![]() I’ve written previously about a join I’ve used at the edges of a piece that’s knit flat, and while still a good join, that method doesn’t work when knitting in the round, and it sometimes leads to a little more waste than I’d prefer. Over the years I’ve knit countless garments in Kestrel, and much as I adore it, the one thing I’ve found consistently challenging is how to join in new skeins invisibly. Its beautiful drape and Aran gauge make it my perfect yarn for those in-between days, when the temperatures are neither blistering hot, nor icy cold. It’s no secret that I love Quince and Company’s 100% organic linen Kestrel yarn. To tread lightly, respectfully and with great care. At the heart of what I do is my commitment to take care of this treasured island for the short time I am here. ![]() Where I give thanks for my place in the world. There are tough, dark days of oilskins, mud and wellies - not much glamour in that! However, there are also days of glorious calm on the west side beach of Berneray without a soul. This crofting lifestyle is not for everyone. Every step is carefully assessed to ensure as light a touch as possible on the environment. We then take a proportion of the grey blends and over-dye them following a GOTS registered organic dye process to achieve our Hebridean colour range. At the mill, we blend the black with white wool in order to get a range of natural coloured yarns. I am careful only to work with crofters with good animal husbandry and crofting practice to ensure the sustainability of the fleece that I buy, with all my wool traceable to individual crofts. Since starting out in 2017, The Birlinn Yarn Company has steadily grown such that I now work with quite a number of local island crofters buying in both Hebridean and Cheviot fleeces. Tell us a bit more about your special yarn? Given that our sheep originally came by boat with the Vikings and that they are still voyaging the Sound of Harris every summer, I like to refer to them as my ‘seafaring’ sheep and it seemed appropriate to take on board the Birlinn logo and name, hence-The Birlinn Yarn Company. This has been done for hundreds of years but it is only ourselves and one other island family that still maintain this practice. The carving dates back to the 15th Century so it is interesting to see that the boat design persisted long after the Norse people had left in the mid 13th Century.Įvery summer we take our sheep by boat to off-shore islands for weaning and summer grazing. The logo for The Birlinn Yarn Company was developed from a drawing I made of a stone carving in the Clan MacLeod’s Chapel in Rodel, South Harris. It was shortened in order that it could turn more easily, avoiding rocks and navigating between islands. However, this boat design needed to be adapted for interisland travel. The Viking long boats were built for extensive sea-passages as they were long and sailed fast in a straight line. The ancestors of our Hebridean sheep would have originally have been brought to our shores in Viking long boats or knarr and a birlinn is a Hebridean version of a knarr. Where does the name Birlinn come from, and what is the connection to your yarn? However, thankfully many crofters in the islands and small holders on the mainland are now breeding Hebridean sheep once more and while still rare, the breed is no longer under threat. As a result, the Hebridean sheep breed declined in numbers such that they were placed on the rare breed lists. Since then, breeds such as Cheviot and Texel have dominated the sheep scene in the region. Hence, why you can find them every where the Norwegian Vikings settled as far south as the Isle of Man and as far north-west as Greenland.ĭuring the clearances in the mid 19th Century, when many landlords in the Highlands and Islands cleared their lands of their smallholder tenants, these little black sheep were turfed off to make way for more commercial sheep breeds. They are part of the wider North Atlantic Short-tailed sheep breed found across the North Atlantic, dispersed by the Norse people who took their hardy little sheep with them as they migrated. Here we rear pedigree Hebridean sheep that were originally brought to the Hebrides by the Vikings around the mid 9th Century. With my family, I run a croft (small holding) on Cnoc na Grèine (which translates from Gaelic as Hill of the Sun).
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