Tag: black isle yarns

Black Isle Yarns Gotland Autumn 2016

Julie

Introducing our Autumn 2016 batch of Gotland yarns:

Gotland is an uncommon breed here in Britain with only around 1500 in the country altogether. They are an old breed of sheep having been developed on the Swedish island of Gotland over 1000 years ago.  Fearniewell Croft’s Gotlands have a ‘hint of Shetland’ thanks to a determined tup a few generations ago (link).  Thanks to this adventurous tup the normal range of Gotland greys is increased to include paler greys and a creamy white. The wool is typically soft and warm with a slight sheen and the addition of the Shetland genes, although perhaps reducing the lustre slightly, can be felt in the lovely soft handle of this beautiful wool. The 2016 clip from this special flock has been split into five colours – Dark Grey, Mid Grey, Light Grey, Silver Grey and White.

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Black Isle Yarns Gotland – Granny’s Favourite Pattern

Julie

Knowing that I would be struggling for time to knit up samples before attending Loch Ness Knit Fest (30 Sept to 2 Oct 2016) I asked mum to knit a Granny’s Favourite Cardigan in my Autumn 2016 batch of Gotland yarn.  Grannie (to my children) has knit this lovely pattern several times for my girls and was happy to help by knitting another.

black-isle-yarns-dk-gotland-in-light-grey grannys-favourite-baby-cardigan-in-black-isle-yarns grannys-favourite-cardigan-gotland-light-grey grannys-favourite-cardigan-in-black-isle-yarns-gotland-dk

She reported that the Light Grey Gotland was lovely to knit with – it is soft and light, as you’d expect from Gotland, and would be so lovely for a baby……..but I’m keeping this one as a sample (sadly, no babies more planned around here!).  If you want to see one of the cutest ever knits come along to my next fair for a wee squish of this lovely little cardigan!

Yarn Details: Black Isle Yarns Gotland

Colour: Light Grey (undyed)

Metres/100g skein: 215m/100g approx.

Weight: DK

Pattern: Granny’s Favourite by Georgie Nicolson

Full project notes can be found here on Ravelry

 

Black Isle Yarns Zwartbles Mohair Blend – Hackberry Hat

Julie

It was a tricky to decide which of the Black Isle Yarns Autumn 2016 yarns to knit with first but in the end the Zwartbles Mohair blend was selected – ‘eeny meeny miny mo’ can always be relied on in the case of indecision!  I settled on the Hackberry Hat pattern by Ginny Sheller.  I love the simple but elegant design and know I’ll wear the hat a lot (as well as, of course, bringing it along to upcoming yarn festivals as a sample!).

hackberry-hat-in-black-isle-yarns hackberry-hat-zwartbles-mohair-blend-black-isle-yarns slouchy-hat-in-black-isle-yarns-zwartbles-mohair-blend

The pattern was beautifully straight forward and a pleasure to knit.  The Zwartbles Mohair blend is really lovely to knit with, smooth and soft, but with a definite feeling of strength, and I didn’t have the nose tickling problems which are sometimes associated with mohair.  There’s a real character to this yarn and a definite drape which works well with what Ginny describes as the ‘fun pseudo-slouchy style, more of what I call a “poof” hat’ – although it possibly isn’t the best yarn choice to show-off the textured design to full effect (the dark Steel Grey colour is also probably to blame here…….but, even if it does hide texture, it is such a pretty and wearable colour!).

happy-hacbkerry-hat-wearer hackberry-hat-in-black-isle-yarns black-isle-yarns-zwartbles-mohair-blend-beret

Katie very helpfully modelled the hat for me (only a small amount of bribery involved!) – as her head is smaller than mine, it doesn’t show the yarn over increases after the ribbed brim to their full effect but is infinitely better than me trying to take selfies.

Yarn Details: Black Isle Yarns Zwartbles Mohair blend (50%~50%)

Colour: Steel Grey (undyed)

Metres/100g skein: 190m/100g approx.

Weight: DK

Pattern: Hackberry Hat by Ginny Sheller

Full project notes can be found here on Ravelry

 

 

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