Orkney Hat

When I travelled to Orkney last October I was determined to bring back something that was strongly tied to the land there. My mind immediately hoped for yarn--something aran weight, something deeply Scottish and reflective of remote island life. Imagine my joy when, after stepping off the tiny plane from the Scottish mainland, I found a display case in the airport containing skeins of locally produced yarn. I may have done a small dance of joy while M. looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I wrote down the address of the yarn shop and convinced M. to take a drive out there on a blustery afternoon.

Upon arrival I was able to speak with the shop owner who was passionate about local production and lamented the loss of local woolen mills. While Orkney still breeds a number of hardy, local sheep it's very difficult to have the yarn spun without shipping it to China. Chinese mills are taking over because they're cheaper than the local heritage mills. The owner of the Benlaw Woolshed has the fleece from her local sheep spun at one of the only heritage mills left in the UK, and located in Orkney. Her process is completely organic. Her sheep are well adapted to the harsh local conditions and produce a thick and warm fleece. The resulting yarn is rustic--it doesn't have the next-to-skin-softness of the merino and alpaca that is in such high demand in today's yarn market, but it does have the virtues of being durable and completely natural. The yarn came in only three undyed colours--oatmeal, light brown, and dark chocolate. I bought a skein of each and took home a pattern for an aran hat.

I finished the hat before the holidays and decided to give it away as part of a gift exchange. Here is the result--a labour of love from sheep to mill to finished product brought to you all the way from the Orkney Islands. I hope to make more hats with the remaining yarn as I definitely want one of these for myself!


Orkney Hat. Amaranth Road Studio. 2011