Friday 31 December 2010

Happy Hogmanay






Some more of yesterday's fast changing sunset in Burra.

A little treat to say thankyou to all J&S lovers. 

And a reminder to order next years wool stash at www.shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk before the 4th January, when the VAT and wool price increase comes in

Thursday 30 December 2010

lace and tea and sunset






a lovely afternoon to get some lace on the wires (wish me luck, it's my first time with Shetland Supreme 1ply, I'm using moorit and 4mm needles). 

Sunday 26 December 2010

Boxing day noon









Happy Christmas everyone. 

The ebb this afternoon at the Sands of Sound in Lerwick.

Look closely at the last photo and you might just make out some Shetland Sheep feasting on seaweed. 

x







Tuesday 21 December 2010

I wish I lived in a house with stairs

Like a happy pre-christmas present the Roger Oates Shetland Collection, a range of limited edition stair runners made from our most beautiful Real Shetland Wool, popped into my tray today. Excuse the grainy/squint pictures...




Roger Oates Shetland Collection brochure

If you want one as badly as I do, and have some stairs, give us a shout and we can put you in touch with the right folks.

Also, our carpet man is currently laying one of our carpets in a house here in Lerwick. Can't wait to see the photos. 
 x

Thursday 16 December 2010

Dude/Brideshead Revisited

When smoking was cool, and patterns cost 9pence.
Just unearthed an old pattern that was hiding here in the Jamieson & Smith archive (aka: the random piles of wool goodness that have been untouched for decades). This guy has some style, no? He looks like something from Brideshead Revisited.

The pattern was 'Designed in Shetland for Shetland Wool'. So cool! I'm thinking Jumper weight 2ply in shade 203 (main grey), 36 (navy), 125 (orange), 91 (yellow), FC34 (blue), 1A (white) and 1403 (wine). Many of these colour recipes will be exactly the same - lovely!

Friday 10 December 2010

The future for Shetland Wool...

Shetland Wool in the Wool Store at Jamieson & Smith Shetland Wool Brokers

OK, so because of the increase in wool prices this year our yarn prices will be rising as of January.  For UK customers, this will coincide with the rise in VAT to 20%.

As it stands, this is a bit of a pest for customers. But that's not the whole story. The rise in wool prices is such good news for crofters and farmers all over the world, and has come about through hard work and initiatives like The Campaign for Wool. More and more, we are all coming back to a place where we see the incredible benefits, environmental and otherwise, of natural wool for use in our clothes, carpets and furnishings. 

The rise in wool prices is extra good for Shetland, because Shetland Sheep are in such decline (the total number of sheep has fallen by 28% over the last 10 years). Low wool prices is one of many challenges to the future of the breed so to help ensure that keeping pure bred Shetland Sheep in Shetland is viable, we paid our wool producers a much higher price per kilo this year. We were able to do this because of all our lovely yarn and knitwear customers, who know just how good Real Shetland Wool is! The crofting and textiles industries, and Shetland Sheep, are really important to Shetland in so many ways including culture, heritage, economic development, even the Shetland dialect!

So, this price increase will come into effect on the 4th January. All orders placed online until the 4th January will be charged at the current prices. When the online shop is updated on the 4th, the new rate will automatically come into effect. 

We will be away on our holidays over this period, but will start posting all of these orders off on our return on the 5th January.
x

Wednesday 8 December 2010

Spider's web


June took home one and washed the Rose of York shawl, and put it to dry in the store on one of our antique hap boards. What a treat to see it all bright and lovely after some TLC. 
x

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Winter


Ice curling where the freshwater burn meets the sea in Gunnister, just in the road from the Gunnister Man. (Photo stolen from my Dad).

Monday 6 December 2010

oo

Reversible felted scarves with a Fair Isle motif, by the lovely Victoria Indrica, have just gone up online. They're knitted up at the Shetland College, where Victoria studies, in Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme 2ply laceweight which is completely undyed. 
So cosy
x

Wednesday 1 December 2010

ice ice ice







Mid Week inspiration. Icicles running off grass and rock at Meal Beach, taken on Sunday.



Tuesday 30 November 2010

HRH

On Tuesday of this week Prince Charles was gifted with a Shetland Rug and a scarf of Shetland Lace, hand-knitted by Mary Kay in Jamieson & Smith 1ply Shetland Supreme.

Prince Charles with his undyed Shetland rug. He'll be cosy this winter!

Monday 29 November 2010

Sunday 28 November 2010

sunday. sand. sea. salt. shells. sunset.








A little bit of Sunday inspiration and a 2pm sunset at Meal Beach. 
Setting the tone for getting back to J&S after a week off. 

Sunday 21 November 2010

Saturday night

Went to a birthday party last night and discovered this...


The lovely hostess, Kelly, had made the birthday boy an abstract Shetland Sheep in felt using left overs of undyed Shetland combed tops from the recent J&S felting workshop. The background is Shetland Black, middle is white and the detail is moorit. Amazing!




Friday 12 November 2010

Aesop's fable

Kate Davies. What a brilliant mind to come up with this lovely Aesop's fables inspired Tortoise and Hare Gauntlets. And they're made in our beautiful 2ply Jumper Weight. The main colour is 2008 Katmollet, which is completetly undyed - Katmollet is one of the natural colours of our lovely Shetland Sheep.



Thursday 11 November 2010

Wild Weekend

We're forecast for a rough one. Thank goodness that we'll be all cosy at the Christmas Craft Fair with the cream of Shetland's designers and makers. Come and see our little stall...

Monday 8 November 2010

It's official...


Real Shetland Wool is one of the most environmentally friendly fibres ever. Not only is it naturally sustainable because of the sheeps habitat and diet, but Haworth Scouring Company Ltd in Bradford, who scoure our lovely wol for us, have just been awarded the first Environmental Care Certificate for Wool Scouring

Dr Mike Madden, head of ENco, said: "At this point Haworth can rightly claim to be industry leaders."

David Gisbourne, Managing Director of Haworth Scouring, said "We are the largest wool processor and comber of our kind in the Northern Hemisphere and possibly the world and we are acutely aware of our responsibilities to the environment. We expect others to follow our lead."

Of course, we already knew they were brilliant, but this is such good news! Congratulations Haworth!