RARE BREEDS TO RARE KNITS !

 We have the fleeces from our beautiful Hebridean sheep spun into wool  and returned home to us. This means that we can offer a range of woollen treasures for sale. The wool is a dark dark brown with a spring vibrant feel which comforts as it warms. Undyed and unbleached - just as nature intended. So have a look below for hand knitting wool to tweeds and throws to ides for your own jersey or cardigan or whatever you like knitted just for you.  

Wool

This available in 100 gm hanks. It knits as aran weight: I use UK size 9 and 7 needles or 3.75 mm and 4.5 mm European, getting 28 rows and 18 stitches in a 4 inch swatch on size 7s . Price: £4 per 100 gm hank. If you would like some of this wool for machine knitting or would like some spun for weaving or would simply like some fleeces to spin yourself then please do get in touch.

Tweed.

This is well suited- pardon the pun – for making jackets and skirts. It is 60” wide and is £40 per metre length.

We did have a kilt jacket hand made on mainland Scotland by Scott Blair for Stewart. It has never been worn as he lost weight so it no longer fits!  The jacket is a 44” chest short, fully lined with boned buttons. Price £250

Soft Furnishings

 And they do not come softer than our –admittedly woven in this instance- throws: “it’s a hangover blanket” to quote Shapinsay’s peedie postie. The throws are 5ft x 6ft with a contrasting fringe.

 Prices:      Throws         £80

Exclusive hand knitted creations-just for you!

 Designed and hand knitted here at Garth, Shapinsay using wool spun from the fleeces of our rare Hebridean sheep.

 You choose: cardigan or sweater, pattern(s), shoulder style, shape of neckline, length of sleeve, closeness of fit, nature of rib, pockets, length of body etc, etc, -all these you can decide on. The only “given” is the nature of the wool; dark, dark brown with a wonderful springy, vibrant feel which comforts as it warms. Un-dyed and unbleached - just as nature intended.

 Intrigued? Scroll down to see some suggestions of possible patterns and features. If you would like to see these exclusive creations in “real life”, along with the wool and the throws and even the sheep then come and see us.

 All knitwear is only available to order- we want to make something that you want . Together we can design something just for you –a true exclusive.

 Please take the prices- all include VAT @ 17.5%- shown as a guide only; for commissioned pieces the actual price will depend on the final design. Basically the more complicated the pattern, the more time consuming, the higher the price. For orders placed over the Internet payment by Paypal is possible. Postage will be recharged at cost.

The Shapinsay Hood

 Derived from the Orkney Hood which was found in a peat bog back in 1867. The original hood is thought to be an Iron Age creation and they obviously knew a thing or two about keeping warm back then. Just the thing to keep the “hobbits” in your life snug and toasty.  

 The original hood can be seen in the National Museum of Scotland. A replica of the hood was made for the “Minehow Know How” event in 2002. The replica is held at the Orkney Museum. The lovely people at the museum allowed us to take measurements from the replica; these coupled with the account of the process of making the replica in “Sea Change: Orkney and Shetland in the late Iron Age AD300-800” enabled us to come up with a knitted version faithful to the original.

 Price: Children’s: £35, adults: £55

Prefer a more conventional style to keep out the drafts then the matching hat, scarf and mitt set could be the answer.

The chevron pattern is fully reversible, and is wonderfully warm –the hat copes admirably with the chill Orkney winds and is a must when I go to Kirkwall in the winter- for some reason I always find Kirkwall colder than home. The scarf can be as long as you like.

 Prices: Hat                     £18

           Scarf                   £35

           Mittens               £18

           Complete set.      £65

 How about a cushion to go with one of the sumptuously soft throws. Again you can have whatever design you like on the cushion.

  Cushion       £35 (includes pad)     

The Christmas Sweater

 Lovely long length, with a nifty slit at the side. A cable pattern set within a diamond which reminds me of either snowflakes or Christmas tree decorations- not sure which.  I know- you can decide!

 The rib is done with rice stitch to give a more textured feel

 Topped with a roll over collar, divided at the side, with an elegant drape so it dose not throttle you.

Price £145

The Shapinsay Cardi

Features a “Strip the Willow” cable which turns at the sides and then turns in the centre just as we do in the Shapinsay war dance.

Strip the Willow is a great favorite both at the regular dances held on Shapinsay and the traditional dance classes which are held throughout the winter. These are good fun, attended by folk from the age of 7 to 70, and darn good exercise. At the main dances slipereen is put on the floor –it does what its name suggests-, the set occupies the entire floor- about the size of a badminton court- and believe me I am always glad that the men folk are good at catching the ladies as they are spun across the floor from the previous man.

The horseshoe cable is for the closeness to Mainland Orkney, the Viking “Hrossey” or horse island- about 25 minutes by ferry these days, probably a bit longer back then.

 On the back there is a map of Shapinsay showing the squaring of the land carried out by David Balfour in the 1850s. He was the laird back then, owning the entire island. It was David Balfour who carried wholesale agricultural improvements on the island especially drainage works and changing field boundaries so that, generally, the fields became 10 acre fields. His work was so effective that the productive land on Shapinsay went from 700 acres in 1848 to 5000 acres in 1859. With the interest in managing land for conservation then some of this work has been reversed over the last 10 years or so with field boundaries changing to allow the management of specific habitats and the creation of wetland fields being actively encouraged because of the rare fauna supported thereon.

The icing on the cake is a neat fitting collar with a gentle drape.

To finish off there are gold buttons with a floral motif which really does complement the dark, dark, brown of the wool.

Price:   £170- sorry, that map is quite tricky!

 The Point Sweater

Heard the phrase “North of the Galt” and wondered what the Galt was? Well, here it is, along with the rest of the Farm of Garth and part of Waltness as well to be accurate. The “squares” represent the fields down to permanent grass while, appropriately enough, moss stitch is used on the areas covered by heath. Float stitch is used to depict the sea. I am particularly proud of this one as it was my first attempt at knitting for 20 years. It was with great trepidation I showed it to friends in Shetland where they know a thing or two about knitting- luckily they loved it!

Price: £150

Stew’s jersey

Diamonds are a boy’s best friends…or Variations on a theme….

Price: £130

The Garth Gansey 

 Knitted "in the round", no hand sown seams, decorative seam stitch, a gusset set in the armhole to give maximum ease, owners initials, roll collar, sleeves knitted from the top down- all as tradition demands. Patterns on ganseys can either run vertically or horizontally, giving a banded effect. As the only picture I've been able to find of a gansey in Orkney has a banded pattern , thought I'd better do the same. Chose the anchors and "fields"- the cable diagonals enclosing moss stitch- because it describes Garth- a farm with four miles of coastline. The collar is loose fitting at Stew's request.

Price £190

 If you wanted all the traditional features but much less pattern then a gansey can be yours for less.

Snaffle Bits

Another jersey knitted for Stew- gosh he's a lucky boy. The patterned sections features a cable designed here suggesting a line of snaffle bits ( the part of the horse's headgear which goes in the mouth for steerage purposes) .Just remember,  this pattern could be put anywhere: up the centre of the front rather than on each side of the neck, up the centre of each sleeve, on the fronts of a cardigan- the choice is yours. The neck line Stew wanted here was a small polo- again it can be "topped" anyway you like.

Price £120

Cardi 

Gorgeous and all mine- I love wearing this! Simple, long length, shawl collar, deep pockets- double lined- set in the side seams to thrust my hands into, button band "done double" to give a strong frame, leather look buttons. All this adds up to comforting, warm, stylish....

Price £120

Jerkin

This is again mine- for those warmer days but with an off shore breeze. A high neck this time with a little mandarin collar, button bands and shoulder cuffs " done double" and pockets again but single lined this time.the double lined pockets would be another options as would a pattern, say on the front.

Price £70

Feral waistcoat

This was a new creation for 2006 when I felt like playing with different shapes. The back has been knitted in stocking stitch. Rice stitch has been used on the front with a turn through 90 degrees when the armholes have been reached. While the armholes have finished with a double layer the front edges have been left "raw". Can't honestly say that it was intended but the construction and the features have given it a wonderful feral, wild feel about it .

Price: £50

Tailored waistcoat

In complete contrast a much more civilised waistcoat! Lots of tailoring in this one with "points" at the waist which is fitted with the body increasing in width up to the armholes. Corn stitch is used on the front to give a neat cable effect.

Price: £60

Also new for 2006 is a moebius scarf which really simple but looks very stylish. It is a complete circle of knitting with a twist which sits snugly around the neck. The first time I saw it on was when a Swiss visitor to the farm bought it on a cool day earlier this summer - it looked very classy! 

Price: £25