Shetland Sport/Heavy 4ply is spun at The Natural Fibre Company. The fleece is extremely good quality (read more about the flocks involved here in ‘Meet the Sheep’). When I spent time with Oliver Henry* of Jamieson and Smith in early 2019 I found that Oliver knows Sally Wild who has Meadows Flock (Sally is also chair of the Highland branch of the Shetland Sheep Society). Oliver is familiar with Sally’s flock and commented that he would expect her fleeces to fall into the Superfine and Grade 1 categories.
The Shetland sheep is perhaps known as the British breed with the finest wool and that is certainly the case with this very soft and plump worsted spun yarn. Shetland wool from Shetland is traditionally and typically woollen spun but this isn’t an attempt to mimic true ‘Shetland’ Shetland yarn and is quite a different take on a very Scottish yarn from special flocks here in the Highlands.
*I was lucky enough to spend time with Oliver Henry, in the Jamieson and Smith wool shed where he has worked for over 50 years sorting the Shetland wool clip. I had approached Oliver to ask if he could spare a few hours to help me improve my wool grading – and had the most incredibly informative morning with him, immersed in fleece. Oliver is also the 2019 Patron of Shetland Wool Week.
Shetland Sport/Heavy 4ply is perfect for all kinds of projects – from hats to sweaters. It knit up beautifully for colourwork knitting such as Emily Williams’ Wilkhaven Sweater .
The Rothiemurchus Cowl by Mieka John of Salt and Stone Knits is available as an individual pattern, which you can buy on Ravelry. Originally designed in Auchen Sport the individual pattern now includes child sizes and is written for Shetland Heavy 4ply/Sport as well.
