This colour choice has been a saga. I have smoky grey, pink, apricot and two yellows spare, all bought thinking they might fit in. Ha ha ha! Plus I have a number of excellent books on Fair Isle and the history of knitting. It's lovely but little bit sad history. From a good living to be made to nothing. Queen Elizabeth I refused a patent for a stocking knitting machine and delayed the demise of the hand-knitting industry for 200 years. Bloody Industrial Revolution! The Revolution has a lot to answer for. And no, I won't listen to how it helped.
I love this from 'The Old Hand-Knitters of the Dales' (Yorkshire Dales), about how these knitters would re-knit a jumper just for a change and how delightful it was to behold:
A dalesman's daughters, whom we know, think nothing of frequently unravelling complicated Fair Isle patterned jumpers and knitting the wool up again in differnet styles. But 'things were made to wear then' and we think of Mr. William Gill as he sat on the edge of the sofa saying, 'What a change! What a change!'
2 comments:
oh - I love to knit, but have never quite mastered the patience required for Fair Isle. Well done you, and the colours look just perfect♥
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have been searching for the crochet pattern for "hanky box." My deceased sister made them in the 1950's; she called them greeting card boxes. I wanted the pattern so that my neighbor children could make a trinket box for their mom for Mother's Day in May 2010, then for Christmas 2010. Well, thanks to you we'll definitely make the box for Christmas 2011. Those kids enjoy making crafts as much as I do.
Bonnie in Missouri, USA
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