I am delighted to reveal the new design that I shall be bringing to the Tangled Galashiels Fibre Festival on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd June 2023. Essentially, in two weeks time!
The theme of Tangled Galashiels is “Welcome to the Scottish Borders”. The event organisers also have chosen the Welcome Panel of The Great Tapestry of Scotland in Galashiels as inspiration for a fabulous Tangled Galashiels Festival Jumper which also incorporates the Shepherds Plaid motif from Galashiels. The resulting pattern produces a very striking, colourful and easy garment to knit up using only three colours of DK yarn.
And because Samira Hill, known as Eildon Hills Designs, has created such a wonderful garment to celebrate this new fibre event, I wanted also to design a new Woolly bag that encapsulated all that Tangled Galashiels are providing. The festival is not just an opportunity to purchase yarn and other goodies, but also a chance to celebrate the creativity and the community of Galashiels. The event will be showcasing the work of: the students of the Heriot Watt School of Textiles and Design; the Tweed Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers; and The North Ronaldsay Sheep Fellowship. Community groups and local catering traders are also involved.
When I saw Samira's pattern, I was inspired to create a Woolly bag that looked like a yoked jumper with a similar motif to the Shepherds Plaid but with my twist! So, my "yoked" pattern combines the black and white edging similar to that encompassing the panels of the Great Tapestry of Scotland; and the parallelograms of my Callanish Standing Stones and First Aid Kit designs! These have both been knit in black and white undyed Shetland wool from Jamieson's of Shetland. And the "jumper" part of the pattern is available in two colours: a marigold yellow; or a plum red. The bags are lined with an organic black gingham cotton from Bawn Textiles in Glasgow. Some of the bags will be available with handles.
I then decided that I would like to further celebrate Tangled Galashiels, so I contacted Suraya of Mahliqa to ask her if she could create more of her beautiful ZippaClips for me using my plant dyed yarns with black and clear swarovski crystals. These stunning ergonomically designed loops with a clip attachment were originally created and crocheted by Suraya in 2020.
“Thrilled to announce a new product designed in collaboration with lovely Sarah of Woolly Originals. We chatted over the summer about designing an aid to the zipper of her beautiful bags to make it easier to open and close them. The oval design was the perfect ergonomic shape to hook a finger through. They can be detached and also become a progress keeper on projects, so multi-use too!”
Suraya Hossain, September 2020
So, I hope this has inspired you to come along to Tangled Galashiels if you are in the neighbourhood or even further afield! There are great public transport links to Galashiels including a direct train line from Edinburgh!
See you in a fortnight!
Sarah x
