We have a full and exciting program in Episode 158! Our feature interview is with John Arbon Textiles, an artisan spinning mill in Devon, UK, known for its beautifully blended worsted yarns. We also include some coverage of their annual Open Mill Weekend, which features a mini fibre market, workshops, talks and, of course, tours of their fabulous mill. On top of that, Madeleine and I have finished projects to share with you in Bring & Brag!
John Arbon Textiles - Developing New Yarn Ranges
I interviewed the founders, John and Juliet Arbon, back in Episode 76. Since then, they’ve retired, passing on the mill to two former employees Sonja and Helena, who have brought fresh energy and ideas. So naturally we wanted to interview them as well.
I’ve loved John Arbon yarns for years, especially their unique colour blends. Madeleine and I have even decided to create our own small custom range of yarns with them, which we are very excited about!
The interview is divided into two parts: In part one, Sonja and Helena talk about their vintage machinery and their own yarn ranges. The colours in the Devonia yarn range, for example, were inspired by Le Chant du Monde, a book of tapestries by French artist Jean Lurçat. His work often pairs dark, saturated colours with lighter matching shades. Using this as a guide, John Arbon created Devonia, a blend of Exmoor Blueface, Bluefaced Leicester, and Romney fleece.
In part two, they explain how they design custom yarns for both designers and small-scale sheep farmers, using our project as a real-life example. We chose to work with John Arbon for their beautiful heathered yarns. They dye the fleece in 6–7 base colours, then blend different percentages together to create new shades. The result reads as a clear colour, like blue or red, but with subtle flecks of other tones that make it lively and rich.
Open Mill Weekend
Every June, John Arbon Textiles opens its historic worsted-spinning mill in South Molton, North Devon, for a public event where visitors can explore vintage machinery, take guided mill tours, and browse a pop-up shop featuring their yarns and guest vendors. The weekend also includes workshops, talks, and a little café all of which take place in the old town hall.
Sinead Kerr, the natural handdyer behind Gullrock Fibres, explained and demonstrated how a mordant chemically binds to the wool and a natural dye, creating a bridge between the two. And in another talk, Sonja and Helena shared their process of developing new yarn ranges for John Arbon Textiles – a process which they occasionally even invite customers and fiber fans to participate in!
Finding John Arbon Textiles
- Website: www.jarbon.com
- Instagram: @jarbontextiles
- YouTube: @JohnArbonTextile
Support the Show - Become a Patron
We’re able to produce this show thanks to the crowd-funding platform Patreon. This means viewers, like yourself, who love the show have chosen to make a small monthly donation towards this podcast. If you are not yet a patron, please support the show by making a small monthly donation. Visit patreon.com/fruityknitting to become a Hebridean, Merino or Shetland patron.
We’ve produced 158 episodes so far and watching these episodes will expose you to the incredible amount possibilities that knitting has to offer. We want to thank our patrons for making this possible!
Patron Discount - John Arbon Textiles
As a thank-you to our Patrons, we love to share special discounts whenever possible. We’re delighted that John Arbon Textiles is offering Fruity Knitting Patrons 10% off everything in their online store, including all yarns, kits, and tops. A big thank-you to Sonja and Helena for this generous offer! Fruity Knitting Patrons can find all discount details here.
Bring & Brag
Olive Top - Knitting For Olive
Madeleine has completed her Olive Top by Knitting for Olive! It’s a sweet summer tank top with an easy leaf-like stitch pattern. She used their 100% fingering-weight merino yarn in the colour Dusty Rose. To make the leaves, you increase two stitches – one on each side of a centre stitch – a few times at the start. Then you knit straight for a bit to add length to the leaf.
After that, you decrease by knitting three stitches together in the centre until you’re back to one stitch. Madeleine showed how to do left-leaning, right-leaning and centred K3Tog decreases in Episode 156. This pattern uses the centred K3Tog so the leaves look symmetrical.
Madeleine recommends knitting this top in a smaller size because the top comes out bigger than expected. She made size XS, which should have had 14 cm of negative ease on her. Instead, it’s reasonably fitted around her chest but, otherwise, it’s slightly loose. The top was easy to knit and she loves how it turned out!
Jean Cardigan - Kolibri by Johanna
I’ve finished my Jean cardigan designed by Kolibri by Johanna! In fact, I feel better about it than I did last episode. The pattern is easy to follow and I had no problems with it. But I did struggle a little with my choice of yarn. I held together the Mohair Bliss yarn (60% kid mohair and 40% silk) and Arctic Pearl (100% lyocell) from Pascuali. The yarns are beautiful, drapey and shiny. But the lyocell stretches a lot, so you can’t rely on getting a consistent gauge. Therefore, it’s best for oversized, flowy garments where the stretch doesn’t matter.
When I wet-blocked my cardigan before adding the button band, it stretched about 10 cm longer, so the sleeves became too long. I unpicked them and shortened them by about 6 cm. The double-knitted button band took some trial and error, since it doesn’t stretch as much as the lace body. I ended up using smaller needles for the lower part of the band and switching to larger needles around the upper V-neck. Now, the button band is slightly too tight and pulls up my cardigan in the center. Madeleine is encouraging me to rip back and reknit the button band. We’ll see 🙂 Otherwise, I’m really happy with how the cardigan turned out!
What we are wearing
Andrea is wearing her Jean cardigan by Kolibri by Johana on the couch. Madeleine is wearing her Olive Top by Knitting for Olive on the couch.
Credits
- J. S. Bach, The Well Tempered Klavier, Prelude No. 3 in C-Sharp major, BWV 848, performed by Kimiko Ishizaka, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
- Franz Schubert, Impromptu no. 2 in E flat major, D. 899 performed by Chiara Bertoglio, CC BY 3.0 DEED Attribution 3.0 Unported
- Pride and Prejudice (1995) OST, Opening Title Music, Music by Carl Davis
- In the Mood, performed by Glenn Miller, from the album “I Could Have Danced All Night and More Hits,” ℗ 2012 SVM, Provided to YouTube by Xelon Entertainment
