Mermaid's Delight

A Green Alternative for Warm and Cozy Clothing

Here is the link to a video of my knitted garments at the fashion show July 2013  

  All garments are hand knit from hand spun organic wool from sheep raised on Hornby Island. To keep the softness and luster of the wool, the fleeces are teased, carded & spun by hand before gently washing in a mild biodegradable soap. These lovely woollen garments are sculpted with the appreciation of the beauty and tactile coziness of this wonderful wool. The styles are inspired by memories of dressing for arctic winters and the fun of exploring crisp landscapes in the warm comfort of my knitted woollens.

This is one way of being in touch with mother earth and lessening our carbon foot prints.Treat yourself, a loved one, and the planet to a carbon neutral gift that will be appreciated for many years.

Hand spun wool yarn in skeins is also available.

The sheep this wool is from have distinctive colours and textures so I use their names to help in the description of the garments. Please let me introduce you to the sheep.

• Bella- Has a long staple wool that spins soft and strong even when spun fine. Various shades of grey. Appears to be darkening, spring shearing will be interesting.
• Dulsie- Chocolate brown, dark to milk. A coarser shorter stable so spun thicker.
• Molly- A soft wool perfect for children's garments. A soft beige.
• Kelpie- White to cream. A medium staple length and soft.
  

The other colours knit into the garments come from natural dyes such as local seaweeds and carrot tops.

This site is currently under construction, I apologize for any inconvenience and hope to have more pictures and descriptions as well as prices and modes of payment available and posted very soon. Building a web site is new to me and I am grateful for you interest and your patience.  If you have any questions please contact me.

Today as I was sitting on the deck lost in the warmth of the October sun and the soothing rhythm of my spinning wheel, I was gifted this story.  I hope you find it as insightful and enjoyable as I did.

A long time ago near a group of islands there lived a lost tribe of people thought to have descended from survivors of the lost continent of Lemuria. These people had made their home in the sea and were called the Mer. The Mer had lived in the sea so long they could no longer walk on land and felt threatened by those that did.

This story is about a young Mer maid that fell in love with a young fisherman. She and her dolphin friends had saved his life when his boat was taken by a storm. From that day on they lived for their love for each other. They would see each other whenever the sea would let him row out of sight of his village. The young Mer maid would help him fill his nets with fish quickly so that they could play together.

The young fisherman could not tell anyone about his love, not even his dear mother. The people in the village were as afraid of the Mer people as they were of them. Yet he could not betray his love and marry a village girl, despite his mother’s tears. After his mother’s death he lived alone, yet happy to go to sea and see his love.

One day as the Mer maid was watching from her favourite rocks for her love to come, she noticed how warm and cozy the village fishermen looked in their woollen cloths. She realized that her fisherman had not had warm woollens since loosing his mother, and since he had taken no wife he had no one to knit for him. The thought of him suffering so from the cold winters because of his love for her, broke her heart. The little Mer maid decided then and there that she would learn how to make these woollens for her fisherman. She remembered the shepherd she used to watch herding his sheep to the shore after storms so that they could feast themselves on the succulent seaweeds, and how beautiful the wool shone in the morning sun.

The next morning after a storm, she visited the shepherd and his flock. He wasn’t surprised when she swam close by and began talking to him. He said that he has seen Mer people all his life and was very honoured to meet her. After telling her story the shepherd came up with a good trade. In exchange for wool for her fisherman the Mer maid would help the shepherd cross the sea when he had to transport his flock to the village for sale. She was so happy when she swam home with a sack full of beautiful white, brown and grey wool.

Having seen the village women walking and spinning their drop spindles she understood the concept of spinning the short fibres together to produce a long strand that could be knit together. Her dolphin friends loved to spin, so much that they used to get her into trouble when she was young, spinning so much she would loose her balance in the water and start sinking. They always saved her, but they never tired of spinning and were never dizzy. So she taught the dolphins how to swim backwards holding the wool in their mouths and spinning at the same time. All she had to do was to keep feeding the wool. Once the dolphin was several meters away she would swim slowly towards her while winding the yarn around her snout, and then start spinning backwards again. Once the ball or yarn was large enough or the dolphin got tired, another would take her place. In no time the Mer maid had a sack of wool yarn instead of fleece.

Knitting needles were no problems as there were many urchin spins of all different sizes on the sea floor. From then on the Mer maid spent all her spare time making sweaters, jackets, hats, mittens, socks and all other sorts of warm woollens for her fisherman. She found so much happiness and delight and was inspired to design intricate patterns and created the most beautiful woollens any one had ever seen.

It didn’t take long before the women in the village started questioning the fisherman about his woollens and who had knit them. He only said that they were a gift from a dear friend and no more could they get out of him. As the designs became more and more beautiful the other women also began to see the beauty in what they were doing and creating patterns to show their love for the wearer. As their pride and delight for their work increased the whole village became a happier and more beautiful place. This love and creativity spread throughout the neighbouring islands and that is why they are now called the Fair Isles. For the beauty of their happy women and the woollens they knitted.

All a gift from a young Mer maid.

All Mermaid's Delight Products are available at the Hornby Island Farmer's Market from May to Oct.  Or contact me for mail order.