Amazing Lace

I'm not new to lace knitting.  Oogy got me started years ago by giving me the book Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby.  I've made a few of those patterns, and a few others and have always enjoyed the lace process. So much of it appeals to me.  I like getting a large item from one skein of yarn. The yarn is a fine weight, but using large needles can yield a sizable fabric.  Lace yarn comes in a huge range of colors and fibers that tend to draw me in. It's fun to watch a pattern unfold, and then to really see it emerge when the project is stretched out at the end (or during, as when I get impatient and need to see how it looks so I soak it while it's on the needles).

Much of Sowerby's book is focused on vintage lace, and a good portion of that originates in Shetland. What I have only recently come to appreciate, though, is the especially delicate nature of Shetland lace.  Last week I had the great privilege to visit the Unst Heritage Centre and meet an expert in Shetland lace, Hazel Laurenson.  Lace from Unst became very popular with the British royalty in the 19th century, and was thus sought after by the aristocracy of that time.  This popularity brought much needed income to women and their families in exchange for their exquisite lace products. Watching Hazel working on a lace scarf over a century later made it very clear to me that she was doing something quite different than the lace knitting I've done.  Her yarn was nearly microscopic, probably 10 times thinner than anything I've worked with.  She was also using "pins" that were size 2 mm, which is US size 0.  Zero! These were long stainless steel needles that would easily draw blood in my hands. She was not consulting any pattern I could see, but rather producing row after row of lace from the pattern in her head.  The resulting fabric was like a cloud.  She informed me that it was important to use 1-ply Shetland wool to achieve that effect.

Earlier this week I began reading about the Shetland Museum and Archives Lace Project and I paid close attention to their lace display at the museum a few days ago. I've been nurturing a growing interest in how creativity can generate resilience, and it's my initial understanding of Shetland lace knitting that it is a highly creative endeavor. Living in the remote islands of Shetland in the 1800s was a huge challenge and it seems to me that they needed a lot of resilience. One challenge of the Lace Project is to chart the designs--the knitters didn't typically use written charts, so there are virtually none to consult.  This has given me even more appreciation for the lace pattern that Hazel translated from the vintage Norik scarf.   

So, willing to give it a try, I purchased the pattern for Norik fine lace scarf at the Centre.  I had already procured some black 2-ply Shetland lace wool from Jamieson and Smith Woolbrokers and I had some US 1.5 needles with me.  I wasn't especially happy with the combination--even after blocking, my lace was stiff and I was finding it very challenging to work the super fine yarn with that size needle.  So, I went up to a US size 2.5 (3.00 mm) and it's feeling a bit better.  I plan to finish the scarf in this manner, even though it will not be the cloud-like lace that I've been admiring recently.

You might be able to see where I changed needles, after completing the first central diamond motif (I had a few mistakes in there...nothing is more exasperating than to reach the end of the row and have one extra stitch). I've managed to complete two more 28-row repeats with no mistakes.  I removed the life line before taking the picture, but please know that I wouldn't dare continue without one.  Hazel Laurenson probably has never even heard of a life line.

The weather in Shetland has been mostly cool (low to mid 50s) and intermittently rainy, with a few spectacular blue-sky days sprinkled around.  One of those was yesterday, so I spent a few hours working on the scarf at the Jubilee Flower Park. 

It's a truly amazing place, and I find myself walking through there most every day that I'm here.  I was there knitting for just a few minutes before someone approached me and asked what I was making.  She turned out to be an expert lace knitter who encouraged me to come back for Shetland Wool Week when she would be involved in some lace workshops.  She said I needed to try the 1-ply wool and that I'd be ready for that when my 2-ply scarf was done. Then Robynn, who writes the monthly blog about the garden was mowing the grass right in front of my bench.  So, I talked to her, too.  I just can't believe that I get to be here!!