shetland ~ hand dyed wool

hello! it's another spectacular day in the shetland isles! today our field trip is taking us to hoswick, a small hamlet in sandwick, about twenty minutes from lerwick...

where we gathered to try our hand at wool dyeing

with the fantastically talented and charming niela nell! 

while niela described the technique we'd be using, we also learned about where her inspiration comes from. here in shetland, (it is everywhere)

hard at work. we were each given a large undyed white double knit sock blank to design any way we wanted

and play ~ we may have enjoyed a bit of sherry, cheers! (photo by pat philbin) (look at all the beautiful colors!)

more wonderful designs

more inspiration

my attempt at a speckled effect (top left), meant to conjure images of a meadow of wildflowers found everywhere here

  (photo by pat philbin)

the latest in dye wear :)

next we went to niela's studio! 

lovely niela nell in her beautiful shop

just walking through hoswick with my hansel hap shawl...

(photo by kathy cadigan)

our finished sock blanks

looking very different after it was dry!

back at home, began the long process of separation. next i soaked the hanks and hung them with weights to smooth out the kinks, after drying, the last step before knitting was to wind the wool into cakes

finally, it's on the needles!

and then, finished! this is simmer dim, the shawl our group decided to make with our hand dyed blanks, a wonderful pattern by gudrun

 favorite souvenirs!

photographed here with my croft house cushion designed and knit by the extraordinarily talented ella gordon. i had hoped to find one of her cushions on this trip and was thrilled to discover one!

more favorite souvenirs!

ella and her cushions in the shetland textiles book

and a few more journal (iphone) photos to share, this is the cover i embroidered

and the back. so thrilled to find that we went to all these places i stitched. the area we stayed is not 

on here, i think i might add it. burrastow was located on the west side, across from lerwick

it looks a bit different now, it's a little scruffier and a lot fuller. 

thank you for coming along, your interest and kind comments are SO appreciated.

xxx lori

shetland ~ fair isle

hello and if you are new here welcome welcome! this is the third, no, fourth, posting i've made on our group's grand adventure to the shetland islands. up till now we've seen puffins, and ponies and sheep! discovered our home away from home for the next week, visited jamieson & smith, saw an otter! continuing on...

...before we leave for our first field trip, i wanted to share some of the lovely local people we met at burrastow house. ted and nancy had come for dinner at the b & b and we were sharing an intimate dining room together. when ted saw our cameras he insisted his wife show us her beautiful photos of a recent simmer dim, the magic twilight time here in the far north. well done nancy, gorgeous!

in our caravan now, with sorley our trusty driver, these are the views we were treated to everywhere we went in shetland

hay's dock, lerwick and the shetland museum and archives (directly behind me)

we had an agreed upon time to wander on our own, before meeting back. 

oh my goodness

shetland otters are twice as big as ours!

from the museum ...Fair Isle knitwear is the most famous product of these islands. However, many people might not know what “real” Fair Isle is. Our collection has examples, from pre-commercial garments c.1870, to the ever-changing fashion item of the 20th century. The museum has samples from knitwear’s sudden popularity in the 1920s, through later style changes, to machine-made items from the 1960s. Besides clothing, we hold textile tools, like equipment for dyeing, knitting and finishing....

instagraming the museum

afterwards, we enjoyed a waterfront lunch

lovely kathy cadigan, hay's dock, lerwick

back to burrastow and time for an explore before our evenings exciting plans

there may have been some beer sampling in our room

i went out for a wander

(doing my best not to disturb the nearby nesting arctic terns)

...meanwhile the weather was becoming blustery and darkening. i saw a peerie car driving down the hill, towards burrastow house. we are quite remote here, who is coming for a visit?

it is our distinguished guest! it is hazel tindell! hazel is the ambassador of wool week 2014 and has been named the patron of this year's event. her website seems to be down at the moment, but to learn more about this fascinating woman (she has the distinction of being the world's fastest knitter) go to hazel tindall or her raverly group here. and look at her beautiful fair isle jumper! (please note maryjanes lopapeysa too, it was gorgeous).

we gathered in the cozy sitting room (shetland ponies grazing outside the window) while hazel shared many of her samples and a bit of her (vast) knowledge on knitting and specifically fair isle

we were treated to a live demonstration of a steek

and the correct use of a knitting belt (commonly used in shetland)

afterwards, we retired to the conservatory (hee hee) for more instruction

gudrun johnston ~ hazel tindell ~ maryjane mucklestone

i've been sharing a little of my journal in these posts per requests. when traveling i like to bring a small flower press to save (only what is allowed) tiny petals, leaves and grasses

these small bits are ready to add to my book.

 farewell from the shetland islands, until next time! xxx lori