Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Pearl Harbor Day

Not much knitting, although I’ve finished  the toe shaping for the 2nd Kaffe Fassett sock. Tomorrow, tidying and toe-grafting all round. But there has also been a certain amount of knitterly event:

-- The package arrived from Deramores. So, whoever they are, they're really here. I must investigate the website(s) with care.

--A neighbour and dear friend came to call on my husband yesterday and mentioned that he had some yarn, no use to him, would I like it? I bravely said yes, expecting some vintage '50's Patons or Sirdar from his late granny's stash. Not a bit of it. I found on the doorstep this morning two beautiful skeins of a dusty blue, with a note explaining that they come from the now-defunct Brora Woollen Mill to which his father used to supply Cheviot wool from their farm. More or less DK, I think. I have put it in the freezer for the time being, just in case. Ross must have a hat.

It might be interesting to add another item to the sidebar next year (as well as the planned FO list) in which I list what the next three projects are going to be. There will be months and months when the list doesn't change, and times like these when excitement lies around every corner. Currently hat, hat, shawl. And you never know, Scotland might win the Calcutta Cup next year.

I wrote the rest of this before reading your second comment, Carol, and also Judith’s:

Carol. Yes, Paton's 893 is the shawl I'm knitting. Except that a recent oddity of life is that I put it carefully aside when I had mastered the edging pattern, which didn't take long, and now I can't find it. It must be here amidst the detritus in this room, not far from where I sit. Fortunately, I also have 1085 which is identical while including a second shawl. I would be worried about the disappearance of 893 except that I've got too much else to worry about.

For the pattern, Kate Davies says that members of the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild can access it. You could join? She says that she first saw it in the archives of the Shetland Museum. And what about Bishop Rutt's digitalised archives at -- I believe -- Southampton University? Is it in copyright? Could I scan it and send it to you? 


I never throw away a knitting pattern, especially one I have actually knit, but for many years I couldn't find that one. I sought it high and low, and eventually found it in a loose pile of patterns at the now-famous Christian Aid book sale here in Edinburgh in the spring. That was a very happy day. And now I can't remember why I have two. Or used to have.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:53 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Anonymous10:58 AM

    Oh yes! My Deramores package arrived yesterday and those tiny skeins are delicious! It is a Christmas present for my daughter. My son will receive the Japanese garden tool. Thank you for those excellent ideas!

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  3. Look back two days to my comment regarding Deramores. It's very interesting who is running it and why it is more prominent now.

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    1. Anonymous1:36 PM

      Oh yes. That's interesting and probably explains their new-look website and recent efforts to encourage international orders

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  4. =Tamar5:13 PM

    Did you put the pattern together with yarn to be knit with it?

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  5. Carol, San Diego5:17 PM

    Thank you for your kind offer, Jean. Although I paid a mere $2 for a digital copy of the pattern, I've since learned you can get it for free from an Internet archive. I had also posted a query in the Patterns Group on Ravelry and two replies directed me to: https://archive.org/details/Patons_8009_Shawl.
    I'm certain your copy will soon be found - but until it does you can download it for free!
    Question: why did you decide to work the lace border first and which yarn are you using?

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  6. What a lovely package to find on your doorstep. Looking forward to a photo of the Cheviot yarn.

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  7. Links for the shawl
    Mrs Hunter of Unst Shawl
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shetland-shawl-8
    cloud drift shawl
    http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cloud-drift-baby-shawl
    Sarah Bradbury site
    http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/baby/cloud-drift.html
    though I found here you had to download the charts separately by right clicking on them and saving as a picture and then pasting into Word or such like.

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