Knitted By Hand in The Hebrides
How it all began: The heart of our journey
Our Story
The Herring Girl Collection pays tribute to the hardworking, resilient women of island culture. Inspired by my family's generations of fisher folk and crofters from Bruernish on the Isle of Barra, Our hand-knitted clothes and homewares reflect traditional patterns and the natural beauty of the Western Isles. Crafted with durability, simplicity and style, these timeless pieces celebrate heritage while bringing warmth and charm to your life. Browse our collection and explore the full range in the shop.
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Colours from Nature All Around
Because every Herring Girl product is hand knitted, each one is unique, as are our colours. Inspired by the unique light and colour palette that is ever changing in the Hebrides, our 4 main colours, Colours of the Croft, Shades of the Shore, Oceans of Blue and Seas of Green each pull together element of this palette to give colours to suit all moods and situations, while reflecting their Western Isles origins.
With The Herring Girl Collection, you can have a little bit of the Hebrides with you always.
Our 4 main colours
Colours of the croft​
Hebridean life is synonymous with crofting today, as it was in the heyday of the Herring Girls. Colours of the croft blends the soft purple of heather with a range of greens from grass to ripe crops in autumn, intertwined with the blues of the sea and the sky; sunny or stormy.
Shades of the Shore
Where the sea and the land meet, the endless miles of the Hebridean shore-line froths with the water constantly crashing against the rocks. The almost pure white bubbles give way to mixed greys into the almost black of the deep water at the shoreline.
Seas of Green
Sometimes when you look at the sea, when it is shallower, the water takes on the colour of the green seaweed growing under the surface, blending vibrant greens and dark blues, Seas of Green reminds us of looking down on the sea as it shallows out in a narrow inlet.
Oceans of Blue
The Western Isles are aptly named. Standing on the edge of Europe, if you do not bump into St.Kilda, there is nothing but Ocean all the way across to North America. The isn’t purely blue; it reflects the varying greys and lighter tones of the clouds as well as blue sky.
Herring Girl Patterns
Traditional knitwear was often made for work, it got dirty and had a hard life. To make sure the meaning of each garment was known; who it was for, who it was from, why it was knitted, the Herring Girls could not rely on just colour. Patterns started to get knitted into the knitwear, sometimes unique to a knitter or wearer, sometimes unique to the village or port, with different regions of Britain having their own patterns and meanings.
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When ordering from the Herring Girl Collection Knitwear, you can choose from a range of traditional patterns to be knitted into your garment. If you are looking for a Gansey, please allow extra time, as each one is hand made to order. You can select from classic designs or request completely unique pattern, making your Gansey truly one of a kind. ​​​
Our Classic Patterns
Sail
If you look at a little yacht or dingy, it will have a mast going straight up and a beam coming out the side from the bottom. The sail will form a triangle between these two lines, and the sail pattern repeats this triangular motif.
Anchor
With a ring on top a cross bar, the shaft of the anchor drops down to the main cross member, just like any anchor you have seen drawn in a picture.
Marriage Lines
Bringing two people together, following a path through life together, this pattern is distinctive for having two parallel lines following each other side by side.
Net
Like any good fishing net, this is a regular pattern repeated across a large area, providing a regular texture on the knitting, as if a net was sitting on top.
Ships Wheel
As the main way of controlling the direction of a ship, the wheel is often used as the main central pattern on a shawl. A stylised circle of the wheel with spokes running out from the centre and the handles on the outside of the wheel.
Wheat Ear
Look at an ear of wheat (a weetabix logo) and you see the column of V-shaped seeds packed in net to each other. This repeating pattern from nature is knitted into our collection.
Head to our shop or email bruernish@hotmail.co.uk today to place your unique order or for more information.