Scottish Textiles Heritage - A Day in Paisley

You may remember that I have been involved with the University of Glasgow and their work on Scottish textiles heritage. Most of the talks from the workshops are now available to download from iTunes.

On a very related note, I travelled to Paisley today to have a closer look at their textiles heritage. Paisley is a town just south of Glasgow and it is steeped in textiles history - not only did it lend its name to the paisley pattern and the Paisley shawl, but it was also home to many textiles mills and weavers. Be warned - this is going to be a picture heavy post. For the full set of photos, do go to the Flickr photo set.

Mile End Mill is no longer a working cotton mill, but it used to be a part of Anchor Mills, home of Coats & Clark and the world-famous Anchor threads and crochet cotton. Coats & Clark still exist today and they still produce the Anchor threads, of course, but the company has left Paisley (though the Anchor emblem is scattered throughout Paisley as are statues of Messrs Coats and Clark). Today the Mile End Mill is a business centre with a gym and a nursery attached .. and a museum.

The Thread Mill Museum is symptomatic of many local museums: it has practically no funding and is run by volunteers - most of which are former mill workers who delight in talking about their former workplace and in keeping the memory of Paisley's industrial past alive. We were greeted by the lovely Eleanor who took us around the small space. There was much to interest the casual textile enthusiast.

Many of the machines on display had been rescued from skips or recovered by former mill workers.

Boxes of brightly coloured crochet cotton. 1970s?

Various stages of cotton thread production - from raw cotton via bobbins to finished dyed thread.

Mill workers leaving the Anchor mills, 1950s. Note the "mill wheel" on the gatehouse.

And that was what really struck me. When we visited, there was a small group of elderly ladies chatting in the room whilst leafing through photo albums. It soon became clear that when the last cotton mills finally closed in the late 1980s, Paisley did not just lose a lot of jobs; it lost a sense of community. The mills had not just provided a paycheck, but also a social structure around which lives were constructed. Tellingly, when a supermarket chain opened a new store in the mill area, it branded its building with anchors. We belong here, it screamed to me, and you belong to us.

Paisley's weaving industry can be examined in the Sma' Shot Cottages - a small cluster of buildings a short walk from the mill complex. They are found in Shuttle Street (Paisley street names are fantastic markers of textile history). I really enjoyed these cottages - I did not know nearly as much about weaving as I did about cotton mill production - and I found the place fascinating. Material history and social history twined together.

This sock-in-progress was too lovely not to photographed. One of the local guides was busy spinning yarn on her wheel when we arrived. I wondered if this was her work too?

A 18th century loom still in use today.

 The weavers of Paisley had a dispute with their employers in 1856 over the sma' (small) shot thread used to bind the weft and warp threads. As the sma' shot was not a visible part of the shawl, employers refused to pay for the thread leaving weavers to purchase the thread themselves. The weavers organised and eventually the employers had to back down. Paisley celebrates a Sma' Shot day today - the first Saturday of July - by staging a rally and burning an effigy of an employer. Ouch.

Paisley museum has an entire section devoted to Paisley shawls, as you might imagine. Sadly the museum is being refurbished and you can only access the shawl gallery by a side door. It is well worth the effort, though. The museum has some beautiful looms with great educational material displayed. And they have shawls. Photos do not do the shawls justice: their colours are deep and rich, and the patterns are intricate and exotic. The shawls were (mostly) woven using jacquard looms with punch cards (as pictured). Many of the punch cards reminded me of knitting charts.

I found it particularly interesting to see how fashion had an impact on the Paisley shawls. The stoles were particularly popular during the Regency period. The 1820s and early 830s favoured triangular shawls (the notes on these shawls called to mind knitted triangular shawls) and later squares became popular. The Paisley shawl was finally undone by the bustle - you did not want to hide your bustle under a shawl nor did you want anything to hide that tiny waist above the bustle. I have always been a fashion history geek and I had a bit of a moment there and then.

The refurbishment meant the Textiles Department was in a bit of a disarray but we were lucky enough to meet up with Dan Coughlan who works as the Curator of Textiles at Paisley museum. This proved to be my personal highlight of the day. Unfortunately we were not able to leaf through the museum's collection of paisley pattern books, but we saw photographs as well as various types of looms. Dan also spoke passionately about the need to highlight not just Paisley's but Scotland's textiles heritage. I could not agree more.

It was raining all day long but I did not mind the rain. There is such a rich seam of textile history in Paisley and it is a shame that this is not discussed with same fervour as Bradford or Leeds.  I wish funding was in place to fully support Paisley's textile and industrial heritage - as it stands, much depends upon volunteers to keep places running. Do visit and do support the hard work all these people are doing. I learned a lot today. I think you would too.

A Handmade Wedding

Remember the wedding blanket that Glasgow Knit'n'Stitch made? The wedding took place this weekend and it was full of knitterly details. Settle in for some great photos.. The wedding took place at New Lanark about an hour south of Glasgow. New Lanark is a UNESCO World Heritage Site right by the Falls of Clyde. The setting is absolutely stunning and is teeming with wildlife - but New Lanark is also a former cotton mill that now spins the most lovely yarn on-site (there may have been some yarn browsing during the wedding..).

The wedding was very much a handmade wedding. Elaine and her mother Shirley had made the bridal gown themselves over the last five months. It was a stunning dress: it had an empire waist with a subtle A-line skirt and an elegant little train. The fabric did most of the talking with its beaded Chantilly lace. Its clear lines and unfussiness suited Elaine so very well - I think there is often a tendency to smother brides' personalities with ruffles, fake tan, rhinestones and silly hairstyles - but tellingly one of our mutual friends told her: "you look bridal and yet you still look like Elaine!".

But wait! What is that she is wearing over her shoulders? Let us get a better look at that!

The shawl was a wedding present from Lilith of Old Maiden Aunt. In the words of Lilith: "She knew I was knitting her a shawl, but not which shawl it was - and all the secrecy was totally worth it when she, her mum, & her gran all burst into tears when the shawl was presented! " The shawl is the Brora Black Shawl knitted in Jamieson & Smith undyed 1ply cobweb. I am sure Lilith is going to blog extensively about this shawl (I know I would if I were her!) so all I will say is that it took her three months' intense knitting, several members of GKS knitted a few stitches on it, and that Lilith got a special thank you during the speeches. Photo was taken by my very patient partner who had been informed to take as many knitterly photos as possible!

And there he is! No, David is not wearing anything knitted but surely half a metric tonne of woolly tartan counts as being of interest to knitters, right? Also: that's my man in a kilt. Whoop!

Back to the knitting..

That is Ms Lilith wearing her cashmere Laminaria. I love the colour combo she is wearing, incidentally. You cannot see her kick-arse red shoes, but believe me when I say they were awesome.

Lynette is also wearing a stunning shawl - brilliantly it is my Karise pattern knitted in Old Maiden Aunt yarn. How wonderful is that? I think that is a great snapshot of the spirit permeating the entire wedding: everything was made by family and friends for family and friends. I'm going to share a heart-tugging example a bit later on but first back to the shawl parade..

And to the right is the fabulous Paula wearing an equally fabulous shawl (and my second favourite frock of the day - my favourite obviously being Elaine's wedding dress). The shawl is my Elsinore pattern(!) knitted in Wollmeise. The original pattern is a cute shoulder-sized shawl but Paula made sure she got good use out of her yarn and upsized the shawl. You cannot tell but Paula is also wearing handmade jewellery and she made her bag too.

And to the left it's me. I'm not wearing anything knitted or handmade. Awkward.

And that brings me to something I just loved so much about the wedding: the personal touches.

I love this photo which I snapped during the dinner. The wedding cake was made by Elaine's mother and the cake decoration was made by Elaine's talented dad (who had also made all the table decorations). It is placed on a crochet table cloth made by Elaine's great-grandmother. Elaine and Steve had placed family wedding photos on every window sill together with small, pretty flowers. Sitting there I felt surrounded by love and friendship.

And I think that was why this wedding felt so special and why I will look back at it in years to come with such fond memories. The wedding was as quirky, personal, and friendly as the couple themselves. I think that is really what a wedding should be all about (and not feeding an industry of glitz, glamour and fake tans).

Next time I'll wear a handknitted shawl, though.

Work In Progress: Doggerland

The weather in Glasgow is hawt - as in 'I need to stay indoors or I shall melt' hot. I have put aside my cardigan project for the time being - although I did find time to separate for back and sleeves - and I have been yearning for a shawl project. Small, light and portable is acceptable for Surprise Summer knitting, right? I had no shawl patterns on the go, so trustworthy Ravelry came up trumps with a delightful shoulder shawl and so I cast on for it the other day. I abandoned it just as quickly. The shawl was not to blame - it was beautiful and very well-written - but I kept going "but if I change that and, oh, you could insert a lace repeat that spanned that section.." Evidently I did not want to knit a shawl; I wanted to design a shawl. I have long wanted to work on a new collection and today was that day. I am currently working on a chart quite unlike anything I have ever worked on before. My other patterns have all been triangular, aimed at beginning lace knitters, easy to modify and rather intuitive. The new shawl pattern will be a semi-circle, aimed at confident lace knitters (although it still has rest rows rather than lace worked on both sides); and you won't be able to combine charts as you please. Working on this is exhilarating, scary and a learning curve. I cannot wait to show you the final shawl.

However, what I can show you is the moodboard I put together for this collection and also explain a bit about the inspiration behind the collection (which will contain other patterns than just shawls).

The collection has a working title of Doggerland, although that is likely to change. Doggerland is a submerged landmass between Great Britain and Denmark which was last inhabited during and after the last great Ice Age to hit Europe. Today Doggerland is covered by the North Sea but once it was a rich, fertile habitat for prehistory humans. Maritime archaeologists are incredibly interested in Doggerland as the seabed may yield fascinating insight into Mesolithic life.

The Doggerland collection is using yarn from the North Sea regions - Britain, Faroe Islands, and Denmark - to explore organic textures inspired by Mesolithic prehistory.

I took a lot of inspiration from visits to the prehistory sections of The National Museum of Scotland and the National Museum of Denmark. I took a lot of photos on worked flintstones, carved antler bones, well-preserved fykes, and excavated shell middens. Lately I have also thought a lot about the landscape - although this is a construct at best - with peat bogs, rolling hills, estuaries, ferns, moss and lichen. Colours play an important role in me imaging Doggerland - expect a lot of earthly tones combined with mossy greens and pale greys.

And so back to work..

Biking in Glasgow

I have been biking in Glasgow since mid-March (so, two months). Here are a few observations. First, though, you should know this about me.

a) I am Danish and have been biking since I was two or three.

b) I grew up biking in a small rural community in Denmark with no cycle paths.

c) I spent the majority of my adult life biking in Copenhagen which is an enormously bike-friendly city.

d) To me, biking is not a sport or leisure activity. Biking is a mode of transport - a way from getting from A to B.

Some background:

I moved to Glasgow in 2006. The six years between moving here and me getting a bike are the longest I have ever gone without a bike. Initially I decided against getting a bike due to traffic running in the left lane rather than the Continental right and then I was unable to bike for a number of health reasons. However, I had been toying with the idea for some time and I eventually bought my bike in March 2012.

What made you decide to get a bike?

We don't have a car in our household which means I had become reliant upon public transport. Public transport in Glasgow is not great: bus routes are frequently illogical, you cannot transfer from bus to subway without getting a new ticket, and prices have shot up in recent years. Add to that some rather unfortunate incidents on my most-used bus route and I had had enough. Time to get a bike.

So what is it like biking in Glasgow?

It is both better and worse than I expected.

Good bits:

• Cycle paths are readily available. I really enjoy being able to spot deer, foxes and swans on my daily commute rather than grim bus drivers.
• Navigating left-side traffic is not terribly difficult and it is far less terrifying than I had expected.
• Due to the nature of Glasgow, it is easy to find short-cuts and unexpected routes. You don't need to use heavy traffic roads unless you have a strange desire to do so.
• People are easily impressed. 'I bike to work' is mostly met with dropped jaws and compliments - even if biking to work only takes me 20 minutes. I am now an exotic creature!
• I feel an enormous sense of freedom. I don't have to wait for buses or trains. I don't have to plan my day around timetables. I can run my errands without any hassle.
• And I am losing weight! A nice side-effect.

Bad bits:

• Biking provokes people. I have had snack wrappers thrown at me from a passing car with matching verbal abuse. I have also had verbal abuse from random pedestrians. Also, teenagers have jumped in front of me trying to make me swerve into oncoming traffic which was an new and exciting experience.
• Cycle paths are not always ideal - for my money, cobbled streets are the work of the devil - and occasionally interesting to bike down (there is one part where I'm likely to fall into the canal if someone tries to pass me).
• Cars will often park right across your cycle path leaving you few options where to bike safely.
• Cars will also stop and block your way without any indication - and drivers will also open their doors without notice. I have had this in Denmark too although not to same degree.
• People associate biking with sports, so most of the gear available is decked out in florescent colours and is very over-priced (presumably because it is marketed as 'high-tech'). I sometimes wear a skirt when biking - this confuses many of the other cyclists who are mostly wearing Lycra.

Any tips?

• I try to make myself as big as possible when I bike on normal roads. I don't crawl along the kerb as I believe this'll make drivers less careful around me. Instead I bike maybe 3 feet away from the kerb and I make sure to exaggerate any arm indications I am making.
• I do not wear big florescent jackets  for the same reason as above. I believe wearing these jackets will actually make drivers less careful around me as the 'safety gear' indicates a certain level of invulnerability. I wear my normal clothes but add florescent strips at night (as well as lights, of course).
• I wear a bike helmet. I see people without helmet and while I used to be one of them, I wouldn't do that here in Glasgow.
• Get in touch with Sustrans who can provide you with info on local cycle routes.
• Assess your local landscape before buying your bike. I wish I had bought a bike with five or more gears, but I opted for a three-gear bike before I realised just how hilly Glasgow can get on a bike. I love my bike to bits, but it is not as practical as I would have liked.
• Be prepared to justify your existence on the road. Biking is not as much of an integral part of your average lifestyle (unlike Denmark) so you have to be prepared for some offensive comments and behaviour.

Finally, would you recommend getting a bike?

Yes. It is the best thing that has happened to me in a very long time.

The Wedding Blanket

This one has been under wraps for a very long time. I am a member of Glasgow Knit'n'Stitch - Glasgow's biggest knitting community with almost 400 members. When I first moved to Glasgow, I knew very few people and GKS was instrumental in me connecting with people outside my very small circle of acquaintances. One of my closest friendships is with Elaine of SoCherry. Elaine is getting married this year and this led to some of us discussing what to make her and Future Mr SoCherry. Originally we wanted to make them a quilt but once other members of GKS heard about our plans, the plans .. grew. They grew so big so rapidly that the focus was quickly shifted to a communal project - one that everybody could contribute to no matter their skill level or amount of time they could devote.

And so The Wedding Blanket project began.

We briefly contemplated using The Great American Afghan pattern book, but it did not have as many sampler blocks to choose from and several of our less experienced knitters expressed concerns.

Instead we chose to use a US knitting pamphlet - Leisure Arts no. 932 - which contains 60 different sampler blocks ranging from beginner-friendly squares to rather complex cables. It proved a great choice and I would heartily recommend the sampler to anyone wanting to increase their skill sets by making a blanket. You have a good selection of squares to choose from and all of the patterns are clearly written out.

We already knew that Elaine loves her Aran-style blankets and although we finally ended up with a mix of lace and cables, the emphasis is very much upon texture and cables. This also influenced our choice of yarn. Paula and I were in charge of the yarn-sleuthing. Again, we had a set of criteria: it had to be British, it had to be cream-coloured/natural, it had to be aran-weight, it had to be pure wool and it had to be superwash. We also had a budget in mind which made yarn-sleuthing even more fun! Eventually Lilith of Old Maiden Aunt came through for us and we ended up with an amazing yarn: superwash Bluefaced Leicester Aran. (Lilith is currently dyeing this base and fourteen GKS knitters can vouch for how incredibly nice yarn is! We feel very privileged that we were allowed to knit with it before anybody else!)

With everything in place, what followed next? Three intense months of knitting.

Elaine had no idea, of course. Parcels were exchanged under the table; secret meet-ups were arranged; Tam Shepherd's became our mid-city drop-off for parcels & yarn pick-up; cryptic messages were sent out; and at one point Lilith was distributing yarn from the back of her car in the pouring rain. Yes, it felt rather like we were running a drug gang!

Looking back it is incredible that nobody slipped up and that everything went so smoothly.

One GKS member even knitted her square in Australia whilst there for work. Another GKS member had yarn sent to her in Amsterdam where she now lives. I know several other people wanted to have taken part - Emma and Mags, I am thinking of you - but the planning stage was no more than a week at best. It was so touching to see just how many people were keen on getting involved and how much Elaine and her fiancée meant to people.

Then one Sunday not so long ago most of us gathered at Paula's house to finish the blanket. It was a very special afternoon watching squares turning into strips turning into sections turning (finally) into a blanket. I imagine making barn-raiding quilt would have been a bit like this: women gathered together making something. We worked at it from every angle - at one point one person was crocheting the double crochet edging and another person was crocheting the lacy edging on top. Chain gang, if you will pardon the pun!

And we finished the blanket!

From left to right: Alison, Fiona, Paula, Karie, Catherine, Janice, Lynette, and Julia.

Not present: Jules, Lisa, Kathleen, Eleanor, Kerry and Gloria.

Photographer: Lilith.

Gloria also created a beautiful scrapbook detailing how much work went into the blanket, how we had made it and how much it was a labour of love.

And we did think of it as a blanket of love. For me, personally, the blanket represents how much I learned from being involved with GKS; how my life has changed since I embraced being a Knitter; and just how amazing knitters are when they get together. We make things and we give so much of ourselves to others through our making. I made this blanket together with thirteen incredible women with each their own story - and we made it for a couple with their own story-making.

(I hope that made sense. I am not usually this sentimental!)

And then everything almost went haywire. We had planned a small knitterly hen-night for Elaine and we wanted it to be a surprise. On the morning of the hen-night Future Mr SoCherry texted me to tell me that Elaine had had to leave work due to a nasty migraine. Eventually we managed to coax her out to a quiet knitting night but certain members of GKS did have mild panic attacks prior to that.

Subterfuge was finally done away with - and we presented her with the blanket. I think she liked it.

Fourteen knitters, three countries, two continents, three months, fourteen hanks of Old Maiden Aunt BFL Aran and A LOT OF SUBTERFUGE..

.. equals one blanket of love.

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.