Shetland Shawls for Sale in 2 Ply Shetland Lace Wool

Well, Christmas is coming upon us faster than ever and I'm not very organized this year. Last year I had about everything done and dusted by September but sadly this year I'm still in 'last minute mode'!
I have to let myself off a little bit though because I've been trying to start a small business from home called Croft Cottons. You can find my shop at www.croftcottons.etsy.com. At the moment there are some fabric covered buttons I made myself, pincushions, small cotton zippy pouch bags to hold your bits and pieces and also details of Shetland lace shawls you can pre-order. I am happy to discuss colours with customers and give an idea of time scale.
The shawls you see below are two 'in the making'. The shawl in natural colours is for a customer. The one in grey, blue, black and white is one I began before I got my latest commission and can be pre-ordered right now if you feel you would like it. It is available in my Etsy shop but you can also email me via my blog by clicking on the email sign top right.
There are various other colours I could do for you, eg, blues, reds, purple and lilac and green. Or you may prefer one colour such as black, white, pink, blue etc. If the shop has the colour then you can have a shawl!
Here are the two shawls I mentioned.......

I think the above shawl would make a lovely heirloom shawl for a spring baby boy. Here is the natural shawl colour arrangement......

Here are a few more colours readily available for me to knit with. There are plenty more.






Those are just a sample of colours available. If you would like more information or have something in mind please contact me and I will do my best to meet your requirements. Perhaps you've found a pattern for a shawl that you love but can't knit it for one reason or another. I'm keen to have a go for you! Just email me.

Now I'm off to get a cup of tea and get ready to wrap the last of the presents tomorrow. I hear we are in for some nasty weather so I'll batten down the hatches and tape down the wrapping paper!!
Until next time folks, take care and I hope you have a great Christmas and good year to come.

World's Fastest Knitter Comes from Shetland!

Knitters to Know – Speed Knitting Champion – Hazel Tindall

Hand knitting at great speed, Hazel won the world speed knitting championship with an eye-popping speed of 255 stitches in 3 minutes.



















Hazel proudly holds up the Shetland flag!!

When did your your love affair with yarn start?
From first days as a baby I was surrounded by three generations of knitters as the ladies of the household, my grandmother, mother, aunt and older sister, all knitted. All neighbours and visitors also knitted. Everyone knitted quickly. There was great excitement when a huge bag of coloured hanks of yarn arrived some weeks after our own Shetland wool had been sent to the commercial spinner.

What are your 3 favourite yarns and what do you like about them?
Shetland yarn from Jamieson’s or Jamieson & Smiths. I like the way the wool handles and I know I will always get good results as well as light weight garments. Don’t often use anything else.

Who taught you to knit/crochet?
I don’t remember learning to knit so I guess I learned from my mother, or perhaps my older sister. I taught myself to crochet by following pictorial instructions in a book.


What’s the favourite thing you’ve ever made?
I have so many favourite things!
Here is a photo of one of my most recent creations.









What else do you do for love? (Any other hobby?)
I play cards at least twice a week in winter. I enjoy spending time with my family, especially my grandchildren.

Favourite book/film?
I enjoy autobiographies and biographies. Rarely watch films.

Is there a knitting/crochet tip you’d like to share with us?
For someone who wants to learn: watch others knit or crochet and if their actions look comfortable and ‘flowing’, that’s the person you should ask to teach you.
For everyone else: make sure you finish off the work carefully and neatly. A poor finish can spoil an otherwise beautiful piece of work.

If someone wanted to start knitting, what would you recommend they attempt as a first project?
At school, we always started with a hot water bottle cover! I guess an oven glove or a pin cushion would be just as good as a starting project – or a cover for a Kindle or mobile phone.

What do you like most about knitting?
The magic of converting beauty from long lengths of yarn, as well as the relaxation from the rhythm of knitting.

Knitting’s taken me to America several times to demonstrate, teach and give short lectures. The last speed knitting competition was in America where I met the Guiness World Record Holder, Miriam Tegels; she took second place. Winning that competition led me to being invited to appear on Weakest Link (along with other ‘alternative’ champions) and I feature in a new book “Significant Figures in Art and Craft Today” (a great honour).
In Shetland I have taught evening classes in crochet, and a few short Fair Isle knitting courses. Demonstrating knitting is always enjoyable. I’ve rarely had the opportunity, or invitation, to teach or demonstrate elsewhere in the UK – disappointing but travelling between Shetland and mainland UK is expensive so I guess that’s one reason for few invitations.

What do you admire most in the knitting community?
Willingness to share ideas.

How did it feel to represent the UK overseas at speed knitting and then to win?
I felt I was representing the many generations of Shetland knitters who had to knit quickly in order to get food for their families. Up till World War II, knitting was bartered at local shops for basics such as tea and sugar. For many families this was their only source of income. The ladies I watched as a young girl were always knitting at speed so it doesn’t seem anything unusual to me.

Will you be competing again, and if so when and where?
If invited I’ll compete again but have no idea when or where.

OO'VE BEEN FRAMED!!

Hi again.
For those reading this who may think the post title is a misprint, or a product of a tired brain, let me explain. In this blog post I'm going to share some of the photos I took when me and my sister visited Jamieson & Smith (The Wool Brokers) here in Shetland. The Shetland dialect word for wool is 'oo'. Plain and simple 'oo'. I could have called it 'Ewe've Been Framed' but there were no sheep inside the building so technically I would have misled you!! Now, joking apart, here are some photos........



No better place to start than with a teapot! This one has a nice Fair Isle cover to it. The pattern is available through J&S.


Spotlight on Pure Wool

I loved going into the wool shed because of the smell of the raw oily wool. It was the real deal! Straight from the sheep and ready for the next step.
Down a few steps from there we went into a part of the building that Oliver Henry, the director of J&S told us used to be the old Police Station many moons ago. He showed us the cell where they put the offenders. No moon shone in there! And we were on our best behaviour for the rest of our photo taking time!
Here are a few photos from that section of the building.....


A hand knitted lace hap draped over an old herring barrel with a photo of a Shetland herring station in the background. I will add a link at the side for those of you who would be interested to see more photos of the herring stations. You can also simply Google "Shetland herring stations".



Oliver told us that you will know pure Shetland wool by the 'wavy' look it has nearer the body. The photo below also shows pure Shetland wool, this time on the surface. I do believe I unintentionally captured some grass in the form it goes in one end and also in it's 'post-processed form'!! Oh well, this is raw wool at it's most organic!!



And something I hadn't seen before was this excellent quality pure wool carpeting made from Shetland wool.The photo below shows a mat made from the same carpeting with the 3 Vementry rams Logo on it. Vementry is a place in Shetland.






Just beside the carpeting was this lovely old rocking chair, probably made in Shetland too, complete with 2 hand knitted lace cushion covers on the cushions. I could have sat in it for a few minutes but I was frightened I missed something!



Some more photos now.....



A beautiful example of an all-over Fair Isle jumper in natural colours. Exquisite when seen in reality!




Snuggly!!!




Just a very small selection of the shades of wool available at Jamieson & Smith, The Wool Brokers, Shetland Isles.



Shawls in natural shades. I love these. They are a work of art and of huge talent. I aspire to produce work like this!




I couldn't resist photographing this old window half way up the stairs that had the wool cones on them. Although I couldn't get the whole window in because of the stair banister I was happy to include the spinning wheel ornament, the three little sheep in the middle and the old vase ( maybe full of spiders by now!!) I love quirky!!!




Fair Isle knitting in the natural un-dyed colours of Shetland wool. There are many very talented Fair Isle knitters on Shetland. I've knitted a little Fair Isle but at the moment I'm trying to master fine lace knitting. One thing at a time!!!




This is a Cockle Shell scarf knitted by Sandra Manson who also designs and knits garments in pure Shetland wool. She is always very welcoming when you enter the shop and has a great way of encouraging people to try something new. She has helped me a lot!!

Well, I'll leave you to have a look at those for now. My next post on here will be a photo of my shawl progress. Until then, stay crafty!!

Start of New Shaded Hap Shawl

Hi, I'm happy to report I've made a start on my new shaded shawl today. In Shetland we call a shawl a "hap" so I will probably just refer to it as that from now on. Here's a pic of the few rows I've done. This hap begins in the centre and then works out to the border and peaks, as in the photo in a previous post ( just scroll down).



I'm not exactly sure yet how I'll use the colours and I'll probably use a couple more shades as well. These are lovely natural colours of Shetland sheep and the wool knits beautifully.
Watch this space for my next installment plus photos from The Wool Brokers.

Stay creative!

Gilet is Finished

Hi again, I'm happy to say my hubby's gilet got finished and he is delighted with it. I think he was surprised it fitted him!! I didn't enjoy knitting it as much as I should have because it wasn't wool I was using. However, it was his choice of yarn so that was what was important. Here's a photo of it on the jumper board.



It's amazing how the various levels of stripes can make the whole thing look lop-sided. I actually had to measure the pockets to see if I had got them right, I was so convinced they were "up the creek"!! But sure enough, they were OK. That was a relief. I don't think I'd have wanted to start over again. At one point the pocket linings were driving me quite mad!

But I am SO much more excited to show you my very first cockle shell scarf, knitted in pure wool which I bought from Jamieson & Smith, Shetland, aka The Wool Brokers (Shetland) Ltd. (SEE LINK ABOVE RIGHT TO GO TO THEIR EXCELLENT WEBSITE).
Here's the scarf. The wool is 2ply lace yarn.



The Wool Brokers have an excellent range of colours to choose from. Of course there are the natural un-dyed colours of the Shetland sheep, but there are also great coloured yarns. My scarf was knitted in a lovely pale green with faint flecks of pale blue, pink, lilac etc. It knitted up beautifully.
My new project is the shaded Shetland shawl I blogged about in an earlier post. Scroll down to see that. I will keep you posted on my progress. Until then, please have a look at the Wool Brokers site. I think you will find it very interesting.
My sister and I got permission to take some photos in their premises one afternoon and I will upload some photos for you in my next post.

Take care. Stay creative. Kate