’50 Years in Shetland Oo’

L: The Oo never stops! R: Oliver giving his sorting and grading demonstration

L: It was a week of Roadside Beanies R: Amazing Jumper featuring all the motifs from Shetland Wool Week hats past and present.

Ruth Mackenzie and Matt Roberts of the Shetland Amenity Trust alongside Oliver presenting Dave Wheeler with his prize for winning our Seasons of a Shetland Crofter Competition. We also launched the book at Wool Week, its available here!

So much amazing Knitwear all week! L: a Hevdadale Scarf and Ola Yoke R: A Roadside Skirt!

Beautiful fleeces outside the Woolstore

L: Roadside Beanie and Glebe Jumper R: Just some of our mail posted out during the week

Lots of great memories and friends made as always, for more information about Shetland Wool Week see here, it will soon be here again, Happy Knitting!

photos: Adam Curtis, Ella Gordon and one from Sara Granqvist (thanks Sara!)