Home and Away

Autumn has arrived in this part of the world, the days are getting shorter and cooler and the mornings often begin with a mist laying heavy over the valley. It’s a beautiful place to live and work, but at the moment, I’ve had little time to contemplate those lovely views.  We are hard at work knitting, finishing, writing, pattern sizing etc all day every day often through to the early hours to make the Vintage Shetland Project the best it can possibly be. 

Last week, we began a series of photoshoots which are going to be taking place over the coming month.  This first shoot included some of the garments from the Project. 

There were also new versions of favourite designs which are being relaunched as single patterns very soon.

Here's I am in photographer mode photographing our fabulous new house model Becky wearing 'Diamonds are Forever' (in a range of suitably sheepy shades) and surrounded by some of our sheep. You can see the 'rear' of our gorgeous new Icelandic ram as he's being fed by Becky. And below, you can just see me going to any lengths to get just the right shot! You can also see 'It Cannot Fail to Please' knitted in Excelana 4ply Damson Wine again being modelled by Becky, braving the brambles and nettles to harvest some of Monkley Ghyll's very own Damsons.

Here I am styling the lovely Becky in the beaded yoke jumper from Vintage Shetland Project with a spectacular 'skirt' created using 8 metres of Vaila Organic Shetland Tweed.

I was so pleased with the photos from this shoot and can't wait to share more of them. In fact if you come along to the Yarndale show at Skipton, North Yorkshire, this coming weekend more of the images will be on display along with some of the finished items from the book. There will also be the opportunity to pick our new promotional brochure with images and previews from the book itself. With so much to do, Gavin and I won't be manning the stand this year, but our wonderful friends and colleagues Tracy, Tess and Jo will be there to help everyone visiting our dedicated Vintage Shetland Project stand. So if you are coming to the show make sure you call at stand 100 to get the chance to see these beautiful pieces from the book and don't forget to pick up a preview brochure.

Due to the huge demand for Fenella during and since the pubslush campaign our stocks are extremely limited until more undyed yarn arrives in October ready to head off to the dyers. Therefore at Yarndale we are only taking orders for Fenella not selling it at the show. There will be lots of information about yarn quantities and colours for the patterns along with the chance to pre-order kits for the likes of the Rose Cardigan. 

Along with your brochure you can also pick up the new Fenella shade cards featuring all 25 of our gorgeous colours, including the new colours - Sloe Gin, Alta, Melancholy, Balado, Rannoch, Verdigris, Caramel and Dolly Blue (my favourite) - more about these very soon. Kits for designs made using Jamieson & Smith yarns and our other limited edition yarns will be available to order on the website before Christmas.

As I mentioned in my last blog post we've been welcoming many new family members to the farm and just this week we have had a very exciting new addition - Iris. Iris came to live at Monkley Ghyll only last week and has already made a huge difference to efficiency on the farm. Here she is. Our fabulous International 784 vintage tractor. She may look a bit rough around the edges but she's a hard worker and we love her.

When I revealed her on instagram a few days ago I was directed to the The Mike Sammes Singers who sung the jingle for a new version of the International tractor - it was for the 'hydrostatic' which is a much fancier version than ours, however the jingle is well worth a listen :)

Thank you to Felicity Ford for sending me the link to this.

Straight after the Yarndale show I’m heading off up the country to Shetland for Shetland Wool Week. I have a lot of non-wool week work to do for the book whilst I am there but will be hosting the Vintage Shetland Project Trunk Show at the Shetland Museum on Thursday 1st October from 1pm-4pm. There is no booking required and the event is free. I do hope to see some of you there.

For now,

Susan xx

So that was the month that was...

I mentioned in my last blog post that things would be quiet around here whilst I got on with the myriad tasks in hand for the Vintage Shetland Project, as well as all the other tasks that go on anyway. But I didn't expect it to be a whole month between posts.

August has indeed been incredibly busy. In addition to the research, knitting, finishing, writing, planning etc that is going on just for Vintage Shetland Project alongside the general running of our business, there is an endless list of farm tasks to do as we try to ensure we are ready for the oncoming winter. For the first time we will also be putting our ewes to the tup so come next Spring we will have our first lambs born here at Monkley Ghyll.

Despite the loss of fleece in our barn fire we are lucky to still have a number of Zwartbles fleeces sourced from local farms which will soon be going off for spinning and today we head off to collect a batch of Shetland fleeces from another nearby farm which we hope to turn into yarn very soon too. So although it won't be fleece from our own sheep this year, it will be fleece from sheep who live all around us and I am very, very excited at the thought of these yarns getting spun and what they will be like when they return.

We have added a number of sheep and goats to our little family here at Monkley Ghyll, with some very exciting yarn ideas in mind.

Poppy, Molly, Aretha, Etta, Nina and Simone joined us recently. These beautiful Herdwick sheep have settled in very well, the steep hills and stony ground of our farm seem to appeal to them! Known for their less than soft fleece I am experimenting with a number of ideas enabling us to make good use of this unique fibre.

Alongside them are our two Angora kid goats - Jake and Ellwood - these two boys will produce kid mohair for around three years. Their coats grow at such a rate they can be clipped twice a year and will provide 10kg of mohair each per year.

There are a number of other new arrivals who I will tell you about next but I will leave it there for now as there is much to do as the days grow shorter and the air begins to smell of autumn...

And the autumn mists come rolling up the valley

I'll be back soon,
but

for now,
Susan xx

Announcing a Barn Sale!

Over the years I have managed to collect a huge amount of 'stuff' and after vainly attempting to upload just some of this onto Ebay,  I decided a much less time consuming and much more fun way of finding it all new homes would be by opening our barn doors to the public for the first time and having a Barn Sale.

There will be mountains of yarn for sale, fabric, patterns, books, vintage bric-a-brac, a little furniture, lots of ex-display garments, clothes - vintage & otherwise, handbags, jewellery, haberdashery, handbags, shoes, CAKES, plants, farm produce, free range eggs, and possibly more.

There will be refreshments for sale - homemade cakes, snacks and soup, hot and cold drinks and mini tours around the farm to meet the sheep, chickens and ducks throughout the two days.

If you would like to come along here are the details:

The Barn Sale will be taking place at Monkley Ghyll on Saturday 6th June and Sunday 7th June from 11am - 4pm each day.

You can find full details and useful information on my website here. I have also gathered some information about places to stay as some people have already expressed a wish to make a weekend of it. If you register your interest via the email on the website and let me know that you need accommodation information I can forward that to you too.

It will be a wonderful opportunity to welcome every one to the farm for the first time before we formally open for workshops etc later in the year. I'm really excited about it and I hope to see some of you here.

for now,
Susan xx

What a difference a year makes

A whole year has passed since we made our move to our hill farm in the North Lancashire countryside and what a year it has been. We have experienced tremendous highs - shearing our own sheep, growing our own food, seeing chicks hatch from eggs, incredibly busy periods for the business - and also unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, some lows - foxes taking our lovely young ducks, my studio blowing down in gale force winds, stock (as in wool) being damaged, incredibly busy periods for the business (Bizarrely both a high and a low as those busy periods have proved hard to deal with to be honest).

Sometimes it has felt like taking one step forward then two steps back but there hasn't been a single moment when I haven't been glad we took the plunge and made the move. When I view our initial two year plan I almost laugh out loud at our optimism and naivety and we are only now at the beginning of our second year really beginning to address the plan at all. But when I wake up of a morning and look out of my window at the fields, at the weather, at the wildlife, at our home, I cannot help but be happy. Yes the amount of work we have to do is frankly, insurmountable, and we have next to no free time and I can't remember the last time I wore nail varnish, and the books I am reading are all about sheep illnesses or the correct grass seed to use but I have never been more content in my life.

When people visit the farm or even just drop off a parcel, they stop half way down the drive and stare into the distance. Without exception they are filled with awe and tell us they could remain in the same spot all day just absorbing the scene. And after a year this is still how it makes me feel. It often overwhelms me completely and I feel moved to tears. I have butterflies in my stomach as I let nature seep through my skin and into my being. I am still struggling to channel these feelings and use them creatively but that will come.

A good friend pointed out how much my colour choices in my work had been affected by our location. She is right and yet I hadn't even noticed. Maybe this is how it will happen. I won't see the changes in me, I won't know the impact but others will. And that's fine.

 

 

So for now,
Susan xx

Knitting on a hill in Monkley Ghyll - and the visit of a close friend

The weeks since Christmas are already flying past. The to do list is apparently lengthening by the day but I was fortunate to have a couple of days grace when my good friend, designer extraordinaire Helene Magnusson arrived for a long awaited visit. Helene and I have been friends for several years and yet neither of us had visited each others homes before, so this was a big occasion and a delight to spend 'quality' time with a friend.

Helene has written a beautiful blog post about her visit to the farm which says far better than I can about what a lovely few days we had. Suffice to say however that no visit to the farm is complete without a bracing walk across the fields. We were very lucky to have one clear, bright, beautiful day amidst the horizontal rain and gale force winds, and so we set off on our walk. Pausing for a few minutes to survey the view, Helene took the opportunity to knit on the hill at Monkley Ghyll which gave me the additional opportunity to take this photo of her.

Helene is wearing her stunning Icelandic Spring Shawl knitted in her own Gryla yarn which attracted attention where ever we went and was particular admired by 'Cuddles' the friendliest of all our Zwarbles sheep -

This is possibly the best sheep picture ever!

I have so much more to share about Helene's visit including incredible food, the Chanel to Westwood knitwear exhibition, Helene modelling my knits and three amazing books brought from Iceland by Helene, but for now I'm going to re-read Helene's post and appreciate what a wonderful place I live in.


for now,
Susan xx

A Love Letter to Lancashire

When we began our mammoth move from the North West coastline, up the M6 and higher and higher from sea level to 400 feet above sea level, I don't think either Gavin or I really fully appreciated exactly what lay in store for us. We spent a week driving backwards and forwards in a 7.5 ton lorry transporting our home, our business, our sheds and our small holding to the lancashire hill farm that has become our new home.

Parts of the house have been on this spot since the 1600s with evidence of a farm or dwelling here since before 1066. The land is ancient, the views majestic and the legacy and responsibility enormous.

 The property had been empty for almost five years when we moved in three weeks ago.

The owners of the estate have spent a significant amount of time renovating the farmhouse and doing what they could to clear up the land and the outbuildings. Whilst the farmhouse is in immaculate condition the land and these other buildings need an enormous amount of work to bring them back to life and production.

In between the moving, the unpacking and the rebuilding, Gavin and I have taken whatever moments we can to walk around the farm getting to know 'our land' and get to grips with what needs to be done.

Unfortunately there is currently no electric to the outbuildings so much of the work that needs to be done on these is in the pending tray. Another outbuilding blew done shortly before we moved in and another small shed needs to be knocked down before it does the same.

The previous occupant had amassed over 50 years of  'stuff' much of which has been removed, but there is still debris and rubbish to be found everywhere. The dry stone walls and ancient buildings have been allowed to crumble and decay but the stone remains scattered about the land.


The most significant problem for us though has been the absence of a telephone line, broadband, mobile phone signal or 3G connection. Every now and again for about 20 minutes twice a day, we randomly seem to pick up a 3G signal but other than that we are currently in the hands of the BT engineers who after 3 weeks have not yet repaired the faulty line to the farm.  This makes so very, many things very, very difficult and others - like blogging - impossible. With neither landline or mobile phone signal even ordering supplies from builders merchants becomes a major task. So everything, absolutely everything, takes much longer than it should and some things can't happen at all. I am having to learn patience - not a trait I am blessed with as a rule - as things slowly get done.

This all sounds horrendous, so why do it? you may well ask. Having a farm of our own which works with the business has been a long time goal for both of us, but this farm is so much more. Regardless of the debris and the neglect it is an awe inspiring, spirit lifting place.

As you walk the land, your worries depart and the beauty envelops you. To be the custodians of this glorious place is an honour we never thought we would obtain. Nature surrounds us as was truly revealed a few days ago when the fields all around us were filled with the bleating of new born lambs.

We are privileged to live right here.

 

 

for now,

Ruby xxx