helping out the guys!

While we stock lots of lovely knitwear and accessories for men all year round, it’s this time of year that we have swathes of you men folk coming through our door, slightly frantic, slightly confused, looking for the perfect gift for your lady friends. We congratulate you for coming to the right shop, you’ve done 80% of the job already, and we thought we’d help you get the other 20% right so you get full marks on Christmas Day! It’s not that we think you’re all hopeless, it’s just we understand the task can be overwhelming to some!

* If you’re not sure about sizes, have a look at the labels on items from her wardrobe you know she likes, or, if she’s shopped here before, make a note of the brands she buys and her usual colour choices. Gift buying should always be about the receiver, so just go for something that will make her happy, it doesn’t have to be anything drastically different, it can often be the simplest choice.

* When you’re in the shop, don’t be shy, and ask us staff to help you if you are stuck! We know our stock really well and have a good idea what suits all different shapes and sizes, so we’re well equipped to assist, no need to panic!

*Our best sellers are best sellers for a reason. We’ve highlighted below some of our best gift ideas, based on what’s been popular, customer feedback and what we’d like ourselves!

Idea#1: A NICE BIT OF SCOTTISH KNITWEAR- Not only shows you appreciate the hand-made look, but you get extra brownie-points for supporting local crafters!

*Janette Murray, gorgeous hand-crafted knits, made with love by knitters in their own homes. We can’t advocate these enough, they’re so popular right now, and have a bit of Christmas appeal also. They make Icelandic pattern berets, legwarmers too and even teddybears!

*The Quernstone, these are a nice timeless style, with a relaxed fit, that suit many figures. They come in a wide variety of styles, lengths and colours, and we can help you find the perfect one. They look lovely with layers of linen, most regular customers here have at least one! The company also make cute cowls as a lovely co-ordinating add-on.

 

Idea#2: A SET OF ACCESSORIES- It’s nice to have a set of hat, scarf and mitts to wear altogether, but something we all love to do here is put together a set of accessories that co-ordinate without being overly ‘matchy-matchy’. It shows you’ve put a bit of thought and creativity into it, rather than a ‘ready-made’ set. You can choose from everything in the shop to suit your budget.

Budget 1: Pachamama hat £15.95, Morsta scarf £9.50, LTS corsage £8.50 Total: £33.95

Budget 2: MTM hat £47.50, SWW mitts £42.50, Shirley Pinder scarf £45 Total: £135

Blow the Budget!: Studio Donegal cloche £137.50, Alex Kay scarf £75, Breege

Walsh mitts £32.50Total: £245

Idea#3: THE CLASSIC BASIC Sometimes it's nice to get a new pair of our favourite trousers because we've loved them to death, or a special top in a different colour: It shows you've been paying attention! Here are some of this year's best-sellers, customers come back for the same thing again and again, for the high quality craftsmanship, and simple yet flattering shape.

*Flax floods. We have stocked these fab comfy linen pants for YEARS, and their super quality never changes, and they never date. Simple, block colours, relaxed fit, great with pumps or boots. It's a nice practical option. From £69.50.

 

*Grizas top 5403. This top has been a revelation! It's simple but luxurious and seems to suit absolutely everyone that tries it on! A linen and silk blend, the crinkle is stitched in so perfect for travelling or events where you want a nice fabric that doesn't crush. We get it in a huge range of colours and also in wool weight, it's just been flying off the shelves!

 

*The Yaccomaricard kimo jacket. Such a good classy option, in durable cotton, exquisitely made. Great with jeans or to bring a smart monochrome outfit alive, this is a real statement piece with lots of pin tucks to give structure, really obviously a special item. Again, customers come back for the same great design in lots of different colours, we just love them! From £160.

For those of you who are last-minute or nervous types, there is always the fail-safe Gift Voucher. This lasts indefinitely so she has plenty of opportunity to come in and find something nice. However, and we think most women would agree, nothing says “I love you” more than a little effort, so we’d recommend taking advantage of our knowledgeable and friendly staff to help you find a great gift perfectly suited to your gal. Come in and visit, guys, let us help you!

ragamuffin loves...visiting/ visitors!

Last week Nicola, from our Edinburgh shop, made a surprise visit to Skye and worked up there for the week. She took her husband Paul (who also happens to be our photographer) and they got some great photos of the shop at Armadale. It was a beautiful day when they arrived - Nic can't believe she's never noticed this paving stone before...

The guys up there were busy preparing for our Christmas Shopping event and were glad of an extra pair of hands! The weather was so atrocious for our Christmas party last year we decided to make the fun last a whole 5 days this year to give everyone a chance to come along so, between Tuesday 20th and Saturday 24th November, pop along for a cuppa, festive treats, free gift wrapping and 10% off purchases of £50 and over. Our proper party will be on the Saturday - with added fizz!

The outside of the shop was looking lovely and the view is as spectacular as ever...

The Skye team have the inside looking fabulous with lots of gorgeous displays, inspirational colour combinations and ideas for layering our beautiful pieces together...

As well as our soft seperates, we've got loads of cosy woollies...

...a good menswear selection...

...and more accessories than ever (we just can't resist a great scarf!)...

...as well as cool gift ideas...

...back by popular demand, these wonderful Deer heads from Italy are already disappearing fast...

Paul got this fantastic shot of the shot on their last afternoon, just as the light was about to dip, with the ferry coming in! We're not sure that the shop has ever looked more inviting...

We really hope to see you at one of our Christmas shopping days on Skye or at our Christmas party day  in Edinburgh on Thursday 29th November 12pm-7pm. Don't worry if you can't make it - we're open every day until Christmas, packed full of gorgeous gift ideas!

ragamuffin loves...all things knit!

We sell this fabulous Colinette yarn - pop in for a ball and join in National knitting week!

It's national knitting week from 15th - 21st October and we are jolly proud to say that this winter we are bursting with beautiful handmade knits! Here is a round up of some of the gorgeous designs that are in store now...perfect timing seeing as it's gotten so chilly in the past few days!

Kearse & Boys Willie waistcoats

Kearse and Boys Box jacket

We continue to stock Kearse & Boys - their super soft felted lambswool jackets are always popular and we've got them to make us, old favourite, Willie waistcoats again for this year! Also in felted lambswool, with cute handmade button detail, Sophie's Wild woollens are gently tailored - perfect soft suiting for winter office wear or for lunch at the weekend over a white shirt with jeans and chic leather boots!

Sophie's Wild Woollens jackets

Proper Fairisle from Jamiesons of Shetland

We are delighted that The Killing will be back on the Beeb this winter (17th November, can't wait!) it truly is the TV show that launched a thousand jumper enquiries and we have a superb selection of Icelandic and Fairisle designs!


Janette Murray Icelandic knits
 

As always we have an amazing array of accessories to compliment (or matchy-match!).

Match a go-go with this Quernstone trio of Waistcoat, sweater and cowl!
 

These pretty hats by Breege Walsh...

...have matching mittens!

And of course we haven't forgotten the chaps! We have cuddly sweaters from all of our favourite Scottish and Irish designers. Go Nordic, like the cast of the hilarious BBC4 comedy Lilyhammer...

Harley of Peterhead provide the sweaters - just add a log fire and some eggnog!

...or cosy and soft with these comfy, subtle Scott Officers! We do from medium to extra large and also stock traditional Irish Grandad shirts in soft cotton flannel.

Lastly, don't forget to checkout our Facebook and Twitter pages! We will be posting our "one ball" knitting ideas all next week - we hope we inspire you to get your needles out and get knitting!

Ragamuffin loves...being so busy we forget to post!

Hello all! It has been an age since we last posted (well two months) and we have had so many deliveries, lovely customers old and new, the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, a fabulously hot and sunny summer on Skye, new members of staff  in both shops and a new arrival for Tanya on Skye (a beautiful baby girl Maia) that we just have not had time to sit down and write a post!

                                                                Brand new from Flax!

So what has been happening? New collections from all of your favourites: Flax, Terry Macey, Yaccomaricard, Elemente Clemente, Two Danes, Out of Xile...and the list goes on! Hundereds of gorgeous new scarves and textiles, hats and gloves and the newest cuddlies from Jellycat. Lesley has had time in the studio and we've had a steady supply of our own Angels Don't Trudge jackets this year; whilst Karoline and the girls in Edinburgh have been busy making crazy sheep and highland cows and Finlay on Skye has been leading the corsage charge up there!

                                                          So many lovely new scarves!

We have been "tweeting" lots, so if you are that way inclined join us either @ragamuffinedin or @ragamuffinskye for the latest news on all things ragamuffin! We are also on Facebook and love the chance to interract with you all - search for "ragamuffin clothes and knitwear" (if you take the trouble to "like" us we'll give you our downloadable guide to layering absolutely free - very handy now it's getting chilly!)
Lastly, if you look to the right, you can join our mailing list! We send out a regular newsletter, full of lovely pics of new stock, as well as news on sales and special events.

                                                              Our virtual guide to layering!

Expect a proper post with lovely pictures in the next week or so. Please pop in if you are in Edinburgh or on Skye - we've got lots to show you!

ragamuffin loves... getting crafty!

We're so delighted that our archive of tweed is flying off the shelves, and with all the money going to Macmillan nurses and Dog's Trust it's a double happiness! We just love to see what you're all making with our beautiful Shetland tweed, please keep sending in your photos and we'll feature them here! In the meantime, here's a trip down memory lane of some our customers' past craft triumphs; we're feeling quite nostalgic and have a yen to get making...

We were amazed how fashion-forward some customers are, Rachel's shooting vest was country glamour epitomised, and Kristin's tweed shift would take you to the smartest occasion!

Bags are always a popular choice for the smaller project, and a fat quarter of tweed at a mere £5 is enough fabric for a small bag, and a metre at £10 makes a good sized shopper, like Marice's creation, and nice and strong too!

Note Asia's clever use of the pretty selvedge in her nostalgic photo purse!

There's no limit to some people's imagination - Dawn made this introvert/extrovert bag that we loved, such a tactile work of art!

We still use the tweed here in the shop, and our lovely in-house range of Angels Don't Trudge jackets designed by Lesley are back in stock for the festival season, a great range of colours and styles. Here's our model Dagmara in our popular Myrtle style, perfect to wear over linen layers between seasons.

The girls in the shop have also been busy making our signature crazy highland cows and sheep that Karolina designed for us; they have pride of place now in one of our cabinets; we even took the door off so people can giv'em a bit of a squeeze! Hope you're feeling inspired now! Remember to keep us posted with your own craft projects, we love to think of you all making fabulous things with our tweed, it warms the cockles!

ragamuffin loves...all the colours of the rainbow!

The one remark we always get from first time visitors goes along the lines of "look at all the lovely colours" or "it's so colourful - like an Aladdins cave!". We take pride in putting together colours in  creative & unusual ways, in stocking very little black and in having pretty much every colour in the rainbow - not just having colours in stock because they are deemed to be fashionable but stocking colourful clothes because they are fabulous!

Of course we are beholden to trends as everyone is. Over the last few years teals, petrols and aquas have become ubiquitous (which is fine by us as they suit the celtic complexion as much as they suit mediteranian skin tones!). We thought we might never stock orange again but it has had a fashion moment and we found ourselves adding a bit of mandarin to the mix. Along with mustard, burgundy has had a return to popularity and again, we are pleased as it is lovely mixed with earth tones and pure white on a hot summers day.

For a bit of fun we thought we'd make up an outfit for each of the seven colours of the rainbow - let us know which is your favourite!