Aestlight Shawls

Before going away for a holiday in October I was looking for a knitting project I could take with me that would be transportable, and wouldn't need a large amount of yarn. I chose Gudrun Johnston's Aestlight shawl, and I am glad I did, I only knitted for a short while each day but it knitted up very quick and the pattern was very easy to follow and there were no difficult techniques.

 

 As I didn't leave myself much time to plan this project before I went away I grabbed a purple heather coloured yarn from my stash (Shetland jumper weight but as it is old I don't you where it came from or what colour it is.)  

 

 

 

I also didn't have 4.0 mm needles so took 3.75 needles. I was very happy with the result, it made a very warm and cosy scarf.

 

 

I made a second one just before Christmas, as a gift again in Shetland jumper yarn from my stash but in a darker shade of blue.  Since I had left it to the last minute I wasn't sure if I would finish it on time, but it is a quick knit, I managed to cast it off a couple of days before Christmas. Because of the construction there is minimal finishing (that always takes me a bit of time and the bit I like the least). The central part is knitted first in garter stitch, with a YO at the beginning of each row creating a triangle that seems to appear before your eyes.

  

The loops at each edge of the triangle are picked up and the birds eye lace section, which is a traditional Shetland lace pattern, is made in one piece.  Then the edging is knitted and joined to the live stitches of the shawl as it is made.  In the case of the blue shawl, by the time I got to the edging I realised that I wasn't going to have enough yarn.  Because I had used the recommended needle size this time (4.0mm) the shawl used more yarn and turned out a bit larger (I forgot to measure it before I gave it away). I decided to do a picot cast off, and I am very pleased with this result.

 

 

 

 

This is definitely a pattern you should try if you would like to make a triangular scarf especially if you haven't done it before.  I think I might make myself another soon!
 

 

The projects can be seen on Ravelry here (purple one) and here (blue one).

Aald Claes and Gruel

A New Year is very often a time for reflection, new beginnings and new ideas.  We have had a lovely festive  period spending time with family and friends and it is alway a bit sad that it's over.  

On the other hand there is something good about getting back into a routine, making new plans and thinking about new projects.  It's time to pack away the decorations, eat normal food and get into a better sleeping pattern.  As someone said this morning it's back to aald claes and gruel (old clothes and porridge)!  I.e. time to get back to normal.

I don't tend to make New Year resolutions but this year I have been planning new things in terms of my work and I was inspired by my friend Emma Varnham to look back at all the things I have made this past year, not including things I have made for sale.  Emma is a crochet and knit designer and made a huge number of things last year: you can see them here.

It was quite interesting making a list of the things I have made, there were several things I had forgotten about and I actually was quite surprised of the number of things I had finished, there were more than I thought.

Top L to R:

Felt knitting needle case - made one for a friend's birthday and one for myself to help solve the problem of an ever increasing needle supply.

Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Beret - blogged about here and ravelled here

Stasis Jumper - started in 2013 but finished in 2014 so I have included it in the list.  Blogged about here and ravelled here

 

Middle: L to R

Black and White Tunic: Blogged about here

Mouse with Jeans and Fair Isle jumper: Blogged about here

Vintage Denim Coat: Blogged about here

Glove: OK, so there's only one so I need to do the other this year! 

 

Bottom: L to R

Polar Star Tam, pattern by Outi Kater:  Ravelled here.  I have just finished mittens to match - I will blog about these soon.

Cushions: Blogged about here

 

 

Top L to R:

Kid Alpaca Fair Isle Star hat:  Ravelled here

Ursula Cardigan: pattern by Kate Davies: Ravelled here

Knitted vegetables: Ravelled here

 

Middle L to R:

Freefield Jacket: Blogged about here and ravelled here 

Denim Dress: Pattern by Sonia Phillips but sides taken in and some length added, and Aestlight shawl, pattern by Gudrun Johnson: blog post to follow soon!

A Circle of Lambs Cardigan: Blogged about here and ravelled here

Linen Dress: Dress A from Stylish Dress Book in light grey linen

 

Bottom L to R:

Aestlight Shawl, pattern by Gudrun Johnson: this is the second of two I made and ran out of yarn for the edging so completed it with a picot bind off.  Blog post to follow soon!

Christmas Baa-bles: Made for Shetland Wool Week Christmas project.  I blogged about the small one here

 

My Not On The High Street Shop is currently closed, I have scheduled it to open in February, but will review it at the time.  Currently I don't have a dedicated work space, I was working in the kitchen but I packed it all up before Christmas.  I am hoping to have a work room in the house soon, we are waiting on getting stairs installed in our house, then we can use the upstairs of our house - I can't wait to get more room!

 

Also, I have taken on a few more hours a week working as a science technician supporting the Shetland high schools, which means anytime during the day I could have had to myself I go out to work.

 

Much of my new work plans and ideas will involve wool, more specifically Shetland yarn and I am not going to make a strict monthly year plan, and basically see what happens.  But that's the beauty of being self employed.

 

Now, where are those aald claes.......

 

 

 

 

 

Shetland Wool Week 2015

I am absolutely delighted to announce that I will be the patron of Shetland Wool Week 2015.  The festival will be in its 6th year in 2015, and will take place from Saturday 26th to Sunday 4th October.  You can read Shetland Wool Week's blog post here. 

Photo: Dave Wheeler

It is a festival that celebrates Shetland wool, it's sheep, and knitting traditions and it is a huge honour to be involved in such an important event.  During the week, there will be workshops on various wool related topics, designers will open their studios to the public for example and it is great chance to meet up with other like minded folk.

I follow in the footsteps of Hazel Tindall who was the patron in 2014 and who I am pictured below with (Hazel is an amazing knitter and a lovely person so they will be very hard footsteps to follow).

Photo: Selina-May Miller

 

Any of you that follow me on the blog or on other social media sites will notice that hand knitting has very much featured in my more recent work.  I am planning to blog more about woolly things throughout the year, mainly knitting and other things to do with Shetland wool (starting again in the New Year).  If you want to keep updated with posts you can click on the "follow by email" widget at the right hand side to get them sent to your inbox, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

 

You can find out more about Shetland Wool Week on their website here.

 

Its going to be a exciting year!

Christmas Closing Time

Firstly, I would like to apologise for saying in my last post that Kate Davies book was going to be launched during Shetland Wool Week, I was wrong but the good news is it is available for pre-order from today!  I have ordered my copy and can't wait to see it.  You can pre-order it from Kate's website here.

My problem often is that I read things too fast and don't actually take in the actual information, plus I was going on holiday just after Shetland Wool Week and there was so much to do I hardly had time to think!

I am back now (spent a lovely 2 weeks in Tenerife with family) and after a bit of thought have decided to close my Not On The High Street shop next Sunday 16th November for Christmas.  It's earlier than the last couple of years but I don't have a lot of time to make brooches at the moment due to family and other work commitments.  The only craft fair I will be doing this year is one in the local village hall in Hamnavoe on Sunday 30th November.  Sometimes you have to pull back and realise your limitations.  Plus, I haven't taken any trade orders in the past month, thankfully all my buyers are very understanding as most of them are small business owners themselves, and as one of them said, sometimes you are just too busy.  And, I don't want to spend every minute of the day working, I have done that to much in the past.

There are a few new brooches in my shop this year, all made up of tiny pieces of felt.

Wool Felt Spray brooch

Wool Felt Posy Brooch - inspired by a mirror with a moulded, painted surround that used to hang in my Granny's sittingroom.

 

Wool Felt Rose Bouquet Brooch - inspired by vintage ceramic brooches.

 

You can get them here until midnight on Sunday 16th November, I have a ten day lead time so you will get your order in plenty of time before Christmas!

Yokes

 I spent a lovely evening with knitwear designer Kate Davies a few weeks ago.  Kate is the author of Colours of Shetland and many beautiful knitting patterns and was in Shetland recently to do research for her next book "Yokes".  We spoke a lot about knitting and wool (of course) and we looked through some of my old photos.  

Yoke cardigans and jumpers to a lesser extent, have become very fashionable in Shetland in the past few years, when walking across Commercial Street in Lerwick it would be very rare not to see someone wearing one.   I remember having a Shetland wool jumper with lace yoke that my great aunt knitted to match a kilt (with attached nylon vest thing to make it into a pinafore), which I had a dislike for, Shetland wool was unfashionable at the time and the pinafore thing meant that the jumper really couldn't come off when running around made me too hot.

 

I have spent a lot of time lately going through old photos and concentrating on the knitwear in the pictures.  Here is the only photo I can find of said yoke jumper, I wish I had it now, I would wear it without hesitation (if I was still that size of course).  Its funny how times change.

I recall my Granny Maggie very often wearing a yoke jumper, these jumpers were (and still are) had a machine made body and sleeves and the yoke was made by hand.  Many Shetlanders recall of the man of the house making the bodies on their knitting machine and the women knitting the yokes and finishing the garment by hand.  

This is my maternal Granny wearing a traditional yoke and being herself! My Granda is on her left.

 

 

Granny's Craft group, note the traditional yokes and cardigans

 

While looking through old photos belonging to my granny and parents I came across the first ever yoke I knitted.  It was made from Icelanic Lopi in circular wires, I think I was bout ten at the time.  We had been snowed in a lot that winter and I remember sitting next to the Rayburn knitting it.

 

Chunky yokes were also very popular as I was growing up, I remember my paternal granny, Jackie made them to sell and my Dad was very rarely seen out of work not wearing one.

You can also see some more yokes on Ella Gordon's blog  - in her latest post she documents some of her knitwear collection, make sure you click on the link at the bottom of the page, this will take you to another site showing all the lovely garments in her possession.

Louise from Knitbritish.net wrote a blogpost titled "The Charm of A Yoke" a few months back - here she speaks about different types of yokes and even features my felt yoke jumper brooches - thanks Louise! 
 

With the rise in popularity of the yoke and with an increase in people wanting something more individual, the timing of Kate's book is perfect.  It will be launched during Shetland Wool Week, on Thursday evening at Jamieson and Smith.  I am very much looking forward to seeing the finished book and patterns and you better be quick, this is going to be a popular one.

Summer Sewing

 I tend to find I sew more in the summer and knit more in the winter.  I have of course been knitting a little bit but certainly not as much as I would like.  In the summer evenings, if I get a chance, I like to sit in the conservatory listening to the radio and watching the sunset and hopefully do something creative.

 

 

This year has been the best summer we have had for years and sometimes I find the better the weather the busier we are, out making the most of the fine weather.  One night a couple of weeks ago I had the rare chance of several hours in the evening to myself, several late nights and days spent running around meant Peerie Breeks fell asleep usually early so I managed to cut out and sew this top/tunic.

 

I had bought the fabric at the end of last summer when I was on a sewing roll but it must have been just as the weather changed as it got packed away until this year.  The pattern is Simplicity 3835 which I think is now out of print, but I managed to track it down on a US site last year and I am glad I did.

 

I originally planned to make a top but I feel more comfortable in a tunic, I didn't have enough fabric to make the tunic in the pattern but I did if I added the bottom of the tunic to the top.  As there are no openings in this version (which I like) I quickly made up version from some calico I had previously used as curtains somewhere to check I could get it on and off before I took the scissors to the actual fabric.

 

 

I wasn't sure what I would think of elastic around the neck but I like it.  The armholes were supposed to be finished with elastic too but I just made an ordinary hem.

 

 

 

 I used French seams which helps to give a super neat finish to the garment.

 

 

 

It has handy pockets too.

Overall, I am very happy with the finished garment, I have worn and washed it several times now and it behaves very well.  I finished the tunic in about 4 hours and added the pockets the next evening so it is a fairly quick project (if you can get peace!) In fact I have just bought more fabric for another and am in the process of sewing another two dress / tunics.  I just need to keep up the momentum before the light changes too much and I can get the good of short sleeves!

Some of the other things we have been up to are trips to the beach..

 

 

Taking in the hay....

We do it the old fashioned way by putting into the byre using the 60 year old tractor...

 

 

I don't have a lot of produce this year but there is always lots of rhubarb, this is a delicious rhubarb chutney using the recipe found on the Taste of Shetland blog.  You will find other recipes and interesting articles there and it is well worth a visit....

 

Enjoying eating outdoors with some homemade rhubarb cordial.....

 

 

And - I had my first go at clipping sheep, I certainly won't win any prizes for speed but I think they were quite neatly trimmed!

 

 

New sandals - Shetland isn't known for its warm temperatures, so I do hope I get a few more weeks to wear my new sandals (I got a bit carried away and bought two pairs).

You can see the some more pictures from the summer at Instagram - I am Donna Smith Designs over there. 

I am off to Edinburgh for the weekend so hoping for some shopping, lots of coffee drinking and a chance to wear the sandals!

A New Vintage Coat

 

A few years ago I bought a length of grey and white tweed with the intention of making a coat, but never seemed to find the right pattern.  Last summer I found the perfect pattern on Pinterest - Simplicity 6311 from 1965. 

Trust me to fall in love with something that probably went out of print over 40 years ago.

 A few searches on eBay though, and it didn't take too long to find the pattern in my size (from an American lady with a Scandinavian name).  Before I chopped up the tweed I thought I would use denim fabric I also bought years ago but I can't remember why.  So, if it was a disaster it wouldn't matter.  Thankfully, it wasn't a disaster.

 

I cut out the coat last summer and like many more projects it got packed away as sewing with pins and needles isn't particularly child friendly.  One night a few weeks ago I decided I need to finish it so I worked into the wee small hours.  Hand finishing and the covered button has been done when I could grab a few moments.

 

 

It has white and red spotty lining: 

 

 

Altogether, it was a fairly straight forward project with no button holes, no inside facings and the fit is perfect so I didn't have to make any adjustments.  The only thing I might change is to add facings and hidden buttonholes on the next one as it swings open.  The only fasteners are the button and a placket at the other side of the neck - things that swing open doesn't really work here in the Shetland winters due to the prevailing winds.  I might also lengthen the sleeves as these are bracelet length and although it looks good and is fine on a summer garment, I think a winter coat would be better with slightly longer ones.

 

And - just in case you were wondering, the brooch is one of my newer designs, which will be available online with a whole new range of vintage inspired floral brooches in the Autumn.

 

Yay! - another FO I can now tick off my list!