At the beginning of the year I set myself a personal goal (we won’t call it a New Year’s resolution!) to knit a lace shawl so lightweight that, when complete, I could pull it through my wedding ring. You have to understand that this was quite a challenge as I only really attempted lace knitting towards the end of 2009. In February, whilst indulging in a browse of Ravelry.com (the Mecca of websites for handknitters) I discovered all sorts of groups whose passion is lace; “Scary Lace” – for those embarking on the discipline; “Victorian Lace Today” - for addicts of Jane Sowerby’s book of the same name; “A Gathering of Lace” - for advocates of the Meg Swansen book and the ambitious “Knit 10 shawls in 2010” (I’m currently on number 6 so need to get a move on!). From these groups and associated books I have learnt to understand the construction of shawls – from the rectangular to circular; to read lace charts; to master the provisional cast-on and knitted-on border techniques and even attempted, with some success, the design and charting of my own triangular shawl.
This journey into the traditions, design and construction of lace was all aimed at that ultimate goal, the cob-web shawl. Inevitably I ended up researching the Shetland tradition and discovered, Gladys Amedro’s fantastic book, “Shetland Lace”. Having convinced my-self that I really needed another lace knitting resource I eagerly awaited its arrival...... and it is a fabulous book, the one drawback for me is that the patterns are written not charted and, after years of reading written patterns, I just couldn’t seem to make the transition back! If I cast on the “Gibbie Shawl” (768 stitches) once, I cast it on six times and the consequential flight across the room (when I got lost on the third row) was only going to result in a spider’s web of cob-web lace.
So I resum
ed the search for chartered patterns for the ultimate cob-web lace shawl and that’s when I discovered the Estonian Lace tradition. Nancy Bush’s “Knitted Lace of Estonia” is a treasure trove of techniques and patterns, many adapted to modern and heavier yarn. However, true to my ambition I cast on for the Lilac Leaf Shawl using Melford Green’s single-ply alpaca and successfully worked 41 rows – then I hit my nemesis, “the nupp”. As far as I could tell the 7-stitch nupp was a series of knits and yarn-overs in to the same stitch until an un-workable knot was produced, this went on to unravel on any subsequent row leaving a hole the size of the Channel Tunnel in you otherwise perfect work. I put the book and the shawl away finally admitting defeat – the personal goal would have to wait another year.
It was then I remembered, (with “presence a-fore thought” as my granddad would have said) that I had, back in April, signed up to the “I-knit London Weekender Workshop” on Estonian Lace. Now, being a great believer in fate or the gods depending on whom I’m talking to, it obviously wasn’t my destiny to be defeated by “the nupp”, so I set off for the RHS headquarters in Victoria on 11th September with much joy in my heart, a spring in my step and some circular needles and cob-web yarn in my bag. I wasn’t disappointed. The workshop, run by two fabulous women from The Dutch Knitters, succeeded where all those hours poring over books and scanning “You-tube” how to videos had failed. Not only have I mastered both the 5, 7 and 9 stitch “nupp” (pronounced “noup” to rhyme with “soup”) but understand the use of the “knitted cast-on” and “k2tog” cast off; how to calculate the stitch count for the traditional lace edge, how to invisibly sew on this lace edge (set aside at least 6 child-free hours!) and how to block to produce the ultimate Estonian shawl. Carla and Hilly, the Dutch knitters, have travelled to Estonia and in particular Haapsalu, the home of this tradition, to meet with and learn from the current Masters of this exquisite craft. The history of this knitting tradition relates back to the early 20th Century when Russian families began to visit Happsalu to undertake treatment at the recently founded mud-therapy institute. Gradually the Estonian town grew into a health resort attracting wealthy vacationers from St Peterburg and Moscow who snapped up the handcrafted shawls. The introduction of the nupp into the lace wasn’t only to do with extending the 3 dimensional aspect of the work, but also connected to the financial gain for the knitter. Shawls were priced by weight so adding nupps, (some shawls contain more that 500) significantly added to their value as their inclusion meant the finished garment weighed more.
So, with all this new-found knowledge I have now cast on to create a Lily of the Valley rectangular shawl, confident in cracking the nupp and ever hopeful that I will have achieved my cob-web lace challenge by the end of the year!
I got an e-mail from the Craft Council at the end of last week asking if I wanted to attend a free training day for Craft Club Volunteers - an excuse to knit all day? Well, I'm not likely to turn that down am I? The training is associated with the "Knit 1, Pass it on" initiative to get volunteers into schools to do something crafty with yarn. It doesn't have to be knitting, but it's quite a good starting place - particularly as the website, "Craft Club, Knit 1 Pass It On", has some cracking ideas and patterns to get you started. Anyone can do this - you don't have to have experience working in school or teaching, you don't even have to be an expert knitter. The Craft Club is aiming to bring together a variety of people with different skills who share a common interest in getting crafts back into school. If you want to find out a bit more or register an interest just follow the link - and welcome to the knitting revolution!
