The Yarn

I have lived at Tow in Cunningsburgh for over 30 years and worked alongside my husband, running our crofting business. Douglas took over the land after his mother Maggie (pictured below) – who came to Tow as an infant in the mid 1920’s, and his father John. Our son, Jamie now runs the business with us.  Maggie, like her mother was a prolific knitter and along with working hard on the croft, had a knitting machine which was a valuable source of additional income. Latterly Maggie knitted mainly gloves and every year knitted a pair for our daughters. The first pair of gloves I have designed with Laxdale yarn are based on one of her unique designs.

The name Laxdale Yarn comes from the burn which runs between our crofts. It divides the Tow and the Gord crofts and has its origin in the hill ground where our sheep graze in the common grazing. Part of our croft land is a large area in the hill known as Laxdale Park. So, the Laxdale name was chosen for our label for our home-grown yarn. We are very excited to be bringing our yarn to market this year 2021 and have a mix of colours which are based on the colours round about us and on things which remind us of Maggie and her love of the land, gardening and knitting. We will be adding to our range of colours this year.

The yarn is woollen spun 2ply jumper weight and is suitable for knitting gloves, hats and accessories and also larger garments.

Along with selling our own yarn here I will be sharing some patterns I have been working on – I would love to inspire people like me, who maybe thought that this style of knitting is beyond their ability. It’s not though, and trust me it is addictive. Once you start you will not want to stop.