Well, that is me nearly ready for off. I have been in Inverness the past couple of days with my very old (!!) friend Ingrid, and tomorrow I fly down to Gatwick and off line. I have done the ironing (well, I have to do it once a year to keep my hand in) and I have finished one project. Before I seal the box going back home tomorrow I hope to finish another – pix when I get home and can wash stuff.

In my case I have a 2/28 cashmere shawl to finish (about 1/3rd done) and the cashmere for another Scottie design. So I will not be idle…

I spend tomorrow night at Gatwick, then on Saturday fly out to Barcelona to join the ship – MV Discovery. I have travelled on her before so know her well.

If you are interested in the full itinerary it is here, but basically we go across the Med, through the Suez Canal and Red Sea, round Oman and across to Mumbai. Lots and lots of sea days to relax, with occasional stops for mad things like jeep and camel rides in the desert….

The ship is owned and operated by Voyages of Discovery, and they always have a good programme of lectures etc on board. Although the ship has internet access, I suspect the cost will be prohibitive, so I will not be on line until I get back. I will take a note of high points for when I do return – I fly back to the UK on Sunday, 20th December and then go on to my parents’ on the next day. I am there for Christmas – WITH internet access!!

So enjoy your last shopping days before Christmas, and I hope you all get your knitted gifts finished in plenty of time!

Two new things, one practical and one FUN!!  And new yarn….

Yesterday I received my new pin from Romi. I have 3 of hers already, but I wanted one of the swirls. This is so simple, yet so effective – just a swirl of metal (mine is nickel) which you poke through the shawl or jumper or whatever and twist.  I hoped it would come in time to take it away with me and it has:

Here it is on a sample of the cloud cashmere, which arrived the day before.  I also have a bit of white and a bit of bright pink, and it is set to become a gillet/bodywarmer/whatever you want to call it!

And the fun thing is an original cartoon from Alex. let me explain before I show you…

We have two local papers up here.  One, Orkney Today, is better for news and the other, the Orcadian, is better for adverts.  And the Orcadian also has a cartoon strip called The Giddy Limit, by Alex.  These are always funny, often hilarious, and tell you a lot about Orcadian life. (In case you don’t know the expression, ‘that is the giddy limit’ is a phrase which shows something is extreme, usually in a good sense, but not always!!)

A few weeks ago the strip was about knitting – number 215 on Alex’s site.  It is the original of this I have bought, and here reproduce it with his blessing:

Go to his site for a bigger version if you can’t read it… and also for some other sheep related strips.

Between times I have been packing for my trip.  I leave home tomorrow afternoon for Inverness, where I am staying with a friend until Friday.  After that I will be away from the net for three weeks.

But more of that later in the week…

Remember a while ago I put up some pix of a red jacket I had made for my mother?  I have finally got some pix of her wearing it:

 

knitted in 4 strands of ColourMart's 2/28 cashmere/silk/merino

It was for my niece’s wedding – the only pic I have of it worn on the day is not revealing:

My niece Katie was marrying a Scot, so many of the guests were in Highland dress.  Dad was Rector of the High School of Glasgow, so our side are technically allowed to wear the Douglas, and that is the tartan in evidence here.

I was in Shetland, but due to Maersk keeping Ben ashore for a course in the spring, he was home from sea, and he and Nick both went down.  This pic, with their grandmother, I call Der Management….  (UK folk of a certain age may remember…)

This was the first time in 19 years that all 6 of Mum and Dad’s grandchildren were together.  The last time, a photo was taken, and this time the same photo was taken:

 

old photo me or my dad; new photo Abi Harle, photoshop work Nick Lovick

 

Left to right, Ben,  Anna, Nick, Thom, Mark, Katie.  Anna and Thom ‘belong’ to my brother Tim; Mark and Katie ‘belong’ to my brother Jon.  Folk in the Newcastle (UK!!!) area will know Jon from Radio Newcastle.  Folk of another age will know Mark as a member of V, and now The Little Comets.

(sorry about the spacing…  the thing has a life of its own tonight..)

 

As I came home from Shetland, Katherine Montgomery (right, with Kathy Coull’s dog, Rufus) flew into the Fair Isle for 10 days.  Here is her report so far!

 

“The flight over to Fair Isle was right on time.  It was lovely flying under the clouds looking down on the crofts below on the southern Mainland and then watching shafts of sunlight stab the sea through breaks in the clouds up ahead.  Suddenly, Fair Isle is before you with Sheep Rock rising majestically out of the sea.  Circling around the island to land we got a good glimpse of the new Bird Observatory which looks much more impressive than the old one with lots or roof peaks and windows.

“Kathy’s croft was reassuringly much the same.  Early on I had to check on the current animal population.   The cats all look well-fed.  Rufus is as wild and crazy as ever.  Hens now provide fresh eggs for the table.  And there are some really nice coloured sheep in the field by the house.  These guys must know I’ve got my eye on their fleeces!

“Then, of course, I had to check on the current population of spinning wheels which has grown since I was here—they have a way of doing that, don’t they?

 

“It’s so hard to choose which one to try first, but  the fine Shetland fleece from J&S certainly cries out for a little Shetland spinney, maybe the 100th one made by long-time  resident Stewart Thompson.  This wheel (right) belongs to Kathy, and is named Annie, after Stewart’s wife.

(Stewart has made a new wheel out of wood from the old and new Bird Observatory; it will be auctioned off to raise money for the building.   You’ll be among the first to know when and where—what an opportunity to have a chance to buy a S. Thompson Fair Isle wheel!)

“Today we are getting started on putting together the new weaving shed and loom so I’m not sure how much spinning I’ll actually get done.  The days are short now, though, so there’s lots of time in the evenings.  It’s so unlike summer in Fair Isle with the simmer dim, almost round the clock daylight.  Fair Isle at any time of year is special.”

The time has gone so quickly.  Katherine left early this morning for the Fair Isle, and I leave at lunch time for home…

The past couple of days we have spent going south and east, in each case to visit old friends.

Doreen Brown is an Orcadian married to a Geordie who has lived in Shetland for many years!   She has a small machine knitting business and her sense of colour as fantastic – as is her welcome to the folk that go down to the shop attached to her house near the airport.  In the shop she not only has knitwear for sale, but a couple of cabinets of old lace beautifully displayed.  I love going to see it!

Going east was breaking new ground for me.  My old friend Margaret Peterson has recently moved to Nesting, an area off the main road going north that I had never been to.  She gave us excellent directions to her house, but when we got there, the sign said something different and the map something different again, so we did an extra loop before getting back to the right place.  She had said her house looked over the water – trouble was, there were so many bits of water about….!  The view from her house, looking west across a voe to the hills beyond, was fantastic.

I hadn’t seen Margaret for a couple of years, so it was great to be able to catch up.  She had invited us to lunch and we had the most beautiful Shetland lamb.  (Yep – see the sheep, spin the fleece, eat the animal!!)

And the really good news is that she has agreed to come down to Orkney to teach a week of workshops on fine spinning and lace knitting in the last week in May. The exact details are still to be worked out, but it should be a fascinating week.

So having stocked up with yarn and fleece at J&S, yesterday we went over the hills to Sandness, heading for  Jamieson’s mill.

Woolly life in Shetland is definitely more complicated than it could be, due to the names of the two main yarn companies!!  Jamieson and Smith is one; Jamieson is the other.  Jamieson and Smith is basically the same as Shetland Wool Brokers, and is generally called J&S.  Jamieson’s (pronounced Jimmy-son) is a different company.  J&S do 2 ply jumper weight as their main 4 ply/fingering weight;  Jamieson’s does Spindrift.

(And as you are going to ask, both companies produce excellent yarns, and I use both.  They are not the same – they do feel different.  Of the  fingerings, I prefer J&S yarn but Jamieson’s have a wider colour palette….  For lace knitting, J&S have much the better yarns, while for arans, Jamieson have a wider colour range.  J&S tops are fantastic for spinning as well as dyeing and felting.  Jamieson’s carded fibre is coloured and great for felting, but doesn’t spin well.)

Jamieson have their spinning mill over on the ‘West Side’, about 25 miles from Lerwick.  The drive over is spectacular in all weathers – sun, rain, fog….  I have done them all!  This time it was a bit windy, but not gales, and a bit rainy, but not constant.

Once you are out of Lerwick and beyond Weisdale, the road gets narrower, first with sections of single track, and then beyond the turning for Walls, all narrow single track with passing places.  There are several miles without habitation, just peat with stony outcrops and shallow bits of water which dry up if there is no rain for a bit.  Sheep live here, but not much else.

Then you start to come down off the hill to the west coast, with its border of (relatively) good, green farmland, and the village of Sandness.

Jamieson’s not only spin their yarn at the mill but they also make garments from that wool and do some of the finishing there.  (The rest is done in Lerwick.)  As the knitting machines sometimes drop a stitch, or go wrong in others ways, they have scrap pieces which they sell for felting or whatever.  They also have carded ‘remains’ for felting.  This is what we had come for.

We are, as they say, not disappointed!  A huge great box of knitted bits for foraging in.  It is always pot luck as to whether they have any, and if they do, what colours.  This time we had plenty of choice.  We were given a big black plastic sack and told to get on with it.  We did!!

Katherine and I shared one bag quite happily.  These ‘mistakes’ used to be waste, but since Burra Bears came on the scene, there has been a trend towards using the pieces for a variety of projects.  Very eco-friendly, and fun…

I also wanted some of their carded remains.  This is not nice for spinning, but great for felting.  I have several colours at home and wanted more for use in workshops next year.  Again I was lucky – they had some lovely colours.

Once we got back to the flat, we emptied the bag onto the floor and picked out our own:

Now all I have to do is get it all in my case….

One of the joys of visiting Shetland is a trip to the J&S shop.  I know I go on about it, but really, the yarn, the tops…

And at this time of year The Fleece.  Over the past couple of months this year’s wool clip has been arriving at J&S.  (It is officially known as Shetland Wool Brokers after all…)  So the sheds are piled high and Oliver Henry and his team are very busy.

Oliver Henry in the 'white' sorting shed with a 'Very Fine' fleece

The smell of the fresh fleece was wafting through to the shop when we were in there on Wednesday, and Sandra, who mans the shop, suggested we might like to see the sheds.  Before we could answer she had gone off to find Oliver, and that was us for quite a while!

Oliver Knows everything about Shetland sheep and their fleece.  And I mean EVERYTHING!  He knows their history (dates off pat), their lifestyle, and, most of all, their fleece.  Each year it is Oliver who judges the fleece at the Shetland show, and it is Oliver who decides which of the fleeces coming in to the shed come in to the coveted ‘Very Fine’ category.  Fleece is not only his job, but his passion.

Oliver explaining to Katherine the criteria for the 'Very Fine' catagory

As he showed us the differences between the different grades of fleece, he told us of the report done on the Shetland sheep in 1794, and how that explained there were two types of fleece. Most of the sheep were quite ‘coarse woolled’ but there were a small percentage which were ‘kindly-woolled’.  These tended to be kept out of sight, as their fleece was so highly prized.  The report said that the farmers’ wives would use this wool for spinning the very fine yarns for knitting lace.

A coarser fleece

Oliver went on to show us examples of the Very Fine against the lower grades.  Only the Very Fine and Fine go in to the yarns for knitting; other grades were of less use, but now are used for carpets.  (The first roll is now in the shop and they are expecting delivery of five more rolls shortly.)  He also explained that sheep which have lived out on the hills have a fleece with blue-tinged tips before it is washed, whereas ‘parkland’ sheep have browner tips.

At the Wool Brokers, it isn’t just the whole fleece which is graded, but the wool within a fleece is graded.  As spinners know, the neck and shoulders tend to have the finest wool on any sheep, with the back end, or britch, being coarser.  Each fleece is manually checked over before being put into the correct area to be bagged up and sent off for processing.

Oliver at the sorting table

Each year, Oliver keeps some fleeces for hand spinners.  These are the best fleeces – he knows what spinners require from a Shetland fleece!  The white is usually the very finest, but some coloured fleeces are very, very fine too.  I wanted some white, and Katherine hankered after some mioget.  Oliver said that he would look some out for us and it would be ready for us when we came back later.

The coloured fleece store

And what awaited us when we arrived??  A bag of fleece each.

Now, I am used to good fleece.  I am used to exceptionally good fleece.  I am used to fine fleece.  I am used to exceptionally fine fleece.  But this….!!

Inspecting our fleece back at Kathy Coull's flat

As mine is white, you can see the blue in the tips – definitely a hill fleece.  The crimp is tight and fine, ending in ‘sneuds’ – the clumped tips which come apart at a touch.

The colours in Katherine’s is wonderful – changing from tip to cut end.  Hers is a ‘park’ fleece, and so has no peat.

Katherine's fleece - colour 'mioget'

Although I can show you pix, you cannot feel the softness, or smell that fresh, sheepy smell!  You will have to take our word for that….

I have three legs on which I stand

I have four maids at my command

I go much faster than a mill

And yet my feet are standing still.

 

What am I??

I heard that today from a Shetland wheel maker, Hamish Polson of Yell, when Katherine and I went to pick up some bobbins for her wheel, and to order mine!  The answer is, of course, a spinning wheel.  He heard the rhyme from an old man when he was a boy, and has remembered it ever since.

I was hoping Hamish would have a space in his schedule to make me a wheel, and he has.  It will be made in sycamore, a beautiful, almost white wood.  It will be a Shetland ‘spinney’ – ie an upright – and should be ready for the spring.  After I have helped him send wheels to Iceland and the States, the idea is that this one will be picked up from his home!

I had met Hamish before, and I had spoken to his wife, Ruby, on several occasions on the phone. But this was the first time she and I had actually met.  They live in a house on a steep slope, overlooking the sea, on the island of Yell (about a quarter the way up for those who know the island).

Last night I had arranged with Ruby that we would see what the weather was like this morning and if it was NOT what was forecast, we would come.  Instead of the predicted rain and wind, it was dry – even sunny at times – but with dark clouds coming over at intervals.

I always love the journey up Mainland.  The bare hills sweep up on either side of the road, today red, peaty, rich.  Then the clouds come over, and it all changes to shades of lowering grey.  As you go north, the road is above the sea – inlets known as ‘voes’ in Shetland.

The road goes on until without warning, you come to the ferry – just an extension of the main road!!  Twenty-five minutes takes you across the Sound to Yell – and the road continues.

After our morning with the Polsons, we went on to the north of the island to a café called The Wind Dog.  Wonderful soup and tray bakes even at this time of year.  The café also houses the local library, and there are plenty of things for children to play with.

left to right: Ruby, Katherine, Hamish

And next time I will tell you what awaited us when we got back to Lerwick….!

Experiencing the terrible weather last weekend, I thought I wasn’t going to make it up here on Monday. In the end, the ferry was cancelled – but I had decided months ago to fly. Right decision!

Flying in to Shetland is always impressive. The airport is at the southern end of a long finger of land, and the main east/west runway goes right across the land into the sea on both sides. On Monday the easterly wind meant we came in from the west, over an angry sea with the waves crashing on the rocks below. The sun was out at the time, and the light was beautiful.

Katherine, my friend from Kentucky, arrived later that night, and yesterday we both spent knitting and getting over jet lag!! We got as far as walking down the street and finding that Fibres, a lovely yarn shop, is no longer there. A big disappointment. In addition, the other yarn shop, which was taken over a couple of years ago, has reduced its range right down. Another disappointment.

Today we picked up a hire car, and headed off to J&S. That shop, too, had changed. NOT a disappointment!! The whole of the left hand side is now all the undyed ‘stuff’, ranging from the carpets, through the blankets, to the Shetland Supreme yarn, and to the tops and fleece.

The rest if the shop is pretty much as before – I just love the two walls of wooden cubby-holes full of yarn all colours of the rainbow.

I was pretty good, considering! I only bought 2.5 kg tops And ONE ball of yarn – that the denim-y colour aran for swatching for a sweater….

Then we were off down to the Museum to meet Connie for lunch. The café is one of the best bits of the museum in my opinion – huge glass windows looking out over Hay’s Dock, one of the very old small boat docks, to the newer port beyond. Even on a day like today (RAIN!!) it is a gorgeous view. And their seafood chowder is delicious!!

KY Katherine (left) and Connie Williamson (from J&S)

Now we are back in the flat, warm and dry. And I am putting off taking back a section of lace knitted in 2/28 cashmere…. My own stupid fault. But at least I have noticed it now, only 8 rows on, and not 8 ins back as is my usual habit.

Having got a copy of the new Estonian lace book, I wanted the old one.  Thanks to Monica, an Estonian lady on the Lace Knitters Yahoo list I now have it!  And what a treasure it is!!

It’s title is Pitsilised Koekirjad by Leilli Reimann.  This is the Second edition – expanded from the first – and published in 1986.  Unlike Haapsula Saal, this is not just patterns from Haapsula, but from all over Estonia, and it includes photos of other items as well as shawls.

Unlike the new book, there is not a word of English in it – this was written for the Estonian market, not for anywhere else.  Fortunately the chart symbols seem to be the same as those in the new book as far as I can see so far.  With a little bit of thought you can work them out, anyway!

There are far more patterns in this one, but they are not as well set out as in the new one.  After all, this was published before the days of easy type-setting of charts!    But a little patience gives you the understanding of all of them.

In this book, the photos of each of the stitches is at the beginning of the book, with each stitch taking half a page.  Later in the book are the charts, numbered from the photos. If the pattern is simple there are several charts on the page; if it is complex there may only be one.

As the charts are not actual ‘graphs’, but individual symbols, you do have to watch the spaces between the symbols.  Many Estonian lace patterns change the number of stitches in a row, and I would want to chart a pattern before I actually knit it.  But having said that, the symbols are distinct and the photos clear, and my fingers are itching…..

I had had several emails to and fro with Monica before she sent the book, and I mentioned I was interested in Shetland lace.  She very kindly put in an actual sample of  Estonian lace for me to touch and see!!  It is about 7 ins across:

The wool is fascinating – very creamy white, worsted spun 2 ply, about a 2/28 at a guess.  It is, of course, stocking stitched based, but the needles are relatively large compared with the wool, so it is difficult to see which is the right and wrong side unless you look very closely.  The nupps form very solid spots on a light and airy background, counter balancing the holes.  Looking at the sample you think it is going to be a bit stiff, but it is very soft – and practically weightless!!

Monica is in the process of building a website - I will let you know when it is up!

Isn’t the internet wonderful? !  I ‘meet’ so many kind and interesting people on line, and am able to learn about knitting traditions previously impossible to explore….