Summer feels on the wane and it has been beautiful. Still the sun shines bright and warm and the clover keeps on blooming. Skylarks tumble and dive, collared doves coo to one another, the calves are frisking about and the lambs are getting big. Sunshiney days of relishing the warm breeze and the salt air, …
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Summer: dreams of vibrant wildflowers and handknit woollens
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Spring: Wild dog roses and sombre thunderclouds
The mist-kissed breeze brings the sweet scent of dog roses blooming on the wild hedge near the shore. Their pink and pure white petals lighten the mood of grey clouds. Spring feels almost like Summer this year – the days are hot bringing rumbles of thunder and early butterflies; Small Whites and Small Tortoiseshells find …
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Summer: long days of languid daydreaming
Summer in the Outer Hebrides. The sun uplifts us, we’re early to rise and feeling wise. Adventures beckon in the wind gusting off the sea. Sparkles of salt spray drench our smiles. We splash in the cold water and run through the marram grass and red clover, the wild carrot bearing its crowns of seeds …
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Spring: dawn chorus makes our hearts sing
“And a bird overhead sang Follow,And a bird to the right sang Here;And the arch of the leaves was hollow,And the meaning of May was clear.”~Algernon Charles Swinburne~ The dawn chorus of robin and song thrush, blackbird and wren. The sweet scent of gorse on the breeze. The clear blue of wild bluebells and a …
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Metamorphosis: Hecla Wrap design commission for Uist Wool
Being so close to my heart it was an honour and delight to create a new knitwear design for local mill, Uist Wool. The brief was to create a wrap and knitting pattern that would showcase the sublime, extra-long ombre gradient of an exclusive version of Uist Wool’s Astair laceweight yarn. And at the same …
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Ready for Indie Design Gift-A-Long 2021?
Are you a member of the worldwide Ravelry knitting community? Perhaps you’re taking part in the Indie Design Gift-A-Long 2021? Yay! Inner Wild is one of the independent designers taking part in this amazing annual event. What is it? Well, it includes some of these knitting patterns. And as the organisers say – it’s games, …
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Inspiration: running with the deer
Deer rush down from the mountains of Harris and the broad swathes of moorland drawn by the fresh, new growth of grass to soar over fences. And so it is with us humans. Deep inside we run with the deer; we too feel the machair sap rising and in the rhythm of the tide, the …
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Spring: awakening with nature
Rejoicing in the colours of Spring, brown grasses turning golden and lining the corncrake’s new nest. Rudely fresh green grass takes over slopes and flat meadows. Robust leaves of Angelica poke from bare earth and make olive feather shapes. Bright pink buds of crab apple trees burst open with pale pink white flowers. Homemade Harris …
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Metamorphosis: Ancestors Skirt
BEFORE I love winding skeins into balls around my hand. This is Malabrigo Arroyo in Pocion being every shade of beautiful on my Lykke Driftwood needles. A few years ago a dearheart called Laurie in the US asked via the Inner Wild Etsy shop if I might make her a knitted skirt. Laurie loved Ancestors …
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