Knitting Patterns

Deepdale Shawl Colourways

Every now and again we come into work at the shop and find there are a lots of orders for the same thing without knowing what its for! a few months ago that happened and we noticed there were a number of orders for 2ply Lace in shades L54, L203, L3 and L202. I thought they looked lovely together and then when I went on Ravelry later on I realised Gudrun Johnston had chosen to use those shades for one of her colourways in her MKAL pattern.

For the past couple of years Gudrun has run a mystery knit along where each week new clues are revealed and you don’t know what the final project will look like! this shawl was this years effort and the final pattern is now available itself: Deepdale

It gave me an idea to put together a few colourways using the 2ply Lace, it’s a sometimes overlooked yarn but it makes for lovely lightweight but warm projects.

the original colourway: L54, L203, L202 and L3

A number of people also ordered the Shetland Heritage Naturals for this project and they would work beautifully, the Heritage is a little bit thicker than the two ply lace but that only makes for an even more snuggly finished shawl!

The above colourways is very similar to the original, but the two below will give you more of a brown finished shawl or a grey one – I love the greys!

shetland black, grey, light grey and white

I hope this has given you some ideas for colours for a Deepdale Shawl, if you make one using J&S yarns remember to tag us on Instagram, our username is thewoolbrokers and we love to see in progress pictures.🙂

Happy Knitting!

Harrogate – The Knitting & Stitching Show

We’re beginning to get back to normal after Wool Week which was amazing as ever!

However, there’s no slowing down in the shop as we’re beginning to pack up for going to The Knitting & Stitching Show (24-27 November). If you’ve read the earlier post I wrote then you’ll be familiar with the type of products we’re planning to have on the stand.

Living and working in Shetland means travel and delivery of all the items we want to take to the show takes a bit of figuring out! Flights (two of these and pretty much a whole day to get us down to Harrogate) and accommodation for Sandra and myself were booked a couple of months ago so that leaves all the lovely Jamieson & Smith things for the stand.

kits

Just a taster of the kit selection we’ll have available! You’ll have the option of adding in one of our beautiful new gift boxes…

kit box

Our ‘Every Week is Wool Week’ printed canvas bag has been so popular over the past year that we’ve added a new design which we really love! We’ll also have our two books – Knit Real Shetland which has patterns using a range of our yarns, and Gladys Amedro Vintage Lace Collection 1. For anyone who makes cushions or similar items then our Peerie Project Bags full of Shetland Wool stuffing are perfect!

All of the above will be available to buy at the show but if there’s anything else you’d like then you can place an order with us. We will have examples of all our yarn types and colours, like a giant shade card! We think this is important so you can really get a feel of the different yarns and see the true colour.

That’s about all for now, got to get back to packing up all those kits! You can find out more about our stand in the show Exhibitor List. I’ll be back again soon to let you know of offers and special products so watch this space!

Shoormal Hap

As soon as we saw the Shetland Heritage Naturals we all knew they would be perfect in a traditional Shetland Hap, Sandra quickly got to work and just in time for Wool Week the Shoormal Hap is the result!

The Bestway K133 pattern booklet is full of inspiring Shetland patterns, (we have a photocopy of the pattern booklet for sale here) They are all written out longhand in very small writing but we were very inspired by the ‘Scalloped Shawl’ pattern, its a traditional Hap which you probably know has been everywhere lately. They have been made and worn in Shetland for centuries and we knew the nature of the Shetland Heritage Naturals would be ideal to recreate this pattern.

courtesy of the Shetland Museum and Archives.

We have used shades White, Fawn, Moorit and Shetland Black in the Shawl, Oliver has told us many times that the Heritage is very similar is weight to the old Hap weight of yarn, long since discontinued but the soft and strong properties of the Heritage yarn especially in the undyed colours harks back to this historical yarns. We have added charts for the border and edging sections of the pattern as well as keeping the written instructions so you can choose which to use.

The construction of this Hap is that the centre is worked first followed by the four sides which are all worked individually and sewn onto the centre and each other, finally the edging is worked and sewn on. This makes it a great portable project as you are working each element separately before sewing it all together.

The finished shawl is approximately 45 inches square making it very large, warm and cushy. It’s knit on relatively large needles for the yarn (4mm and 5mm) which creates a warm and lofty fabric, perfect for wrapping yourself up in, keeping on your couch or wrapping around a baby.

If you would like to knit your own Shoormal Hap you can buy the kit here!

Happy Knitting!

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Shetland Wool Week Mitts-a-Long

Hello everybody, specifically those of you who can’t make it to Shetland Wool Week but would like to be involved…

The wonderful Felicity Ford AKA Knitsonik has been busy working away on an idea just for you: Introducing the Knitsonik Mitts-a-Long for Shetland Wool Week! ‘Yay’ I hear you cry, well Yay indeed, read on for the details.

The idea is to design your own stranded colourwork using ‘Fingerless Mitts’ as the base for your explorations. There are two kit options for you to choose from, each one has been carefully thought out by Felicity and includes the pattern along with the corresponding 8 balls of our lovely 2ply Jumper Weight (a 4ply weight yarn).

The first theme is the Crofthouse Museum, situated in Dunrossness in the South Mainland of Shetland. It is set up as it would have been in the 1870s so you can get a real feel of what it was like to live in a typical Shetland home at that time.

The second theme is taken from knitting sheaths in the Shetland Museum & Archives. These were in use before knitting belts and were made with feathers to grip and hold a needle in place while working.

The Knitsonik Mitts-A-Long 2016 coincides with Shetland Wool Week 2016 starting on the 24th September. It will continue until the 24th October with lots of places to share and discuss your progress online – you can find other participants by following the hashtag #knitsonikmittsalong on Instagram and Twitter, and on the Knitsonik Ravelry forum.

We have a limited amount of kits in stock so if you would like to knit your Shetland inspired mitts with wool all packed up by us in Shetland, this is your chance!

Heritage Hap Kits

You’ll remember a few months ago I did a post about a pattern we had in the People’s Friend Magazine, we couldn’t believe the amount of orders we had for the yarn so we are very happy to say we now have the pattern available to buy as a kit!

The pattern was developed by Sandra from a vintage pattern, and she decided to use our Shetland Heritage range as it so closely resembles the old Hap weight of Yarn.

The pattern makes a brilliant first Hap, you begin with the centre panel then pick up each four sides individually and knit them. The edging is then knit and either sewed on or you can knit it on as you go. The slightly thicker (than traditional 1ply) yarn and bigger needles (it’s knit on 5mm) makes a quick but warm and drapey hap.

If you order the kit you will receive Snaa White heritage but feel free to choose any of the shades from the Dyed Heritage and our new Natural Heritage range, just leave a note in the delivery comments box!

Happy Knitting!

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The Book of Haps

Hooray! The Book of Haps has arrived! Our good friend Kate Davies has done it again and her latest book has just landed at J&S, ever since we heard about this book we have been so excited to see it and the patterns don’t disappoint!

col3 — clockwise from top left: Hapisk by Helene Magnusson, Moder Dy by Kate Davies, Harewood by Bristol Ivy, Happenstance by Romi Hill

col2 — Clockwise from top left: Theme and Variation by Veera Valimaki, Montbretia by Carol Feller and Hexa Hap by Tom van Deijnen,

col1 — Clockwise from left: Nut-Hap by Jen Arnall-Culliford, Uncia by Lucy Hague and Shore Hap by Martina Behm,

As always the essays are well researched and full of wonderful photos, Kate goes into depth about all aspects of a Hap, what it means, what it represents and its historical importance to places like Shetland. We are so happy that three of the beautiful designs have been made in our yarns..

lang1 — Lang Ayre by Gudrun Johnston, knit in 2ply Jumper Weight

hazel — Hamegaet Wrap by Hazel Tindall knit in Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight

donna — Houlland by Donna Smith knit in Shetland Supreme 2ply Lace

We love how all the patterns are so different but all encompass the elements of a Hap updated with design features like lace, intarsia, steeks.. and many more. Each design has something new and different to learn which is well explained. Kate has worked closely with Technical Editor Jen Arnall Culliford and all the patterns are detailed and clear with lots of extra tips..

You can order your copy here and see more information about each pattern here. There are lots of fun ways to get involved with this new book: Jen Arnall Culliford is hosting a Knit-a-Long in her Ravelry group for the book which you can see here and Louise Scollay of Knit British is also hosting one which you can see here.

Hap-py Knitting!

19_tah-dah-copy — Kate and her wonderful Moder Dy design, one knit in Buachaille and one in 2ply Jumper Weight.

Crofthoose Hat Kits

So this years Shetland Wool Week pattern has now been out for a month or so, we were out of stock of one of the shades but its now back in (yippee!) so if you would like to knit the J&S colourway of the Crofthoose Hat you can order a kit from our website here

It uses 5 shades of Jumper Weight in the colours seen above, if you order a kit we will include a paper copy of the pattern but you can also download it via the Shetland Wool Week website here

If you would like to knit the hat but dont fancy these shades just leave us a note in the delivery comments box of the shades you would like and we will put them in for you, there are four different colourways in the pattern and lots of projects on Ravelry if you need inspiration!

if you do knit a Crofthoose Hat remember to tag your projects on instagram and ravelry with the #crofthoosehat

Happy Knitting!