Christmas Pressies

I had the most wonderful Christmas - though I am spending it in the UK, away from my family in the US, I have spent it with my 'British family' - being my partner's lovely parents, sisters, cousins, grandparents, aunts & uncles, all of whom have made me feel so incredibly welcome.

What was on my Christmas list this year? I could have asked for practical things like clothes, toiletries, cookware... nahh. I took this opportunity to clean out my Amazon book wishlist.

I have a lot of reading ahead of me! A fantastic selection of books awaits me, mainly dealing with historical and traditional knitting. I am thrilled. I haven't had time to give any of the books a full read-through, but I have flipped through them. Here are some first impressions of the books:

Creating Original Hand-Knitted Lace by Margaret Stove - What a gem. I actually really like the anecdotes she includes in her writing, taking this journey with her as she converts some native New Zealand flora into lace. I can tell I'm going to really enjoy this book.

Cornish Guernseys and Knit-Frocks by Mary Wright - This is a small book but extremely interesting and full of photographs. The photos are old, of course, but I would've liked to have seen more detail in dark areas (since nearly all the guernseys shown are in navy blue or slate grey) - I think that in at least some of the cases, this is a fault in the book printing, rather than the source photographs. However it's an extremely interesting little book, with some traditional Cornish gansey stitch patterns included (made of knits & purls and some with cables - all both charted and written), and well worth adding to your collection.

Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller- This is a formidable volume - a big, heavy book with nearly 300 generously sized pages. I look forward to giving this one a proper read, because I can see there's too much to just summarize it in a few minutes. There's history, technique, construction, design... Just about everything you need to knit Shetland lace. Plenty of charted stitch patterns and edgings with some explanatory text about each - where to use it, how to modify it, or other useful things to know.

Shetland Hap Shawls Then and Now - Though a much smaller book than its neighbor Heirloom Knitting, it packs an impressive amount of information - dozens of beautiful photos, many pages of text as well as charts (both lace charts and stripe charts). I've been planning to make a hap-style shawl for myself, so I was especially pleased to receive this.

Knitting in the Old Way - A very interesting book that I really need to delve into further. A range of ethnic designs, from arans to Cowichan sweaters to American folk motifs adapted for knitting. All about sweaters, but a good reference to have.

Real Shetland Yarns - This isn't really a knitting book, per se, but I got it after reading Kate Davies' rave review on her blog. I haven't sunk my teeth into it quite yet but it does have some breathtaking photos in it.


An even more special gift also arrived for me recently. I hold the belief that the best presents aren't the ones you ask for, but the ones you didn't even know you wanted. When someone knows you well enough to pick out something even better than you could yourself - those are very special gifts indeed.

I was fortunate enough to receive such a gift this season. A little package from Edinburgh, from my most excellent friend Shobha.
This is a ball of St Kilda Lace, a blend of Boreray and Soay wool - the Boreray undercoat being from the very special project to produce a run of Boreray knitting yarn.

It's the most beautiful mid-grey, and soft, way softer than you'd expect a blend of two primitive rare sheep's wools (and yet, as I explore sheep breeds, I keep saying that - why do I always expect rare breeds to be rough and scratchy? Just because they're not merino?). I have no idea what I will make with it - I have to find a perfect pattern. For now I'm more than content with having it as a pet skein to keep and cherish for a while.

~Joyuna

Had a Blast at Glasgow School of Yarn 2013

A few weekends ago I was back up in Glasgow for GSoY! Last year was its first year, and the second year was even better.

I do love Glasgow - I got to go back to the Botanic Gardens which I saw last year (though no woolly graffiti this time), and I also visited the Kelvingrove Gallery, a massive museum that covers both art and history. I saw some Egyptian weaving tools...

Took in some of Glasgow's native Mackintosh art...

...and, at the church, even got to see the Mackintoshes themselves!

I took Liz Lovick's spinning finer class, which was a wonderful experience and taught me a lot. You can see a few photos over at Liz's blog (you might even be able to find me in one of them!). Since the class I've been working hard on my frog-hair - mostly as a challenge to myself, though I'm hoping that I will be able to put all my practice yarns together into a shawl (I know that sampling and practice spinning is important, but I just can't bear to see "wasted" yarn!).

Here is what I brought back with me...

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Knitting for Victory: Kickstart it!

I've found a fascinating knitting Kickstarter - Knitting for Victory, America's Knitting History 1916-1945.

This looks to be a great, informative book about the Production Corps - knitters for victory in the first and second world wars. Not only will this be a history book, but it will also feature 25 updated patterns from the time period. Sweet!

I love knitting history, vintage patterns (er, sometimes) and knitting Kickstarter projects - when I donated to the Cooperative Press Kickstarter campaign, not only did I get a great informative book, I got warm fuzzies in helping out an awesome publishing company - and every time I see what Cooperative Press has been up to, I know I made the right decision!

There's just under two weeks left to fund it, so get in there are knit your bit!

~Joyuna

A trip to a silk weaving mill

This weekend I visited the Whitchurch Silk Mill in Hampshire, a working weaving mill whose history goes back to Victorian times. The mill is situated along the River Test, and still has a working water wheel.

In its glory days, the mill used to have over 100 employees. They used to produce the linings for Burberry raincoats, and later judges' gowns, and now they weave cloth to order for clients such as the television program Downton Abbey (which is filmed not far away at Highclere Castle).

We went on a Sunday, so the mill proper was closed, but we got to see the exterior as well as the gift shop, which had a number of things woven at the mill. There was also a lovely pond full of ducks which were thrilled to see us. :)


I got a few souvenirs - I've been keeping an eye out for little keepsakes to pass out to family & friends when I visit the states in a few months.

I think a keychain with a little square of fabric woven at the mill is a pretty neat thing to bring back to my family! I also got a little French Knitting loom (aka, i-cord maker... aka, a tube of wood with nails driven into it).

I think the coolest thing they had at the shop was a display of pirns of silk thread. Pirns are what hold the weft thread or yarn on the shuttle as you weave it, similar to bobbins. I picked out a nearly full one with this brilliant green. It's far too thin to knit with, but I might try plying it with some very fine handspun.

~Joyuna

More Egyptian Fiber at the Petrie Museum

I didn't just see socks at the Petrie Museum at University College London - I noticed a few other interesting bits of textile as well.

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4th Century Egyptian Socks

On my most recent trip to London, I visited UCL's Petrie Museum of Egyptology. I always keep an eye out for fiber and textiles artifacts when I'm in a museum, but I wasn't expecting to see much. Instead, I was just enjoying the mind-bogglingly extensive collection of ancient Egyptian relics. Until...

I was moving towards a new display case. First, I saw the spindles. Then, my eyes drifted to the right, and there they were: A pair of socks, in beautiful condition. Sure, there were a couple holes, but these socks are 1700 years old, and they're in better shape than some of my own knitted socks!

Interestingly, these socks feature a split toe - like 'tabi socks' or sandal socks. They're fairly short and have a rolled hem.

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Supported knitting & knitting sheaths

I'm a self-taught knitter, and people often remark on the way that I knit. In terms of in which hand I hold the yarn, I am an English knitter or 'thrower', but I hold my needles a bit differently. I 'anchor' my needles against my body - against my thigh for long straights, and against my belly or chest for circs & DPNs.

It wasn't until some time later that I learned my knitting style has a name - supported knitting, which covers several styles of anchoring - against your belly, waist, thigh, in your armpit (sometimes called 'pit knitting'), or knitting using a knitting belt or sheath.

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Paris for fiber artists, part 3: History

In this next part of my series on fibery and crafty things in Paris, I'll tell you a little about the Musee de Moyen Age, better known as the Musee Cluny. I didn't visit here specifically for the textiles, but there sure were plenty! They have so many beautiful tapestries.

The Musee de Cluny has a very large collection of medieval artifacts, including plenty of textiles. They currently have a room on Egyptian Coptic textiles, which was quite interesting. But what they're most famous for are the Lady & Unicorn tapestries.

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Paris for fiber artists, part 2: Art

Paris is world-famous for its art museums, most notably the Louvre. Lewis & I visited tons of museums during our trip to Paris, including the big three art museums the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, and the Musee de L'Orangerie.

At the Louvre is one of the most famous pieces of Greco-Roman sculpture, the Venus de Milo. This statue of Venus (Aphrodite) is so famous as to be cliche, but did you know she might have been spinning? Spinning the thread of life? Spinning does have its place in Greek & Roman mythology, after all - for instance, the three moirae or three fates, who spin, measure, and cut each person's life. Spinning was tremendously important of course, so it's no wonder it shows up in myths - before machine in mills spun thread, even before foot-powered wheels, you couldn't make clothes without yarn to weave (or knit).

The theory is expounded upon in Venus de Milo, the Spinner by Elmer Suhr, which is on my potential reading list for sure.

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Byssus: "Sea Silk" before seacell

I've had a vague interest in historical knitting and textiles for a while now, and I've been reading up on it lately - expect a few more articles in the future about some things I find interesting.

When you mention sea silk to a knitter, one thing comes to mind - Seacell, a type of rayon derived from seaweed, and the Hand Maiden yarn containing it. Sea Silk is a much-coveted yarn among knitters, but it takes its name from a much more precious fiber from the past.

A glove knitted from byssus yarn

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