Tag: Shetland Museum and Archives

  • In the steps of Jane Gaugain

    In the steps of Jane Gaugain

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    In the Steps of Jane Gaugain From the quiet restraint of the Regency buildings that line Edinburgh’s George Street, you would never guess that this, a century and a half ago, was the scene of a knitting revolution. Here the ladies of the city gathered to exchange “receipts,” compare their success with the latest stitch…

  • Machrihanish

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I was very excited to have the opportunity to design the Machrihanish vest  and always enjoy knitting for Tom, who is its recipient and model. Tom often bemoans the general lack of shaping, and poor fit of men’s garments, so I like to knit him things that are well-fitting. Men’s knitted vest patterns rarely include…

  • finishing a steek

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I have recently been designing and knitting a thing with steeks, which required finishing. This project is part of an exciting collaboration, and I’ll be able to tell you (and show you) more about it in a couple of weeks. When working on the steeks, it occurred to me how many different ways there are…

  • Shetland Textiles: 800 BC to the Present

    Shetland Textiles: 800 BC to the Present

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Writing of the worn and mended Fair Isle sweater that Shetland knitter, Doris Hunter created for her fiancé, Ralph Patterson, who spent four years in a Japanese POW camp during the Second World War, editor Sarah Laurenson states: “Ralph’s sweater is much more than a physical object. It is a site of personal and political…

  • rams return!

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Last week, myself and the Rams and Yowes blanket, took a trip North. The rams were returning to the place where they began . . . . . . the Shetland wool from which they were knitted was sorted and graded here . . . . . . and now they are home again. If…

  • shetland lace

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    Excitement! Unable to wait for my copy to turn up in the post, I just popped up to John Lewis to pick up the new Rowan Magazine. Rowan (who will soon be bringing out a new laceweight yarn) wanted a substantial piece on the history of lace knitting and this is what I came up…

  • 112, Jermyn Street

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    I was going through my photographs of our London trip last night, and remembered I hadn’t told you about 112, Jermyn Street. One of the things I enjoy about London is the way that, simply wandering about, one encounters places with interesting associations. Inevitably, my touchstones are eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ones, but I’m sure it…

  • knitterly things

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    Kate Davies Designs
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    (Tom takes a wee break from knitterly things in the Unst Bus Shelter.) As you may have guessed, I was occupied with a few knitterly things while visiting Shetland. I can’t really talk about these yet, unfortunately, but hopefully it will be worth the wait. I can say, though, that I met some truly lovely…