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It seemed so appropriate that my flight to Shetland took me straight over Fair Isle. And the pilot must have known I was on board and the reason for my trip to Shetland as he made a point of making those of us on the flight aware of the island. Isn’t it beautiful:
I’m off to Shetland first thing tomorrow morning so over the last few days I’ve desperately been trying to get a cardigan finished to take with me. For a change I was not using my own yarn, but instead I was using some Rowan Felted Tweed out of my stash. And for those of you who are regular users or Ravelry or who read the blog of Needled on a regular basis you’ll be familiar with these wonderfully designed pleats:
My Manu is finally complete – well, almost! I’m not happy with the buttons:
I didn’t make many modifications to the pattern. I decided against doing pockets (although I may still change my mind on that point) as I felt I was likely just to stuff the pockets with rubbish and it would pull the cardigan out of shape. I also didn’t do the i-cord cast on. I couldn’t get it to look neat enough. I did do the i-cord cast off and it gives a beautifully neat edge. And the buttonholes look really good using the i-cord method. So Manu is complete. And on the whole I’m pleased. I think I did a size too big for me, and I also think I could have increased the number of rows I did on the yoke, but it will get its first outing in Shetland nonetheless, and I’m hoping the comments are favourable! I enjoyed the pattern, but I was pleased to get it finished. I’m going to relax, now, with two lace shawls on the needles already. One is Haruni designed by Emily Ross (I apologise for the Ravelry link but I couldn’t find a non Ravelry link to this pattern) and the other is Aestlight – appropriate for Shetland I thought given it is designed by Gudrun Johnston, aka The Shetland Trader! You may recall the post I did about the Ishbel Beret which was also too big for me – well I’m pleased to say that Ida was chosen as the recipient of the beret. Ida, if you’re reading this, please get in touch. I did drop you an e-mail but I’m not sure you received it. And Susie, I’ll knit you one! Sometimes, when I’m dyeing, you get a hank of yarn which doesn’t behave. Sometimes the dye doesn’t take the way you expected it to, which is fine as somebody will love that particular colour. Other times you get a hank which simply refuses to stay neat and tidy, and you end up with a hank which may look lovely but which is tangled. This is one such hank:
I started trying to wind it off the hank, but to be honest I don’t have the patience that allows me to do this. And I’m also short of time right now. So here’s the deal. If you are the sort of person who is patient and willing to be gentle with a hank that clearly needs a firm hand, then the hank of merino/silk laceweight is yours for the cost of posting.
I can’t bear to just throw it out, but I also can’t really charge anyone for it as it may take them as long to wind it off the hank as it will take to knit it up into something stunning. You can see the colours in the pictures above. I have made a start, but I’ve not got far! So the first person to leave a comment saying they want it – it is yours. Who is brave enough? ETA the yarn has now found a good new home with someone who will give it the attention it deserves. There’s so much going on at the moment that this blog is a bit of a mix of everything. So bear with me …. Yesterday we had a beautiful, sunny day. Now weather doesn’t really bother me as it does some, but even I would have to admit that we’ve not had the sunniest or hottest or driest of summers this year. But do you know, when we get days like we had yesterday you kind of forget about the grey, drieg days? So once we’d both finished our work for the day we went for a short walk. Lexie loves her “looking out” spots, and she is quite fond of this one overlooking Stoer bay:
This photo doesn’t really show it, but it was a very low tide yesterday and the Western Isles were quite clear and pronounced. And the sea was such a flat calm that it is hard to believe the Minch can have such a fearsome reputation, but see it on a stormy day and you’ll understand why. After Lexie and Peggy (and Stevan!) had walked through a bog I sent them all to the burn to get clean:
There was only mild grumbling from the 3 of them. Shop News: The shop has been updated with alpaca/silk/cashmere laceweight as well as the silk/merino laceweight, and silk/merino 4ply yarn. The latter yarn is beautiful to work with, and is very popular, especially for some of the smaller shawls that so many designers are designing at the moment. I am working my way through photographing all the yarns, but the next to go up will be the new bulky yarn which is wonderful. I am also finalising a “3 Hour Hat Pattern” which will go with the bulky yarn and is ideal for that last minute gift. This is the sort of yarn that is ideal to keep in your stash for emergency gifts – a hat, or a pair of gloves, or perhaps a neckwarmer? I’ve made two hats already, one of which Stevan has already claimed as his own for winter.
He seems pleased with it:
This really is a very, very simple pattern, done on 7mm needles to give you a nice, firm, dense fabric. Stevan wanted something colourful (he’ll stand out in the hills, let’s put it that way!), but some of the other colours that I’m dyeing are more muted. Once I get organised there will be a special offer on 2 hanks of yarn plus the pattern (which will be free) for the hat. And finally, I’m off to Shetland next week. I’ll be at the “In the Loop” conference being held in Lerwick. I’m very excited about it, but it does mean this blog may be a bit quiet unless I manage to find an internet connection while I’m there. Stevan will be manning the woolly shelves to send out parcels, but I’ll have to suspend the “Rewinding Service” while I’m gone I’m afraid. I do apologise for this but Stevan is already employed on a full time basis, so to add this to his workload would be taking advantage of his good nature. Oh, one last thing. I intend starting a new yarn club. This will be for the merino/silk 4ply yarn which has proved so popular. Details have not yet been finalised, but I envisage the club being run on similar lines to the other clubs, so if you think you’ll be interested in joining this club, please let me know. The club will start in November, so perhaps if you fancy a Christmas treat you can drop a few hints to those concerned. One of the iconic trees up in the highlands is the Rowan. It can be seen growing everywhere, and at this time of year they start to stand out even more as their berries ripen and turn to a deep orange or red. I think the Rowan is amongst my favourite trees. Others include Oak, Jacaranda and Acacia. But the Rowan is high up on the list, possibly because it is so hardy, and yet it looks so delicate at times. While walking the other day I came across this example:
I think what I admire most about Rowans are their tenaciousness. They remind me of terriers, and as you probably know if you read this blog on a regular basis, we’re terrier folk! No matter how tough things get they hang in there. This particular Rowan has precious little earth to put roots down into, as you can see here:
It is wedged between two rocks, and is currently looking very spindly, but I’m hoping it survives and grows stronger every year. I’ll go back to check on it from time to time. I suspect that this one started growing after a bird dropped a berry down between the two rocks. Which reminds me …. does anyone have a good recipe for Rowan Jellly? |
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