Knit Local with These Islands

I’m delighted to tell you about a project I’ve been working on for the last year that finally launches this week! These Islands is a book focused on ethically-reared sheep, locally-milled wool, and fair-trade knitting wool. For a while I wondered if we are so focused on local and fair-trade ingredients for our foods, what about for our craft projects and this book grew from a conversation about it with local dyer and local wool advocate Sara Breitenfeldt and talented designer Suzanne McEndoo.

With a focus on Ireland’s own Zwartbles and now-defunct Smudge Wools, we showed readers that wool can be done while still treating the sheep with love and appreciation. You may have read about the book in Irish Country Living (May 2015) or on GoodReads or on my 40 Shades of Life blog. The book, These Islands: Knits from Ireland, Scotland, and Britain, is available from:

Zwartbles Ireland €12.50

Amazon.com $11

BarnesAndNoble $11

Amazon.co.uk £5.36

BookDepository €6.82

Smudge - Irish Wools p35

ISBN: 978-1-910567-03-6

62 pages, A5, Paperback
7 knitting patterns and 1 weaving pattern.
77 full-colour photographs shot on location at Zwartbles Ireland in Kilkenny and in County Cork, Ireland.

Published in 2015 by Anchor and Bee of Cork City, Ireland. Printed in the UK.
Copyright © 2015 Sara Breitenfeldt, Suzanne McEndoo, and Evin Bail O’Keeffe
Photography: Sara Breitenfeldt, Suzanna Crampton, Justin Molina, Evin Bail O’Keeffe, and Victor Sullivan.

Smudge - Irish Wools p55