Dulux Colour Of The Year For 2018

The results are in - paint company Dulux has revealed that their colour for the year for 2018 is ...

wait for it ...

Heart Wood!

What? I hear you cry, heart wood is not a colour! Depending on how the light catches it Heart Wood is a mash up of brown, lilac and mauve that Dulux describes as 'a warm neutral with a hint of heather'.

Heart Wood image courtesy of Dulux

As colour trends tend to filter down to the catwalk we at A Woolly Yarn looked for similar shades in British yarn so knitters can pick up their needles straight away and be en vogue. Here's what we came up with:

1. West Yorkshire Spinners' Signature 4 Ply Spice Rack includes the shade Pennyroyal. It's slightly more lilac than Heart Wood but has the same warm, muted feel. Perfect for sock knitting. Each 100g ball costs £7.20 plus P&P direct from WYS.

Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

2. This Blacker Yarn fits the bill perfectly but is currently out of stock - here's hoping more will by dyed soon. 'Bursting Figs' is a 3ply yarn from the Samite Silk range and, when available, costs £24.60 - an expensive choice but a good one for luxurious lace colourwork.

Image courtesy of Blacker Yarns

3. If you like to err on the purply side this Wensleydale Longwool Sheepshop Aran Wool in shade Wild Thyme, currently reduced to £5.90 a ball at BritYarn, is a great choice for cushion covers, jumpers and accessories.

Image courtesy of BritYarn

4. WoolyKnit's DK Blue Faced Leicester yarn in the shade mauve is slightly brighter than Heart Wood but, at £4.68 per 50g ball, is a bargain choice for jumpers and cardigans. One to keep you warm in Winter.

5. Jamieson's of Shetland sells a multitude of colours. Shade 603 Pot Pourri, from their Spindrift and Double Knitting range, is the closest to Heart Wood. A 25g ball costs £3 plus P&P direct from the company.

Image courtesy of Jamieson's of Shetland

Now all that's left to decide is what to knit with your on-trend colour yarn!

Coming soon

As you read this we're adding the final touches to our competition to celebrate A Woolly Yarn's super new logo. Hint ... three 100g skeins of British yarn will be up for grabs! Keep an eye on this blog and our Facebook page to be first to know when the competition launches.

WYS Wensleydale Gems Review

West Yorkshire Spinners has built its reputation on its quality British yarn and the recent addition of the 100% Wensleydale Gems range offers knitters who want to knit with British wool even more choice.

Available in 20 bold, 'gem'-like colours, the 100g DK skeins are spun from Wensleydale Fleece.

Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

The colours (see six above) are certainly eye-catching, but what is the wool like to knit with? West Yorkshire Spinners kindly sent A Woolly Yarn a skein of the 'pink quartz' shade for review and all opinions are our own.

We used a free snood pattern from Rowan to put Wensleydale Gems through its paces. The skein feels soft and slightly fluffy and when knitted up it has a slight halo.

As you can see from the photo above, stitch definition in the wool is slightly fuzzy rather than crisp, which gives a pleasing effect. Its easy to knit with, has no colour transference and there were hardly any problems with yarn splitting when knitting.

Worn against the skin the wool is warm and non-itchy - great for Winter accessories although you'd probably want to put on a T-shirt underneath for an extra layer if wearing a jumper or cardigan knitted in it.

Overall Wensleydale Gems is a great choice for British yarn lovers and the ecru shade is worth taking a look at too if you prefer a more natural hue.

Image courtesy of West Yorkshire Spinners

Each 100g skein costs £8.50 plus P&P directly from West Yorkshire Spinners. There are also a number of supporting patterns available to buy for £2.99 each, the Evelyn jumper being our favourite for making the most of the striking, vibrant pink and red shades in the range.

Coming soon

You may have noticed that A Woolly Yarn has a super new logo designed by Denise Burrows. To celebrate there's a special woolly competition for our readers on its way ... keep your eyes peeled!

Remember Remember The Month Of November

Image courtesy of Wovember

Welcome to the month of Wovember! Back in 2011 Dr Kate Davies and Felicity Ford decided to rename November to turn it into a month of celebration of wool's unique winter garment properties using stories and pictures online. They were fed up of the fashion industry describing cheap knitwear made with man-made materials  as wool. An acrylic jumper produced in a factory couldn't be further removed from a hand-made sweater knitted with actual wool from a sheep.

As the Wovember organisers say: "Wool is grown over time, through the husbandry, patience and wisdom of farmers and shepherds. Land, diet and a knowledge of different breeds play an important role in the quality and texture of real wool... by allowing the word wool to be applied indiscriminately to anything soft, the specific skills, crafts and labour associated with wool and its production become devalued."

Each year the Wovember campaign, along with its ethos to encourage us all to wear real wool garments in this chilly month and remember the animals and people who raise, produce and process wool, grows in strength. This year Louise Scollay has joined Felicity Ford to run 2017's Wovember theme: Where Wool Meets Wellness.

In a blog post Scollay revealed that throughout the month the Wovember website will be posting articles on the wellness theme. Alison and Rachel from Yarn In The City are running an Instagram photo challenge/competition and there'll also be a Wovember wool-along (WAL) on Ravelry and social media where participants show what they are making for the love of wool.

Every day in November the Wovember website will publish a personal story from a reader on what the concept of 'where wellness meets wool' means to them. Plus photographer Jeni Reid, who the organisers say has an eye for woolly detail, will provide a daily wool-inspired photo.

Go to Wovember.com to join in the woolly fun!

Review of Marie Wallin's Shetland Pattern Collection

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

All things Shetland are currently on trend in the knitting world what with this year's successful Shetland Wool Week, Susan Crawford's eagerly-awaited Vintage Shetland Project, and now the publication of British former Rowan Head Designer Marie Wallin's sumptuous Shetland pattern collection.

When working on Shetland Wallin collaborated with Jamison's of Shetland and used their Spindrift yarn for many of her designs. As ever, Wallin's book is superbly-photographed in locations around Shetland, once again provoking serious lifestyle envy in the reader!

Says Wallin in the book's foreword:

"Shetland is a collection of twelve beautiful Fair Isle designs inspired by the people and wild beauty of this most northerly part of Scotland.  The wool from the small and hardy Shetland sheep is warm and hardwearing, softening with wash and wear, just like a favourite piece of tweed ... because of my internet in the history of Fair Isle knitting it is important for me to use a Shetland wool which is graded, scoured, blended, carded, dyed and spun on Shetland too."

The eight garments and four accessory patterns are all beautifully designed, with their intricate colour work providing a challenge for intermediate knitters. A Woolly Yarn's favourite patterns in the collection are:

Bressay, a jumper with a deep Fair Isle yoke design knitted in the round.

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

Fetlar, described as a simple Fair Isle scarf knitted in the round that's perfect for the novice Fair Isle Knitter.

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

Scalloway Tam, a hat named after the old capital of the Sheltnad Mainland. The design has a traditional striped ribbed band.

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

Unst, a fitted short Fair Isle cardigan, photographed on the Isle of Unst.

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

Samphey, named after an uninhabited Shetland isle, this jumper has a more complex Fair Isle design.

Image courtesy of Marie Wallin

All the Fair Isle patterns are charted and these may be difficult to start of with for the inexperienced Fair Isle knitter to follow. Colour charts, rather than black and white, may have been more useful. That, however, is the drawback of what is overall a marvellous collection that, as with Wallin's previous books, is a delight to look through and admire the photography.

View all twelve of Shetland's patterns on Ravelry here. The book costs £17.99 plus P&P and is available to buy direct from Marie Wallin's website. Thanks to Wallin for the review copy - all opinions are A Woolly Yarn's own.

Want more Marie Wallin stories? Read these past blog posts:

• Review Of Marie Wallin's North Sea Collection
• Marie Wallin's Springtime Six Collection Reviewed
• First Self-Published Book For Marie Wallin

Susan Crawford Launches FUBC Shawl Kit Using Ghyll Lancashire Wool

Vintage knitwear designer, historian and author Susan Crawford has been open over the last 18 months about her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, which ended on Thursday 12th October with her last oncology injection.

To thank the charity Cancer Care, who supported her and other local women going through the same ordeal, and to raise awareness for breast cancer, Crawford has launched a FUBC Shawl Kit for £65, £15 of which will go directly to Cancer Care.

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

What makes the kit extra special is that the wool comes from her 70-year-old neighbour Jeffrey's herd of Lonk, the only truly local sheep to Lancashire. Crawford took the 2016 clip and worked with four of her favourite dyers, Old Maiden Aunt, Skein Queen, Countess Ablaze and The Knitting Goddess, to create four exclusive colourways for the kit.

Crawford herself designed one of the shawl patterns for the kit with the other coming from her friend Tess Young. There are less than 100 kits available in each of the four colourways. Here are the four to choose from:

1. Susan Kit Dyed By Old Maiden Aunt

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

2. Jo Kit Dyed By The Knitting Goddess

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

3. Victoria Kit Dyed By Countess Ablaze

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

4. Karen Kit Dyed By Skein Queen

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

But that's not all that the kit contains. If I tell you that the BC part of the FUBC acronym stands for breast cancer then there are no prizes for guessing what the F and U mean. Along with the patterns and wool kit buyers will also receive the Knocker Jotter - a 200 page journal featuring photographs of 16 women, including Crawford, who are part of Cancer Care's online group Phoenix. The portraits show them sharing their scars, both physical and mental.

Image courtesy of Susan Crawford

Says Crawford in her newsletter: 'These 'Scarletts' as they became known wanted to share their personal experiences of how cancer, and particularly breast cancer, attempts to strip women of their physicality, their visual identity. Through the portraits they wanted to take back ownership of their bodies, and to be proud of who they had become.'

The kits are on sale at Susan Crawford's website here. Each kit costs £65 plus £3.35 P&P within the UK (overseas postage available for an extra charge). Don't forget that the kit is the only way to get your hands on the 2016 clip of Ghyll!

Want more stories about Susan Crawford? Read these previous blog posts:

• Review of A Stitch In Time Vol 1
• Get Knitting For Christmas Jumper Day
• Thoughts On Austerity And Knitting

Shetland Wool Week Annual 2017 Review

Image courtesy of Shetland Wool Week

Shetland Wool Week 2017 may be over but it won't be forgotten thanks to the keepsake annual published to mark the occasion. Our excitement at receiving a review copy in the post was akin to that of finding a Bunty annual in our Christmas stockings aged eight.

The annual is a celebration of all things woolly in Shetland, the island off the north coast of Scotland, and contains a keepsake mixture of patterns, essays and book reviews.

The articles will keep the reader coming back again and again to the annual with their fascinating social history topics including knitting for men; the life of Arthur Anderson who founded the P&O shipping line and championed Shetland's textile industry; a look back at 50 years of Victoria Gibson's designs; rooming - the Shetland method of plucking fleece from sheep; and the renovation of a tweed-weaving building in Hillswick, once the centre of Shetland textile production.

Bousta Beanie image courtesy of Gudrun Johnston

Each year Shetland Wool Week chooses a patron who designs a pattern especially for the event. This year's patron is Gudrun Johnston, perhaps better The Shetland Trader. Her Bousta Beanie is the annual's first pattern. She says "The Bousta Beanie uses three colours combined to great effect within a simple Fair Isle pattern. What with all the colours available in Shetland Yarn, the possibilities are endless!"

There are 12 patterns in all in annual, designed by Shetland locals and other designers who have an affinity with the island's wool.

Tveir Gloves image courtesy of Ella Gordon

Stand out patterns include Terri Malcolmson's Triple Tone Circular Scarf, described as 'an enjoyable project for anyone new to Fair Isle and colourwork'; Outi Kater's Rosepath Sweater that's inspired by and named after a Nordic countries' folk weaving technique and is a warm cover up that if looked after will become an heirloom; and Ella Gordon's Tveir Fingerless Gloves that would be
easy to adapt to a full-fingered version. Says Gordon, "For somewhere with so few trees you often see them in Shetland knitwear, usually adorning a yoke but I decided to take the motif and use it on a pair of fingerless gloves. They are knit with an afterthought thumb using bright shades inspired by Autumn in Shetland.

The annual costs £18 plus P&P and is available online at the Shetland Wool Week shop. There are still a few copies of last year's annual left too.

Wool Week 2017 Plans

Each year The Campaign for Wool, whose patron is Prince Charles, runs Wool Week to showcase just how fabulous British wool is for clothing, soft furnishings, carpets and much, much more.

Image courtesy of The Campaign for Wool

The trick this year is that the week is extending to 16 days. Yes, Wool Week will begin on 7th October with celebrations continuing until 22nd October.

What's on?

The full schedule has yet to be revealed but The Campaign for Wool has announced that the flagship event will be 'Wool Fusion', a visual extravaganza of the endless versatility and natural properties of wool, featuring photography and video alongside wool clothing, furnishing, fabrics and flooring.

The event will run from 17th - 15th October at Carousel, 35 Baker Street, London. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm daily. It's free to attend and there will also be a programme of workshops, talks and special events.

Image courtesy of The Campaign for Wool

At Bicester Shopping Village in Oxfordshire there will be pop up shop featuring a selection of items from the Campaign's retail partners. Jack Wills has commissioned a short film telling of their obsession with wool, whilst John Smedley is releasing a collection for Wool Week using black sheep wool.

Retailers and designers across the country are planning to support Wool Week, ahem fortnight plus two days, with instore activities at stores including Brora, TM Lewin, Walker Slater, Finisterre, Smalls and Wool and the Gang.

Image courtesy of Loveknitting

Further information, when it is released, will be available from The Campaign for Wool's news page.