The cardigan is knit in Coulmore DK and works perfectly for this simple cardigan with beautiful details. To quote from Laine: ‘ If we had to choose just one cardigan to wear for the rest of our lives, it would be this one. Fake shoulder seams make a lovely small detail and the collar can be worn folded or unfolded. Knitting this cardigan is like going on an exciting adventure with a friend ending with a trip to a local button shop – or you do it like Joji and finish your knitwear with buttons that used to be your grandpa‘s. ‘
Lanes Cardigan in Coulmore DK, by Joji Locatelli
Unfortunately my buttons aren’t ones that used to be my grandad’s (isn’t that special?) but are lovely wooden ones that mum bought in South Africa – I always think that mum is very good at picking the right buttons to finish off a project.
The sample uses Coulmore dyed with tea leaves, and I love the neutral colour for this simple design. It is knit in size medum and used five 100g skeins. I have been wearing mine for almost 2 years now (a bit of a blogging delay!) and even with very regular use it shows little signs of wear, and almost no pilling. I’d thoroughly recommend the pattern and yarn combination. Coulmore DK works very well for knits that you want to wear regularly. It isn’t the most sophisticated yarn but it is hard wearing and (for me) comfortable next to the skin…………plus the wool comes from one farm here on the Black Isle which supports three generations of the same family, and that in itself is very special. You can read more about Coulmore here.
The Rhidorroch Hat is a beautiful new pattern designed in my Coulmore yarn (Organic First Clip Cheviot) by Emily K Williams. The hat is named after Rhidorroch which is the west coast farm that partners Coulmore, here on the Black Isle. Rhidorroch is where their flock of North Country Cheviots spend the summer before coming over to the more gentle east coast for the winter.
The hat is gently slouchy, with a generous pom pom on top, and uses slipped stitches to add definition and texture to the stripes.
I dyed 30g mini skeins of Coulmore for the sample hat in indigo, indigo and annatto and, indigo and heather (the pattern uses one mini skein of natural white of too). From time to time I’ll have kits (with just the right amount of yarn in four shades -30g x 4) available in my shop and when I attend shows. I’m always happy to put together a custom kit so please do contact me if you are interested but don’t see a set available in the shop at present. (mail@blackisleyarns.co.uk)
”Brioche lace suggests the foamy sand patterns left behind when the tide goes out, as rhythmic and soothing as the receding waves. Erradale is a deceptively simple knit, equally eye-catching in one or two colours.
Black Isle Yarn’s first-clip Coulmore 4-ply is a natural part of the Inverness landscape, from sheep that live just round the corner from me. It’s the perfect choice for a warm shawl with body and bounce, and shows the brioche off beautifully.”
Erradale uses two skeins of Coulmore 4ply and can be knit with two undyed skeins, as per Emily’s original, or one skein each of two different shades. I think either version is stunning. The shawl is a simple brioche design starting from the narrow tip and increasing to the brioche lace at the end. It is a good introductory brioche pattern – if, like me, you’re new to brioche then Emily highly recommends Nancy Marchant’s turtorials.
I’m really looking forward to seeing lots of Erradale Shawls out in the wild in the future! I’ll have a shop update on Saturday 31st March focusing on Coulmore 4 ply, with individual skeins of undyed yarn and kits with two naturally dyed shades, one of each of the two used in the dyed version (beautifully sample knit for me by Clare Shaw. Clare is another lovely knitting friend and a superb, and very fast, knitter!). The photo below shows a close-up of the two shades, the top is dyed with indigo over heather flowers and the bottom is indigo alone. I love the effect of the two together – I think of them as peacock colours but I have heard someone else suggest stormy seas.
I first heard of Coulmore about a year ago when I had an excited phone call from my friend Emily – she was just back from a bike ride, with a group of cycling friends from her son’s school. While cycling along the shore near North Kessock they’d had to stop for a flock of Cheviots being moved along the road. Emily started chatting to Maddie, the shepherdess, and discovered the sheep were part of an organic flock on a family run farm with land here on the Black Isle and also on the west coast near Ullapool. Their land supports Maddie and her husband Neil, plus their daughters and families – Iona at Rhidorroch on the west and Bella at Coulmore here on the east. They have been organic for many years (wth their barley going into Bruichladdich’s ‘The Organic’ whisky!) and the fleece from their Cheviots fetches even less from the Wool Board than normal, not organic, Cheviot. Even allowing that the family do the clipping themselves, mostly Maddie in fact, they get very little return for their flock’s fleece.
All of this was established before Emily shot off to catch up with her bike ride! I subsequently contacted Maddie and had a fantastic visit, meeting her and Bella, last spring. They were keen for me to try having some of their fleece spun, not just because I would pay them a good rate for the wool, but because they really want to see all products from their land being well-used and, if possible, with added value. I bought some of their hogg clip last summer – a ‘hogg’ being a ewe lamb which is being kept on the farm to be bred from the following year. I wanted to keep the organic status of the wool and consequently had it spun at The Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall.
The wool was beautifully worsted spun by The Natural Fibre Company at two weights – DK (220m/100g) and 4ply (350m/100g). I am incredibly happy with how this yarn has turned out, it definitely proves wrong the popular belief that Cheviot wool is only good for carpets. It is a lovely strong wool but with a soft smooth handle and very good stitch definittion – ideal for lace designs and cables, and suited to anything from shawls to jumpers.
I am delighted to say that there is a full review coming, later in March, from Louise Scollay of Knit British, the wonderful champion of British wool – but some of the feedback I have had so far (from Louise herself, one of her testers Gem Davis {Gem has given me permission to use her swatch photo below} and Sarah Berry {who has designed the Comely Bank jumper in Coulmore DK, also see below} includes:
‘is really quite buttery and the stitch definition is lovely’
‘it was absolutely gorgeous, a yarn to be proud of and I think everyone will love it’
‘really enjoying knitting with your beautiful springy wool, it shows the stitch patterns off to perfection’
There will be two designs to support Coulmore. Emily Williams (very fittingly since she enabled the yarn in the first place!) has designed a striking shawl, with two skeins of the 4ply weight. The shawl can be knit as one colour or two. Emily’s shawl will be released later this week and I’ll have patterns, and yarn of course, available at EYF. The photo below shows a sneak peek of the two colour version which Clare Shaw beautifully knit up for me. I have dyed up several more sets of yarn in these two shades – indigo and indigo over heather – for kits at EYF.
Sarah Berry has designed a cropped jumper with fitted ribbed sleeves and a top-down circular yoke in the DK weight. I can vouch for how pretty, comfortable and flattering it is to wear………..I’d be wearing it just now if I didn’t feel I ought to keep it pristine for at least a little longer! Sarah has only recently finished her design and will have it test knit before releasing the pattern in the next few weeks (I’ll be sure to let you know once it is ready) but has kindly allowed me to share this selfie with you and an image of her original design notes and test swatch.
