Rams and Yowes blanket

After almost six months of knitting, my Rams and Yowes blanket is finished. I realise that there is no sense of scale in these photographs, it measures one metre squared. I particularly like the sheep although these were the trickiest to knit since the strands of wool had to be carried across several stitches at the back of the work.

The wool is Jamieson and Smith Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight in nine natural undyed shades of Shetland wool. I bought the wool when we were on holiday in Shetland last November and the blanket is a very satisfying souvenier. My ravelry notes are here.

As this knitting project got bigger and less portable I knitted a couple of pairs of socks. Yesterday I tried to take pictures of my feet in the garden.

The purple socks are knitted from hand dyed sock yarn I bought at Wool and Willow in Hay-on-Wye. This is the second pair of socks I have knitted from their yarn and I must remember that they are to be hand washed - I forgot last time and after a few washes I have some very small felted socks.

The second pair are Regia Jacquard sock yarn that I bought in Shetland. I like the delicate colours but apparently the yarn is now discontinued.

I now find myself in the unusual position of not having a current knitting project though somewhere I think I have an unfinished feather and fan scarf started several years ago. I am considering an Icelandic style lopi cardigan - something on bigger needles that won't take quite so long to finish. No hurry though, I am enjoying the planning stage, thinking about colours and designs for a new project.

Shetland

Firstly, the naturally coloured Shetland wool I am currently knitting. This is the garter stitch edging for The Rams and Yowes blanket. There are over 800 stitches in each round and I thought I might find this part of the project boring but I don't. It is gentle meditative knitting, one row of knit, one row of purl and a slight change of colour every four rows to give this lovely graduated effect. The colour change is on the purl rows which softens the change, the underside looks more striped.

The natural shades of Shetland wool have such wonderful names.

Another Shetland, today is the first part of the TV drama of the same name which will be screened tonight (BBC) at 9pm. "Shetland" is based on the novel Red Bones by Anne Cleeves which I have read. I don't think the TV follows the book exactly but I am looking forward to it. Also making an appearance in the program is some knitting by Kate Davis so it is appropriate that I shall be watching while knitting round and round the edge of my Kate Davis designed blanket.

knitting update

The top photograph is Everglade. I like this hat very much, it seems to suit me better than the beanie style Snawheid which although I loved knitting it, hasn't been worn much. The yarn is Jamiesons (as distinct from Jamieson and Smith) Shetland double knitting. Jamiesons wool is produced in Shetland. When we were on holiday a few years ago I looked round the spinning mill at Sandness and having seen where it was produced, I have a fondness for this wool. This colour is loganberry and is a lovely purple marl.

The rest of the photographs are my progress with Rams and Yowes blanket by Kate Davies. For this I am using Jamieson and Smith wool, Shetland Supreme Jumper Weight in natural undyed colours. I enjoy fair isle knitting and this is a fun pattern.

I have completed one section of yowes (ewes)

and am part way through the rams.

The weather has turned colder, there is a forecast of snow later in the week, exactly the right season to spend my evenings knitting with a growing blanket on my lap.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year.

The photographs were taken in Shetland on our holiday last November. Here, at the moment, all is grey, rain and sodden. For the start of a new year I wanted something brighter and more optimistic. I love the sea and the coast, the feeling of openness and space.

I have posted the second photograph before, it is one of my favourites from our trip. I hope there will be adventures and opportunities to explore in 2013, like the little red boat leaving the harbour for the wider sea.

All the best for 2013.

2012 - July to December

Fantail Lace Shawl and other knitting

I have finished my Fantail Lace Shawl but the weather hasn't been suitable for outdoor photography so these photographs are from a few weeks ago when it was a work in progress.

The yarn and the pattern are from Jenny Cook at the Wool and Willow Shop in Hay on Wye. The fine kid mohair is very soft and the slightly variegated colour works well with the fantail pattern.

My current knitting project is also purple, I am knitting Snawheid using some wool left over from my Fair Isle waistcoat.

The snowflake pattern is emerging now and knitting fair isle again is good practice for my next project using wool I bought from Jamieson and Smith when I was on holiday in Shetland.

I am going to knit the Rams and Yows blanket/shawl also by Kate Davies. I like the natural colours of the wool used in the pattern and I am looking forward to starting but I am trying to finish off some smaller items first. It is a large project for me, I will certainly have enough knitting to keep me occupied over Christmas and well into the New Year.

Wovember

Wovember isn't recognised as a word by spell checker but perhaps in the future it might be. It is in its second year and celebrates all things wool related. 

Last year the focus was on the labelling of clothes that were made of wool blended with other fibres or in some cases garments that contained no wool at all but were described as wool or woollen. I don't know whether it is my imagination or perhaps wishful thinking but it seems that this is happening less now. I have noticed more garments labelled wool-blend or contains wool.

This year the focus is on the process of growing the wool from looking after lambs and sheep, through shearing and then processing the fleece into wool for knitting, weaving etc.

There are lots of articles on the Wovember blog. I particularly like the post about the Newbury Coat. Newbury is near here and last year I watched the sheep being shorn and saw all the spinners working away in the Corn Exchange. So many different skills and processes making the coat in just over 14 hours from the start of sheep shearing.

Wool is often considered to be expensive compared to artificial fibres but considering all the stages it goes through, it is very good value for money. In addition, when it is looked after carefully wool lasts for a very long time, a well loved hand-knitted jumper can be worn for years and years - or is that just me! I easily feel cold in the winter so I am a big fan of all things woollen. The Wovember badge in the side bar links to the Wovember blog.

The photographs in this post were taken on my recent trip to Shetland. I did try take some pictures of the  different coloured sheep that produce fleece and wool of wonderful soft natural colours but these sheep were camera shy, not their best view.

The ones in the photograph below were happy to pose for the camera. 

Shetland photographs - beaches

As I have mentioned before I love spending time at the coast and in Shetland there are so many beautiful beaches.

These are photographs from the past few days. The weather has been calm and sunny, it certainly doesn't look and feel like November.

Just one day of our holiday left, as always it will be hard to leave.

Shetland photographs - Lerwick

We arrived for our holiday in Shetland yesterday and I was very happy to wander around with my camera. We are staying in Lerwick, the main town. The population of all the Shetland Islands is 22,500 with about one third living in Lerwick.

There have been a few changes since we were last here three years ago. The new building below is the cinema complex, a stunning building.

At home we are well over an hour away from the nearest beach so I really like the fact that in Shetland you are never further than three miles away from the sea. The museum in the photograph below has a cafe with a great view of the harbour.

More boats in the small boat harbour

and even a tiny beach right in the centre of town.

I think I would like to live this close to the sea.