Arrived from the Spinning Mill

A few weeks ago a very large parcel arrived from Griffiths Spinning Mill. The package contained spun yarn produced from fleeces of our small flock of coloured Shetland sheep. There are a few more shades than last year ranging from black, brown, greys, fawn and white.

Back in June I completely forgot to take any photos of the sheep shearing process. However, my nice neighbour Gail happened to be passing and took these photos of the sheep with their new hair cuts. I 'borrowed' the images from Gail's Bouncing Bertie's Blog, about life seen from the perspective of her wire-haired fox terrier.

Image: Courtesy of Bouncing Bertie's Blog

Image: Courtesy of Bouncing Bertie's Blog

The yarn has a further wash to remove any remaining grease and dirt. I'm tackling this process in batches due to the number of skeins to be washed and the rainy conditions currently being experienced in the Highlands.

Recently I invested in a skein winder/holder for this next process and it's definitely helped speed up the task of winding the yarn into these 'cake' style balls.

Due to the amount of time spent washing, drying, and winding the yarn I haven't had that much time to knit with it. I have though managed to test the yarn out using the Stellar pattern which I wrote about previously. This version was made for Mr Hand Knitted, who likes the hat but not being photographed.

The idea for the display rack came after seeing this image on Tolt Yarn and Wool Facebook page.  (A carpenter friend very kindly made this one for me). Currently my Shetland yarn is on display and available to purchase from the Loch Torridon Centre Gallery.

Travelling Yarns Collaboration

Way back in the summer I met with Catherine Sclater of Travelling Yarns. We discussed the possibility of a knitting/yarn/pattern collaboration. Catherine has been working with the new Uist Wool Spinning Mill and has developed her own artisan hand dyed yarn. She is using fleece from a breed of sheep called Zwartbles and it has a rich dark brown/black colour. Catherine has named this yarn Black Beauly, a reference to the area where the fleece was sourced. Some of the dark yarn is spun with white Cheviot fibre which takes up the dye. The result is a lovely rich two tone colour effect, this hand dyed yarn she has named Machair.

The image shows sample skeins of the Machair hand dyed with one skein of Black Beauly. My brief was to design a hat pattern using one skein of the dark yarn and one of the hand dyed. Also there was to be a Fair Isle influence to bring out the contrast between the two yarns. 

I came up with, 'Stellar', a beanie style hat, suitable for men or women, with a Fair Isle style design made up of intersecting triangles and a solid colour crown with an optional tassel. I made the first sample using the yellow colour element forming the pattern and the darker contrast on the crown. This is shown in Catherine's Autumn Yellow hand dyed. Stellar hat pattern is now available via Ravelry.

 

Modelled here (reluctantly) by Mr Hand Knitted. He likes the hat but not being photographed.

The second hat sample was knitted with the darker colour forming the pattern element and the colour on the crown for contrast, shown here in Catherine's hand dyed Teal.

Catherine will be exhibiting her Black Beauly and Machair yarn, 'Stellar' hat knitting kits and a vast range of other knitting yarns at the Highland Wool and Textile Fair, Bishop's Palace at Eden Court, Inverness, on 18th October 10am - 4pm.

Stag Sweater - Review

I'd like to thank my sponsor Bergere de France for providing the yarn and pattern for this review.

I had not tried any of Bergere de France products before browsing through their two autumn winter 2014/15 collections. Magazine no. 174 features children's items from age 2-12 years and contains 35 new designs. The Creations catalogue has a range of designs for children, adults and the home. Both can be viewed on line.There is also a vast range of yarn types.

I chose the 'Stag Sweater' with a jaquard detail to knit from the collection for children. The pattern has instructions for ages 6-10 years.

Stag Sweater

The yarn recommended for the Stag Sweater design is called 'Ideal'. The catalogue gives very comprehensive details of the yarn and samples of all the colours available. I chose the following colours for my sweater which I knitted in size age 6 years.

Girolle #29051

Gerbille #248661

The #290531

Vannerie #233161

What makes the Bergere de France 'Ideal' yarn?

• 50g
• 125m
• 40% combed wool, 30% acrylic, 30% polyamide
• 3.5mm needles or 3.5mm crochet hook
• machine washable, tumble dry
• 32 colour ways
• suitable for knitting machines

I found the Ideal yarn very easy to handle and soft to the touch, suitable for children's wear. The pattern was easy to follow, with age sizes colour coded with the different stitch numbers. This was a good feature when checking my work at the different stages. All measurements are in cm and mm, very much based for the European market.

I had to brush up on my intarsia knitting skills for this as there were four colours being worked in the stripes at one time. I made only one change to the pattern. Rather than knit the neck band separate and then graft on to the sweater, I picked up the stitches and knitted the neck band on directly. Overall I enjoyed knitting this little stag sweater.