This Month
This month has been incredibly mixed and full of planning for the second half of the year. I can't believe we're already at this stage! 2019 has been a huge year for me already, I cant wait for the plans for the rest of the year fall into place and I can start sharing it all with you!
Last months post was sent out from a hotel room just outside of Edinburgh as we were on the Scottish mainland for The Royal Highland Show. It was my first time and so much fun! We spent a lot of time with my dad speaking to some of the other businesses he works with as an agricultural engineer and dealer for machinery, in case some of you didn't know, self employment and running small businesses is very normal in my family! I have collected a few pictures below and for those interested, you can have a look at my dads Facebook page here: S T Malcolmson, Engineers
Since this month has been less picturesque than usual with all the planning I've been doing, I've been going back to basics on social media about why I do the things I do, including why I'm sticking to hand frame machines, and why I LOVE using Shetland wool.
Why Wool?
The Fair Isle we make at Terri Laura is 100% Shetland Wool, and here's why!
Wool is:
Eco-friendly, sustainable, and biodegradable
100% natural (did you know that no one has managed to replicate the properties of wool synthetically?)
GOOD for the sheep, it’s cruel NOT to clip your sheep’s wool
Naturally flame retardant
Naturally water resistant
has balanced thermal insulation properties, keeping you warm in winter
breathable
wrinkle resistant and easy to store
it’s even a natural air purifier. It’s estimated that I sing wool on interiors can help purify the air for up to 30 years!
AND as an added bonus, working with Jamieson's of Shetland means that the Wool has been in Shetland for the whole process, from the sheep on the hills providing the wool, to the dying and spinning of the yarn. Keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum! 
Why Hand Frame Machine Knitting?
as you can see, it’s still very hands on, manually operating the knitting machine, and this is the easy part. On the Fair Isle machine you have to be aware of the pattern, manually change colours between rows, as well as shaping the garment at the same time!
This takes time, but this also makes the jumpers we make special. It’s how jumpers have been made in Shetland for years and the skills are quickly dying out!
Shaping the garment while knitting is also important to me, it means that we’re not wasting yarn and the edges are more robust! We don’t use templates to cut the shape, it’s all done as part of the machine knitting process
Not only this, my skilled team hand finish every jumper, cowl and headband to make sure everything is perfect. This includes hand sewing the neck and cuffs onto the jumper as well as the seam up the sides and down the arms being sewn BY HAND. As a result, the seams are less bulky, or completely invisible!
Extras
Coming Soon!
Next month I am working on publishing a series of tutorial videos for beginner knitters. These will be available by the next blog post so keep your eyes peeled for those.
I have started a new YouTube Channel to collect all of these videos, subscribe to be the first to see, or continue checking social media and blog posts for the updates.
Colourwork Class
Some friends I met in Denmark are coming to Shetland for a trip and wanted to come for a class, this is also open to anyone, if you want to have some fun with colour and learn how to put together beautiful Fair Isle, then join us!
Email hello@terrilaura.co.uk to book your place!