knit with your brain: Social Knitting and Some Lace

An update on Harriet's Hat: I finished one hat and believe that there is enough yarn to complete a second. I had read about Harriet's MRI Maakers meeting at the hospital fortnightly (in Shetland the traditional name for knitting is makkin; not sure why there are two As in Maakers...) and thought it would be fun to join the group while I'm in Shetland. Plus, I wanted to hand over the hat to be sold (for only 30 quid, I learned). I made my way over to Gilbert Bain Hospital (on two feet, not on two wheels in a Volvo like Jimmy Perez) and found the canteen, fully expecting to find no one because the internet LIES, but there they all were, about 16 Maakers! Joy!

I was immediately called out by Harriet herself as a New One, and didn't have the heart to explain that I was a transient. I sat down with Rachel, who it turns out was also a New One. And a transient, too, a Fair Isle crofter in Lerwick for a few days. I was very happy to hear about Fair Isle and we talked about people we both knew. This was not difficult and took little time because there are only 51 people living there, including Rachel, and she was one of the few people I didn't meet when I was there last year.

Seeing many hats together was impressive.

In addition to meeting Rachel, I enjoyed listening to the Shetland accent and dialect, understanding just a small percentage of it. Also, it was interesting to see many of the Maakers using makkin belts to hold a needle (pin) while they worked. I'd show you a picture, but I didn't have the guts to ask them to pose. I know they would have been happy to, but I just didn't.

I was super glad to get back to working on a fair isle project, which was far less complicated than the lace I'd been attempting earlier in the day.

This is a pattern called Norik Fine Lace Scarf from Hazel Laurenson, who is a lace knitter and historian from Unst. She's documented the history of lace knitting from Unst and is devoted to convincing more people to make Unst-style lace. She has written a number of patterns based on lace specimens that have somehow survived hundreds of years in storage. There were no original patterns because maakers in Unst did not use them. They just came up with designs and used ones they liked repeatedly. It's incomprehensible when you look at the intricacies of the shawls and other items. If you want a knitting challenge that keeps your task-mode network continuously active, this is for you. No chance for default mode network to get involved. No down time! It's been like February in Shetland for a few days, so I've been happily holed up in my lodging attempting to make the scarf. What you see above is the product of MANY hours of knitting on size 1.5 needles.

Turns out that I met Ms. Laurenson on Tuesday when I went to the Unst Heritage Centre. I didn't realize until I got back to Lerwick and looked up the pattern designer that she was the kind lady who patiently showed me what she was making and encouraged me to stuff my big hearty Nordic hands into one of the dainty lace gloves she had made. They're meant to stretch, she assured me, and they did. She said I should use cobweb lace like she was using, but I decided to use the 2 ply yarn I had already bought. It's finer than anything I've ever worked with. I did go back and purchase the cobweb stuff to try; I'll see how the 2 ply goes first...