Sunday, June 12, 2016

The book is all we were promised, and I had a grand time.

I got there relatively early, 11:15 or so for an 11 a.m. “off”. The shop was crowded, and so was the little teaching-room behind where the signing was actually going on. Kate and the books of course were there. I had mine signed by her and Jen and also had Gudrun and Lucy Hague sign their patterns.

And, as in the preliminary daydreams, I told Lucy Hague (she’s wonderfully young) about the Dunfallandy blankie and the horizontal cable it incorporates. She knows the Dunfallandy stone but didn’t know about the blankie. And Gudrun is not scary at all, taller than I expected. She is in the process of moving back from Portobello to MA. They have been here a year and I think they meant to stay, but teen-aged children haven’t found it easy and want to go back.

After a while I went back out into the shop and sat on Kathy’s accommodating sofa and read much of the book. There is a lot of useful and interesting material about 19th and 20th century Shetland. A crisp chapter by Kate about construction is fully as informative as I hoped and expected. The Shetland way is to knit from the borders inwards.

On page 35, a simple method is given for determining which way a particular shawl was knit –attributed to Sharon Miller. If the auld shell holes curve over like bridges, it’s borders-in; if they are hooped under like bows, it’s centre-out.

I don’t understand this, but trust I soon will, by looking at the centre-out shawl in my hands. I got a certain amount more done yesterday, despite the excitement. I have passed the centre point and am now decreasing.

Several of the original shawls from the book were there -- Kate's own Moder Dy, in both its Buachaille form and the J&S jumoer-weight one that she showed us in a recent blog entry. And Mel herself was there, who knit both. Kate said, endearingly, that she is a slow knitter. Just like me!

I also saw Jen's Nut-Hap, Tom of Holland's Hexa, Gudrun's Lang Ayre, and Donna Smith's Houlland. (That one is rather small -- you couldn't hap yourself in it.) Although Lucy was there, I didn't see the Uncia, but I might have missed it, The room was crowded and I kept noticing things I hadn't seen.

The idea of spending the rest of my life knitting haps, large and small, is rather attractive.

13 comments:

  1. Jean, I thought of you often yesterday, looking at the time here and calculating your time there, wondering if you were at the shop yet. It sounds like you had a marvelous time! And then, about 3:30 in the afternoon, I received my email saying my copy of the book was being dispatched, including my code to download it from Ravelry. Of course I downloaded it right away and have read a fair amount of it myself, it is wonderful, isn't it!?

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  2. Anonymous12:06 PM

    You are a excellent correspondent! Next best thing to being there in person.
    Now you have the delicious decision of which to knit first.
    Enjoy every moment.
    Helen (anon)

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  3. This is so terribly tantalizing! I too received my notice of shipping and a download code but decided to draw out the anticipation a while longer. I'll be checking the mail often !!

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  4. Thanks for the excellent report. I am pretty jealous, actually. Also, no notice yet of my book being shipped....maybe the USA ones take longer. Anyway thanks again for the great reportage.

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  5. So glad you had a hap-py day at Kathy's Knits. Lucky you to be mentioned in the book. Looked for your name before I stared reading anything else .

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  6. What a wonderful report, Jean. I can imagine it all. The loveliest thing about haps is that they don't have to fit you. I just bought Gudrun's pattern, and will now buy the book.

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  7. I so enjoyed reading about the event, Jean, thank you for reporting it. It must have been so wonderful to see all those haps "in the flesh" rather than just photographs. Also the people, of course.
    I got notice yesterday that my book had been shipped and that the e-copy was waiting for me in my Ravelry account. Now I am wrestling with the question of should I "peek" at the e-copy or extend the suspense and wait for the hard copy. Northern California is less than half a world away from Scotland, how long can it possibly take?

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  8. Thanks for the report of the launch event. So glad it was nearby so you could attend. My download code and shipping notification email came late in the afternoon with the time difference between here and Scotland it would have been sent at almost 10pm Saturday night. Rather late for Kate to be sending out emails after that big day. Such dedication! Am torn as the others to look too closely at the pdf downloads I may just peek. It will be at least a week before the book is delivered. Nice dilemma to have.

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  9. Lovely to read your report. so glad that you were able to get out to the event. I do think that the work of Lucy Hague is very interesting. the Nennir Cowl is available free on Knitty.

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  10. Anonymous8:09 PM

    Jean, thanks so much for giving us this taste of yesterday. How delightful to be knitting Gudrun's hap at this particular time. I so enjoyed making it earlier this year, your own comments are helping me to remember.
    - Beth in Ontario

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  11. Thank you so much, Jean, for sharing your wonderful day yesterday:)! I feel as if I were there with you, enjoying it all:)! Lovely!
    -Joan in Ellicott City, MD

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  12. Thank you so much, Jean, for sharing your wonderful day yesterday:)! I feel as if I were there with you, enjoying it all:)! Lovely!
    -Joan in Ellicott City, MD

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  13. Anne C. in Bethesda5:15 PM

    Thank you for letting us live vicariously through your wonderful day with the haps, you're recounting of it was perfect.

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