Ooooh the Seventies! Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon; glam rock; punk rock; and funk! Chic; Village People; the Bee Gees; and the Bay City Rollers! And then there were the films: The Godfather; The Deer Hunter; Star Wars; and Grease! What was on the telly? Pennies from Heaven; Dixon of Dock Green; and The Good Life. What were we wearing? Bell-bottoms; tabards; Night Fever suits; culottes; platform boots; and granny shoes!

It was also the decade my family returned to the UK from Iran and settled in Scotland. I instantly fell in love with this stunningly beautiful, friendly, amazing country. And, the scenery! Through the Seventies, I remember family trips along the Rest-and-Be-Thankful road through the mountains of Argyll, picnics beside remote streams, cycling round the island of Great Cumbrae on the River Clyde on hired bikes, and holidays to Carradale on the Mull of Kintyre. 

So, as this new pattern reminds me of these amazing times and places, I’m calling the design, “Argyll”. The outer fabric of these bags has been machine knit using Spindrift Shetland wool from Jamieson’s of Shetland. The bags will be available to purchase at the Perth Festival of Yarn on Sunday 10th September 2017. 

There will be an E-shop update on Wednesday 28th June at 10pm (Edinburgh time). A mix of Bandit Brioche, Nordic Rose and Whisky Bottle designs including the bags shown will be on sale. Due to holidays, the next opportunity to purchase a Woolly bag will be at the Perth Festival of Yarn on Sunday 10th September in Perth! 

Eshop update this evening, Thursday 4th May at 8pm Edinburgh time.  There will be a selection of over twenty bags: small, medium and large project bags; and a couple of bucket bags.

Well, that’s the Edinburgh Yarn Festival over now! And, what a wild Woolly occasion! Sold out of all our Shetland wool bags; and all our bags with handles!

So, a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the Woolly Originals’ stand.  It was wonderful to meet up and chat to so many amazing knitters, crocheters, crafters and yarn shop owners; and meet in person the prize winner of the “Guess the Weight of the Bag” competition! 

Also, a huge thank you to Jo and Mica of EYF for organising another fantastic creative community event.  Finally, a big thank you to my two assistants, Jo and Fu for helping me prepare and run the Woolly stand. Love you both!

Hoping to restock my e-shop next week! Details will be announced in advance. Meantime, happy crafting!

I’m delighted to be attending the Edinburgh Yarn Festival as a vendor this year. I shall be at stand C1 in the main exhibition hall. I’ll be selling a range of my bags including: small project bags; DPN bags; project bags with individual skein holders; and two of my Joan Eardley inspired bucket bags. 

The fabric of my bags is machine knit on my vintage knitting machine using either: wools spun at Knit Rennie in Aberdeenshire; or 1-ply Shetland wool from Jamieson’s of Scotland. My bags are lined with linen or cotton fabrics from Scottish Linen in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

If you’re coming along to the Festival, please come and say hello and show me what you’ve bought, what you’re knitting, or what you’re planning! See you there!

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Knit Rennie Wool Bags

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Jamieson’s of Shetland Wool Bags

One of my favourite trees is the Scots pine, botanically known as Pinus sylvestris. This native conifer can be found across Scotland, and in particular throughout Glen Affric to the west of Loch Ness in the Highlands. The photos below were taken over Easter 2013, on our last family holiday to Glen Affric. Our first family visit was in 1999, and we’ve returned on more than seven occasions!

When I came to design a new pattern for my bag fabric, the Scots pine immediately came to mind. Once I had drawn up a design using my knitter’s graph paper notebook from Rowan Morrison, I started swatching. Eight pattern revisions later, I was finally happy with the design which features both mature trees and saplings! 
   

The woolly fabric is machine knit using beautiful 1-ply Shetland wool from Jamieson’s of Shetland. The first bags using this design, and lined with linen fabrics from Scottish Linen in Fife, will be for sale at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival in March 2017.