Knitting With Cones

Hello everyone, thank you for the good feedback on our last post! Today we will go into something else we always get asked about – knitting with cones!

cones in our new back-shop area.

We offer quite a few of our ranges on cone but by far the most popular is our 2ply Jumper Weight, this is our traditional Shetland 4ply thickness wool that we have been producing since the 1960s. It’s available in over 100 shades and we often have most of these available.

We produce them in 500g cones. This is equal to 20 balls – approximately 2500 yards/2300 metres

Two shades we took back last year, left 9 and right 8

What is the difference between the yarn on cone or ball?

Nothing at all – when we order a shade we get a certain amount on cone and the rest on ball but initially the whole order is made on cone, the yarn to be turned into balls is then scoured and balled.

What would I use it for?

Lots of things! In Shetland cones are probably mostly used for knitting the body and sleeves of Yoke cardigans and jumpers and it is perfect for that but anything which needs a substantial amount of one shade will benefit from using a cone. Also if there is a shade you use a lot – it might be worth investing in a cone to always have to hand.

Why would I buy a cone over balls?

Cost: Because there are less production costs (no scouring, balling, bagging etc) the overall cost of a cone works out a lot cheaper than buying the balls – its over a 45% discount if you purchase it directly from us!

Ease of knitting: you just plop the cone down and knit! Compared to balls there are less ends, and within the cone you should find few if any knots which means a seamless garment will be just that.

Knitting Machine: If you have a knitting machine a cone is by far the easiest way to knit and because we sell the cones in oil (meaning the yarn is oiled with a synthetic oil – like sewing machine oil) that means the yarn will glide through the machine and not catch, and therefore break.

FC11

Can I handknit with a cone?

Of course, because the yarn is oiled it doesn’t feel the same as the balls but once washed it feels exactly the same. Anything made with the oiled yarn must be washed – we would advise this for any item made with Shetland Wool anyway but for the oiled yarn it is crucial, the oil is not meant to be next to skin and may irritate it.

Some people do not like the feeling of the oiled yarn to knit with so you can hank/skein the yarn, wash then wind it into balls if you prefer but it is not necessary.

The only time we would advise taking care would be if you were knitting with a very strong colour (black, red, blue etc) alongside a lighter colour as the stronger pigments can attach to the oil and bleed when first washed. In this case, we would wind off and wash or use a colour catcher when washing.

1281

What about swatching?

If you need to swatch you must wash the swatch – the gauge is not reliable until its washed as with the oil it can look much thinner and therefore not give you a reliable tension.

How do you wash out the oil?

To remove the oil you need to submerge the item in very hot (not boiling) water along with a wool wash or hand wash wool detergent. You will see a lot of grey water which is the oil and perhaps some of the colour of the yarn as the dye can attach to the oil. Its best to leave the item (without agitating for up to an hour. Then rinse and repeat until the water runs completely clear.

We also offer our undyed Jumper Weight range on cone too – Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight is completely undyed and available in 9 Natural shades. Because this is a rarer fibre we don’t always have all the colours on cone available but as is the case with any product on our website you can add your email address to an ‘in-stock alert’ and it will email you as soon as we add more.

Sometimes there can be a long wait between us getting more of particular shades or ranges on cone, its important to understand that the cones are something we have chosen to offer to our retail customers as an extra to balls. We have to order large amounts of individual shades, and we are always trying to find the balance in ordering enough to sustain our physical shop, online shop and all our stockists. This is all done by us here in Shetland so we are grateful for your patience and understanding.

If you are a Lace knitter we also sometimes have our 1ply Cobweb, 1ply and 2ply Supreme Lace and Shetland Heritage ranges available on cone. You just need to keep an eye out on our online shop if the shade you want is not available.

If you have any more questions about knitting from a cone – just ask. Happy Knitting!

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!

Working With Wool, A Guest Post from Vivian Ross-Smith

‘Form’. Shetland wool on Burlap. 20x21cm. 2018

You don’t have to look hard in my studio to find wool. There are balls of J&S yarn scattered everywhere and crimps of raw fleece dotted around my work benches. There’s a grip and bite to Shetland wool that is unlike any other wool I have used in my work; the texture is beautiful to hold and excellent to work with. J&S have an enticing range of colours waiting to grab your attention but it’s the natural shades that always sit best with my work. Reminding me of shearing sheep on my home island of Fair Isle.

‘Fair Isle Scattald’ 2018, acrylic on wood. 14 x 12 cm each (series of 17)

‘Ewes Out’ 2018. Shetland wool handstitched on canvas. 70 x 51 cm (Detail)

Some of my fondest childhood memories are gathering as a community to ‘caa’ sheep. This process involves walking through the rugged, heather-covered hills as one to manoeuvre the flock toward the ‘crü’, a large enclosed pen from which sheep can be sheared and dosed. Feeling the rich, almost sticky lanolin coat my hands as I prize fleece away from skin to find the growth line I will clip along. Not only have these textures, colours and smells stuck with me, the coming together of community to work collectively had a huge impact on me too. As with many artists, my personal history is an integral framework for my practice. The mentality and dynamic of island communities’ shapes my work, I approach my art as an islander.

‘But if you use the word craft, it’s like you’re politicising the word craft’, 2020. Shetland wool and acrylic on paper

‘Craft Conversations II’, 2020. Canvas, felt, acrylic, Shetland wool, wood and tracing paper

Materiality forms the backbone of my practice from which I explore the aesthetic qualities, as well as the cultural value of material. Fish skins, salt, wood, and hessian are paired with traditional island skill sets such as knitting, knotting, weaving and stitching to communicate craft, skill, isolation, and commitment to place. It is wool, however, that features in my work time and time again – a material completely intertwined with Shetland culture. When I use wool, I play a small part in feeding into the long and rich history of crofting, knitting and textiles in Shetland.

‘Stitch’, 2019. Hessian and Shetland wool. 24x24cm

‘Sorting + Grading’ 2019. Shetland wool and burlap. 140x80cm

‘Sorting + Grading’ 2019. Shetland wool and burlap. 140x80cm (Detail)

Living on a small island like Fair Isle simultaneously requires self-sufficiency and a willingness to rely on neighbours. Although not the only industries, the laborious working of land and sea through crofting and fishing, is still a common practice on Shetlands islands. I use my practice as a method of echoing the types of work that take place on islands, commitment to working in a repetitive and laborious way is mirrored through the rhythms and durational nature of my work, reminiscent of the ebb and flow of the sea, or the back and forth of a knitting machine. Alongside the workload of an islander comes a collective commitment to place and way of life, which highlights the need for a strong community, allowing a sharing of workload and the building of support structures. It is this joined-up thinking I am interested in. To me, islands are places of coming together.

Good Mother, 2018. Shetland wool handstitched on canvas. 70 x 51 cm

‘Moder Dy’, 2019. Haddock skins, Shetland wool, wooden bar

This shared working is very apparent in the crafts of the island and particularly in the knitting, where its commonplace to share patterns and knitting knowledge with neighbours, friends and family. The social aspect is what draws me to textiles and from that stance, my appreciation of wool as a material strengthens.

‘J+S’, 2019. Raw fleece hand-stitched with Jamieson and Smith yarn. 24×24 cm

I’ve never been taught how to use stitch properly, instead making it up as I go along with whatever means make sense to the work. The same goes for my knitting, although Fair Isle is my home island and I have been surrounded by exceptionally talented knitters for my whole life, I only taught myself to knit garments properly in 2017. My use of wool in my artwork has always been intuitive and centres around the development of tactile surfaces and trying to gain an understanding of the materials form and function.  piece could be as simple as exploring the relationship between raw and spun wool, yet the touch of the fleece, the smell of the lanolin, the individual crimps, keep my mind and hands engaged for hours. Or the conceptual could take forefront, how does craft practice fit into fine art? Is the internet the new craft space rather than gathering and making physically? Regardless of the starting point for a piece of work, it’s the material – and usually the wool – that my mind goes to first.

‘Craft Conversations III’ 2019. Shetland wool and canvas

 

I ask viewers to look at material from a perspective they’re not used to. I ask them to question its qualities, origins and if our understanding of the material itself can be built on. From this place of constant learning, a deep appreciation can be formed.

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Vivian Ross-Smith is an artist working from the Shetland Islands. She adopts a collaborative and systematic approach to making and sharing through painting, textiles and the digital. Her work creates space to discuss the practices of island life from a contemporary, fine art context and explores the textures, qualities and values of material and space. Ross-Smith’s work builds relationships and conversations between material, place and people and is as much about experiencing as it is about seeing.

 https://www.vivianrosssmith.com

@vrosssmith

Thank you Vivian for this guest post – we hope you are enjoying our Wool Week content – make sure to follow our instagram and subscribe to our youtube channel – if you haven’t already! Happy Knitting!

 

 

Chunky Knitting

Hello everyone, during these strange times, it can be hard to find things for children and young people to do in their downtime, looking at screens or watching tv is good some of the time but not all the time so knitting could be a new skill they take up, It improves fine motor skills, problem-solving and math skills as well as using their creativity and reducing stress.

Our Shetland Chunky range is now discontinued but this means the stock we have is available at a reduced price, originally it was £7.50 per 100g ball but we are now offering it at £3.50 a ball, there are lots of great patterns out there for chunkier yarn and there are a few free patterns which are designed for our Shetland Chunky:

Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead

Inga Scarf by J&S

Beanie in J&S Chunky Wool by Liz Lovick

These patterns all include different elements of rib, reading your knitting and in the case of the Chunkeanie – knitting in the round. Once these skills are learnt they can be grown upon and using slightly thicker wool, to begin with, will encourage beginners not to give up! There is a lot of help available online too – if you search ‘knitting tutorial beginners’ on youtube, there are literally hundreds of videos that come up!

Happy Knitting!

Flecket Friday Cheeriness!

Hello everyone, happy Friday! Today we thought we’d share some cute pictures from one of our crofters.

Lambing season is in full swing now and the fields are filled with bouncy little lambs, Chris Dyer has Garths Croft in Bressay and he has lots of beautiful coloured and flecket Shetland Sheep (the kind of wool that ends up in Supreme Jumper Weight, Supreme Lace and Shetland Heritage Naturals) and he’s been sharing some lovely pictures over on their Instagram so we asked Chris if we could share some here:

Aren’t they so cute? Chris also made a video with a virtual tour of his croft which you can see on youtube here as part of the I Thought I Knew How podcasts online international fiber festival.

While everything is in lockdown it’s important to remember those things that carry on and in agriculture, lambing is one of those things that will happen no matter what! And with very cute results.. So follow Chris’ Instagram and follow along the lambing and crofting journey if you find it interesting, happy knitting!

Voe Show 2019

Hello everyone! this past weekend saw the first of this summers agricultural shows here in Shetland and it was the Voe Show, I (Ella) headed up to judge the Colourbox Competition – this is something we do every year with some of the shows, we choose a selection of 8 shades of 2ply jumper weight and then people make things using at least 5 of the 8 shades. This years shades were: 5, FC44, 16, FC46, 32, 23, 91 and FC47

As always the standard was extremely high and it was very hard to judge, its amazing how much the way the colours look changes depending on how they have been put together. I took lots of pictures at the show so here are some of the Colourbox entries:

You have to choose a trophy winner from all the firsts and I chose this allover, I loved the corrugated rib collar and cuffs and thought the colour use and pattern were really excellent: The rest of the knitwear entries contained a huge variety of different styles from Fair Isle and Lace and everything in between – you always see amazing uses of colour, design and finishing. After I had finished in the hall with the knitwear I had a wander around the rest of the Show – the sun had come out and it was a lovely day. Apart from knitting, there is all the sheep, cows, horses and ponies, baking, plants, wool, hens, ducks etc etc.. there are also lots of places to get food, ice cream and stall selling things so it’s easy to spend a lot of time (and some money!) I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some of the things to be seen at this year’s Voe Show, Sandra will be judging at Waas and Cunningsburgh in the next week so keep an eye on our Instagram for some pics from those shows, happy knitting!

Post Shetland Wool Week

Hello everyone! Things are getting back to normal after another great Shetland Wool Week, we were extremely busy which meant we couldn’t do our usual blog update so I’m very sorry about that but I would highly recommend looking through the Shetland Wool Week 2018 hashtag on instagram – it gives you a great insight into what everyone was up to!

As our bags say – Wool Week never ends for us but we have just put some copies of this years Annual on to the online shop which contains lots of great patterns by visiting but mainly Shetland designers as well as interesting articles including one on the Herring industry which features some great pictures of where we are in the North Road including this one below on the right which shows our ‘Tin Kirk’ shop in the background.

There are lots of great patterns in the Annual and 5 use J&S 2ply Jumper Weight in them – You could make yourself a perfect winter wardrobe using just these 5 patterns!

l: Antidote Mittens by Outi Kater m: Kliek Cardigan by Marjolein Reichert r: Foula Snood by Donna Smith

l: Skalavag Mittens by Tori Seierstad r: Einar Hat by Ella Gordon

We also have some 2017 Annuals so if you missed out last year I would snap it up, they are definitely collectors items and very worth having in your knitting library. Of course the Annuals also contain the official Wool Week pattern for that year – so last years has the Bousta Beanie and this year the Merrie Dancers Toorie. That leads us onto another fun Wool Week themed kit we put up just before Wool Week but didnt get a chance to post about: Patron Packs!

We asked all the patrons there have been for Shetland Wool Week so far to choose their favourite 8 shades of 2ply Jumper Weight. We’ve put them together for you and you can find them on the online shop here. Its a great way to build up your jumper weight stash with colours you maybe wouldnt have chosen!

If you came to Shetland Wool Week we would like to thank you for visiting and supporting this event, it is an extremly important week for us and we appreciate all of you that came to see us. If you didnt visit us thank you for being patient with us while we try to get back to normal!

Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters Vol. 1

In March the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers released their latest book of patterns – Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters Vol 1. The book contains 15 original patterns by designers and knitters in the Guild and based at the time of writing in Shetland. It’s an inspiring group of patterns ranging from small items up to garments and features a good range of adult and children’s items:

Seaness Phone Cover by Irene Copperwheat, Quarwall Triangular Shawl by Lauretta Robertson and Quarry Hat and Mitten Set by Alice Pottinger

Clover Brimmed Hat by Ina Irvine, Jemina Hot Water Bottle/Ipad cover by Wilma Couper and Kae Waistcoat by Susan Johnson

When you think of Shetland knitting the most common weight of yarn used is what we call Jumper Weight – a woollen spun 4ply weight yarn available in lots of colours which make the shading of colourwork pop, these patterns in the book either use our 2ply Jumper Weight or Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight:

Sandison Yoked Jumper by Hazel Tindall and Pole Star Mittens by Joan Poleson

Meenie Wristwarmers by Barbara Cheyne and Hvarfi Gloves by Pearl Johnson

Snow in Kergord Mittens by Outi Kater

There are also three patterns in the book which use our Shetland Heritage yarn, both dyed and natural. The Shetland Heritage is slightly lighter weight than Jumper Weight. As it is Worsted Spun the yarn has a softness and drape which makes it perfect for people who find Shetland Wool slightly itchy – the Vailima Cardigan and Frances Frilly Pixie are both for children which the heritage is great for. The Tangwick Tank top in the Natural Heritage is a lovely lightweight top perfect for warmer days but also for layering in the colder months (more often than not in Shetland!)

Vailima Cardigan by Ruby Williamson

Tangwick Tank Top by Sara Leith

Frances Frilly Pixie Hat by Linda Shearer

Congratulations to the Guild on the publication of the new book, you can purchase it here on our website and we look forward to seeing Volume 2!

Happy Knitting!

Shetland and Shetland Type

Hello everyone, today we are going to touch on something which comes up every now and again – the issue and differences between Shetland and Shetland Type wool. Sometimes it can be quite confusing but this post is just to alert you to the fact some yarns you see called ‘Shetland’ may be that in name only.

According to the British Trading Standards, the current usage of the word Shetland in Wool is: ‘A yarn spun on the Woollen system of 100% Virgin Wool.. such yarn being capable of imparting to a fabric the qualities of crispness and/or smoothness and soft handling attributed to the products formerly made exclusively from the Shetland breed of Sheep’  This is interesting as it shows you that a yarn could be named ‘Shetland’ but not include much or any Shetland Wool, but by imitating the spinning style or feel of whats attributed to Shetland Wool you can give it that name regardless of where the wool comes from or the breed used. Another point in the trading standards information is this: ‘where the term is qualified by the adjectives ‘genuine’, ‘real’ or any similar description, or quantified by the terms ‘100%’ or ‘all’, this implies the wool actually originated in Shetland.’ You will see we always talk about our wool as Real Shetland Wool, or 100% Shetland Wool etc – this is us working on this basis – to show you the wool originated here in the Shetland Islands from Shetland Sheep!

We know for a fact that there are many more products out there called Shetland than there is wool available. We annually take in over 260,000 kilos of local wool from the Shetland Islands (which equals well over 80% of the Wool clip) and what doesn’t come back to us in yarn and finished product is sold on through our parent company Curtis Wool Direct for many other wool products. There are of course other Shetland Wool producers and ones on the mainland but you will find in their description of the yarns they will explain this – the ones which should ring alarms bells are those who have ‘Shetland’ in the name of the yarn range but no other mention of Shetland or Shetland Sheep in the description.

We have a very interesting piece of text in our archives which comes from Alistair MacDonald who was a long-term staff member at Hunters of Brora, where we used to have our yarns spun before they went out of business in the early 2000’s. The folder contains Alistair’s findings and remarks on lots of different aspects of the yarn and knitwear industry and he has some interesting comments on the Shetland/Shetland Type argument, some of which we noted in our book: ‘When I think of the Shetland yarn on offer I am reminded of the bizarre situation with Cheddar Cheese.. the name Cheddar now describes a type of cheese not a cheese from the Cheddar Valley. Just as cheddar is now ubiquitous to the super market so now Shetland is ubiquitous in the textile market place.’

Our aim with this post is to highlight that ‘Shetland Type’ yarns are appropriating the reputation that Shetland Wool has earned over hundreds of years through our climate, culture, history and sheep. We are rightly extremely proud of our wool and if this is something which is important to you also, we urge you to ask questions about the origins of the Shetland Wool you are buying.

Happy knitting!

All photos on this post have been taken by us either in the Woolstore at J&S or at local Agricultural Shows and the top image was taken at one of our crofters farms in Bressay.

Shetland Wool Week 2017 at J&S

Hello everyone! thank you for your response to our last post, we are so pleased with how many of you are picking up the book, the digital PDF version is now online too.

Today i’m back with some photos from Shetland Wool Week, every year that it gets bigger I get less photos but I still got a good selection from what was happening in the shop.. We had classes every weekday alongside some free drop in events and it worked really well. We always have an excellent response to Hazels Fair Isle class..

Fair Isle with Hazel Tindall

knitting, cutting and steek relief!

And Felicity Ford was back again with her inspirational Mitts-a-long, this year everyone left with a full 8 balls of Jumper weight to finish their project started in the class inspired by a group of photos and a colour palette picked by Felix

Mittsalong Class with Felicity Ford (and a fetching neepheid!)

more nice knitwear in Felix’s’ class – a Cruden and Laebrack

We tried to fight the losing battle of keeping shelves filled up (if anyone can do it, its Sandra!) And we had more classes like Drop Spindling..

Drop Spindling with Deborah Gray

And a great evening event which was a trunk show for Jen and Jim Arnal Cullifords new book – A Year of Techniques which features a couple of projects in J&S yarns. It was great to see them again and celebrate the new book!

A Year of Techniques Trunk Show

We loved this hat which features the motif’s from the Baable Hat, Crofthoose and Bousta Beanie!

Felicity and Sandra say cheers to J&S!

We also had a launch event for our new book, and had all the designs on display. It was so good to finally have all the projects out and the book available. yippee!

Friday Morning was a bit quieter which was good as we had a lace class with Elizabeth Johnston, something which needs a bit of concentration I reckon!

Shetland Lace with Elizabeth Johnston

Felicity’s amazing wedding bunting!

Oliver’s last tour of Wool Week

But Friday afternoon was so busy! We had Oliver’s last tour of the week and a trunk show for Felicity’s next book, and everyone seemed to come for a look.. I don’t know how I had time to get the above pictures!

The Hub

After work on Friday I crawled to the museum to visit the Hub and admire the knitwear on display and the merchandise, I love the sweatshirts! (I bought one, of course!)

On Saturday Me, Kharis and Sandra were at the shop but i nipped over to Gremista farm where we were holding an event together with Eric at the farm and Vispring. Unfortuantely the Flock Book event fell outside Wool Week so we decided to have an event with sheep, food and farmers which went down really well and we are already thinking about how to make next year better!

Aah, all in all another successful Wool Week. There is such an amazing range of events on all week and this is just a small slice of what happened at J&S, happy knitting!