Threading West: The Great Tapestry of Scotland at Old Anchor Thread Mill

I am a big fan of Scottish textiles and particularly Scottish textiles heritage. I am not much of a stitcher (more about this later), but I know a piece of outstanding beauty, artistry and craftsmanship when I see it. The Great Tapestry of Scotland is such a thing and it is currently on show at Paisley's Old Anchor Thread Mill. I caught up with stitcher, event committee member and volunteer co-organiser, Paula McKeown.

First, could you tell me what The Great Tapestry of Scotland is?

The Great Tapestry of Scotland is simply Scotland's story in tapestry form.  It tells the country's history over 160 panels handstitched  by around 1,000 volunteer stitchers all over the country.

The author Alexander McCall Smith saw a tapestry depicting the Battle of Prestonpans and he loved it so much he had the idea that he would tell Scotland's story in that way.  The main challenges were really to pick what history to show and then coordinating the over 1,000 stitchers. So McCall Smith involved Alistair Moffat, the historian and Andrew Crummy, the artist.

How did you become involved in this project? I know it was a real challenge to bring the Tapestry to Paisley - but you were involved before then?

I went to see the Prestonpans Tapestry at the Anchor Mill last year and got talking to the people about stitching.  When they found out I am a stitcher, they asked if I would like to help stitch the panel they were making for the Great Tapestry of Scotland.  I jumped at the chance as I had tried to volunteer to stitch a panel already and had been told it was too late to volunteer.  I went back the next week and started stitching on the panel that the Thread Mill museum were making about tenement life in the 1930s.

I got involved in getting the Tapestry to Paisley simply by stitching on the actual Tapestry panel.  We were then offered to stitch two panels for the Diaspora tapestry so I stayed involved helping with the museum and working with other stitchers.  When the chance came to bring the Tapestry, the vice chair of the museum, Margaret Muir asked me to help.

How did the Thread Mill Museum end up showing the Tapestry at the Anchor Thread Mill? I know it is a small, local museum with limited resources.

They asked us!  We realised we couldn't do it alone so partnered with an Arts group called Weaving Musical Threads and West College Scotland. We put a joint bid together and happily the Tapestry trust was happy to give us the chance to stage it.

The Thread Mill Museum tells the story of Paisley's thread manufacturing history. Paisley was home to many mills, and the Coats and Clark families developed their businesses from Paisley, taking their threads all over the world.  Sadly all the mills in Paisley are closed now. As the mills closed, the Old Paisley society started to collect items associated with the Mills and eventually the Thread Mill Museum was opened with former mill workers acting as guides.  As time goes on unfortunately there are fewer and fewer mill workers still around, so we are always looking for new volunteers to help keep the mill stories alive.

The museum has lots of equipment and items from the mills and information about what mill workers' lives were like. We also have a lot of stitched and crochet items made from Anchor threads and yarns.  We are located in the basement of the Mile End mill building which is now a business centre.  The owner of the building, Marcus Dean, donated the space to us and helps us out too.

Can you tell me about the different techniques used in stitching the Tapestry?

Strictly speaking, the tapestry is not a tapestry as tapestries are woven.  The techniques involved are based on crewel work embroidery which is traditionally worked on linen using wool.  The major stitches used are chain, heavy chain, stem, Quaker and various straight stitches.  The linen is from a Scottish company, Peter Greig & Co, and the wool used is Appleton's wool.  The stitchers were given a coloured drawing and wool in the those colours.  What stitches we used was up to us to decide.  The panel borders did have to be done in heavy chain stitch and the lettering was all done in Quaker stitch.

Which panels are your favourite?

So many are favourites. Naturally I love the one I stitched on - No 130 Tenement.  No 140 Cumbernauld is a big favourite of mine, the embroidery is amazingly beautiful.  The design is so modern and distinctive - and it shows how embroidery can be modern,  I love the scene from the movie Gregory's Girl in the panel.  I would have loved to have stitched on panel 107 Mill working because of the gorgeous Paisley pattern motifs in the dress.  Also Panel 105 Paisley pattern for the same reason.  Panel 92 Scots in India has much amazing colours.  Every time I see the panels, I pick a new favourite.

What should visitors know about the Tapestry exhibition?

It's open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm and open late on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 8pm.  The venue is the Atrium of the Old Anchor Thread mill -a gorgeous space.  The venue is on the 1st floor but there is a lift available.  The Thread Mill Museum is nearby but is only open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 12-4pm.

Finally, any books resources for people wanting to know more?

There have been two books so far about the Tapestry, both by Berlinn books and available via all good bookshops and at the Exhibition.  Paisley Thread museum's site is at http://paisleythreadmill.co.uk, we also have a twitter account   The tapestry website is at http://scotlandstapestry.com

Thank you Paula!

I have signed up for a stitching workshop with Paula. I haven't stitched since I was about 15 years old so I love the chance for a refresher's course. There will be other workshops running concurrently with the exhibition - keep a look out on the websites and the twitter feed for more information.

A Trip to Holmfirth

I usually love train journeys. I love the sounds of travelling on a train, I love having time to looking at the landscape, and I love knitting on trains. My ideal holiday would be a train journey across a country or a continent. It is just so relaxing. Except if you are travelling down the East Coast of Britain on a hot and sticky Sunday in June. Then a train journey is hell on earth. After a five-hour journey, it was a joy to arrive at my destination in Yorkshire.

I have been to the Rowan Yarns HQ several times now and after the initial excitement of my first visit, I am now able to appreciate the Mill for other things than OMG, I recognise that cardigan and gosh, that's a lot of yarn. This time I closed my eyes and soaked up the quietness of the setting and recharged my batteries.

Most of the Mill is devoted to offices, but the workshop room never fails to make me smile. It is a riot of colour and textures - the walls are laid out like a giant yarn shop (though nothing is for sale), the tables and chairs are covered in Rowan fabric and every nook and cranny features Rowan projects. The photo above shows the Wool Week 2012 collection (patterns for which you can download for free from the Rowan website) tucked away in a corner with a Kaffe Fassett pattern library on the shelves underneath.

As workshop rooms go, this is hard to beat for location and creative spirit. As you can imagine.

I was there to preview the Autumn/Winter 2013 Rowan collection. It is always odd to preview winter garments and yarns in the height of summer, but yarn companies work with long lead-times. I know that just this past week they were shooting the Summer/Spring 2014 magazine which means that the Design Room is now currently hard at work on preparing for Autumn/Winter 2014!

(Needless to say, the mannequins on the right have nothing to do with autumnal or winter knits- I just loved the simple styling and the fruity colours.)

I cannot say anything about the Autumn/Winter 2013 collection - simply because it is yet to be released (although it will be released in a month or so). There are several new yarns and it is always one of the highlights of a Mill trip to see these. I have my own personal favourite already - but I always try to remember that I am not there for myself - I am there to assess how knitters will respond to the new yarns. It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it!

Unfortunately I suffered from insomnia whilst visiting Holmfirth, but it meant I could work on the Stevie cardigan by the lovely Sarah Hatton. Because I live in Scotland, I'm doing the long-sleeved version(!) and I'm knitting it in Rowan Wool Cotton in French Navy. It is a top-down cardigan and I'm into the body section now which means perfect knitting night project.

The train journey back was much, much better. And I even managed to catch a glimpse of Antony Gormley's The Angel of the North.

Birdsong

About six months ago I contacted artist and designer Gabrielle Reith-Thompson. I have long been admiring her work - from her colourful paintings/collages to her more recent illustrative pieces. Her Small Stories products are sold in small boutiques throughout Britain and online. I just adore her quirky eye, the attention to detail and, of course, the tiny stories that you glimpse in her work. I hoped Gabi would be interested in creating a logo for me. We would be a good fit, I thought:  the strong emphasis upon geometry found within organic shapes, the obvious Scandinavian influences, and our shared passion for handmade objects. Gabi was happy to help and, thanks to modern technology, we had some lovely exchanges about design heritage and personal influences.

And Gabi came up with this.

I had told Gabi about how I grew up listening to stories about the Norse pantheon. I may be not be a particularly religious person, but the stories continue to resonate with me. I was rather floored when I saw this image.

Gabi had drawn something which not only references my Scandinavian heritage*, but also evokes my approach to knitting designs and speaks of my love of freedom, nature and simplicity.

I absolutely love it.

(You can followed Gabi Reith-Thompson on Twitter or Facebook. She is on Folksy and has a fabulous Pinterest account too)

*)In Norse mythology ravens were generally regarded as messengers, though the god Odin had two ravens on his shoulders - Hugin and Mugin - which represented memory and thought.

Knitting as Cultural Activity - Reflections 4

This post is the last in a series of posts extending the talk I gave at Glasgow University as part of the Handknitted Textiles & the Economies of Craft in Scotland workshop series. I am fascinated by knitters' hands. No matter who we are - whether unsure beginners, lifestyle knitters, industry professionals, textile conservationists or artists - we all engage with the craft using our hands. We may hold the yarn in a myriad of ways and work the stitches at our own pace, but knitting is a tactile craft. The fabric is created by our hands. You can tell the difference between handknitted and machine-knitted fabric. Hand-knitted fabric holds the story of whoever made it. It has presence.

I think it is this echo of presence - the shadow of the knitter's hands - that is so alluring to textile artists.

Roxane Permar is one of the people behind the Mirrie Dancers project - a Shetland-based arts project combining traditional lace knitting with state-of-the-art technology. Shetland knitting heritage is a complex story but Permar decided to take what is often a dark story and literally shed light on it by projecting knitted lace sample onto the Mareel arts venue.

The Mirrie project involved a large team of highly skilled and dedicated Shetland lace knitters spread out across the islands who were all asked to knit a sample of lace in a heat-resistant material. The choice of material proved to be a surprising point of contention: some of the knitters refused to work in other material than fine Shetland wool. Other knitters embraced the task with surprising results - one of them started to play around in order to see how far you can take Shetland lace. Anne Euston is now pursuing a textiles degree specialising in a modern interpretation of lace knitting (you can see an example of her work on Kate Davies' blog).

I was intrigued by how far you can take lace knitting and what you can do with it. What does it look like when you project something that fine and minute up on a wall? I looked at the samples Roxane had brought with her - they were so delicate and obviously crafted with great skill and care - and yet when they were blown up, they became disembodied, abstract and strange. I no longer noticed the elegant stitches - I wondered about the holes, the gaps, and the absences caught and distorted by the light.

I thought Mirrie Dancers was incredibly successful - it made me think about the gaps and absences in how we approach about Shetland (lace) knitting today.

By for me, it always comes back to the twin ideas ofpresence and absence*.

The Material Culture students at Glasgow University learned how to knit as part of their Masters. They will go on to work in museums and as field archaeologists - and will be handling handcrafted artefacts as part of their everyday working life. Knitting, Dr Nyree Finlay argued, was a way of making them more keenly aware of both the workmanship behind the artefacts but also what it means that something is handmade.

Did they? Some of them never taught themselves to knit. One girl could cast on, but could not knit. Another could knit (but not cast on). I wondered if they had thought about the materials they used - but they had been so focused on learning the craft that they hadn't thought beyond a basic budget and colours. I don't know why but that slightly disappointed me - I get that mastering the craft was foremost in their minds, but I had hoped they would take the opportunity to also engage with the actual material circumstances of the craft.

And this is where I am left to write about how I engage with knitting as a cultural activity.

My "problem" as a designer is that I tend to start with very abstract concepts (such as Palaeolithic marine archaeology) and I have to spend a lot of time trying to parse that into a commercially viable pattern collection. The collection following Doggerland is rooted in something even more High Concept - and while my ideas are probably more suited to being explored by textile art (hat tip Deirdre Nelson!) I keep returning to my obsession with accessibility. I want to enable other people to knit my ideas and be able to wear them. I want to make meaning through knitting but simultaneously enable others to construct their own meanings and knit their own stories.

(A huge thank you to Professor Lynn Abrams and Dr Marina Moskowitz for inviting me to this series of workshops.)

* I blame myself for reading literary theory at an age when others were out partying. That sort of thing wreaks havoc.

Woolly Art

Quick & sweet. Gorgeous, gorgeous woolly art from Eszter Burghardt. Enjoy.

Wheee!

Who knew that bouncing about on a lifesize inflatable Stonehenge would be that much fun?

The Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts is well under way. We have been to see various exhibitions and installations through Glasgow - and most have been okay but not that thrilling. The highlight has definitely been Jeremy Deller's 'Sacrilege' - the inflatable Stonehenge you see above. As an interactive piece of public art, it scores highly on the interactive scale, though I am not sure about the art aspect of it.

'Sacrilege' is moving down to London for the Olympics (I think it was actually commissioned for the Games?), so if you fancy a bounce in Glasgow, you only have a few days left.