Storm Cast Cowl for The Birlinn Yarn Company

My second design for The Birlinn Yarn Company has just been released! Storm Cast is a double length cowl fastened with three wooden buttons. Knitted as a long narrow scarf, the buttonholes are made within the cast off border. The beautiful blue shade of 4ply yarn is called Reef.

Image with kind permission from The Birlinn Yarn Company

"Designed by Emma Vining for Birlinn Yarn, our Storm Cast Cowl is for entry-level knitters. Inspired by seafaring Hebridean culture, the double length cowl is textured by a wave stitch pattern that works across the knitting from edge to edge and reflects the ebb and flow of the tides and storm cast waves. 

As islanders the sea is a large part of our lives at Birlinn Yarn, even our Hebridean sheep are seafaring. Thus the purity and pared back aesthetic of this pattern reflects this cultural context and the strong, constant rhythm of the tides and waves breaking on our Hebridean shores.

Our Storm Cast Cowl buttons have been designed by Birlinn Yarn and are made from sustainably sourced oak. Their pattern is distinctly Scandinavian, resonating with the Norse heritage of these islands and our sheep." The Birlinn Yarn Company, December 2017

My Storm Cast pattern is available as a download from the BYC website and can be purchased along with the gorgeous BYC yarn. The cowl is knitted with three 50g balls of BYC 4ply yarn. Other beautiful natural shades and Hebridean Colours are also available to purchase and the cowl would look amazing in any of them! 

Machair Wildflower Shawl Pattern is now on sale!

My first of my winning designs for the Birlinn Yarn Company (BYC) has just been released! I am so excited to see the stunning images of my Machair Wildflower shawl design on the BYC website. It has been such a pleasure to work with the BYC on this project and to design a hand knitting pattern for this very special yarn produced from seafaring sheep.

Machair Wildflower Shawl
by Emma Vining
for the Birlinn Yarn Company

"Our Machair Wildflower Shawl pattern is designed for intermediate knitters. The contemporary asymmetric form is combined with lace eyelets and raised bobbles to reflect the machair wildflowers as closed buds, in full bloom and as autumn seed heads. Machair, a Gaelic word, refers to one of the rarest habitats in Europe, almost unique to the Hebrides. A dune pasture that produces an abundance of beautiful wild flowers from Spring to Autumn. Thus, our beautiful, asymmetric shawl evokes the machair wildflowers throughout the seasons." Birlinn Yarn Company, Dec 2017

My Machair Wildflower pattern is available as a download from the BYC website and can be purchased along with the gorgeous BYC yarn. The shawl is knitted with three 50g balls of BYC 4ply yarn in the stunning shade of Moor. Other beautiful natural shades and Hebridean Colours are also available to purchase and the shawl would look amazing in any one of them!

Slipknot Journal Interview

One of the big benefits of membership of the Knitting & Crochet Guild is receiving the quarterly publication, Slipknot! The journal is always packed with excellent articles and information about the world of knitting and crochet.

Slipknot Issue 157
The Knitting & Crochet Guild
Cover image of Diamond Kites Sweater by Emma Vining
courtesy of Immediate Media

This month, I am absolutely delighted to be featured in the Journal. There is an interview with me, all about my designs and patterns. Slipknot editor, Elspeth and I had a a lovely chat about all things knitting and more! The lovely folks at the Knitter Magazine kindly provided images of two of my favourite designs, Diamond Kites Sweater and Lisbon Cardigan, to accompany the article.

I really enjoy reading Slipknot and the articles in this issue are great, including Wendy's yarn tales from her trip to New Zealand, Sally's fascinating article about Venetian Crochet, Lindy's review of the Great London Yarn Crawl 2017,  Elspeth's visit to a Musk Ox Farm and so much more..... Slipknot shows what an amazing amount of knitting, crochet and yarn knowledge we have within our Guild!

Thank you to everyone who contributes to Slipknot and to everyone who helps behind the scenes to make this journal such an excellent publication. For more information about the Knitting & Crochet Guild, please take a look at the KCG website.