At the end of last September, I travelled to Shetland for Wool Week. I’d spent several previous months exploring a new-to-me world of yarn development, and the result – Buachaille – was about to be launched with the Seven Skeins Club. At home, so many boxes of yarn had arrived that the bathroom floor had begun to bow and sink; and, while Ella and I were talking about our vintage knitwear collections in the Shetland Museum, Tom was sitting in our living room surrounded by yarn, stringing thousands of tags. It was an exciting time, but we were full of trepidation too! What had we done?
Before our talk that evening, I’d encountered my supportive and beautiful friend, Felicity Ford, in the car park outside the Shetland Museum. She was carrying her trusty accordion, and proceeded to serenade me with a song she had written about Buachaille, much to the interest of Lerwick’s curious passers-by.
This song cheered, heartened, and amused me. It was, just like its composer, chock full of warmth and woolly enthusiasm, and it put me in exactly the right frame of mind to give my talk. I found myself humming it over the days that followed, frequently pictured the imaginary onesie whose virtues Felix celebrated in her song, and felt (as I have on numerous occasions over the past decade) incredibly grateful for her friendship.
Frankly, the Buachaille song says as much about Felix’s unique genius as it does about my yarn. I’m so happy that she has recorded it for us, and am proud to include it here for you today.
The lyrics are below, so feel free to sing along.
The Buachaille Song
by Felicity Ford, written for Kate Davies
Oh I would like to knit a onesie,
Covered in Kate Davies designs;
And I would work it all in Buachaille,
And I would wear it all the time.
And if I met with an enquiry,
Whilst out thus nattily attired,
I would explain my outfit,
In terms most vivid and inspired.
Because Buachaille is amazing!
Oh it makes me want to weep;
It’s made of love it’s made of mountains,
And it comes from proper sheep.
The kind that live up in the Highlands,
The ones that roam the Northern Isles,
The sort of sheep from round the borders,
The type in all the best textiles.
Sheep’s wool with subtle lustre,
And a nice warm friendly hand,
If you take a skein and hug it,
I know that you will understand.
Because Buachaille is amazing!
Oh it makes me want to weep.
It’s made of love it’s made of mountains
And it comes from proper sheep.
I love the colours of this great wool,
Which comes in Scottish landscape hues,
There are lovely misty greys there,
And some luminous bright blues.
There’s the green of the woodpecker,
Who laughs just like woodpeckers do,
And you really cannot argue,
With the redness of a coo.
Because Buachaille is amazing!
Oh it makes me want to weep.
It’s made of love it’s made of mountains
And it comes from proper sheep.
Oh I would like to knit a onesie,
Covered in Kate Davies Designs;
And I would work it all in Buachaille,
And I would wear it all the time.
I’d put OWLS up around the yoke,
And Boreal around the sleeves,
I’d make a wee hood for my heid,
Put paperdolls upon my knees.
Because Kate’s designs are amazing,
I am so glad she exists,
She’s made of love, she’s made of mountains,
And now she has created this.
Oh this Buachaille is amazing!
Oh it makes me want to weep.
It’s made of love it’s made of mountains
And it comes from proper sheep.
A few months down the line, we are on our third spinning of Buachaille, have happily moved the yarn from the bathroom to more appropriate storage; have conceded that the interminable labour of labelling and stringing yarn tags is not the best use of anyone’s time (we are moving to simpler skein bands); and having produced and reworked twenty patterns to support the yarn, are now working on a new collection. We are really enjoying our Buachaille adventure and hope that you are too!
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