Cosy, cheerful and on trend, the new fair Isle alpaca range comprises hats, gloves, scarves, socks, ponchos, baby giftsets, throws, cushions and hot water bottles, knitted by our skilled artisans in Peru from a durable 6ply Alpaca/Lambswool blend and gently felted for a snag-proof finish.   

MARKET : MID TO UPPER INDEPENDENT RESELLERS OF GIFT / LIFESTYLE / CLOTHING  

PRICE POINT:  RSPS will sit mainly between £45 and £99.  Smaller items like hats, mits, socks wholesaling at £18-22.   APPROX 20% LOWER THAN OUR ALPACA PREMIUM COLLECTION. 

Fair Isle is a knitting technique which originated on the remote island of Fair Isle - a tiny jewel in the ocean lying midway between the Orkney and Shetland Islands to the north of Scotland, at the point where the Atlantic Ocean meets the North Sea.   

It came to particular prominence when the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) wore Fair Isle jumpers in public in 1921. 

The traditional knitwear of Fair Isle and its intricate skill have been practised continuously on this small Isle for generations.  I’ve always been fascinated how similar it is to some of the traditional colourwork knitting I’ve seen in Peru, albeit the latter tends to involve more colours and is more vivid.  One of the first products I developed in 2003 was a Peruvian colourwork blanket.  I revisited this beautiful knitted blanket earlier this year – it’s still as good as new – and reworked the pattern into something closer to Scottish Fair isle, using the traditional OXO motif, reducing the stitch size to give a smaller daintier pattern and using only 2 colourways.  As a finishing twist, I incorporated a little alpaca motif as a nod to Fair Isle’s Peruvian cousin.