Over the years we have produced many original designs which have become classics for hand knitters all over the world. These timeless designs are available in our own supreme quality, uniquely coloured wool, which perfectly reflects our ideas of colour work, pattern, texture and style.

Each design in this collection comes with a full colour pattern and all the yarn required to make the garment in the size ordered.
Alice Starmore

MARA

If you have never knitted a stranded garment in the round before, but feel you are ready, then this is the one for you. It has all the classic techniques, with steeks etc, yet the pattern motifs are symmetrical and easy to follow. The design was inspired by a Hebridean seascape but came to life on the other side of the Atlantic, in the US state of Connecticut. The story of how this happened is included in my book, ROAD MOVIES Volume 1.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colourway as shown.

LUSKENTYRE

Luskentyre and adjacent Seilebost on the Isle of Harris is one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, with turquoise sea and pale sand. Look closely at the sand and you will see drifts of tiny, exquisite Tellin shells: thousands of them in shades as delicate as the shells themselves. You have to pick them up with equal delicacy, for all too often you seize the flower, the bloom is shed. I have used their shapes and colours in a feminine cardigan that is very useful to throw on over a dress in springtime. You don't have to live beside the Atlantic to wear it: take it anywhere, town or country. It is photographed here on the keystane of the Brig o' Doon, where Burns' hero Tam o' Shanter eluded the winsome witch of Kirk Alloway at great cost to the tail of his brave mare, Meg.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colourway as shown.

ABALONE

Moving from the Atlantic Ocean to the Californian Pacific shore, you find that the light and colours are completely different in look and atmosphere. This cardigan captures the shimmering, shifting blend of beautiful colours found inside an Abalone shell.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colourway as shown.

RONA

Take a bearing 004 degrees from the Butt of Lewis and another 308 degrees from the tip of Cape Wrath. There in the wild Atlantic is a little island named after a saint. People tried to live there but failed. Signs of where they dwelt and worshipped still remain, but Rona is the province of Storm Petrels, Gannets and other seabirds. It is a fitting name for this collection of shoreline colours, patterns and textures: the seaweeds and the pebbles, every one a different gem.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colourway as shown.

DONEGAL

Here is Donegal, updated with new border patterns, re-published in 5 sizes, and now worked in 12 shades of beautiful Alice Starmore Hebridean 2 Ply.

This design has become a very popular stranded classic. You see it here at the remains of the Ruthven Barracks, near Kingussie, on the main A9 road from Perth to Inverness. The barracks were built to enforce the policy of suppressing the Scottish Highlanders following the rebellion of 1715. It did no good, for they were burned by the retreating Jacobite army of ‘Bonnie Prince’ Charles Edward Stewart in 1746, as they pressed northwards to their final defeat at Culloden. A castle stood on the site before the barracks were built, and in the 14th Century it was home to another member of the Stewart clan: Alexander, the Wolf of Badenoch. The Wolf is said to have come to a sticky end here in 1336 after trying to beat the Devil at cards.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colourway as shown.

CANYONVILLE

During my years as a knitting gypsy, I travelled most of the US freeways as well as many a lonely backroad mile. I was destined to get to know some roads all too well, and one of those was US Interstate 5, which I was up and down more times than I care to remember: so many times in fact, that I cannot pin a precise date to the occasion when my body clock told me to “E-Z Off” down the ramp into the little town of Canyonville OR, about midway between Grants Pass and Roseburg.

The area was deeply forested - massive trees with enormous trunks. They dwarfed the town, in which the largest man-made structure appeared to be a pit stop called Fat Harvey’s; the facilities of which I availed myself immediately. I may not remember the exact date, but I do recall the bowl of excellent chilli and the feeling of awe when I went to take a close look at the huge trees. It was the texture of the trunks that really hit me and set patterns flowing in my mind. The effect was so immediate that I took pencil and paper and charted out ideas right there and then. One of them is here in this sweater, which I named after the town. The shape is classic and looks good on both men and women: the pattern speaks for itself. It is composed mainly of twisted stitches and does require concentration to knit. The results are well worthwhile.

Available in any colour of Hebridean 3 Ply.

FLORA

Originally published in A Scottish Garland, my pattern for Flora was based on the many and varied wildflowers of the Hebrides. I first drew a pattern to express the notion of flowers and leaves. I then stylised it, taking care to preserve the impressionist effect of carpets of wildflowers covering the landscape. The Mountain Colourway shown on the waistcoat depicts the lively autumn show of heather, wild thyme, moss and asphodel as seen on the moorland mountains. By contrast, the Glen Colourway - as shown on the jacket - features a quiet, peaceful scene where greens predominate and flowers such as wild violet and eyebright make silvery patterns. Both waistcoat and jacket are available in the Mountain or Glen Colourway.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in Glen or Mountain colourway as shown.

MARINA

There is another world underwater, filled with life, colour and movement. To my mind one of the most visually exciting things on the planet. Seaweed, corals, anemones, pebbles and rocks are magically illuminated as light is reflected and bounced around through the shifting currents. I wanted to translate something of this magic into a knitted design, using pattern and colour. I devised patterns to suggest an undersea garden that is always in motion, while the colours evoke water and aquatic life.

It truly has been a joy to make Marina in our Hebridean wool, which was designed to express that same magical, luminous, ever-changing quality. This then is the complete, ultimate Marina, worked in 19 colours of Hebridean 2 Ply. I have given it a classic, timeless silhouette which is guaranteed to work for all ages and shapes.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colours as shown.

SCAPA

Our Scottish Fleet 5 Ply worsted wool has a smooth, firm quality, which makes it ideal for highly shaped garments. The nature of the Fleet yarn itself was the source of my idea for Scapa – a small, exquisite exercise in tailored knitting. It has a shaped silhouette, featuring mitred cornered borders and a neat shawl collar and is worked on 2.5mm needles which produces a very crisp, braille-like texture. Worked in any of our shades of Scottish Fleet, Scapa will make a classic addition to any wardrobe.

Available in any colour of Alice Starmore Scottish Fleet.

HENRY VIII

This classic silhouette - emphasised by patterned borders - is the perfect canvas for dazzling opulence. I devised these patterns and put the colours together to create a garment that would suit a larger than life monarch, long dead but very much alive in memory and popular imagination. When standing in his bedroom in Hever Castle, surrounded by portraiture and old panelling, it was alarmingly easy to imagine Henry VIII stomping around in the morning and bellowing "Anne! Where did you put my best sweater."

The Hebridean 2 Ply colours provide a depth and lustre worthy of a royal legend. Henry VIII is now available in four sizes, for women as well as men.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colours as shown.

ALBA

Alba is the Gaelic for Scotland, and as a native Gaelic speaker I wanted to pay tribute to the Gàidhealtachd - the region where the language is spoken.

Key patterns were a favourite of Pictish stonemasons. I saw this one on the Nigg Stone in NE Scotland and transcribed it into a charted knitting pattern in 1990. The regular geometry of the key pattern makes this an easy stranded project, while the tones and shades of Hebridean 2 Ply give it a vibrancy worthy of its name. This is a garment to be worn with pride.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colours as shown.

SCALPAY

Ladders, rope cables and Seed Stitch were three very simple patterns used in some form or another on many traditional British ganseys. I designed this sweater in 1981 with the notion of creating a very contemporary design featuring these stitches. Originally I called it Patrington & Withernsea, and as a result I have sometimes been asked for the museum or photographic reference of the gansey on which I based my design. There isn’t one. I used the names for the simple reason that in these two Humberside towns, knitters made frequent use of the ladder, ropes and Seed Stitch on their gansey yokes.

The striking features of this design are the shawl collar, defined by the rope cable edging and the use of Seed Stitch throughout the garment. Knitted in Hebridean 3 Ply, the textures and style of the design are brought into much sharper focus. Because of this, and to avoid the recurring museum question, I decided the design should be reborn as Scalpay: a Hebridean island just a few hundred metres off the Harris coastline that has only recently been connected by a bridge. The Scalpay folk are noted for the exceptionally neat trim of their boats, and a quiet confidence born of being a race slightly apart for so many years (some didn’t want the bridge at all, or would have preferred a drawbridge).

Two decades have passed since I designed this sweater, and I can say with Scalpay confidence that it has stood the test of time and become a modern classic that can be worn by both men and women. It is now published in five sizes. You see it here in our Strabhann shade, photographed on Scalpay, down at the harbour.

Available in any colour of Hebridean 3 Ply.

Autumn Colourway Shown

OREGON

I come from a landscape that is virtually treeless, so the forests of Oregon left a lasting impression on me. The memories of a Spring road trip along the Mackenzie River are particularly vivid, and inspired this popular and enduring design. To recreate those memories I designed stylised firs for the main pattern; they evoke the dense, high backdrop of conifers that blocked out the sky. The border design is my take on the Mackenzie River, flowing at eye level by the road. I designed a pattern reminiscent of floating leaves, and filled it with the colours of light on water, and of dark undergrowth through which the first hints of Spring were starting to appear.

I made similar trips in September and October but an Autumn version of the design was a long time coming because I lacked a suitable palette of colours. Getting it right involved designing my Hebridean yarn range with the shades and subtlety that I needed.

Both Autumn and Spring versions of Oregon are available as a vest and as a cardigan in an extended size range.

Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in Autumn and Spring colourway as shown.

GRANT AVENUE

I have always enjoyed walking through San Francisco’s Chinatown district. I like the sights and the sounds and the colours; especially the colours in the shop windows. Worked in Hebridean 2 Ply, Grant Avenue glows with the intensity of the Chinese lacquer work that inspired it. This design is republished in a full colour patterncard and is now available in five sizes.
Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colours as shown.

ROSCALIE VEST

I am delighted to finally present Roscalie as I have long visualised it - in the rich and burnished tones of Scotland’s unique Highland landscape. The patterns are based on an old Fair Isle museum piece, and they are brought to life in Hebridean 2 Ply. The photographs were taken in Wester Ross and Sutherland. This design is republished in a full colour patterncard and is now available in five sizes.
Available in Hebridean 2 Ply in colours as shown.

FERN

Fern is re-published by popular request and now comes with a full colour patterncard, with instructions for five sizes instead of the original two.

I created the patterns in the sweater after reading a poem called Fog Township by Brendan Galvin. Like the poem, the patterns evoke quiet woodland images of moss and fern, while the resulting texture echoes the infinite precision of nature. When we developed our Hebridean 3 Ply yarn, we specifically gave it the high performance necessary to capture such knitted precision, and here you see how it renders textures in sharp focus.
Available in any colour of Hebridean 3 Ply. The model shown is in Dulse.