Feeling the smoothness of silk taffeta against the roughness of Shetland wool each becomes more itself, ever deepening. 

Senses awakened through the fingertips. Short days of dark blue sea and unflowering brown heather moor rolling.

Graceful, hardy Mute Swans build their nests among the rock and heather around the lochans and crannogs of Uist and raise their young on the rippling waters. Sometimes their cousins, the Whooping Swans, visit and there is much fierce wing-flapping.




This shade, 'birch brown' looks so nice worn with the 'Stag' shade of Sassenach Capelet. There's also an Inner Wild Ancestor's Apron in the same birch brown, so like the downy grey brown plumage of young mute swans:

All my life I've knitted for all kinds of people from tiny premature babies to huge menfolk but I've never knitted anything quite as deeply soulful as The Shepherdess Capelet. 


This was my creation commissioned by Uist Wool and its Snàth contemporary craft in artisan yarns exhibition, part of a series of Outer Hebrides Hebtember '14 events.


You can see The Shepherdess Capelet, along with the stunning creations of six other Hebridean makers, at Uist Wool, Scotvein, Grimsay, North Uist 13 - 27 September 10am - 5pm.



Details:


Beautiful Uist deer shed antler buttons handmade by Mr Robert MacLeod, South Uist.


I collected these tiny rocks from the shore, Isle of Benbecula, tied them to the yarn and let them hang in the same way my Hebridean ancestors hung rocks on rope over the thatched roofs of their stone homes.


From staring at cones of gorgeous pure wool from Uist Wool to a few sketches to the final Shepherdess Capelet I could feel my ancestors behind me; mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, great aunties, who were all expert and practical knitters using the very same wool in the same place, influencing and guiding me through the many weeks of creating this project; a beautiful feeling.

Thank you to the gifted team of extraordinary people at Uist Wool.

Creative process

From these cones of glorious Uist Wool


to this


for this. {See more about Outer Hebrides Hebtember.}

First thoughts on what to make - tunic, capelet, tabard, dress, apron?


Decide on decorative capelet



Loving the idea of using irregular and various Aran knitting stitch panels, free-falling and loose and allowing an influence of traditional Maori Moa feather cloaks {I lived in NZ for 12 years}.

Made lots of cable panels and tried out different stitch patterns on different plys of yarn.













The Shepherdess Capelet, made with Uist Wool by a Uist woman in Uist.