Knitting British
Let’s talk about knitting British. I said in my previous post that I’m only knitting with British wool now. Soon it will be our own wool I’m knitting with! In the meantime though I’m learning a lot about the different types of British wool that’s out there. I’m trying as many as I can. At the same time I’m challenging myself to improve my knitting skills through the projects I choose. So, if that’s of interest to you - read on!
As an aside, sometimes we wondered if we had been less than adventurous in the yarn we’ve chosen to produce. Should we have chosen a single breed, a rare or at risk breed in danger of extinction? Superb yarn producers out there are already producing British single breed yarns and yarns from rare breed fleeces. These are the producers whose skills and knowledge we aspire to! We are happy to contribute to the scene in our own small way.. Delivering what we hope will become a popular British yarn that has its place amongst all the other fabulous yarns! With everyone demonstrating the diversity and beauty of British wool. (read the Rare Breeds Survival Trust website - to learn more about rare British sheep breeds).
THE hat
Challenge - knitting in the round & stranded colourwork [eek!]
Baa-ble hat by Donna Smith.
The official hat pattern for Shetland Wool Week 2015 - designed to celebrate the amazing qualities of Shetland sheep and their wool.
I loved this project! Loved it especially because it’s about Shetland sheep - one of the breeds in our own wool decanted yarn. This time I used Shetland Heather yarn by Jamieson’s of Shetland. Loved it because it’s a fun design. And it would be challenging for me as I’ve never knitted in the round before - and I haven’t done stranded colour work. Do remember, it was lockdown and I had plenty of time! I made things much easier for myself by following a YouTube video by the Fruity Knitting team. Andrea from Fruity Knitting showed in detail how to make the hat and I followed along. Knitting in the round I quickly managed. Stranded colourwork was OK - but I couldn’t get the hang of using both hands. More practice in future projects!
THE blanket!
Challenge - completing it!
The start of the blanket
Top square is BALWEN wool from Yorkshire
Middle is SHETLAND - from Shetland
Bottom WIP is BLACK WELSH MOUNTAIN handspun in North Wales
OK so let’s explore an ongoing project of mine that’s bound to last years. Quite by chance, whilst random searching, I found a pattern for a blanket made up of different squares. It’s called the 52-Square Pick Up by Cecilia Fameli of ohlalana. A series of 52 easy to knit square patterns. . And I’ve decided to knit each square in yarn from a different British sheep breed. I thought it would be a good way of getting to know how the wool feels from each breed. So far I’ve knitted 2.5 squares [oh yes, it will take years!]
There’s no specific plan for which breed next. I’m simply ticking off the breeds on a poster of British breeds by Zoe Fletcher aka The Woolist. As I say, the challenge will be completing it!
I do hope this type of blog is interesting for you - let me know. I got excited when I started to explore the amazing work that’s going on around the UK in support of British wool. We’re excited to be a little part of it.
Next time I’ll bring you up to date on where we’re at in our wool journey. It’s advancing!!
See you soon
Linda