Tartan

It was once an act of treason to rally behind these colors. In the layered blocks and hues of the tartan, Sir Walter Scott recalled his ancestors’ place on the field at Culloden. The Rising. The battle. The flight of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The rebellion, crushed. The Crown banned the clans, banned the tartan.

In 1822, in his quiet house on the edge of Galashiels, at his great wide desk, Scott worried his thumbs against a small square of fabric: color over color, lines over lines. One of many soft samples in a stack beside his inkwell. He peered at his map, all of Scotland before him, traced the unseen and unspoken lines between Highland, Lowland, and the Border Reivers. Home. His hand clutched at the fabric. He picked up a pen.

I can see Scott writing fervently, remembering, quill dancing, and in that prose urging throngs of men into lines of thick kilts and sashes. Those who dream of freedom and their fallen fathers. The clans will line the streets of Edinburgh and greet the King of England, who will stare down at a wild riot of color. Pinned to the wool is the men’s fiercest pride. An act of rebellion in thread.

Words by Caitlin Ghegan

For more information about our yarn bases and spinning fibers, including care instructions, please visit our Yarn Bases page.

Please note that, due to the nature of hand-dyed yarn, no two skeins of yarn will be exactly alike. I recommend alternating skeins every few rows for projects using multiple skeins of the same colorway. If you order multiple skeins of the same colorway, I will do my best to select skeins that are the closest match.

I dye each skein with professional acid dyes and leave the yarn in the dye bath until the dye has exhausted before rinsing and soaking in wool wash. Minor color bleeding may occur on the first wash, especially with extremely dark colors.

Although I do my best to accurately represent each colorway in product photos, please note that the colors may vary depending on monitor and/or device settings.