Scalpay Linen - Hand weavers from the Outer Hebrides

Appeal

2012-01-21T16:11:00.000Z

Is there anybody out there who has a female Angora Goat surplus to requirements? A friend has just lost hers and her billy goat is lonely and sad as a result. If anyone can help, please let me know and I'll pass your details on.

2012-01-20T12:05:00.000Z

     At last, I have got my Haldane spinning wheel back on its hooves and it's working again. Yes, the drive band is a bit of cotton band and the shade isn't really in keeping with the rest of it, but I stuck the legs on with wood glue, put a bent tack in the crank on the shaft and it seems to be going really well now.
     The reason behind all this refurbishment is that I've finally come to the conclusion that it's not possible to get a really tight twist on the jumbo bobbin of the Ashford - the ratios are all wrong! So to get my handspun suitable for warps I need to get back to the Haldane.
      I bought this wheel new in 1981 from a store in Highbury, North London and it has treadled miles for me. When my daughter was small I worked as a commercial handspinner from home and though in recent years it has been rather left on the shelf (so to speak) mainly because of the falling legs syndrome, I'm so glad I never got rid of it. Some years ago I bought new bobbins that had bearings as the original wooden ones were badly worn, and the flier is starting to get very grooved where the yarn rubs over it. Wish they were still making these wheels - it's the best one I've ever had.

On the table of the wheel are a couple of bobbins of Zwartbles I've spun up to put in my cache towards the Handspun Harris Tweed. From two trips through the drum carder it will spin up to around an 8 cut Gala which should weave a good hefty tweed unlike anything else that's on the market just now.
A new accessory in the loomshed (below) is this dinky little silicone brush which cost me £1.80 from Lewis Crofters Ltd in Stornoway. Think its meant for brushing stuff over food, but is's great for cleaning keyboards, and also the hard to get at corners of the loom. It picks up the odd dog or cat hair from the upholstery, and is so useful that I think I might need to buy another!

Just so you know I've been doing some work recently, here is a tub of Wensleydale fleece in soak. One hour in hand-hot water with 100ml of Hebridean Soap (Lemon and Eucalyptus) then a spin in a horizontal spin drier, another soak for 30 mins with a bit less soap this time, another spin, and finally a rinse for 10 mins in hand-hot water with 100mls of white vinegar to get the soap out.

And the result is a gorgeous tub of white and goldern, fluffy locks which I can't wait to get started on when its nice and dry. This fleece is destined for Teos Handspuns in Broadford, Isle of Skye.

And finally, here's Tilly taking a rest from hunting. We haven't seen many mice round since Tilly arrived, but Scalpay seems to be developing a rat problem! Is this because now the North American Mink have almost been eradicated from the area, it's left a vacant niche for the rats to move in? We caught one in our byre a couple of weeks ago, and there have been quite a few reported sightings and catchings elsewhere. Nature never leaves a vacuum! Keep going Tilly, we need you!

Some more linen designs

2011-12-14T12:22:00.001Z

Spurred on by the arrival of my consignment fromJos Vanneste, I spent quite a long time sitting looking at it and wondering what to do with it! So, building on my last lot of lacy linen, this new one is a step forward - the sley involves some crammed dents and some dents with only one end in them, the shotting is very wide and in a dark brown 16lea linen I got originally from Herdmans some years ago.The general effect on the front of the loom is a bit scary! The draft is a staggered herringbone - 92 ends twill followed by 8 ends of herringbone. The choice of this draft was because I don't know what the warp is going to do in the finishing. If it all moves over, I'd rather it stopped against the herringbone instead of cramming up down one side. Of course, I could be wrong - I probably am.... but it's good fun seeing what's going to happen!

I started with the lovely autumnal orangey shade and, because it has to be hand-finished after weaving, I warped up 43 metres (which on a Nm6 took almost the whole 5kg) and am going to weave it in 10m lengths. From experience I know that, even with arms as long as mine, anything in excess of 10m becomes a fiasco! Here's a pic of the loom-state cloth. Very stiff and net like. This afternoon I'm going to cut off the first 10m, hem and finish, so look out for the finished cloth. This picture is a bit strange as it doesn't look orangey at all - guess it must be the artificial light - it hasn't got properly daylight here for what seems like days.

Is there anything in this world more wonderful than a great big armful of Wensleydale wool? If there is, then pleasedo let me know! The fibre arrived as a huge batt off a commercial carder and it was just amazing to spin - really quick and smooth. I plied two ends together to make something a bit like a commercial DK but much softer. Guess it'll have to go back to Tracy at Gedgrave Wensleydales (see link on right), but I'm hoping to hang onto a few hanks, dye them and use them as the woollen element of some linsey-woolsey wraps for her.

In the loomshed just now we are finishing off the orange lacy linen, warping up another of the same but in a warm speckled wine shade, washing and hanking some rasta Wensleydale (another lot for Gedgrave), and looking out some spinning to do for Teo of www.teoshandspuns.com of Broadford, Isle of Skye.

The weather has been truly horrid over the past few weeks with hardly a dry wind-free day. The croft has gone muddy, the sheep are getting used to a diet of hay again, and the Aylesbury ducks seem to have gone a dirty grey colour. The only cheerful soul is No-name Turkey who is looking relaxed as she knows that she will live to see another Christmas.....

Bad Weather Forecast, so time to catch up....

2011-11-24T16:40:00.000Z

With a really bad forecast on for the rest of the afternoon and tonight, what better way to pass the time than update my blog, which yet again has been sadly neglected over the past month.

Yesterday was the annual Christmas Show and Sale at the Auction Mart in Stornoway. As always a fine array of cattle and sheep were on top form and the crowds turned out, and the catering was up to scratch with teas, coffees, pies, sausage rolls and filled rolls to keep out the cold and stop the tummy rumbling.

It's good to see the selection of breeds getting larger - quite a change from 20 years ago when you were thought of as a bit racy if you had a cheviot ram tucked away on the croft!

When we arrived back home yesterday, there was a lovely surprise waiting for me - my linen yarn from NV Jos Vanneste had arrived. The speed of post has been truly amazing - I paid on Thursday, it was posted in Belgium on Friday and arrived on Scalpay on Wednesday.

These yarns are just amazing. They come from the "Laura" range, which is a sort of melangey, marly type of effect with a bit of a texture going on. I have used the Nm 12 extensively for the Hobbit order, but have now decided to change to Nm6 - principally because the finer yarn has to be sleyed at 3 to a dent and therefore is 940 ends wide, whereas the Nm 6 can go 2 to a dent with the same settings as Harris Tweed (maybe just a bigger shot wheel depending on the thickness of the weft being used). The array of colours available in this quality is very wide, and it was difficult choosing a selection of shades for samples. This yarn is the most expensive of any I currently weave with (excepting the hand-spuns of course), so this cloth is going to be top of my range.

A week or two ago I received a newsletter from Sollas Bookbinding. Regular readers may remember that Corinna Krauss made me some gorgeous waxed paper covered boxes for presenting Hebridean Harris Tweed wraps, and I've been itching to spend more on her delightful products.

So when I looked through her online shop and found these elegant visitor books available, I couldn't resist treating the workshop to one for Christmas and Corinna added gold lettering for me too. Visit www.sollasbooks.com for lots of gift ideas - you won't be disappointed!

Just to show that I have been doing something useful during the past month, a local company has asked for some samples of handspun to use, so Tracy from Gedgrave Wensleydales (see links on right) very kindly said I could use some of the beautiful batt she sent up a while ago. It has come out very elegantly - soft and around a 10 cut. Since I took this photo I dyed the yarn a really nice maroony, purply colour. It was supposed to be red, but I have never professed to be a good, or accurate, dyer! I've also spun up some greasy Zwartbles which is waiting to be washed, and a bit more of the Wensleydale white. Hopefully it will be in the post sometime next week..

On the loom just now - more grey Hobbit linen. The warping mill is empty waiting for one of the trainees to warp up for a celtic hopsack - this warp will involve turning the mini-reed behind the heck to produce a double-width mirror image pattern. All exciting stuff.....

2011-10-22T13:04:00.000+01:00

     Is it really this long since I blogged?? Yes, it certainly is, and the reason is that I have been learning a new occupation - loom assembly and teaching weaving on the Hattersley single width loom! Now, at my advanced age, the acquisition of new skills cannot be taken lightly and my lack of talent in the direction of multi-tasking meant that while I was finding my feet, so to speak, the blog had to sit on the back burner like a dye-pot building up a good colour.
     I'm not saying I'm the world's best teacher, because I'm not. But it's very satisfying to see my two students progressing nicely. After four weeks of the twelve week course, we have studied the basics - drafting, tie-in and peddling. Then of course mistake rectification, a bit of design work with the point paper and now we're getting onto multiple colours and multiple shuttles. All exciting stuff. They have had one session on my warping mill and hopefully the part-warp languishing there will be finished during the coming week.

     The training project has been organised by Harris Development Ltd and funded by various bodies including Leader and the Heritage Lottery Fund. In tandem, a training course for double-width weavers is being run in Harris too and these weavers are destined to supply the mills, whereas my weavers will be setting up in business as independent weavers designing and weaving for their own markets. All very exciting.

     The loom building was, and continues to be, a real challenge. Though my own weaving course at Lews Castle College in 1994 included loom assembly and adjustment, that was a long time ago and it has been a bit of a steep learning curve aided and supported by my other and, some would say, better half!

     For fellow bloggers who like this sort of thing - and I know there are one or two or you lurking - I've got some detailed photos of loom parts for you. Now, settle down there at the back......

This is the back part of the card reader assembly and shows the cam on the right which controls the hex card box and the slide cam which is fitted onto the low shaft and operates the levers which are connected to the hooks that turn the box back and forth.

Here's a back view, looking towards the revolving box and showing the top shaft fly wheel, the left hand picking stick with its brackets, the warp bar at the back and a back view of board 4.

Diving underneath the loom at the back, here's a good view of the tappets though they are a little furry from the linen warp I was weaving at the time. Tappets control the boards and from this angle and reading from left to right, there are two plain weave tappets not in use, then 2-up-2-downs for boards 1,2,3 and 4 and then another 2 plain weave tappets on the right. The toothed wheel on the right connects with the adjustable toothed collar on the shaft and this is how the shed timing is adjusted.

Here's a useful view of the top shaft pointing to the back of the loom and you can see the bottom cam pointing towards the front of the loom and the roller on the picking stick about 10 cm away from the join in the cam. This is a good guide for timing the picking. On the other side, the cam is pointing the other way and the roller is just a couple of centimetres away from the join.

The revolving box showing the bracing underneath which supports the extra weight of the mark 2 box and also a birds eye view of the box brakes.

The card reader in the foreground in its open state showing the fingers above waiting to descend into the card on the next shot thus telling the box which way to turn on the shot after that.

Close up of the revolving box showing the proximity of the horseshoe to the brass end of the box and also the gap between the end of the race board and the horseshoe. Note also the trip plate at the back above the beginning of the race board which acts as a soft landing should the shuttle get caught at the entrance of the box.

Possibly my favourite piece of the loom - the take-up. Toothed wheels elegantly fit and work together to operate the prickly roller which pulls forward the finished cloth to the required number of shots per inch. The small toothed wheel is the shot wheel - note the jubilee clip between the shot wheel and the split pin at the end - this makes an ideal replacement if you lose the big nut that is supposed to go there. Also, the right hand toothed wheel is the one which is changed if you need to weave larger numbers of shots to the inch. For Harris Tweed it is customary to have this wheel fitted and the shot wheel moves forward to teeth at a time - thus a 36 tooth wheel puts in 18 shots per inch. For using all the teeth on the shot wheel a smaller toothed wheel is fitted and a tubular hook fitted to the going part is adjusted to reduce the number of teeth taken up.

Finally, here's a shot of the pirn winder showing the bottom rail which holds the spindle bases. To adapt a mark 1 pirn winder to take mark 2 pirns the bottom rail needs to be raised.

That's enough of that now. Today the rain is very heavy and very wet, but we have had one or two nice days. The rams are getting ready to be loosed for tupping at the beginning of November and all the hens are moulting, so no fresh eggs for breakfast!

Still Dyeing!

2011-09-08T11:36:00.001+01:00

Having finished my first jumbo bobbin of Shetland singles for my proposed Handspun Harris Tweed - it turned out at 1417m and weighed 350g and then I was ready to dye it. Using Omega dyes this time which are really straightforward. I have also bought a little scale to measure out the dyes, and it's very useful.

3g of Sun gold dissolved and mixed into the simmering water. A quarter of the hank submerged and left for 20mins then rinsed and spun in a horizontal spin drier.

Then 5.5g Turquoise dye dumped in on top of the yellow (too mean to boil up more hot water!)

This gave a lovely light green. Then 7g Flame.

And finally weighed out the last dye - 5g medium blue.

And here is the last quarter hank soaking and simmering....

Then the hank was washed in liquid soap (courtesy of Hebridean Soap Ltd), rinsed with a little white vinegar, and spun till it was nearly dry. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the hank when it was finished!

Above is the hank wound onto a cone. Interestingly, it measured 1380m and weighed 349g on this occasion. So this worked out to be around a 9 cut.

For the next hank, I had run out of Flame dye so substituted wine red. Again dyed in the same order so the yellow and green (turquoise) are the same as the first hank, but the wine red came out a rich Christmassy colour (if you know what I mean) and this in turn reacted with the medium blue to make a vivid purple.

It is just fascinating to see what happens isn't it!

Next hank - which will not be very soon as I have a lot of work on just now - I'm going to put in a substitute for the turquoise. Haven't decided what to put in its place yet, any suggestions??

If you are wondering what all this is going to look like when it's woven up, then I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see, because I haven't a clue either!!

Busy this week assembling Hattersley looms for the forthcoming weaver training course; warping up another grey Hobbit linen while I have the 3 ends to a dent reed in and threaded up; finishing off some gorgeous mohair for Sallie at Driftwater Weaves; starting picking black Wensleydale for rasta yarn which will be off to Tracy at Gedgrave Wensleydales in Suffolk when it's finished; and carding up Daisy the cross Cheviot's fleece from last year which I thought would look nice as a rug to take with me to the Uist Wool Group Michaelmas Event in Grimsay on 24th September.

In between times, the Cheviot ram is continuing his Golden Hoof treatment for footrot, which seems to be working well, the Hebridean sheep keep breaking out of their field and running riot around the neighbouring crofts (they are supposed to be confined until the end of September), and Tilly the cat has been catching mice like the true trooper she is!

Catch Up Time

2011-08-20T11:34:00.001+01:00

What a long time it's been since I last posted. Things have been even more hectic than usual.

Meantime, I went to an amazing workshop at An Lanntair - our local arts centre in Stornoway. The workshop was called "Design in Tweed" and it involved handlooms, lots of different colours of yarns, CAD and also learning the proper way to write down weaving patterns.

There were seven of us on the course and there were two two day courses held that week, both were fully subscribed. Our trainer was Sam Goates (http://www.weareonecreative.com/) who has masses of experience in the textile industry as a designer and weaver and has an enthusiasm for her subject which is positively viral!

For me it has opened up a new world of trying out patterns on paper, saving up for CAD software for myself and meeting a new network of contacts. Thank you Sam, hope it won't be too long before we see you back for some more workshops.

We've also had the South Harris Agricultural Show since my last blog, which was a great event. The sun shone, the midgies were away picnicking elsewhere, and the show was well populated with attractions and those enjoying their day out. Above is a picture of one of the regular attractions - the Drakes of Hazard (http://www.drakesofhazard.co.uk/). These are a group of Indian Runner ducks who are guided through an obstacle course by very talented and entertaining sheepdogs. Their wrangler, Mark Wylie, provides a hilarious commentary and there is opportunity for audience participation too.

Another amazing attraction was Ben Potter who was displaying his Birds of Prey (http://www.birdsofpreydisplays.co.uk/). He has several different birds which he introduces and then they fly free over the arena. The bird pictured above is a sea eagle, and it made a truly magnificent spectacle as it swooped in over the loch at Leverburgh. Though we do have sea eagles here in Harris and have seen them at a distance, this was the first time most of us had seen one close up. Not a bird to get on the wrong side of methinks!

Back to the loomshed after our day out, and finishing off a hand-spinning order for a local company. This was a lovely cheviot ram who turned out to be a bit more kempy than I originally thought, but the yarn has a great character, and I hope I have produced something that will weave nicely in the Hattersley loom. It's also been great to get some practice for our own hand-spun harris tweed which will be lurching into existence within the next few months. The picture shows the hank of hand-spun being wound onto a cone on the Munty.

For those interested, I have discovered that for handspun yarn, the Hattersley is happiest with around a 12 or 12.5 Gala cut count. Hands up who doesn't know what Gala cut is? Well historically it is the yarn count used for Harris Tweed, though I think maybe it is being superseded by Nm to bring it into line with other textiles. Anyway, 1 cut gala means that 200 yards will weigh 1 pound. Not metric I'm afraid, which will immediately alienate all readers under 40 years of age! However, with the aid of a calculator, it's not rocket science to convert it all into metres and grammes if you wish. The easiest way to find the count of handspun is to measure its length, then weigh it as accurately as possible. Divide metres into grams and this will mean you can work out the Nm, Tex or whatever you wish.

For the 12 cut gala you are looking for around 4.8 metres per gram. the average Ashford jumbo bobbin will take around 300 g of 12 cut and this will measure about 1.5 km. The longer the length you have to measure, the more accurate the average count will be.

Here's one of my new linens - a thick and thin weft one woven on the very smallest shot wheel I have. The thick linen is from Jos Vanneste in Belgium and is soft and smooth - almost like the fibres haven't yet been spun. We find they need a good close warp to keep it all together, but once it's done and washed, it gives a gorgous almost boucle effect, very 1960's little Jackie O suits.

Introducing son of Mr Four-Horn, caught on camera in the distance. He is coming on well and we have high hopes of him both in the horn and breeding departments.

And finally, Tilly the cat has found a roost in the loomshed. I knew the warping mill would come in useful!

Scalpay Linen Harris Tweed on Stage at the Hebridean Celtic Festival

2011-07-20T11:08:00.001+01:00

We are blessed this week at Scalpay Linen - some of our special Harris Tweed was included in a fabulous outfit designed by Netty Sopata of "Diggory Brown" and worn by K T Tunstall. The orange and brown tweed was ours, and the black came from our friends at Breanish Tweed in Lewis. And the fabby photo was taken by Leila Angus of Brighter Still.

On the blog we followed this tweed through from warp to finished -

The brown element of the warp is from the yarn kindly spun for me by Harris Tweed Hebrides in Shawbost last year and is made of local Hebridean fleeces.

Agricultural Shows coming up: this coming Saturday maybe see you at the Lochs Show which will be at their new showground in Laxay this year. I'm judging the poultry competitions, so I've been knee-deep in the encylopaedia of chickens for the past few days genning up....

Then next Tuesday the South Harris Show is at Leverburgh and we will be entering some chickens for that one. Drakes of Hazzared will be there again I believe - always great fun, as well as Chainsaw Pete and various other attractions. Check out their website for full details: http://www.south-harris-show.com/index.html

Some Sad New

2011-07-14T20:04:00.000+01:00

Every so often we lose a good friend on the croft and so it is with sadness that we announce that our senior Hebridean ram passed away yesterday evening surrounded by friends and family.

He will be much missed by us all though he leaves a multitude of offspring here in Scalpay and also in Galson and Ammhunsuidhe where he enjoyed working holidays during his long and productive life. He has a son - one of last years' lambs who is showing great promise on the horn front both in numbers and also in shape - who will be taking on Mr Four-Horns' duties from now.

Buth Scalpaigh news, Koolaid Dyeing, new linen cloth, Tuppy loses his coat and cats & dogs...

2011-06-30T11:16:00.002+01:00

Great news - the share issue for our local community shop - Buth Scalpaigh has not only reached, but completely demolished the target sum! Today is the last day to join so as to get an invitation to the first shareholders meeting, but shares will still be on sale to anyone who wishes to contribute in the future.

We are now all champing at the bit waiting for the refurbishments to begin. I think a celebration is going to take place during the summer, so watch this space and if you are in the area, come along and enjoy with us.

Settle down class - I know it's nearly the summer holidays, but today we are going to learn dyeing with Kool-Aid. Anyone who has done it before, please sit quietly at the back and get on with your spinning....

First of all, you need a pyrex measuring jug (1 litre capacity) and a heatproof pyrex bowl, some tongs and some rubber gloves (to protect your hands from staining), and of course a hank of wool to dye. Koolaid only works on wool, so don't try to be clever with using other fibres. Put the kettle on to boil. If you wish you can pre-wet the hank, or if, like me, you like a really tweedy uneven look to your dyeing, just use it dry. If there is a bit of oil in the wool it will resist the dye, and some of it will take it up quicker than others. If you are after a really perfect and professional finish then you really shouldn't be using Kool-Aid and a microwave!

Open the first packet of Kool-Aid and empty it into the measuring jug.

When the kettle boils, top up the jug with boiling water (scalding hazard!!) and stir to dissolve the powder.

Put part of your prepared hank into the bowl and pour the jug of colour over it. Pop into the microwave for one minute on full and then remove carefully (with oven gloves because the bowl is hot).

Lift the hank from the bowl and marvel at the fact that all the colour has migrated from the water into the wool......

Wring out carefully and prepare the next bowl of dye - you can use the same water, just top it up with fresh boiling water as required.

Repeat in the microwave and then do it again with a third pack of Kool-Aid.

At the end of dyeing, wash the hank carefully in whatever you usually use - soap, detergent etc. and spin the excess water out.

Hang up to dry and admire your handiwork....

Kool-Aid is relatively light-fast, but don't expect too much as it is, after all, only a soft-drink powder. The yarn I used was a merino hand-spun from fibre bought from Wingham Woolworks, with a bamboo binder, that didn't take up the dye and retained its lovely shiny appearance.

New on the loom - a pink linen of the same ilk as the grey one and the most recent denim-look. We are really getting into the swing with these cloths and they are coming out beautifully.

Here is one of the denims - very textured so it has to be hand-finished.

Looks gorgeous against the light and even though I've only got a few samples finished, it is already being snapped up by some discerning visitors.

Look out for more of these in different colours from us later on.

The Hand-spun Harris Tweed is progressing. Have done some sample spinning of the Zwartbles for weft, and now Tuppy the Shetland ram who came to us from Sallie at Driftwater Weaves in Tobson, Great Bernera, has donated his coat to use in the warp.

We also have some amazing grey Shetland which we swopped last year for some of our Hebridean fleeces, and are also looking forward to the first shear cheviots that have been promised from Borve in South Harris. This project is going to take a long time, but already is proving to be such fun. Some of my visitors are contributing ideas and suggestions, which are all very gratefully received. Doespins (see last post comments) has boosted my morale with her helpful comments on using handspun for warp. The warp patterning is going to be very complicated and I haven't yet found my way into where to start designing, but there is still so much spinning to do that there is no rush to get it done.

And finally, a mega-cute pic of Bramble and Tilly the cat enjoying a relaxing moment on the sofa!

Tilly is getting very good at galloping through the loomshed and ending up on the loom, bouncing on the warp at the back. When you pick her up, every last little claw is hooked round a warp end and its like she's playing the harp! She's a little cutie though, and we love having her around.

Where did the time go??

2011-06-17T10:32:00.001+01:00

I didn't realise that it has been such a long time since last posting on the blog. Many apologies to my faithful readers. Excuses coming up........ Well.... my laptop was fried by lightning and I had to get another one, and get it up and running with all the bits and pieces of software etc.; the local broadband folks were on a go slow, and Vodafone dongles were on an even slower go-slow which meant they were almost stationery!; then we had a few days out - attended a royal visit at the Bays Centre at Leac 'a lee (great cafe, and marvellous place to see seals); been to the dentist - now I'm really scraping the barrel. We've also been magnificently busy in the shed - t-towels flying off the shelves (and not with the gale force winds!) and lots and lots of weaving being done.

As promised a couple of blogs ago, below is a pic of the dyeing I did a while ago using the handspun Falkland and Shropshire wools which I made up chunkyish and used a glossy viscose binder to stabilise it for handknitting. These were omega dyes, and they worked out very well, though my skill in measuring out granules to get the correct colour is still very hit and miss.

Also in the picture on the far right is a super fluffy mohair hank that is destined for Sallie at Driftwater Weaves in Gt Bernera.

The postie brought a lovely surprise from Beth in the US who was a spinning member of the "Singing Weavers" party in May and who promised to send me some Koolaid for dyeing. Good as her word, they arrived safely and I can't wait to start using them. Thank you so much Beth, I am seeking out a very special little something to send in return..

Despite the very changeable weather, summer is creeping up on us slowly I guess. I have a huge predatory plant in my little shed-garden. It appeared from the dregs of some bird seed I dumped there at the end of last year and is now sporting some dangerous looking spikey leaves and thistley heads. I don't know what it is exactly but have the feeling that it could be carniverous - and should I be careful going to the shed at night?

Newest and smallest member of the croft family - introducing little Tilly. She has come to us from Shawbost in Lewis and is around 10 weeks old. Already the three dogs are under the prickly paw and she is quite relaxed about her new position as queen of the croft.

To show that I have been working too, here is the latest fleece from the Gedgrave Wensleydales in Suffolk which we are spinning up for Tracey. This one is short, but incredibly soft. The individual locks were just a tad too short, and separate to spin normally, so I popped the whole thing through the carder just once to keep lots of curly bits, but open it up a bit to make spinning more straightforward. This is the carded fleece. It's spun up a treat - some plain and some with multi-coloured silk.

And finally, two big bags of Zwartbles fleeces arrived from Hampshire last week. Gorgeous and thank you Caroline. They are so black with coppery tips, and so crimpy, and so oily! We are planning our piece de resistance - which is going to be a Handspun Harris Tweed - and are trying to decide what breeds to use. We think the Zwartbles is going to be one - below is some of the fleece which I have washed in preparation for carding and then doing some experimental spinning. Though I've done loads of spinning for weaving in the past, I've never done any warps - always been put off by the received wisdom that its a real pain to get it twisted enough to stay together as it goes through the eyes. So there is going to be quite a bit of R & D before this project gets off the ground!

News of the community shop - share issue going very well and shares can now be purchased via Paypal direct from the shop website (see links on right). To be part of the fun, just click on the link......

Linen,spinning and a new boat for the Scalpay fleet

2011-05-25T14:36:00.001+01:00

On this wet and windy day, it's good to look forward to the future. Yesterday I had a delivery from our friends at NV Jos Vanneste SA in Belgium who spin the most gorgeous linen yarn you could ever imagine.

Here is a cone from each of the batches I ordered. Can't wait to start using it!

Finished and rolled is the cloth destined for "The Hobbit" film. Hope they like it!

This morning, on the way back home from the village, the traffic was held up for a wee while as this boat - the "New Dawn" was moved from the place it was refurbished. It is a grand looking boat now and ready to join the fleet. Always a good day when a new boat arrives at the jetty ready to start work. Good luck to everyone who will work on her.

Over the past few weeks I've been spinning up Falkland and Shetland fibre ready for dyeing to go with some cloth. Here it is pre-dyeing. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of post-dyeing, but that will come later.....

We've been having a busy few weeks on the island - lots of visitors around the place, plus the launch of the share issue for Buth Scalpaigh (see links to right of page). The issue closes at the end of June for the purpose of forming the shareholders committee, so there is still time to make your purchase!

Share Purchase in Buth Scalpaigh now full steam ahead!

2011-05-11T13:03:00.000+01:00

Great news. The proposed community shop on Scalpay (Buth Scalpaigh) is now inviting share purchase in the company. For all the info and a form to print off please click here Buth Scalpaigh. Please give serious consideration to investing in this exciting project which will bring such benefit to our community and to those who visit us.

Singing Weavers' Visit

2011-05-08T12:32:00.000+01:00

This week we have been delighted to welcome two parties guided by the Singing Weaver Nadine and her colleague Doreen. On Wednesday the sun shone hotly and the croft looked neat and dry (all that tidying up earlier on had obviously been worthwhile!). In the evening we all enjoyed a meal at the Isle of Harris Inn and the next day the party were headed for the Orkney section of their visit.

On Saturday the weather was not quite to good - but cleared up later and had stopped raining by the time the coach arrived. Saturday was also the day that the Village to Outend sheep were moved from the crofts to the summer grazings. The first sheep had already gone past by the time our visitors arrived, but they walked up behind the second batch for the last couple of hundred yards - it's been many years since so many people turned out to help with the gather! Pippin went out for his first gather and did very well. He has a lot of potential and worked well alongside Bramble, though he does need a bit more work on the driving.

Somebody couldn't even be bothered to get out of bed.....

There was a lot of interest in the loomshed, the croft and the cloth, and I learned a lot too - which is half the fun of these visits. At last I found someone who had spun Qiviut - in fact she had a Qiviut knitted hat with her. Gorgeous!

Today I'm sorting out a linen order to send off to Jos Vanneste SA in Belgium. They sent me samples last week which are just amazing and have sparked off all sorts of ideas and plans. Had meant to post a photo of the samples, but my camera has become mislaid under all the confusion and chaos that has been my life during the past week! Looking forward to less stressful times ahead......

Lambing and Weaving News

2011-04-29T10:50:00.000+01:00

A wee update on lambing so far..... We have our first black Hebridean lambs now - a set of twins born a couple of weeks ago. They are doing well and are very black and lively. The other lambs don't quite know what to make of them.

Daisy's lamb is growing up fast. She is now out of the nursery field and doing well on the croft. She's got a beautiful curly crimpy coat and has a very pretty face too.

There are three lambs on the bottle just now - two abandoned (see previous posts) and a third we found whose mother had died and we thought probably wouldn't survive as she was under-nourished and very small. However, contrary to expectations, she is taking milk from the bottle, putting on weight and getting on well with the other two. Undoubtedly the good weather is making all the difference. Yesterday was very foggy and dull, but today the sun is shining again and it's really making the grass grow. Next Saturday the sheep move from the crofts out to the summer grazings so anyone who is on the roads on Scalpay in the morning, be aware that hundreds of sheep will be on the move!

Now the loomshed is open for the season we are already seeing lots of visitors. Next week we welcome two parties from the US guided by the Singing Weaver and her assistant. It's always a highlight of our year and there was definitely something lacking from last year when they skipped a visit because of the economy etc.

On the loom just now is a linen which is destined for the production of "The Hobbit". This is the second cloth we have supplied. Having nearly run out of this amazing black and white marl linen yarn we have identified a very similar one from our new spinner - Jos Vanneste in Belgium. The ever-helpful Denis is also sending over some samples of a thicker hairier linen yarn that we are considering incorporating into a new weight of linen cloth. All exciting stuff.

And to show that even my warping is getting better - here is the beam with no trailing ends. Ha, must be getting better with practice!

Looking through my yarn store, I noticed that I had a number of different shades of this fine marl linen - we bought it years ago from our first spinner in Comber, N Ireland - and as the loom is threaded up for a fine yarn (ie three ends to each dent of the reed) we are going to make a series of cloths out of the marl. Above is the navy/white. It looks just like denim when woven up and is incredibly smooth and shiny. We also have a dusty pastel pink, a pastel blue and a beautiful muted light green.

Other croft news: the chickens are laying well - we are now getting half a dozen araucana eggs (the green/blue ones) each day and every new hen we hatched last year is in full lay. The turkey is laying and a friend is using the eggs for baking, and the guinea fowl are laying, but goodness knows where! The ducks all just seem to be sleeping in the sun and eating.

Tomorrow, if the weather is not raining, I'm going to spend the day outside with a sack picking up the various bits of debris which have collected and are making the place look a bit untidy. We must be ready for the Singing Weavers!

Even more lambs... wonderful Wensleydale... and Tokyo pandas

2011-04-06T13:05:00.000+01:00

Update on the twins. Here's one of them, now a week old and both doing very well.

Now we have an orphan lamb on the premises. Mum was a gimmer, it was raining, a difficult birth and she galloped off as soon as she was able. Momma Bramble is getting into practice again and the lamb is doing well, if a little surprised!

Getting the Wensleydale spinning ready to go now. Washed and aired. Beautiful colours ranging from pure white through light grey, dark grey and chocolate brown with wonderful coppery tips to the curls.

I'm looking forward to perhaps being more heavily involved in the Uist Wool Group who are working towards building, equipping and running a small woollen mill in Grimsay, Uist. The proposed mill will service the needs of local livestock producers and could ultimately reflect in a diversity of types of Harris Tweed as well as a resurgence of the industry in the Uists. I'm so looking forward to weaving the first Wensleydale Harris Tweed - it's going to be just gorgous!

And a reminder to anyone who in Harris who is thinking of applying for the training places for weaving double-widths for the mills and hattersley single widths on an independent basis. The closing date for applications is coming up next week so you need to get the skates on if you haven't already. This is a marvellous opportunity - particularly for those who wish to start a small business - and it's not going to happen again in the near future. So grab it now and ring HDL at the Old Hostel in Tarbert......

And finally, to celebrate the arrival of two pandas at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, here are a couple of photos we took during our last visit to Japan. In Yokahama chinatown there is an area which is totally panda-orientated and we bought bread rolls with chocolate filling decorated as pandas. Very cute, and very tasty.

Happy panda.

Sad panda.

Footnote: Events Monthly will available from today - so pick up your free copy next time you go shopping.

Another new addition to the croft...

2011-03-29T10:43:00.000+01:00

Introducing daughter of Daisy. Daisy was a cross-cheviot who came to us via friends in Bunavonneader. She had been abandoned by her mum and when her adopted mum moved to the mainland, we welcomed Daisy into our flock. Last year Daisy was the last to lamb and sadly her lamb died at a couple of months old from an infected tick bite. This year she is the third to lamb and her daughter looks to be almost completely cheviot.

Daisy looks to be caring for her lamb very well. The picture above shows the lamb at about 5 minutes old. What a wee cutie!!

Reasons To Be Cheerful - one and two......!

2011-03-26T19:32:00.000Z

Right on time, Mr Stork made a special delivery to Croft 37 yesterday evening. Not one, but two lambs. Charlie the Cheviot Ram has made his mark on the flock.

Mother and lambs both thriving.

Well, here on Scalpay even the rocks have horns!

Actually, it's Mr 4-horn lurking behind a rock. He thinks we can't see him!

The Postie brought a surprise package last week......

Yes, my new Ashford Country Spinner has arrived. It was simple to assemble, and I gave it a good polish with linseed oil.

With my usual lack of planning, I forgot to take a full length photo of the spinner. But here's a shot of the bobbin almost full of chunky Wensleydale destined for Teoshandspuns at Broadford, Isle of Skye. The bobbin on top of the spinner is an Ashford jumbo bobbin - just to give you an idea of the scale of it all.

It took a bit of practice to get it going, and for a while I just couldn't see how on earth it would work, but now its really comfortable and you really can get 1kg off one bobbin. I recommend the Country Spinner to anyone else making chunkies.

How Can We Help?

2011-03-14T18:24:00.000Z

Our thoughts go out to those homeless and bereaved in the north of Japan.
If you are affected, or wish to help, the British Red Cross has started a relief fund. Donations can be made at: http://www.redcross.org.uk/
Thank you.

Great News for Scalpay

2011-03-09T10:28:00.000Z

Yesterday, the keys of the new Buth Scalpaigh community shop were handed over to the project steering committee. This is the culmination of much hard work by the committee aided ably by Harris Development Ltd.

But this is just the start - now there will be a management committee needed, renovations to be carried out, operating plans to be formulated, staff training, product sourcing etc. etc.

Speaking as a small business owner, having to spend four or so hours per week travelling to Stornoway for shopping, along with the associated costs of travel (£1.43 for unleaded; £1.49 for diesel just now) will make it very worthwhile for me to patronise the new shop.

Not quite sure when it will open, but watch this space. Also, google "Buth Scalpaigh" for news reports, or see the blog link on the right hand side.

This photo shamelessly lifted from Ken MacDonald & Co website: http://www.kenmacdonaldproperties.co.uk/properties_detail.php?prop_id=85 a leading estate and property agent for the Western Isles. Tel: 01851 704 040

Snowing, cold and very windy today. Spending the day picking Wensleydale fleeces ready for the arrival of my new Ashford Country Spinner which is hopefully en route from P & M Woolcrafts.

Lost and Found

2011-03-06T12:45:00.000Z

For todays' blog I am resurrecting my "Hen of the Day" feature. Below is a photo of a mystery hen who has joined our merry bunch. She is completely black and has a rosebud comb and a big sail-tail. She is in very good condition and looks to be a fully mature hen. We first noticed her yesterday at feeding time because she was not part of the usual rough-and-tumble feeding frenzy, rather she was standing on the outskirts looking a bit lost.

After a night in the byre with the rest, she is still around and we can't find out where she's come from. None of the neighbours have black hens. What a mystery! If anyone has any information about this hen, please let us know. We are more than happy to re-patriate her, or we can keep her.

Another new addition to the poultry gang is the naked neck chick who went down the road to our neighbour as "Duchess" and yesterday returned to us as "Duke"!! He is a fine fellow - half buff-orpington and half golden naked neck. Our other two naked neck cockerels are getting on a bit so Duke can take up the slack when the time comes.

Things have been a bit hectic on the croft over the past couple of weeks. We have had a big outbreak of "pink-eye" amongst the flock. This is a nasty inflammatory condition of the eyes that cause a cataract like growth to form over the lens and the affected sheep become blind for a while. The treatment is an eye ointment containing an antibiotic which has to be applied to affected eyes every couple of days, and which reduces the inflammation. Most sheep recover within a week or two. However, a peripheral problem with this condition is that because the sheep can't see she can't find her food by herself, and this is not a good thing to happen just before lambing. It is also a very contagious condition and passes from sheep to sheep mainly following bad weather during clustering round the feeding trough and hay net. Thankfully nearly all the sheep are now on the road to recovery. One of last years' lambs looks like she may be blind so will need a lot of care for the rest of her life. Whilst its always good to have births and good news on the blog, we do need to reflect that here on the croft we are not immune to the problems that beset other farmers in other parts of the country. It's been a wretched winter for us - heavy losses due to the weather conditions. Spring can't come soon enough and we all have our fingers crossed for some good weather to get the grass growing and give the new lambs a fresh start when they start to arrive at the end of the month.

Spring in the air, London 2012 and some interesting news.....

2011-02-17T20:56:00.001Z

Long time since my last blog, for which I apologise. There has been much activity on the spinning wheel since Christmas. Curly Wensleydale, furry Mohair and sleek Friesland have all been picked, spun, washed and hanked. And there's still more to do before we start on the annual treat which is cleaning out the loomshed ready for the season (NOT!).

But today was sunny and even a wee bit warm so we grabbed the matches, woke up the dogs, and went for a falaisg - which for the non-Gaelic means a heather-burn on the common grazings.

Aaahhh, the smell of smouldering heather is just amazing.

For those not familiar with the concept of heather burning - when heather is a few years old it becomes very lanky and shades the ground beneath which blocks out the growth of grass and any other little green plants that will feed the sheep. The stems of the heather become hard and woody and the moors also become dangerous to both animals and humans as the overgrowth conceals holes and unevenness of the ground beneath.

So once every ten years, each section of the common grazings that has cover of heather is burned to re-envigorate the heather plants and also re-establish grass growth so that the sheep can graze on it during the summer period.

On the way home, Bramble decided to put in a bit of training in the pool. She has hopes of competing in London next year and is spending a lot of time in the water. We couldn't find a baton to practice the relay, but a coke bottle seemed to fit the bill.

Unfortunately, when the time came to pass on the baton, Pippin had got fed up and gone home!

The other night on a journey to Stornoway at dusk, I saw a mountain hare - nattily clothed in white - dart across the road in front of me. Though I knew that these hares were in the hills, I've never seen one before. It was quite a surprise, but a very pleasant one. Hope it manages to avoid the roads in future.

The news on the island today is that there is the possibility of the island being given to the community by the trust which currently owns it. Scalpay featured on the STV news and in lots of newspapers and other media reporting. In Scotland, much of the land is owned in large chunks by individuals and trusts. Even if you buy a house and garden, the land underneath is still owned by someone else. A few years ago the government made it possible for communities to buy out these estates when they came on the market and there have been several successful takeovers. The island of Scalpay used to be part of the North Harris Estate until it was split off and sold in, I think, the seventies, so there is speculation as to whether it might be merged with Harris again. When we see the progress NHE has made since it was taken over by their community, it is certainly a thought.

Finally, the northern lights are out tonight - if its clear and the moon not too bright, they will be observable from about 9.30pm here. After a clear day, we have our fingers crossed. Here at the Outend we have only a few streetlights, and can find a dark place to see the sky, so hopefully we will be in for a good show later on.

Weather Report

2011-02-04T21:08:00.001Z

Despite the amazing news that the Scalpay Bridge anemometer recorded a top gust of nearly 107 mph last evening, we are all still here!

It was pretty breezy, and our bin turned over, but apart from that, it's surprising to find such extreme conditions being recorded so close to us (we are about 1.5 miles from the bridge and located in a very exposed high place) at around the time we were taking the dogs for their evening walk. The power was off from 6am to 7.30 pm today presumably due to lighting strikes, and some areas are still off as I write.

Todays task was to finish spinning the Friesland for Driftwater Weaves, and the last brown Wensleydale fleece for Teoshandspuns in Broadford, Skye. So tomorrow is going to be wash day for the hanks!

Another New Face on the Croft

2011-01-17T11:04:00.000Z

Just before tupping time last year, our four-horned ram went to live on a croft at Ammunsuidhe in North Harris and the Hebridean ram who was living there came to us. The picture below is of our ram in the trailer ready for his journey.

We hear that he has settled down well. The exchange ram is a fine fellow with two horns - very dark brown and a little more reserved in character than Mr 4 Horn. But he was working with the Cheviot ram we got from the auction mart and we are now looking forward to lambing at the end of March to see the results!

On Saturday we went up to Bernera to drop off a load of mohair and Friesland hand-spun which I've been working on over Christmas and New Year. We also collected another new ram who was in need of a good home. This one is called "Tuppie", and is a Shetland ram of two years, though he's a good size. He had a difficult early life, but is now a real handsome fellow with a good helping of attitude and a lovely kind nature. His fleece is gorgeous, you can just bury your hands in it and its crimpy and white and fine and soft - and I could go on, but I won't!

Here he is (above) getting ready to leave Bernera, and here he is again (below), settling into the apportionment at Croft 37 on Scalpay.

He has a couple of ewes with him for company and comes running down the hill to the fence when we appear with an armful of hay. I've wanted a Shetland ram for ages as I think the crosses will be interesting. If he's got a black gene lurking in his DNA then we will be even more pleased!

This week we have got more spinning on the agenda, a trip to Stornoway to pick up the new issue of "Events Monthly" (out on Wednesday so don't forget to pick up your free copy!) and then a quick nip round Harris delivering them on Friday.

The sun is out just now but its been very wet and the shed is quite damp. We need a few days of easterly winds to dry off the croft and air out the loomshed, and also get an early start on the falaisgean (heather burning).

Scalpay Linen Dog does Winter Sports

2011-01-12T20:17:00.000Z

A perfect picture from across the Atlantic to update us on the progress of the Scalpay Linen Hebridean Tweed dog who moved to the states last year.

He has been lucky enough to go skiing at Cranmore Mt in Conway, New Hampshire which is one of the oldest ski resorts in the US. He's obviously having a good time - many thanks to Sandy for keeping us abreast of his adventures.

All is quiet at Scalpay Linen just now - lots of spinning of mohair, the gift of a Shetland ram from Sallie the tapestry weaver in Great Bernera, another gift of some wonderful Zwartbles fleeces from our new neighbour here at Outend, Scalpay. Sewing classes at Tweeds with Style, Drinnishader, Isle of Harris re-started after the Christmas break last evening. The festivities continued with much indulgence in Fionas "Smooth Sensations" excellent truffles and, it must be said, no sewing was done at this class! But we will be back to work again next Tuesday.

The weather has turned wet and mild which is a change from all the snow and ice, but I believe the Isle of Lewis are still in an arctic armlock.

New Harris Tweed on the shelf...

2011-01-08T11:20:00.000Z

Just before Shawbost Mill closed for Christmas holidays, we collected our new Harris Tweed that they had finished for us. Now this tweed has been on the go for months - it took ages to warp, ages to weave, it sat around for ages whilst I was in Japan, then I left it in the mill for ages. So when it came back, I'd almost forgotten what it looked like!

There are three basic wefts in the tweed, together with accent ends. The above picture shows the plain Hebridean weft (the one with the orb mark on it), which is much softer than the others and has a quite strange shot effect when you move the cloth about. To the right is the scarlet and pink - two shots of each which gives a lovely warm rich look when combined with the shading of the warp. And at the bottom cloth has pink and blue - again two shots of each.

Above is a close up showing the first accent threads I used in the warp. On the warping mill it looked great but when I started weaving I thought they looked too bold. When the tweed came back finished we liked them with the red and pink weft (top) but still felt they were too heavy for the pink and blue(bottom). However, they do have a certain charm and tone down quite a lot when viewed from a distance.

So then we put in some space dyed accent ends - they featured in the blog a while ago when I was using some Landscape dyes. These turned out very subtle on the red and pink (above) but I like the effect very much.

On the pink and blue they worked really well. Sorry for the pathetic photo which doesn't show the colours up at all well. If you nip back to http://scalpaylinen.blogspot.com/2010/08/ok-at-last-we-are-back-to-some-creative.html then you can see some of the space dyed yarns that went into this tweed.

On the whole, we are really pleased with the effect of the space dyed element in the cloth and hope to develop this more in the future.

Now for something completely different.....

Up here in the Western Isles, we are very much aware of our position balanced on the edge of Europe, surrounded by sea - the Minch to the east and the North Atlantic to the west. Every year people get into difficulties due to our maritime situation, and we are very reliant on the Coastguard service to help. As someone who comes from a fishing family, it is reassuring to know that there is someone there to help in the event of an emergency, and the Coastguards help numerous small craft users and holidaymakers each year too.

Now we find that, due to government budget cuts, we may lose our Coastguard Station at Stornoway. I quote from an appeal which is being circulated to gather support to retain the station:

"We are asking for the support of our community to ensure that those who live, work or play on or around the seas and also our diverse, beautiful but often hostile coastline, continue to be served by a Coastguard Station which has vital local knowledge of our unique environment and society.

If you would like to help us please e-mail: savestornowaycoastguard@gmail.com or go to http://www.stornowaycg.co.uk/ to find out how."

Whilst we all know that budgetary cuts are inevitable, it seems not quite right to cut a service which in 2009 co-ordinated the rescue of 684 people across the district which stretches from the west coast of scotland northwards and into mid-Atlantic.

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-25T17:46:00.000Z

No-name turkey is celebrating her second Christmas with us. She has grown into a fine bird and we hope she will be with us for many years to come.

I'm not a great traditionalist when it comes to Christmas - we enjoy a walk out if the weather is suitable and a chance to think about future plans and dreams. This year, though the forecast was a bit iffy and it was certainly pretty chilly, the sun was out and we decided to take a run out to Luskentyre to give the dogs a good run on the beach and pay our respects to past generations at the nearby cemetery.

I'm not sure what I expected, taking into account that there is still an awful lot of snow about, but the beach was magnificent coated in snow and frost - hard and crackly and very sparkly. The above shows Bramble and little Heather facing inland and you can see the snowline at high water mark which stretched up over the marram and onto the dunes behind. Bramble kept dashing up out of site in the grass - maybe there were rabbits about!

Not to be outdone, here's Pippin on the sand with the sea behind and the island of Taransay (remember "Castaway" in 2000?).

With an eye to next season, this afternoon I got out a bag of recently arrived lambswool produced by Hynchcliffe and purchased from Uppingham Yarns (http://www.wools.co.uk/). The colour on my camera is not that great indoors because clockwise from top right is baby pink, cocoa, charcoal and pastel blue.
These will be used as weft for the linen warp I have currently in the loom and will become beautiful fluffy scarves which will be on sale from the loomshed next year.

We wish all our readers a happy holiday. But those for whom today is a sad occasion due to bereavement are also in our thoughts - may you find peace.

Weather first, then more interesting stuff!

2010-12-17T16:44:00.000Z

First of all, yes it's been cold here, and yes, we have had a bit of snow, and here is an iconic picture of one of our Hebridean Ewe Hoggs looking like a sugar dusted christmas cake decoration.

Between them, this lot scoffed an entire bale of hay today.

The Cheviot ram just managed to get into the bottom left of the picture. He hasn't lost an ounce of condition during tupping and still looks as chunky as he did in November.

Remember the angora goats I saw at Sallies tapestry workshop in Great Bernera the other week? I've spent ages trying to decide what to do with it - having no experience with mohair whatsoever.

Anyway, I think I've cracked it. Here's the recipe for processing angora goat hair....... First of all, steep it in a solution of Hebridean Soap (I use lemon and eucalyptus liquid soap that Linda makes up for me) and hand-hot water. Leave it for a few hours - don't agitate it too much in case it felts.

Then do the same thing again.

Then use a bit of Merino Lanolin Wash (available from Skyeskins at Waternish, Isle of Skye) and soak in cool water for 30 minutes.

Take it out, spin the excess water out in a horizontal spin drier (not the sort that's in a front-loader automatic washing machine).

Stick it all on a towel and let it dry in a warm spot, turning gently every now and again.

At this stage, it must be completely dry before you start picking it or it will tangle and stretch. It will be lovely and shiny looking now - anything that looks dull or short or bitty can be discarded as it will bring the quality of the whole batch down. The bobbin below was spun direct from picking - didn't go through the carder at all. A bit of thick and thin and a few curly bits did find their way in. Thought it would be more curly but I think that mohair - unlike Wensleydale which is big and bold and right in yer face - is discreet and elegant and very understated but just reeks of class!

Then I hanked it up. As a single its a tad twisty but taking into account that its got to be washed, re-hanked, dyed and then wound and then used in a shuttle for tapestry, I'm counting on the slight overtwist to even out by the end of the operation.

As a point of interest, the black hanks hanging next to the mohair is some Wensleydale spinning I'm doing for Teoshandspuns at Broadford, Isle of Skye. So Teo, if you're seeing this - I am doing it, really...

With all this fabby fibre fun indoors we aren't really noticing the snow creeping up outside the front door, but if you are - take extra care and don't venture outside unless you are well-prepared (ie crampons, ice-axe, huskies, fully-provisioned sled and (on a special seasonal note) reindeer).

A feed delivery just in time!

2010-12-09T16:36:00.001Z

Though our weather has not been as cold or as snowy as others in the UK we have been disadvantaged by mainland conditions, and lorries containing our essential supplies have been taking longer than usual to arrive.

Yesterday we were are the supermarket in Stornoway and there were lots of empty spaces on the shelves. Fortunately we have simple tastes and everything on our list was in stock - except the rich tea biscuits.

Down to their last bit of hay, the sheep have been waiting for the Lewis Crofters lorry to arrive at the gate, and today it did! So it was cheers all round and a dash for the feed shed to put the bales and bags away before we got mugged (or should that be "fleeced"!)

The snow has more or less disappeared near sea level at least, but it's now blowing a gale. So batten down the hatches....

Tapestries to die for.....

2010-11-28T12:27:00.001Z

Every so often I find something textiley here that takes my breath away. A couple of weeks ago I went over to Great Bernera on the West Side of Lewis to meet a weaver - Sallie Tyszko who has a studio "Driftwater Weaves". http://www.sallie-tyszko.co.uk/ . Sallie moved to Tobson from the Highlands a couple of years ago and brought her skills in tapestry weaving.

To start with, she has these amazing Angora goats - gorgeous and curly, they look right at home in the rocky landscape and their fibre is shiny and smooth, like short silk. Sallie is also a hand-spinner but is busy making new tapestries so she asked me if I could do a bit of Angora for her. In past years I've spun cashmere from goats, but this is something quite, quite different. Will post up some piccies when I've really got going.

Above is one of Sallie's looms - this one an upright tapestry loom which is more comfortable to work with as the weaver doesn't have to bend down all the time. There is a work in progress of some shilisdair (flags). Sallie is a talented artist too, and makes sketches and paintings to base here tapestries on. She dyes up all the colours she needs and is trying to use as much hand-spuns as is possible - which is great for me!

The tapestry above is a finished work based on a scene where she once lived on the Black Isle. the driftwood framing is charming and so well-suited to the work. You need to see the tapestries up close to appreciate the variety of textures and shades used.

The work below is simply stunning. It's woven on transparent fishing line for warp and is sparkly and very dramatic. The beads really do look like air bubbles.

I would advise adding Sallie to your itinerary if you are heading towards the Western Isles next year - her studio is a treasure trove of colour and texture, works in progress and finished pieces decorating the walls.

Meantime, we, like the rest of the UK are experiencing unseasonal snowy and very cold conditions. Looks great but is proving a bit of a problem to get around. For once I had stocked up early on road salt, de-icer and screenwash so have been congratulating myself since.

If you are going out this weekend, please take care.

Spotted in Tokyo...

2010-11-09T13:10:00.000Z

Well, after two weeks scouring the shopping malls of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka (yes, a tough job but someone has to do it!), when I got back to Scalpay on Friday I had seen only one item of Harris Tweed. That was a natty pea-green jacket worn by a Japanese gentleman who was in the queue with us waiting to get into the annual exhibition at Nara.

However, my spy in the east has sent me the photo below of a display in a shop called Beautiful and Young United Arrows.

Lots on the agenda now I'm back. Some hand-looms to set up, some special spinning, some new linen..

Today we packed up the wool clip ready to be collected by lorry tomorrow, so its good to see the back of all that!

Winter is Here....

2010-10-19T22:02:00.000+01:00

     This morning saw a light dusting of snow on top of the Clisham - the highest mountain in the Western Isles. I would have taken a picture but my camera is packed away in my suitcase waiting for an early start tomorrow morning. Scalpay Linen is going on tour again to the Land of the Rising Sun - this time hopefully to include some travel south and more visits to textile orientated venues.
     Apparently knitwear is a la mode this winter in Tokyo, so I have packed away some handspun and some needles (no, not in the hand luggage, though I am hoping to get away with a discreet crochet hook to while away the long haul). Only fly in the ointment is that our friends from across the channel seem to be engaged in some sort of industrial action and the status of the airport in Paris is a bit iffy at the moment.
      So I am hoping there will be textiley photos in the blog over the next couple of weeks. Blogging has taken a back seat just lately because things have been so hectic in the loomshed, but now its time to relax and do something different.......

New Rams on the Block!

2010-10-09T19:27:00.000+01:00

Monday was one of the highlights of the crofting year - Ram Sales at the Auction Mart in Stornoway. This year it was held in the afternoon/evening. There was a crowd of rams waiting to be sold, and a crowd of crofters hoping for good prices.

Before the sale proper started there was the best ram in the auction competition - ably judged by John Murdo, the grazier of the Shiant Isles.

I did the bidding, as usual, and we ended the evening with three lads who travelled home with us in the back of the pickup. It had been a long auction and we were famished so we dropped off at the Bangla Spice takeaway and restaurant in Church Street, Stornoway for curries. I had a Rogan Josh, and O/H had a Korma. It is a very nice place with good food and a comfortable ambience. Unfortunately, having spent hours in the fragrant company of a bunch of rams, and having ram-handled ours into the pickup I think we did not represent the people of Harris in the sort of way we might have done otherwise, and there must have been gasps of relief and shots of air freshener following our departure. Anyway, the service was superspeedy!

On arrival back in Scalpay I couldn't resist taking a photo of the new Cheviot ram when we opened the van door to let him out. Just with the light of the torch, we felt a bit like sheep rustlers in the pitch dark, except we were bringing them in, not taking them out.

Next morning everyone was happy to come for some crunch and all have now settled down on the croft - busy building up condition and limbering up for their duties which start on the first Saturday in November.

When downloading the camera I came upon this cloud picture which we must have taken in error. It is such a peaceful one, and shows a glimpse of blue sky, so is worth recording for posterity on the blog. Having said that, today has been really gorgeous - end to end sun though a bit blowy latterly.

National Mod in Thurso starts tomorrow I believe. Choirs from local schools will be competing, so we wish them all every success and hope they all have a great time.

Oh what a beautiful morning.....

2010-09-30T10:22:00.000+01:00

Well, the sun is shining, the sky is blue (over 50% of it anyway!) and I'm raring to go. At least I would be if I had calculated the yardage of thick ends for my Hobbit Linen. As it is, I've got 16 sections sitting on the warping mill and am sitting in the house furiously treadling away on the wheel twisting up enough for the final 18 sections.
Sorry no pictures today - pc in slo-mo mode so don't have time to wait for eternal uploading.
Second sewing class at Tweeds with Style in Drinnishader on Tuesday evening went interestingly. Turns out my sewing machine was horribly clogged up with bits - understandably since I've never cleaned it. And my needle was blunt. Fortunately the problem was sorted out quickly and I now know the bits to unscrew and where to dust inside to keep it bright and shiny. Also turns out that I can sew in a straight line - bit of a surprise there. Homework this week is unpicking everything we did at class and sewing it in again.

Another bit of interesting news is that I heard Sallie Jayne Avis - the bridal wear designer and maker from Ness has used the white herringbone linen which I wove for her last year - it is now a lovely bridal coat incorporated with frilly drapy bits and beads. It looks just gorgeous. Join Sallies Facebook and see on page 3 of the photos "Scalpay Linen". It is so amazing to see our cloth being used - it really brings it alive.

Traditional Fare - something to do while its raining!

2010-09-23T17:29:00.000+01:00

Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to make a traditional dish - so please pay attention.

Ingredients you will need: 3lb self-raising flour; 1 1/2 cups (use a small mug) brown sugar; 1 1/2 cups currants; pinch of salt; 3 tablespoons margarine; 1 1/2 tablespoons black treacle; 2 teaspoonsful ground cinammon; 1 teaspoonful bicarbonate of soda; 2 eggs (free range) beaten; milk to mix.

A square cloth of a firm weave - I use a pillow case that was originally unbleached cotton (gosh, remember those?) opened out flat; a bit of string to tie it up; a large stock pot of boiling water and three hours spare....

Here are the ingredients before we start. Put everything into a large bowl (or very clean plastic bucket) and rub in the margarine. Add milk to make a stiff dough - you know you've got it right when it alll sticks together - but beware of overdoing the milk, it should stick to itself, not to you!

If it looks like the picture above then you've got it about right.

Take your cloth and put it into a bowl. Cover with boiling water from the electric kettle and then wring it out - be very careful because after all, the water is boiling and scalds are not part of the recipe.

Lay the wet hot cloth out flat and put a handful of flour on it. Smooth it out and then put the mixture onto the cloth. Make sure the flour covers the mixture.

Gather the cloth up firmly around the mixture and tie very tightly with a piece of cord. This is very important since you don't want water swilling in and out of the cloth whilst its cooking.

Lower it carefully into the pot of boiling water and simmer for three hours - turning it over half way through.

Don't forget to open the window while its cooking unless you want to take the wallpaper off the walls!

After three hours, carefully remove it from the water - again taking full cognizance of the fact that it will be very, very, very hot. Remove the cloth and place it on a plate. Allow to cool.

Slice and eat - on its own, with butter or jam, or fried with bacon. If you don't like the rind then give it to the dog.

This dish is known as a Duff, a Dumpling or a Pudding depending on where you are. It's very filling and lasts for some days before it goes dry.

This recipe is by courtesy of Mrs Ferguson and I am sharing it with the world as its definitely too good to keep private.

Enjoy!!!!

Tomorrow I'm off to Grimsay on Uist for the Michaelmas Open Day event on Saturday. I shall be taking my camera so hope to have some photos for a future post.

Lots of things to tell you....

2010-09-15T11:15:00.000+01:00

Loads has been happening since my last blog. We had big problems with our dial-up internet access in the house which meant I only had the broadband in the shed and since the shed has been packed out almost every day during opening hours, there just hasn't been the opportunity to update the blog. However, now we have a dongle for mobile broadband (which isn't actually broadband since we don't get broadband mobile here, instead it works at the same speed as dial-up!), so we are communicado again from the house. It does get very complicated living here sometimes....

Daisys lamb is growing up fast - here he is enjoying a bottle. Sadly this morning we lost the first lamb we hand-reared, from Braxy. It was such a cold night with gale force wind, low temperatures and driving rain that I guess it was inevitable that at least one lamb wouldn't make it.

On a more cheerful note - Harris Dog who emigrated to the US has been travelling again. Here he is at Damariscotta Lake in Maine enjoying the company of another new friend - Marley the Corgi. We look forward to getting further updates on his adventures from Sandy.

Lots of really interesting folks in the shed over the past couple of weeks - Lorna the corset maker from Edinburgh took some of my white herringbone linen which she said would look fabby and has promised to send me a photo when complete, which I will post on the blog.

Carin from Australia who is heavily into tweeds and tailoring visited for the second time bringing examples of her designs. Carin has a company called "Taigh an Truish" which, translated from Gaelic means "House of Trousers". Apparently there was a time in history when the Gaels were prohibited from wearing tartan, kilts etc but they ignored the rule when they were at home. If they travelled away, they would leave their highland dress at "Taigh an Truish" and change into lowland dress. Then on the way back they would change again! Carin is hoping to move to Harris in the future and continue her business from the heart of the tweedlands. We wish her all the best and look forward to welcoming her.

Jean, Treasurer of the mid-Essex Spinners, Weavers and Dyers Guild, visited armed with two gorgeous grey Shetland fleeces which she swopped for two Hebridean ones. Jean does a great deal of hand-spinning and also is a great fan of Natural Fibres Ltd in Launceston. She took some photos and we had a great time chatting about spinning, weaving, fibres, etc etc, and the time went too quickly. She is hoping that her guild will be able to arrange a crafting tour to the Hebrides which sounds like a great idea.

If you're a vegetarian, best skip over this paragraph... At the beginning of the month we had a delivery from BruHighlanders - http://www.bruehighlanders.co.uk/ . They stay at Brue in west Lewis (we got our dog Bramble from Brue and also collect Hebridean fleeces from a croft in the same area) and produce prime highland beef which is really spectacular. We've already had a joint and some mince from the pack and it is delicious. I would recommend them to anyone who is in the market for locally produced meat from , beautifully cared-for animals. Don't know why it's taken us so long to decide to try local beef - we already produce our own lamb/mutton, eggs and chicken. Together with potatoes from the croft and sitting in front of a peat fire, what more do we need for the perfect life?

Actually, I can answer that - my last Hebridean Harris Tweed was turned back by the stamper at the Harris Tweed Authority. Haven't asked why yet, but imagine its either a "Friday-afternoon" tweed (ie really badly woven!) or I've got the weights all wrong. Anyway, its good to know that the HTA are dancing on their toes and keeping up standards. Interestingly, on the same day I got an order from our customers in London who sell to the entertainment industry for costumes etc. for linen cloth to go to New Zealand for use in the new production of "The Hobbit". That news bucked us up no end as its been a while since Scalpay Linen was out in public - last outing I think was Glyndebourne a couple of years ago, though I think there was a little something in the TV version of "Merlin".

Here is the left hand side of our new Harris Tweed which is on the loom just now. Had a really bad time with the accent threads which were just not right at all, so I swapped them for some of the space-dyed Harris wool which featured in an earlier blog and they fit in very well. Have had some very encouraging compliments about the look of the tweed. Seems to have the right number of shots per inch and nice straight edges so hope this one will go through the stamper ok.

The new training for weavers in Harris is due to start in January 2011. We were down at the workshop in Harris where the double width looms are set up and the project seems to be progressing well. The Hattersley weavers will get training on their own premises - as there is less work for the Hattersley looms from the mills the intention is that these weavers will be setting up their own small businesses around the looms, in much the same way as Scalpay Linen operates. Adverts inviting applications will be appearing in the local press very soon.

Congratulations to intrepid climbers Emmett and Macleod

2010-08-28T22:45:00.000+01:00

We spent the afternoon and early evening today riveted to the TV watching Tim Emmett and Dave Macleod tackle a new route up the overhanging 600 foot cliff of Sron Uladail in North Harris. It was just amazing watching them and by the end I was completely exhausted!! Congratulations to everyone involved in the event - and what a wonderful opportunity to showcase our magnificent scenery and heritage.

2010-08-26T15:16:00.000+01:00

OK, at last we are back to some creative stuff! Today I was at Shawbost mill dropping off the Hebridean Harris Tweed and the last linen (purple, red and white) so I feel I've done something a bit useful after a period of being in the doldrums.

Last week I decided to dye the light colours of Harris wool I have in stock so my loom pixie hanked them all up for me and I spent a jolly, if sweaty, morning in the kitchen mising dyes, boiling pots and rinsing out hanks. All my Australian landscape dyes are used up now - but what's the point of having them in a packet when they could be brightening up the world on a bit of yarn?

Here are a few of the hanks before I wound them onto cones on the Munty. They are all crimped up because they're singles and not very stable.

Once onto the Munty cones they look quite different, and then, when put through the winder onto pirns ---

Well, they are really yummy. The Harris Tweed I have in the loom looked wonderful on the warping mill, but was rather disappointing on the loom and I've been struggling to find a weft that will do it justice. The accent threads I used were far too dark and heavy and made it all look very peculiar. So I've whipped them out and replaced them with the space dyed yarn above. Can't wait to start weaving to see what difference it makes to the end result!

Here's a cute photo I took of Baggy the duck in conference with Bramble - not sure what was being discussed but it ended with Baggy making a grab for Brambles' toes!

Anyone who is interested - and I know a lot of my visitors here are - might like to know that the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers 2011 Summer School details is in the current edition of the Journal and also on their website - http://www.wsd.org.uk/.

There is a wide range of courses available for - particularly of interest to me is the "Colour in Tapestry" one which looks like it could be useful in giving me some basics of colour work as well as a chance to learn a type of weaving I've never tried before.

If you're not a member of a Guild or don't subscribe to the Journal, I would advise you to look into it without delay. There is even an online guild for those of us living in out of the way places!

Scarves, Eggs, Shows and what I did on my way home from Stornoway last Wednesday.....

2010-08-14T12:30:00.000+01:00

Another long gap between blogs I'm afraid. Not sure why, but guess it's just the time of the year. So much to do! Here is our current project - making scarves. Fringeing and finishing. There will be a variety of different materials - Linsey Woolseys, linens and Harris Tweeds, so something for everyone.

We went through a spell when there were very few eggs in the nest boxes, then discovered that the hens had found themselves new places to lay. Here is a very cosy spot we discovered in the byre, and who can blame the hen who thought that a nice sheepskin nest was her idea of heaven!

And talking of eggs - how's this for a whopper! Weighing in at 113g - we haven't found which hen laid it, but guess that watery eyes and crossed legs might be clues.

On my way home from a trip to Stornoway on Wednesday, I got accidentally locked in the public toilet beside the Kinloch Historical Society premises near Balallan. The handle came off the door and left me trapped inside. I had to dial 999 to get released, so I'm taking this opportunity to thank the lads from the Stornoway Fire and Rescue Service for their speedy response to my plea for help. In future I shall try to make sure and "go" before I leave home!

We didn't get to see the annual meteorite shower this year - unfortunately the weather has been too cloudy for that.

Last Friday was the North Harris Agricultural Show and it was a good day out. Baggy the Aylesbury drake won a second prize, one of his mates won a first, and the cockerel who used to look like a starling won a second. So all in all, a good result for the Croft 37 Poultry. I spent the afternoon spinning Falkland wool on my Ashford Traveller wheel in the crafts tent, and it was a very relaxing enjoyable time chatting to passersby. There's not a huge amount of spinning going on here these days, so its a real pleasure to devote some time to it.

Daisys lamb and the new tweed

2010-08-02T15:31:00.000+01:00

It's a long time since I last added to my last blog - things have been very hectic with lots of visitors to the loomshed, weaving, warping and winding to do, lots of croft work, agricultural shows to attend and really rainy weather.

Here is an update on Daisys little lamb. Her input into his upbringing continues to be minimal and he has now joined the lamb gang - the lamb on the right gives an idea of the difference in size between the lambs born at the right time, and Daisys lamb. However, he's feeding from the bottle well and shows lots of interest in everything.

Here's my latest tweed - another Hebridean Harris Tweed ready to go to the mill when they open after the summer holidays. With about 8 yards to go I finally cracked and put in a contrasting warp.

When it has been finished, I'll post a photo of it - quite an unusual colour combination but it seems that almost every colour goes well with the Hebridean brown.

It's the North Harris Agricultural Show at Willow Park Showground in Urgha on Friday, so the loomshed will be closed then. We are busy polishing up the chickens and cockerels and hope that the weather is good enough to take a good selection with us. Last year I seem to remember, the weather was so tragic that I only managed a couple of ducks - though they quite enjoyed it.

Publication date for the new edition of Events Monthly - the free paper in Lewis and Harris is on Wednesday so if you are reading this locally, don't forget to grab a copy to see what's happening during the coming month.

Birth Announcement

2010-07-15T13:14:00.001+01:00

To Daisy (formerly of Bunnavoneader)

The gift of a son

Safely delivered yesterday at around 6pm.

Mother and son doing well despite the atrocious weather.

Scalpay Dog goes Globetrotting

2010-07-14T11:17:00.000+01:00

One of our Hebridean Harris Tweed dogs - woven by me and sewn by Martina has found its way across the Atlantic to a new home in Hampton, New Hampshire (above Boston on the map). He certainly looks very comfortable and we see he's made a new friend - Sammy the cat - already. Lazy days, relaxing by the pool, surrounded by trees and supping on maple syrup - what a wonderful future!

Hands up who remembers the little ducklings hatched by one of our scatty buff orpington hens in June. Well, here they are now. Mum still keeps a watchful eye on them from a distance, but they definitely know they are ducks, and so does she. She adopted another couple of chicks from a previous brood and seems to have taken to a life of domestic bliss with some enthusiasm.

On Sunday morning we saw a Peregrine on a light pole opposite the house - too far away to take a photo, but near enough to see the characteristic zebra striping on its chest. What an amazing bird. There are rabbits under every stone and in every patch of bracken at the Outend (wonder if the population explosion has anything to do with the mink eradication programme?) so we hope that the selection of birds of prey visiting us will increase.

Yesterday we had our annual visit from our buyers in London who sell to the theatre/films/tv etc costume makers. Latest news is that some our linen was used for the BBC series "Merlin".

Reviewing a Really Busy Week

2010-07-12T13:56:00.000+01:00

Last week was the busiest so far of the season. We welcomed over 50 visitors to our loomshed and now need to spend some time replacing stock - a nice problem to have! Many thanks to Sandy & Co from the States who always bring delicious maple syrup when they visit, as well as lots of enthusiasm and news.

Also, we paid a visit to Harris Tweed Hebrides to pick up some cloth they have been finishing for us - below is a green and white linen - 12 x 12 herringbone. Some striped, some checked with green and some checked with natural. About 28m all together. It's got a very nice feel to it, whilst still retaining our signature "tweedy" effect.

This is our new Harris Tweed. A few weeks ago I showed it on the warping mill ready for beaming. It's a burnt orange with Hebridean wool as the warp, and the weft is the burnt orange, twill weave and single width as always. Completely unique.

And here is a close up of it with the orb mark.

Currently there is another Hebridean Harris Tweed on the loom, but the next to go on the beam will be this one pictured below. A striking mix of pink, blue and three highlights on a colour gradated warp - in either a twill or a 2 x 2 herringbone, whichever looks better. Weft will most likely be pink. We are really excited about this tweed - can't wait to start.....

And finally, we are still waiting for Daisy and her pal to lamb. According to the calendar, daddy is now most likely to be Mr 4-Horn Hebridean, fresh back from his working Christmas and New Year in Galson. So maybe Tuesday or Wednesday will be lambing day.

Ladies in Waiting - Daisy and her pal

2010-06-29T21:57:00.000+01:00

The other day, we were at the end of the croft checking if any of the stock which wasn't on the summer grazings needed shearing when we saw Daisy the cross Cheviot and her pal. Thoughts of how well they were looking and how plump soon gave well to astonishment when we realised that they were both in lamb! Don't know who the daddy is, don't know when the lambs are due but we're waiting daily for the patter of tiny hooves again!

Incidentally - you can see our tree on the top right of the photo. It's a Rowan and is old and gnarled and about six foot tall. But it's a tree, and as such is a highly treasured asset of the croft.

Last weekend saw a lot of yachting activity in the North Harbour - here's a picture of three of them at anchor enjoying a peaceful stopover. One crew even managed up to the Outend to visit the loomshed.

And finally another croft scene - we have a glacial valley across the croft with steep cliffs that the sheep can't get to and so there is a variety of plant life flourishing there. Here is a patch of honeysuckle. Tonight the perfume from it was totally glorious - the air was warm and still (yet surprisingly the midgies were not out) and you could smell it from twenty metres away. We didn't want to come indoors tonight - a perfect summer evening, definitely a memory to tuck away and enjoy again in the depths of next winter.

Land of the Midnight Sun? Not quite...

2010-06-20T10:28:00.000+01:00

This was the view from my loomshed window at exactly midnight last night just as the pips were on the radio! Now we know that it wasn't midsummer night, but it was such a lovely sky - the wisps of dark cloud at the top of the photo remind me so much of Hebridean wool when it comes off the carder...

Anyway, talking about Hebridean sheep - which as you know is one of my favourite subjects - they are being sheared one by one as their fleeces start to loosen.

So this is the start of next year's Handspun Hebridean Harris Tweed (H3T). The more fleeces the merrier, so anyone in the Outer Hebrides who might be reading this and have some good dark brown Heb fleeces, please contact me and I'll collect.

Hebridean Harris Tweed - Finally launched

2010-06-11T10:36:00.001+01:00

Publication of "Events Monthly" saw the launch of our new Hebridean Harris Tweed. I'm busy warping up the next one just now. It's taken such a long time to this stage that I can still hardly believe it. Anyway, next stage is to finish the yarn spun by Shawbost and then collect up this year's fleeces (at the moment most of them are still walking around). The next edition of HHT will bear the "Handspun" stamp as Natural Fibres Ltd in Launceston, Cornwall have said they will supply pre-spun that I can finish off myself and this will fit in with the Harris Tweed Authority rulebook. Meantime, the little dogs in the picture have gone to those folks who have been so helpful in the project - still one or two to distribute. And many, many thanks to Martina who gave such a lot of her time in making the little dogs for me, and made such a fantastic job of them.

If you double-click on the picture below, a larger version opens. To get back to the blog, just click on the left facing arrow in a blue circle at the top left of the screen.

Yesterday we went up to Morvern Gallery at Barvas, Lewis, to pick up our felted HHT wrap and hand-made box, also to see Joanne Kaar's excellent exhibition of hand-made paper (much of which has a Scalpay Linen content!). First time we had been to the gallery, though not quite sure why since it's been around for quite a while. The cafe is wonderful - really yummy cakes and great coffee.

On Monday they are taking delivery of a really upmarket and exclusive coffee machine (the Synesso) and to feature the event they are extending an open invitation to the world to visit the Gallery and partake of a complimentary coffee made by the 2007 World Barista Champion, James Hoffman. But you have to be a bit quick since the event lasts between 10.30 am and 1pm. As mentioned there is no charge, but a coin box will be there collecting contributions for "Coffee Kids". So if you're in the area, why not make a day of it up north - Breanish Tweed, Hebridean Soap Company, Rarebird Studio, Angela Gillespie, Borgh Pottery and many more visitor attractions are all within a stones throw. The "Inn Between" provides great lunches too.

Grab a free copy of "Events Monthly" for a fabulous 72 page wallow in what's going on in Harris and Lewis for the next month, and have a great time!

New Arrivals and World Cup Fever hits Croft 37!

2010-06-09T11:29:00.000+01:00

A bit of a surprise today when we went to feed the poultry. Four little ducklings had hatched from a batch of eggs that were being incubated in a, frankly, part-time way by one of the party girl Buff Orpingtons. How she will cope to the full-time demands of a brood of ducklings - well, only time will tell! Poor Pippin nearly lost the end of his nose when he poked it in the pop-hole to see what was making the noise.

Today we are really getting in the mood for the World Cup. We don't care who wins, but there is a fair amount of training going on here in case any of the teams needs a last-minute substitute!

Bramble isn't really a team player - she likes to run away with the ball and play on her own. Could be a useful technique for whileing away the last few minutes of a match?

Heather is great on the tackle and her speciality is tripping up the other team. She can indulge in intimidating behaviour so could be yellow-carded for that. Pippin is fast and good natured. A good all-rounder who can be relied upon to keep the team together at all times!

Hebridean Harris Tweed - Out on its own at last! - and buyers beware.....

2010-06-07T16:14:00.002+01:00

A busy weekend! Heard there was a display of Harris Tweed items at the Morvern Gallery, Barvas during the coming week so decided to create something using my new Sollas Bookbinding Box which Corinna made for me a while ago. It's a gorgeous organic colour - Corinna created the paper especially for me and it was exactly what I wanted.

Then I took a length of Hebridean Harris Tweed and fringed each end to make a wrap or shawl. Then I hurried down the road to our local felter for advice on how to decorate the new shawl. She came up with a big box of different colours of wool and silk fibres and I picked some that would co-ordinate with the box colours.

After an inordinate period of time spent hunched over a foam pad wielding several felting needles I finally achieved a satisfactory result which looks a bit like it's painted on when you see it from a distance. After tidying up the back and giving it a good press I took the photos. Today it is in Stornoway.

The weather was so lovely today that when I hung the dyed silk out in front of the shed it looked so bright and shiny that I couldn't resist taking a photo.

I also have a hanging basket with a petunia and several verbena in it - no pictures until I know it isn't going to keel over and die....

10pm.
Hey, I've just found an item on E-bay entitled "Genuine Hebridean Harris Tweed Scarf."
My Genuine Hebridean Harris Tweed can easily be identified because it will always bear the "Scalpay Linen" sew on label, and also the special "Totally Harris Tweed... Distinctively Hebridean" swing ticket. It's also solid dark brown. So buyers beware - there is only one supplier of Genuine Hebridean Harris Tweed just now, and you're reading her blog right now!

2010-05-24T15:24:00.000+01:00

First shear of the season - a wether that slipped through the gather the other week and was found cavorting in the village with some of its mates. Bramble rounded it up, O/H sheared it, and now it's waiting to go to Cooking Pot Island on Tuesday evening. Pippin is looking on and picking up tips...

On the loom just now - a linen twill. 12 purple, 10 white, 2 red and with a purple and white weft. Looking good. Hopefully we'll be picking up the green linen from the mill on Thursday and dropping off the orange and brown Harris Tweed.

The North Harris Agricultural Show is going to be on 6th August at the show ground in Urgha - just down from Tarbert on the Kyles Scalpay road. O/H and I are going to be judging the tweeds, and I shall be taking my spinning wheel to do some demonstrating. So anyone who is going to be in the vicinity, do come along to see the supreme champion sheep and cattle competition, poultry competition, arts and crafts, home baking and refreshments and stalls. Lots of fun for all the family.

2010-05-17T22:33:00.000+01:00

On Saturday we moved our swing sign to another location, beside the apportionment to our croft. It looks very good in front of the stone cliff. And the strategy must have worked since we had a very busy day today - unusual for a Monday.
The weather has been just glorious today. Sunshine nearly all the way and excellent views across the mountains. I think that if I didn't live here, I would want to come here on holiday too!

Then on my way from the shed to the house I suddenly noticed a small group of primroses nestling in amongst the rocks. Also a little purple flower, if you look carefully. Everything is late in coming through this year, guess it was the very cold spring, but it's heartwarming to see them finally appear.

So a happy Primrose Day to everyone.......

Something a little unexpected.....

2010-05-14T19:03:00.000+01:00

Isn't it strange that you can be having a perfectly ordinary day - shopping in Stornoway, delivering eggs to customers, anticipating an afternoons' weaving in the shed - and then all of a sudden something happens that is so unexpected that it's almost bizarre.

Well, something like that happened to me this afternoon. We'd just arrived home at lunch time and went to turn the van behind the shed when we saw something very odd - a fencepost, sticking out of the loomshed car parking area!!

As you can imagine this was a bit disturbing - so on enquiring from the workmen, who were looking busy digging holes and carrying posts about, what was occurring, we were told that our next door neighbour was building a fence which includes the car park. OK. Fine. No warning, just a new fence. Apparently I'm lucky to still have the entrance path to the shed, so praise be for small mercies heaped upon the small business owner.

In the meantime I am apologising most sincerely to all my future customers who are under the impression that I have a dedicated car parking space for Scalpay Linen. In fact, I don't, but my neighbour will have a nicely gravelled fenced off area. I'm hoping that a new rose garden, or a landscaped parkland or even a jolly polytunnel will sprout within the soon-to-be new fence which will undoubtedly enhance the area and be a joy to behold both summer and winter alike. There will still be parking behind the shed in the passing place and my O/H has promised to sort out something tout suite so please continue to flock to my loomshed. We have had some lovely visitors so far this year, and are looking forward to welcoming many, many more.

In a Quandary....

2010-05-11T09:06:00.000+01:00

I couldn't make up my mind what the title of today's blog should be. Perhaps "It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas" (only really it's the middle of May!), or maybe that old classic - "Summertime".

Of course, it was a bit parky yesterday, and there was the odd flake or two of snow during the day, and I did nearly succumb to hyperthermia in the shed yesterday (not really), but I wasn't expecting an almost Alpine view from my bedroom window this morning......

There are still snow flurries over the Clisham, yet the sun is shining brightly over Luskentyre way. Guess that's the Outer Hebrides for you!

My late father, who was well into horticulture in Harris in the 1970's used to say that there was no point in planting out anything tender before the beginning of June or it would end in tears. This year has been a case in point.

Last Monday we had a visit from Joanne Kaar, the papermaker from Durness in Caithness who has an exhibition currently on at the Morvern Gallery in Lewis. She dropped by to pick up a sack of my linen waste, which she uses to make the most glorious paper with, and left me a new visitor book - below.

OK, the writing is mine and is not incredibly artistic. Everyone who has signed it so far has really enjoyed writing on the paper because its a different experience to writing on Basildon Bond, or whatever we use these days. I feel I should have a quill pen and a pot of ink made out of.... whatever they make ink out of.... to get the true ambience. The cockerels had better watch out for their tails!!

A Hebridean Harris Tweed and another Cute Lamb Photo

2010-05-02T12:36:00.007+01:00

At last, my first Harris Tweed made entirely from wool grown on Lewis and Harris. In total the tweed has travelled only around 150miles from coming off the back of the sheep to getting back to Scalpay on the roll. Wonder when the last time one of these was produced? Thanks to all those who supplied the wool, including Richard Maclennan from Borve whose wonderful Cheviot fleeces provided that little extra something to the finished product. Also thanks to Carloway Mill and Shawbost Mill for all the hard work they put in on the project. Thanks to Lorna Macaulay, head of the Harris Tweed Authority for her assistance in getting the idea off the ground. Thanks to everyone in the family who has been so kind and patient through the many years this has taken to bring to fruition. OK this is starting to sound like the Oscars. Actually, it feels a bit like it. Everyone who has helped with this will get a special celebration item made of the tweed in due course. Meantime, I just can't stop stroking it and loving it....... (note to self - must get out more!)

In the wet weather we have been recently experiencing, who can blame a lamb for not wanting to lie on the damp grass? This one has found the ultimate comfort experience - a wonderful warm sheepskin that smells like mum!

Other news - we now have three broody hens on eggs. One is due to hatch this Thursday or Friday. The second is in its second week now and the third went down yesterday onto 6 turkey eggs I got from E-bay. They came from the Highlands and were incredibly quick in arriving through the post. Let's hope Royal Mail handled them with care. Anyway, maybe we will have a little friend for No-name turkey by the end of the month!

We now have three little girl lambs on the bottle - all cute and cuddly and progressing very well. The island sheep will be going to the summer grazings next Friday/Saturday, so hope to have my camera out for that. Bramble will be working as usual, Pippin will be in attendance - on a lead so he can meet the other dogs and get to see a crowd of sheep. It's all go down on the croft...

And finally.... have just heard from Alpacas of Lewis that our Four-horn Ram (who, you may recall, spent a working holiday over Christmas and New Year at Galson in Lewis) has just become a daddy to twins. Can't wait to see the wee ones photo on the blog.

Sewing lessons, New Harris Tweed, Wensleydale socks and a Lamb in a wheelbarrow

2010-04-25T20:49:00.003+01:00

I am finally learning to sew - hang out the flags! We are very lucky to have help from a Swiss teacher of Home Economics who is taking a ten week sabbatical in Harris and is offering to pass on her sewing/knitting and handcraft skills to anyone who feels like improving their technique or starting from scratch. Martina visited the Scalpay Linen loomshed on Friday - it rained constantly all day but I didn't care about the weather.....

The dog started off as some paper shapes on the paper and ended with a cute little fellow (below) who is loved by all who see him. OK - my input on this occasion was restricted to stuffing his tail and doing some trimming, but the next one will be made by me!

Just coming off the warping mill is my next Harris Tweed. Brown Hebridean as spun by Harris Tweed Hebrides, Shawbost, and some beautiful sunset orange. The warp was another of my "turn over the heck after each section" and fades in and out of each colour without sharp edges.

I spent most of Saturday tying it in and will be starting to weave it next week. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Tracy from Gedgrave Wensleydales has sent some gorgeous yarn for me to try through the Circular Sock Knitter. Haven't got round to it just yet, but here it is waiting to be put onto cones. The colours are natural dyes and the wool is soft and classy. These will be bed socks and are sure to be warm and cosy for the coldest of winter nights.

And finally, here's something you don't see every day. A lamb in a wheelbarrow! Just caught this chap having forty winks in my ornamental barrow outside the loomshed.

Lambs and cloth

2010-04-09T19:15:00.003+01:00

We have a new lamb on the bottle! She is very small (just about the same size as Heather, but a quarter of the weight) and has the look of a Hebridean about her. Her mum was a gimmer who had little milk and less interest in her offspring - so her loss is our gain!

Still on a sheepy theme, here is our first lamb - now nearly a fornight old - enjoying a relaxing time in the sun.

My new tweed on the loom is the same pattern as the last three - 12 x 12 herringbone stripes with the colour change in the centre of the stripe, and is a linen warp. But the weft is 2/17 lambswool from Uppingham yarns. I chose the grey and cocoa shades so it would match in with the rest of the set but it will be much softer when its been through the mill.

Yesterday we were at the Shawbost Mill - Harris Tweed Hebrides - and dropped in our Hebridean tweed which we are hoping will meet the specifications for Harris Tweed. The yarn was quite a bit thicker than the usual 13c so I adjusted the shots until I got what I hope is within the acceptable range.

A Well-timed Easter Surprise...

2010-04-04T11:25:00.002+01:00

Remember the eight eggs we put under the little ginger naked neck hen exactly 21 days ago?
Well, guess what! We've got six little chicks hatched out today in time for Easter and one still chipping away inside its shell.

Not my greatest photographic achievement admittedly, but you can see that we have a variety of different colours ranging from brilliant yellow to black. The only egg that didn't hatch was a very big one we think came from a Buff Orpington.

Happy Easter to all.

Full House!

2010-04-02T20:40:00.002+01:00

Like buses, you're waiting for one and two come along together! Now we have two black lambs born a few hours apart.

Though this one below doesn't appear to have a head - but neither does its mother. Oooerr...

The weather has been sleety and cold - not as bad as in many parts of Scotland, but unfortunately bad enough for us to lose two lambs through hyperthermia. This is the price we pay for lambing outdoors, but it also keeps the island sheep tough and hardy.

Another sad piece of news - our big old Swaledale ram (Picture of him on blog dated Thursday December 18th 2008) died suddenly this afternoon. He was over six years old and did well for us. Our first lamb this year was one of his. We bought him a couple of years ago from the Auction Mart in Stornoway and, if we hadn't bought him, he would have ended up in a tin of dog food. He was a great character, if a little on the agressive side (he was the one who held me hostage in the byre at the end of last year!).

On a brighter note, yesterday was the first day of the season for Scalpay Linen and we had a visitor in, which was very pleasing. We've still got a lot of cleaning up to do but the shelves are filled, there is a linsey-woolsey taking shape on the warping mill and its all looking good.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday 2-5pm until the end of September. So if you're passing, do drop in.

Our First Lamb of the Year..

2010-03-28T10:48:00.003+01:00

Birth Announcement:

Croft 37 are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their first lamb of the year, safely delivered on Saturday March 27 sometime in the early morning. Mother and son are both well.

-----//-----

Unlikely friendships and more on the CSM...

2010-03-25T18:29:00.002Z

This afternoon I was up at the loomshed when I saw the white ram lying against the back yard gate with several chickens in close proximity. They were picking bits of feed out of his coat and he didn't seem to mind at all!

My new labels for Handcranked socks arrived from Vistaprint today, so I thought I'd better get on and knit some more..... This is a really pretty Wildfoote yarn.

And this was me setting it up before joining in the sock wool.

We're clearing up the shed ready to open on 1st April and its turning into a mammoth job.

Sheep Rescue!

2010-03-14T16:45:00.002Z

Date... Saturday 13/3/10.... Time.... 0930...... Supercrofter receives call that sheep is stuck on cliff in centre of village.......

Instantly whirling into action, Supercrofter is on the scene. Tying a rope around his waist and securing it to a handy light pole at the top of the cliff, he absails down said cliff.....

... and secures a rescue rope to the stranded sheep.

Sheep is then hauled to safety by Nephew of Supercrofter who is at the top of the cliff.

Supercrofter clambers back to safety and sheep ungratefully legs it off into the distance.
This was the highlight of the day yesterday.

Other news..... ginger naked neck hen is now firmly esconced on her eggs. Estimated hatch date will be 3rd April.

2010-03-12T20:03:00.005Z

Yesterday I went on a trip to Uist - one of the southern western isles, if you know what I mean! You know you're somewhere really special as soon as you get off the ferry at Berneray.....

I went to visit Corinna Krause from Sollas Books (www.sollasbooks.com). Corinna is a book-binder who works from a workshop in the little village of Sollas, about twenty minutes from Berneray, and she makes the most beautiful books and papers. I have commissioned some hand-made boxes to present one of my new products in, so I spent an amazing hour or two looking at all sorts of different papers.......

..... finished products........

.... and Corinna at work. Below she is positioning a finished book cover in the press,

after pasting on the cloth and preparing the recess for the inlay. We also bought some lovely concertina notelets with waxed paper covers - available from Taigh Chearsabhaigh and direct from Corinna herself. Its just amazing the talent that is lurking in the various villages and glens of the Western Isles. Take a peek at the Sollas Books website to see what else Corinna does.

In the evening we attended a meeting of the Wool Development Group - set up a while ago to undertake a feasibility study into whether a spinning mill on Uist would be possible. I've had a long term interest in the project because of my problems in getting local Hebridean fleeces spun up so they can be used for Harris Tweed. It was a great upbeat meeting with lots of people attending and the result of the study was positive.

As part of the study a lot of public opinion was sought, and various events organised to publicise the importance of wool and woollen products in the Western Isles today. As part of this, everyone was invited to participate in making some patchwork quilts by constructing a square that related to wool. The results are stunning!

Good news from Suffolk, home of the Gedgrave Wensleydales (see the link on the left). Lambing is nearly over now and they have arrived in both black......

..... and white. And all are mega-cute and cuddly. Can't wait for our little ones to start arriving at the end of the month!

Now for something completely different - but maybe not. Nicky from Hebridean Humpties has sent me a photo of her new Viking Humpty who was on display at a recent golfing exhibition. His hair is made of white Wensleydale dreadlocks, and he is wearing a plaid made of the Scalpay Linen Hebridean Tweed. Isn't he great?

And finally - our first hen of the season to go broody is a ginger naked neck. So we are going to put 8 eggs under her tomorrow and keep our fingers crossed that some will hatch so there will be new chicks for the Singing Weaver and her party when they visit in a months time.
Oh yes, nearly forgot. Joanne Kaar - papermaker extraordinaire from Caithness (see link at the side) sent me a mail to let me know that Google street maps are now available for our part of the world. So now the world can see the Scalpay Linen weaving shed! Try this short link to see....

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&hl=en&q=isle+of+lewis&ie=UTF8&source=embed&hq=&hnear=Isle+Of+Lewis,+United+Kingdom&ll=57.858903,-6.668114&spn=0.000304,0.00169&z=19&layer=c&cbll=57.858904,-6.668113&panoid=Ed5s36O9kDwfn0CRGxpM8Q&cbp=11,260.77,,1,13.99

New Tweed on the Shelf....

2010-03-08T14:37:00.002Z

A quick trip to Harris Tweed Hebrides, Shawbost this morning and we returned with the last in our series of Hebridean Linsey-Woolseys. This one has a warp of red and white striped linen (24x 24 herringbone) and the weft of 2 shots of grey and 2 shots of brown Hebridean wool.

This one is just stunning! The bright red has muted down to a dusky plum yet it still has that metallic sheen that comes from.... where?

Here it is close up. I have 40metres of it, single width. Gorgeously soft and beautifully milled by Shawbost Mill as usual.

First order of 3m will get it for 50 GBP plus postage. Usually it retails at 25 GBP per m.

Just contact me if you're interested.

Rams and Turkey

2010-03-05T15:53:00.002Z

Every year in the springtime, Scalpay Linen has a visit from the Singing Weaver - Nadine Sanders (www.singingweaver.com) who brings a party from the US to take a textiley tour of Scotland. For the past few years we have been included in the tour itinerary (see April/May 2009 blogs) and always enjoy the visit very much.
Yesterday I was idly flicking through the diary and all of a sudden realised that it must nearly be time to get out the feather duster and the paintbrush to give the loomshed a bit of a makeover in preparation for the 2010 tour. So I took a look at the itinerary http://www.singingweaver.com/tourbrochure_10.pdf and was delighted to see that our four-horned ram was featured on the front cover. This in turn reminded me that I had not mentioned his safe return from Galson (www.alpacasoflewis.blogspot.com) where he had been enjoying a working Christmas and New Year with some attractive ewes who we hope had similar interests to his own. As you can see below, he did not wear himself to a frazzle, indeed he is every bit as gorgeous as he was when he went away. Wonder what he thought of the alpacas?

Not wishing to be outdone, the white ram wanted his photo taken as well!

An finally, here is our lonely lady turkey, who is looking for a mate. If there is anyone on Lewis, Harris or the Uists who has an equally lonely tom turkey of last years hatching, we would love to give him a home. I'm hoping to be on Uist at the end of next week - so this could be a chance to cheer a turkey up and make a perfect match. She is a black Norfolk, but says she's not fussy.

Weather is showery and the mountains still have snow on them. The daffodils are showing yellow buds though, so spring is on its way.....

Pippin

2010-03-02T21:09:00.003Z

Pippin was at the vet last week for a small but necessary procedure. Stitches out in a week's time. So meantime, he's confined to barracks in case he gets muddy.

Chin Up Pippin - soon be out and about again!

What have I been doing?

2010-02-19T21:22:00.002Z

So, it's over a week since my last blog. Does this mean I've been off to the winter Olympics, or sitting around drinking coffee and chatting? No, actually, it doesn't. I've been a busy bee working on a secret project which I will not be revealing until later.....

Meantime, the postie arrived today with a special box all the way from the USA -the Sheep Shed Studio who just happen to be my favourite trans-Atlantic shopping spot! I decided to give a try to the Wildefoote Sock Yarn - and its gorgeous. See below. The economics was - 124 GBP for 54 balls (this includes postage) which should make 36 pairs of socks. Plus £31.54 to H M Revenue & Customs (£8 parcelforce handling fee and £23.54 VAT). This works out at £4.32 per pair for materials. Look out on the blog for news as to how I get on with it on the CSM.

Also today I had a visit from Eileen Bell who is editing "Heb Magazine" for Intermedia Services Ltd. this year. Scalpay Linen is taking a quarter page ad this year, in colour so Eileen came over to take some photos and get some info for a little write-up. The magazine is always well worth buying and looks like it is going to be extra good this year.
I set up a selection of my stock for the photos and took a piccie myself before I put it all back on the shelves again!

On Tuesday, we went to Shawbost Mill - Harris Tweed Hebrides - and picked up the Linsey-
Woolsey I dropped off last time we were there. It's the blue and white vertical herringbone stripes with a weft of grey and brown Hebridean wool.

This one is a real beauty - very tweedy looking but lovely and soft too. Below is what it looks like on the roll. We dropped in another while we were there - this one is red and white - same pattern. Now I've almost run out of grey Hebridean wool, so the "Stripes" collection of Hebridean Linsey Woolsey will stand at three for now. It's been great weaving them.

Bramble was rounding up the guinea fowl today and one of them landed on the handrail of the path which leads down to the loomshed . It was very near and I happened to have the camera handy so couldn't resist taking a piccie. Aren't they just the weirdest looking birds?

Smoke gets in your eyes......

2010-02-08T18:34:00.002Z

At last my favourite time of the crofting year has arrived. As soon as the year has turned and we get a few days of a drying south-easterly wind, it is time to start muir-burning - also called "falaisgean" in Gaelic.
Left to itself, the ling heather would grow very tall - up to four feet - and underneath its canopy the soil would be starved of light and nutrients so nothing would grow. The cover would also hide holes in the peat soil which would be dangerous to both stock and people walking on the moors. In nature, every so often lightning would spark off a fire that would burn the heather to the ground, re-vitalising the earth and opening it up to the light again. The heather wouldn't die, it would start to sprout again close to the ground but grass would also grow, thus providing good grazing for the animals.
On the common grazings we mimic nature by burning roughly 1/10th of the land every year to give it a new lease of life. The burning season ends in mid-April when the ground-nesting birds start laying, so there is no danger to wildlife.

Of course, we do have to take care that the wind direction and speed will not cause a hazard, also that the fire won't travel too far.
Having said that, going to the falaisg is a very exciting occupation and the smell of burning heather is, to me, as good as any Chanel No 5.

This afternoon I was out with the matches and opened the season with a good blaze. The picture above shows the scene looking out across Loch na Craoibhe and with the Isle of Skye clearly visible on the horizon.
When we got home we saw a plume of smoke rising from nearby Harris, so we weren't the only ones keen to take advantage of the good dry conditions.

Sometimes, when the wind is in the right direction we can smell the smoke coming from the Isle of Skye.

Now for the health and safety bit...... muir-burning should only be undertaken by people who know what they are doing and are operating within a grazings committee envirnonment or similar. Unscheduled fires lit on the moors can be very dangerous to wildlife, stock and people.

Socks ready to go.....

2010-02-01T13:40:00.002Z

Here they are - my first batch of socks from the CSM. Had a grand time cranking them and also enjoyed grafting up the toes. Must be like riding a bicycle, once you've learned to make a sock on a sock machine, you never forget....

These are the toes, to show how professional they look! The pair second from the left are Joans' hand-dyed wool (www.calanacrafts.co.uk) and they are very effective.

And here they are all stacked up in a crisp little column waiting to be worn. None of these are for sale - am still having a bit of a problem with dropping cylinder stitches on the ribbing, but once that's sorted, I shall have some on sale.

Still snowy here, but not so bad that we can't get out and about.

Breaking news.......... Pippins new little brothers have been named "Mist" and "Mirk". Lovely names for cute little pups!

New Brothers for Pippin

2010-01-30T11:56:00.002Z

It's always great to hear news of new babies whether they be human or animal, and this week we had a lovely surprise to receive a picture of Pippins mum with her new brood - two gorgeous little boy puppies now around two weeks old. Pippins mum is called "Breagha" which is Gaelic for "Lovely". The pups are looking for good homes in five weeks or so. If you are local to the Hebrides and wanting a new pup, contact me and I'll pass it on.

Today we are back in the grip of Siberian weather. Daisy the bottle-fed cross-Cheviot from Bunnavoneader has decided to grace us with her presence at the dinner trough now. Does this mean she has increased appetite because she is in lamb? Or because its turned cold again? Or she just like shredded beet? We will wait and see...... I see a Frisian hen got in on the action - they like the beet too. Wonder if it makes the eggs taste sweet?

And here are three other ewes, heads down in the bucket of "Topflock" lick which we bought them from Lewis Crofters Ltd in Stornoway. They are looking like they are enjoying it and we hope it will provide the extra minerals and vitamins required to produce lively little lambs when the time comes. The first is due around 27th March I think, so there is still a bit to go.

Starting on the new CSM Cylinder

2010-01-28T11:46:00.002Z

Remember my new 72 cylinder and 36 ribber dial for the Berridge circular sock machine? Well, yesterday I decided to pay a visit to my good friend Joan at Calana Crafts in Kyles Scalpay (www.calanacrafts.co.uk), as she can always be relied upon for inspirational yarn for sock knitting and with the bigger cylinder we can now use regular sock yarn which is great. As usual Joan did not disappoint - and I came away with enough to keep me quiet for a day or two! What I'm really after is Joans very special hand-dyed yarns which are going to look really wonderful knitted up on the machine. But because I don't yet know how much yarn I will need for a pair I only took a couple of matching hanks of that. Joan is going to dye up bigger quantities of the yarn if I need it. I could have come away with much more, but you have to draw the line somewhere!!

As you can see below - Heather found the whole situation just too exciting!

www.jonesthesearch.blogspot.com sent me some ideas for making linsey-woolsey socks on the machine. Where will I find the time to do all this?

Making Progress- and a day out in the sun

2010-01-24T13:36:00.005Z

On Friday we nipped up to Harris Tweed Hebrides at Shawbost, Isle of Lewis to pick up the Hebridean wool spinning they had done for us. I was expecting just a few tubes and was very excited to see three big sacks full of beautiful yarn which qualifies to be woven into Harris Tweed as it was spun in the Outer Hebrides.

Below is a picture of one tube - it smells like a fank full of Heb sheep, and is a gorgeous dark chocolate brown colour. I am just over the moon with happiness! Thank you to everyone who helped to make this possible - the folks with the sheep (including my O/H), Harris Tweed Textiles who did much of the preparation work, and HTH of course. Unfortunately the downside is that this is a one-off production - apparently the carding was a real pain in the neck and very time-consuming, so HTH said they aren't going to repeat it. Apparently the wool is too coarse for the cards they usually use (these days most Harris Tweed is principally Cheviot which is quite different in character to Hebridean).

So - Plan B (or maybe X or Y) is that in future I shall send my fleeces to Natural Fibres in Launceston, Cornwall and they will process them through to pre-spun cheeses (everything except the twist). Then I will hand-twist it from the cheeses into a yarn. If I could get a small spinning machine that would be super, but meantime I will do it on the Ashford spinning wheel jumbo flyer. This will qualify the yarn for use as Harris Tweed. Ahhh, progress at last. Now I just have to start weaving......

Changing the subject totally, yesterday was a fabby day - sunny and not too windy. It was one of the days each month that I travel round South Harris to deliver the latest edition of the free local newspaper "Events Monthly" published by Intermedia Services Ltd, Stornoway. Our route takes us from Tarbert through the Bays of Harris - Grosebay, Leacklee, Geocrab, Manish, Finsbay, Leverburgh and finally Northton, stopping at lots of places to deliver papers. At Northton we stop at a quiet little beach to exercise Bramble and Pippin who have been sitting patiently in the back of the van. Here's a picture of Pippin trying to avoid the surf.

Later in the afternoon we walked to the end of our croft and I took a piccie of the three little standing stones. Legend has it that they mark the burial place of several shipwrecked sailors. Not sure about that, but our last cat is certainly buried at the side of one.

More about Socks knitted on the CSM

2010-01-21T16:32:00.002Z

Since my last blog I've been a busy bee indeed! Bought a cone of 2/17s Lambswool from Uppingham Yarns which arrived in double quick time. Though its not sock yarn, it is good to practice with on the 84 cylinder and produces a lovely soft sock which is suitable for people who don't walk a lot - the elderly and disabled for instance. Anyway, it was great for practising on and getting handy with the grafting needle again.

Above is a picture of my first three pairs - before washing. They are folded carefully to hide that they have two heels and three toes per pair! (Only joking).

The best bit of news though is that I've located a 76 cylinder with matching ribber dial from www.jonesthesearch.blogspot.com which looks like its going to fit my Berridge CSM. So I shall be shortly geared up to use re-inforced yarns in the machine and will have another product for my shelves this season! Must get in touch with Joan at www.calanacrafts.blogspot.com to see if she has any of her gorgeous hand-dyed sock yarn that I could use.

Raining here on Scalpay tonight, but I don't mind - I have my sock machine to keep me warm......

Knitting in the round - fast

2010-01-12T13:51:00.005Z

Woooo, hoooo! The train now standing at platform 4 is the circular sock knitter express. We will be travelling at high speed, so please fasten your seat belt.
We're off! On with the ribber, change half the cylinder needles with ribber needles......

Do 40 rounds of ribbing, then change the ribber needles back to cylinder ones.....

And here's the view down the cylinder to see the ribbing....

60 rounds for the leg, then turn the heel......

Another 60 rounds for the foot and do the toe exactly the same as the heel.

Then we run out of pictures because I have to do a long line of socks all joined together with waste knitting, then graft up the toes and wash and block them. And I didn't get that far yet.

So, the Berridge CSM is really going good since I adjusted the yarn guide, and now I'm going to order some yarn off e-bay so I can make some really nice socks. Think I'll go with 2/16 nm as its an 84 cylinder.

Something big....and something small!

2010-01-03T12:36:00.004Z

OK - today we are going to have a look at two of the Hattersley Domestic loom's big brothers, courtesy of Peter from Australia who is very interested in Hattersleys and has an amazing archive. He is going to send pictures on a regular basis for inclusion into the blog, as I know that there are more people out there who are just as obsessed with this type of machinery as Peter and I.....

The one above is the Silk and rayon loom which incorporates an automatic bobbin changer. It is driven by a band around the mainshaft wheel and looks to me like a full-width loom which would have been (and indeed probably still is) used in factories throughout the world.

This is another mechanised loom - is that a dobby I see on the top right? This photo is taken from the operators side - you can see the prickly roller that keeps the cloth straight as it comes off the reed and the cloth roller beneath around which the finished cloth is wound. Tappets to the right, for those interested.

Now something smaller - when I was in Orkney during September and during a particularly rough ferry crossing from Kirkwall to Westray I holed up in a corner of the passenger lounge with some of my gorgeous Norwegian pre-spun from http://www.katre.ws/ which I had spun up with a spot of gold lurex and hyperbolically crocheted the whole return journey! The scarf wasn't quite finished at the time, but it is now. ...

The Scalpay Linen Bear models a cosy posy scarf which winds around the neck in a swirl of ruffles to trap warm air inside.

The true delight of these scarves is that they can be presented like a bridesmaid's posy by rolling them up, and there is even a place to put a ribbon round at the edge. This colours on this one are so warm and the glitter is so glittery that I thought it would make a nice contrast to the still cold and frosty environment we are experiencing. This scarf is going in the box to stock the loomshed next season - unless, of course, anyone would like to make an offer. Going price is £20 including postage anywhere. It's hand-spun, hand-crocheted, straight edge is 1.25m long, width 15cm.

And, on a similar theme, here is a pair of socks made with the same pre-spun, handspun. Glittery disco socks (well, not really, but warm and bright). The colour shde change is quite subtle and attractive. They take around 100g to knit and are very quick to do. I've got quite a bit of yarn already made up, so may put some of the yarn up for sale in sock quantities.

I am still working on a knitted and felted hand-spun hat with ear flaps and plaits in burgundy with my hand-spun feathery silk as an edge and a hyperbolic ornamentation on the top that looks suspiciously like a white fluffy jellyfish!

That's for another day though........

Oh, and do check out Joan's blog she's knitting amazing teeny weeny socks for key rings that are totally must-haves - link to her blog below:
http://calanacrafts.blogspot.com/2010/01/and-more-holiday-knitting.html

She should get together with Clarks who have produced the celebration Harris Tweed Desert boot and include a tiny desert boot replica keyring - saw it on the Style Salvage blogspot (see my list of blogs to the right), the entry titled "Merry Christmas to .....me".

New Year Moon and A New Year Offer....

2010-01-01T10:24:00.007Z

We wish our customers and blog readers a peaceful new year - decade if possible. This morning at nine o clock the full moon was shining in the front of the house and peeping over a big white snow cloud. It looked so amazing that I rushed for the camera..... and I made a wish!

To celebrate the New Year and in recognition of the cold weather some of us in the Northern Hemisphere are suffering, I am putting one of my Hebridean Lynsey Woolsey wraps/throws on at a sale price. The warp is 100% linen in two gorgeous warm colours - a sand and a muted orange,the weft is 100% Hebridean wool in grey and dark brown sourced from Lewis and Scalpay, and the pattern is a 12 x 12 herringbone with the colour change in the middle of the pattern. Yhe wrap measures 2m long excluding the fringes and is 77cm wide. The cloth was woven by me, finished by Harris Tweed Hebrides, Shawbost, Isle of Lewis, and labelled with "Scalpay Linen - Handwoven and finished in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland" and the "Masters of Linen" minimum 50% linen label.

It's not available anywhere else, is warm and very tweedy looking despite its linen content, and can be washed by hand. Usual price - £65 plus postage, sale price £50 post free. A really good offer I think. The usual retail price for the cloth is £30 per metre!

Gosh, that one went very quickly. Sorry folks the wrap has been snapped up and will be on its way to the USA next Tuesday. I'll look around the loomshed and see what else I have that could go on offer to brighten up both my bank balance and the dark winter days!

Last Post of 2009

2009-12-31T10:31:00.002Z

For our last post of the year, I am including a picture of Pippin - who is now almost fully grown and a very solid, curly dog. We think he is going to be a good sheepdog and can't wait to get him out in the round pen next year to give him a start. Just now he goes out with O/H to feed the sheep and stays well to heel though you can see he would really like to give it a go!

Decided to be very industrious and got out the circular sock knitter. Made very good progress setting it up and knitting a tube but then when I put the ribber on found I was one needle short of a set! After hasty posting on sockknittingmachineswapshop - a very useful and informative Yahoo group, I've tracked down some new needles so hopefully I will be up and running (well, knitting roundly) very soon. As we re-arranged the furniture in the den so I could use the machine and keep warm at the same time, it is now the focal point of the room! So its unlikely I'm going to forget about it.

And, finally, there were six goldfinches (a "charm") swinging about on the bird feeders outside the window this morning. It's very cold and very frosty today so seeing their bright colours and cheerful antics made a lovely start to the last day of the year......

Seasons Greetings to All

2009-12-25T11:24:00.002Z

Here on the croft everyone is enjoying their Christmas :- No-name turkey is spending the day quietly with friends and looking forward to a happy New Year......

....The guinea fowl assembled for a spot of carol singing earlier on in the day (incidentally, don't they match well with the gravel?).......

...before adopting a truly iconic pose on a rock outside the loomshed.

So we wish you all a peaceful christmas, wherever you are.

White Christmas come early...

2009-12-20T11:11:00.002Z

After a couple of days of acheingly cold weather, at last we have had some snow! This morning we awoke to find a white Scalpay much to the surprise of the livestock. The hens won't come out and demanded breakfast in bed (or nest) today, and the sheep are digging about looking for food. Actually they had a good feed of shredded beet and Lewis mix earlier, but they do enjoy playing up to the camera! Little Heather, who had a short back and sides last week, is curled up in a warm spot trying to look invisible in case she has to go for a walk, and Pippin was a bit surprised at his first sight of snow. Bramble, who is an old hand at such matters takes it all in her stride.
Changing the subject, I don't know if you've ever come across those amusing publications called "Luxury Caravan Calendar", "Luxury Shed Calendar" etc. (If not, googling should take you there on Amazon).
Well, here on the islands there has always been a tradition of re-cycling materials and utilising found items in an imaginative way. I guess it is because the supply of raw materials has always been finite and expensive to import so the necessity to make do and mend is still alive and well amongst some sectors of the community. This is especially true of crofters. So when my O/H said he was about to build a sheep fold on the croft to gather the Hebridean sheep into for their dip and drench, my heart skipped with joy.
For this monumental construction we are talking re-cycled corrugated tin which came from someones (possibly our) old shed, and a variety of posts and wood which originated either from the shoreline or from the electricity companys leavings after they took down some of the light poles locally.
As you can see from the picture below, the work was started but,sadly, completion has been delayed by weather (a common occurrence here). I can't wait to see the final result as it looks like it will be a triumph of traditional architecture. You can't see from the photo here but it is in an impressive location with commanding 360 degree views (as the estate agents would say!), O/H reckons it will knock at least 15% off the value of all the houses round about.....
When its finished I will definitely be featuring it again.

Someone who has a good eye for these sort of constructions is Donnie Mackay from Skye - see his http://hebphoto.blogspot.com/.

New Year pressie idea....

2009-12-18T10:29:00.002Z

If you're short of a gift and want something unusual and help a good cause at the same time, then do visit http://www.hebrideanpeatcutters.wordpress.com/. On a cold day such as today this will warm the cockles of your heart.

Shooting Stars!

2009-12-13T11:24:00.002Z

No photos of todays subject because it was too dark, but wanted to mention the display of shooting stars last night. A friend rang earlier in the evening to say she had heard on the radio that meteorite showers were forecast for a couple of nights around 10pm, and as the sky was so clear it would be worth taking a look. Unfortunately we didn't manage out till about 10.30pm but still saw quite a few from our vantage point at the sheepfold at the back of the house where we were working on Friday. We have very few really clear nights so this was a real treat! I hope others managed to catch the show - the sky here is cloud free this morning, so if it lasts till night we have a chance to see Episode 2 tonight! Happy star-gazing......

A Day at the Fank

2009-12-12T20:20:00.002Z

Yesterday we were up bright and early to gather the sheep so they can get their annual check up. This is the opportunity to administer an injection against sheep scab, which can be very unpleasant, is very infectious amongst the flock and damages both wool and meat quality; a dose of anti sheep-tick and fly liquid which kills surface living parasites; and a drench of anti liver-fluke and wormer. Foot problems can be checked for and we make sure that tagging requirements are met.
This year we were all impressed at how fit the sheep were. There was no sign of any existing scab problems, which is a sure sign that our co-operative efforts of the past few years have paid off and the island flock is now free of scab. However, we still have to be vigilant against the infection being brought in from outside.

Here are some of the sheep waiting for their medicine before being released back onto the crofts again. The sheep all know the area to return to - usually the place where they were lambed, and by nightfall everyone was back in familiar territory. The weather yesterday was stunningly good - very clear through cold. Our sheepfold has a wonderful view - it's on top of a hill - and you can see the sea and the mainland of Harris in the background.

Our ram, which we bought from the Stornoway Auction Mart last year, worked well this year too. He got a bit stroppy last week and was starting to chase me when he saw me with the hen-food bucket - one day he trapped me in the byre and I had to wait for ages till he got bored and wandered off so I could get back to the house. Anyway, he's now confined in a field and will shortly be going to a retirement island where he can spend his old age with other old rams with similar interests!

And here's Pippin, focussing on the sheep coming up the road. As it was his first experience of a fank (a gathering of the sheep), I took him out on the lead and we helped direct the sheep onto the track up to the sheepfold. He got to see lots of sheep in a flock, but wasn't allowed to do anything other than observe the other dogs at work. He was very good (most of the time) and joined Bramble in the evening for an extra dinner (you have to be a working dog to qualify for this!)

Web Site problems

2009-12-08T18:13:00.003Z

Our web site is experiencing some health problems just now, so if you visit, please avoid undue noise, don't stay too long, and leave flowers and choccies in the basket marked "Sheila". I will issue an update bulletin tomorrow. Thank you for your forbearance.

Update on 4-horn ram...

2009-12-06T20:58:00.003Z

Found this delightful picture of Bramble keeping watch from the table in the loomshed and thought it would be nice to share.....

The 4-horn black ram arrived safely in North Galson and was still in his new field with his new friends this morning. So that's a relief! We didn't hear what the alpacas thought of him.

Today the weather has been just appalling - after a lovely sunny start it just went downhill from then on. So to compensate for not being able to get out for a walk, I have been fiddling with our website. Not, regrettably, using the new technology front-end online editing software, but with "Frontpage" and the FTP I've used for years. I've updated my fonts, put in some more photos, brought some of the info up to date, and, actually, I think it looks quite a bit better than it did before.

So, if you've nothing better to do, slip over to http://www.scalpaylinen.com/ and let me know what you think. Oh and, before someone tells me, I know that "Silk Works" isn't centred properly. I noticed it at the end and, to be honest, just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to go and put it right. Yes, the rot is setting in again, but I did make an effort today when I could have put up my feet and watched "Columbo" on TV.

Goodbye to an old friend.....

2009-12-05T20:28:00.002Z

Today we bid a fond farewell to the four horned ram who is off on his jollies to North Galson to meet new and attractive young ewes and gimmers.
As you can see, he wasn't incredibly keen on leaving - in fact, when we got up this morning he had jumped out of his field and was cavorting at the end of the croft with some white friends. Eventually we caught him and tied him to the fence so he couldn't get away.

When the trailer arrived he was well impressed! Last occupants had been the new Lewis Alpacas, so he could see that he was at last going to a place with a bit of class. The straw was much to his taste and we didn't hear another sound from him. No doubt he is now enjoying new company in Lewis and we have our fingers crossed that at the beginning of May we will be seeing the results.

Also, on a different tack - I've finally managed to screw up my website! I got some software to help me edit it online as my main problem with updating is the length of time it takes to update offline then go through an FTP program to upload it. Anyway, after a great deal of time fiddling about, the software is attached to my site on the server and I had a go at the first page - upon which all the pictures on the page disappeared. Horror! Not quite sure what to do about it, so I've emailed software support and hope they will help me get my piccies back!

Winter Arrives on the Isle of Harris

2009-11-29T11:57:00.003Z

Winter is here - its official! Got up this morning to the sight of snow on the Clisham and surrounding smaller hills. And its jolly cold too. Took the dogs for a run up on the peat road and had to turn back because my ears were hurting with the cold! Time to seek out the sheepskin Biggles hat again.

On a search through my photos I found one of the new linsey-woolsey I picked up from the mill a week ago tomorrow. Pictures of the making of this tweed are further back in the blog, so here is the finished result. It is just gorgeous - warm and tweedy but with the added linen touch to give it some body. I am going to save up and have some made into a jacket. Meantime, the first visitor to the loomshed who saw it snapped up a couple of metres, so that's good news! Anyone interested in buying some, just drop me an email scalpaylinen@hebrides.net .

So, the sun is shining, the hens are laying (well, sort of... we went down to one egg only on Tuesday, but on Wednesday it was up to ten again), the turkey is prancing around outside, the dogs are quiet and asleep in front of the fire just now. Blackberry and apple crumble in the oven along with a nice joint of venison. I love living on Scalpay - it's my favourite place.

Little Visitor

2009-11-26T19:24:00.002Z

For the past few days we have been entranced to have a little visitor staying with us. Her name is Snowy - after the dog in "Tintin" and she is a baby West Highland Terrier. This is a piccie of Snowy relaxing with her new friends. See how big Pippin has got now - he's on the right - getting bigger than Bramble and built like a real heavyweight. He has been in his element playing with Snowy and they are all getting on so well together. Snowy is going home tomorrow and we're going to miss her tremendously. The house will be so quiet without her. Missing from the picture is Heather who was not a happy bunny when Snowy arrived and flounced off in a huff to stay with her daddy!

Another bit of news of the day - some of our Hebridean Tweed is going to be used by Nikki McAlinden of www.hebrideanhumpties.com . If you haven't seen the humpties, then do visit her site. The humpties are lots of fun and I believe the Hebridean Chocolate Company is going to make chocolate humpties - can't wait for that! Hebridean Chocolates is a new business and are still developing their website. When it is up and running I'll be mentioning it again.

I'm also putting Nikki in touch with Gedgrave Wensleydales so she can use Wensleydale fleece as humpty hair. I think it is going to be sensational.

Yesterday afternoon, in amongst all the heavy rain and November wind, we had a visit from Mary Norton from Grimsay North Uist, who is part of a group who are carrying out a feasibility study to start a fibre processing mill on Uist. She happened to be passing and dropped in as she knew I was very interested in getting commercial short contract spinning available locally.

It's a fascinating project, and I do hope that things work out for them. It's an exciting time to be living here in the Outer Hebrides. So many new ideas are developing and this is making a difference to existing businesses - perking us up a bit and making us re-assess what we are doing. If only there were more hours in the day, or even days in the week!

A Crofters Work is never done!

2009-11-24T20:45:00.003Z

The weather today has been simply appalling. Constant very heavy rain, strong wind and really uncomfortable to be outside. Lots of people might say "Lovely weather for ducks" so, to prove the point, here is a photo of our ducks this morning wallowing in a mud pool!

At this time of year we are waiting for the lorry to come and pick up our wool clip which was sheared in June/July. As is usual, we are so well-organised that we have to do it the day before and, as usual, the weather was against us. We backed the pick-up close to the side of the house
and rolled fleeces on the tailgate. As registered sheep producers with more than five sheep we have to send our annual clip to the British Wool Board (the nearest depot to us is at Evanton near Dingwall). We are able to buy and sell our Hebridean fleeces as we please since, as rare or vulnerable breeds, they are exempt from the usual rules. The reason producers have to trade through the Wool Board is so that the wool can be traded in world markets in larger quantities than would be the case if individuals negotiated to sell their own clips. This results in a better price for raw wool for the producers and accurate statistics being collected to monitor
the industry.
Here is a potted version of how to roll a fleece to BWB standards- just in case you ever need to!

First of all you grab a fleece and shake it out to check its got no daggy (pooey) bits in it.

Then you spread out the fleece, cut side uppermost. This is for hill sheep like blackface, cheviot and swaledales. If you have lowland sheep like dorsets, romneys etc. then you lay it cut side down.

Fold the sides of the fleece to the middle....

... and roll it up, making a hole in the fleece and tucking in the tail wool to keep it tied together.

Finally the rolled fleece is packed into a large wool bag called a "sheet" which is supplied by the wool board. The top of the sheet is stitched shut, not forgetting to put your name and address on a label inside the bag, and a swing label on the outside to identify the producers group it belongs to.

Here on Scalpay our producers group is called "Scalpay Township" and though there are only three crofts putting away wool now, in the old days every croft would be sending away its wool each year. It is all collected together when the lorry from Hebrides Haulage in Stornoway comes to our part of Harris and transported to Stornoway where it goes across the ferry to Ullapool and ends up in Evanton.

This is the story of our wool clip. I hope you have enjoyed it.

New Bags made by Calana Crafts, woven by me.

2009-11-11T11:30:00.005Z

A lovely surprise when Joan from Calana Crafts (http://www.calanacrafts.blogspot.com/) called to say she had finished some bags for me.
So yesterday, on our way back from Stornoway I called in to see. They are gorgeous! Linsey Woolsey - linen warp and wool weft, some Harris Wool and the others our Hebridean wool from our black sheep. 6 x 6 herringbone and very nicely made. Magnetic popper at the top, co-ordinating lining and fully labelled with both the Scalpay Linen and Masters of Linen Min. 50% linen sew-in labels. I probably won't ever weave exactly this fabric again, so now is a good time to snap up a bargain for Christmas..... £40 each with free postage anywhere.
At some point these will end up on Etsy - but for now, if anyone is interested, just wack off an e-mail to me and we can complete by Paypal.
Purple Fuschia and red Harris wool weft with linen warp. 6 x 6 herringbone. Flat bag with magnetic popper closing and loop handles.
Grey and Brown Hebridean weft with white and natural linen warp. 6 X 6 Herringbone with the point in the centre of the colour. Magnetic popper closing. Flat bag with loop handles.

Yellow and red Harris Wool weft over a white linen warp. Flat bag, magnetic popper closing and loop handles.

Grey and Brown Hebridean wool spun from local fleeces together with a white and natural striped warp. You won't find this anywhere else! The point of the herringbone pattern is in the centre of the colour stripe which adds to its appeal. Magnetic popper closing, box bottom and loop handles.

Purple Fuschia and red Harris Wool weft with white linen warp. Matching purple fuschia lining. Box bottom, magnetic popper closing and loop handles.

Not great colour reproduction here - it's a lemon yellow and red Harris wool weft over a white linen warp. Box bottom and magnetic popper closing. The overall effect reminds me of macaroni cheese (with added tomatoes of course!). Yum yum.

A bit of a Grizzle

2009-11-08T17:49:00.002Z

I try not to moan about things - especially about things that are outwith our control, but today I am going to have a bit of a grizzle about our local electricity supplier - Scottish and Southern Electric, also incorporating Hydro-Electric.

We have been having a lot of refurbishment done on our light poles on the island - a great idea as it can be inconvenient when the lines fall down or break in the bad weather and we are without power. However, the SSE do think they have a divine right to go on our common grazings with diggers and an assortment of tracked vehicles - get stuck, dig themselves out, make large holes which fill with water, cut great swathes of devastation amongst our heather mooorland and, worst of all, knock down our gorgeous hand-built dry-stone dyke which has stood for generations dividing the moorland from the lighthouse precincts. Several years ago they took a digger through it and, under protest, piled the stones back up again in a very rough way. Now we see, they are at it again......

This used to be a track which could be followed through a small gate in the wall and onwards to the lighthouse......

Now, as you can see above, it looks like a pile of rubble. (Bramble the dog is standing beside the wall to show you that it is about five feet high).

And here, above, is the remains of our peat bank, where many generations of Fergusons laboriously dug their fuel for winter warmth. Next year we will be stocking it with fish and looking for a new peat bank!

Thank goodness the sheep are off grazings for the winter and aren't in danger of drowning in the ruts and new soft bits that have been created.

OK - rant over.

Today I've been stocking up the Etsy shop with lots more wool and also my new linen. Why not take a look and see......

http://www.scalpaylinen.etsy.com

Linsey-Woolsey #2

2009-11-04T18:27:00.005Z

After a couple of dreary days, it only rained a few times today. The croft is starting to dry out a bit thanks goodness.

Spent most of the day in the loomshed beaming, tyeing in, pulling through and starting off the new cloth.

This is the blue and white 10 lea linen warp going onto the beam. Looks like a football scarf!

And here is the warp tied onto the loom and with some weft added. Same as the last linsey-woolsey (2 shots Grey and 2 shots Brown Hebridean wool). Looks very distinctive. We like the white stripe and think we may stick to using white as the alternate stripe in the rest of the range. We still have the red, the purple and the lime green linen to use. At nearly 8kg of weft in each cloth, I'm hoping I'll have enough Hebridean wool to last out the whole caboodle!

Tomorrow we are going to the Shawbost Mill - Harris Tweed Hebrides - to pick up the last linen they finished for us and drop off Linsey Woolsey #1. Carloway Mill are having carder problems so we are still with our fingers crossed that the Hebridean/Cheviot fibre will become a yarn for us.

Ordered some more fine lurex thread off e-bay today for twisting up with the handspuns. Got a cone of iridescent lurex the other week and its gorgeous - not too in your face - gives a lovely sheen to the yarn rather than an explicit sparkle. Anyway, decided to get some chocolate brown and bronze to jazz up the Hebridean wool and some black just for fun!

I can thoroughly recommend: http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Corkwood-knitting-and-crafts they have a range of lurex threads plus machine knitting yarns, wool dyes and lots of other nice things. Well worth having a browse.

Spinning tonight I think! Going to try spinning 2 of the Katre's Norwegian pre-spun together and then twisting it with something glittery again. Am going to try a tighter twist than usual so it will be good for socks.

More on Etsy

2009-10-31T11:41:00.004Z

There are now 7 of my Christmas Sparkles Handspun Falkland Wool hanks on Etsy - http://www.scalpaylinen.etsy.com/ . Still have four more to measure and hank and another five to dye after the weekend.

They are great to knit with - very soft and bouncy. I shall be putting them in my loomshed for sale next week, so now is a good time to purchase.....

Weather is good today though rather hazy. Hoping to get some autumn gardening done this afternoon - pruning, weeding and tidying. Hope it doesn't rain!

Dyeing Monday

2009-10-27T14:08:00.003Z

Yesterday I was dyeing in the morning - Monday is a good day for dyeing as I can keep an eye on the washing in the washing machine and drier and do something else at the same time!

Here is some of the yarn I have ready for measuring, weighing and Etsying....

Two more are on Etsy today, and hopefully more will follow.

Today the weather is awful - gloomy and rainy - real November weather even though it's only the end of October. Even the hens are looking dismal, whilst no-name turkey is looking very spiky round the nether regions. This is the sort of weather that makes me want to stay in by the fire and get on with the spinning whilst watching an episode of CSI Season 1 which arrived from Amazon via the postie this lunchtime. However, this afternoon is the first session of "After School Club - Arts and Crafts" at the local school so I will have to pull myself together before then!

Potatoes and my Etsy Shop is now Open again!

2009-10-25T18:50:00.004Z

At our craft fair and flea market yesterday in Tarbert, someone brought along a box of potatoes that had been grown by the pupils at Seilebost School in South Harris. I couldn't resist them and this is what I brought back with me. Seilebost is on the machair (a light sandy soil which is flat and is populated by hosts of beautiful wild flowers in the summer) and because it such a light soil the potatoes grow very evenly and don't have knobbly lumps sticking out of them like those we grow in a rocky soil. You can even see the sand still clinging onto the potatoes. The pink ones are "Rooster" variety, and the others are "Golden Wonder". We had some roosters for lunch today and they were beautiful. Thank you Seilebost School!

This afternoon I decided to open up my Etsy shop again - after having it closed since before I went to Japan in March! So to celebrate, I've put on two hanks of Christmas Sparkles handspun, hand-dyed Falkland wool. Hopefully this is just a start. There are 5 more hanks ready for measuring and weighing, and four more ready for dyeing.

See the details on http://www.scalpaylinen.etsy.com/

And finally, remember the 2 shades of green, yellow and natural linen I collected from the mill a couple of weeks ago? Well, at last here is a picture of it. Rather natty if a little optically challenging! There are 43 meters on the roll, so I'm busy sending out swatches to my regular customers. I will have it on Etsy at some point, but meantime, if you are interested in any, just drop me a line: scalpaylinen@hebrides.net

Hebridean Tweed

2009-10-22T12:54:00.003+01:00

Although I love almost every thing about my work, one of the most enjoyable things about designing and weaving cloth and hand-spinning yarns is that sometimes I get to see what it being made from them.

Today I had a lovely surprise to receive this picture of a cushion made from my Hebridean Tweed. The Gaelic saying embroidered into it is translated as: "whoever burns his bottom must sit on it".

The maker is Deirdre Nelson - www.deirdre-nelson.com . Deirdre completed a residency at Taigh Chearsabhaigh in North Uist a couple of years ago which culminated in an auction of fish which had been knitted during her time on the island. She has some great ideas and is always up to something exciting. I'm pleased to say that Deirdre has worked with both my linen and now with the Hebridean Tweed. She has an interesting blog at http://dstitch.blogspot.com which I'm going to add to my followings.

Weather good today - plenty of sun and no wind. Long may it last! Sorry to the folks on the East Coast who have not had it so good.

Lucky Dip

2009-10-20T13:21:00.007+01:00

I've been snapping away with the camera over the past week, so here are some of the results, in no particular order.

To start with - hand-spun falkland wool (roving from blueface454 on Ebay) spun by me into a thickish soft single and then twisted with a fine lurex thread to stabilise it all. Then dyed by me with landscape dyes. Here is a ball of it wound up and a little tension square I knitted to check out tension, length and needle size etc. This particular one had the shades - Maize, Alfafa, Saltmarsh and Coral.

I've got quite a few hanks hanging up drying waiting to be measured and re-hanked, with different dye combinations. For anyone who hasn't knitted with handspun before, this is a very comfortable one to use and knits up light and airy with just a hint of sparkle to chase away those winter blues that will be with us very soon. Hope to have these on Etsy within a few days but will blog when they are in.

Next, it's no-name turkey. At last a picture of him/her looking very much like a turkey now. It is still living in the hen house with the hens but is growing at a rate of knots and we will soon have to think about clearing out the turkey shed as it has a larger pop-hole.

Now, here's a shot of a buzzard sitting on a pole outside the house looking menacing. It has been hanging around the croft for days terrorising everything feathered and small and furry. Even Heather the little dog has looked a bit worried at times. The guinea fowl are always on the look out for predators and make a terrific noise whenever they see it so the hens and chicks dash for cover. So far no-one has been caught.

More about my very useful yarn meter. I've been winding up yarn for the next warp and have had the meter plumbed into the Munty cone-winder so I know when I've got sufficient. It's great and hopefully will save me loads of time and lead to greater accuracy and less wastage. That's the theory anyway! My loomshed could really do with a tidy as well.

And to finishe with, here are the yarns for the new linsey-woolsey. The blue and white are 10lea linen and the brown and grey are Hebridean 13c. The cloth is going to be exactly the same as the one that's in the loom just now - 12 x 12 Herringbone. I've got the yarn up on the creel and if I can find time to start the warp today I will. It's been busy with visitors both morning and afternoon - the season is longer this year I think.

Clocking up the miles - in more ways than one!

2009-10-13T14:33:00.003+01:00

Just back from Carloway having delivered a large sheet of Borve, Harris Cheviot sheep's wool to Harris Tweed Textiles. It was supposed to be around 30kgs but I think it was more than that. We have our fingers crossed that there is enough crimpiness to hold everything together on the carders now. Steve the Mill Manager said he was going to get started on it next week - so good luck guys!

The dogs were good on the journey (which takes about 1.5 hrs each way) as they always are. Here's a piccie of Pippin to show how big he's getting. One ear is fully vertical now and the other one is on its way up. He looked so cute with the floppy ears but I guess now he's growing up cuteness is not going to be high on his priority list. He is nearly the same size as Bramble and judging by the size of his feet, is still going to put on some inches before he's finished.

When we got home there was a US parcel waiting for me. Great excitement - the yarnmeterI ordered only a few days ago. It was up and running within minutes.....

I have been looking for a small portable yarn meter for ages and ages - when I'm spinning wool for sale people always want to know the yardage as well as the weight as you can work out the thickness of the yarn from that as handspun is generally not a standard gauge. Also, when making up yarn packages for the warping creel, it would be good to know how much to wind onto the little cones so I don't either have knots in the warp because I've underestimated, or loads of part-empty cones hanging around because I've over-estimated. Now, at last my problems are at an end! The principle is to wind the yarn round the wheel (which is 18 ins circumference) and wind it, thus rotating the wheel and clocking up the yardage on the number counter. To get yards you divide by two. Simple!

The meter came from http://www.yarnmeter.com/ and the service is terrific. Nadya was so helpful about air mail postage etc. If you look on the web site there is a wee video to show how it works, but its such a simple idea and soooo effective. Thanks Nadya. Another plus is that the figures on the counter are big enough to see without having to keep bending over, so even my old eyes are not strained! If only the mobile phone companies and packaging printers could take a leaf out of this particular book...

To close the blog today here is a picture of my new linsey-woolsey. Remember the rusty orange and sand linen stripey warp? Well, this is it on the loom with a weft consisting of 2 shots of brown Hebridean and 2 shots of grey Hebridean.

Now, this wasn't what I originally planned - when I tried thebrown on its own it looked a bit odd and I was a tad disappointed with the result. Maybe too much contrast between the brights and the dark, or maybe something else was affecting the look of it. Anyway, decided to add in the grey too and, whilst it will not rock the universe, it is a very pleasant, understated and distinctly tweedy effect. This makes me think I should be considering a matching plain tweed using both grey and brown Hebridean - maybe alternate ends in the warp and with a plain brown weft, or as 2 ends grey 2 ends brown in the warp with a 2 and 2 weft as well which would make a tight little checkerboard effect that would look peppery from a distance and hopefully match in with the linsey woolsey.

Anyone who has any thoughts on this, please do not hold back - I need all the help I can get at this stage of the show!

Now to do some weaving and play with my new yarn meter...........