Shetland Autumn2023 Day 8: Sept Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers, Knitters and Dyes meeting snd Shetland Museum and Archives

Since Covid I have belonged  to the Guild,as an ‘outwith’ member and both last year and this year we were in Shetland on a Guild meeting day so I have been able to go to that. The meeting in September is a special day as it is the day the trophies (8 in all)  are given for all the different challenges available to Guild members. This year Members took their items to one room in Islesburgh House and the  meeting was conducted next door while the judging of the items took place. 

Today the meeting had a Speaker, Carol Christiansen was going to talk about Latvian  knitting. I was very much looking forward to this. 

However, initially it looked as if I might not make it! Michael  awoke with a painful and swollen left leg and could not put his weight on it. We had booked him lunch in the Dowry  at Hay’s Dock. The plan was that he would drop me at the Guild , potter in Lerwick or drive to one of the spots we know and like, he would rest and enjoy the scenery. I would have my packed lunch with the Guild  and then go and meet him at Hay’s Dock. It looked instead to me like a trip to The Gilbert Bain might be in order. He was thinking he could manage, take 2 paracetamol and then on Monday he would try and seek medical help! It seemed much too urgent to me. We reached a compromise, we would park the Motorhome at Hay’s Dock, he would get into there and have some lunch and I would meet him there as planned. He would phone me if he got worse. This disrupted things rather and made us slower than normal so I was much later to the Guild meeting than I intended. 

The room for the talk was quite small, the meeting was well attended  and I got about the last remaining seat, on the front row as it turned out, next to Emily Poleson. Great to see people I knew but I was flustered, did not manage to get a drink and needed a few deep breathes before the talk started. 

There was some technical challenges, as often happens with one device not recognising another…which today played to an advantage for me. When Carol stood up to talk she said the talk  was about Estonian Textiles. Well, that sounded good to me too. The presentation was excellent, there were lots of maps of parts of Estonia and photos as well as lots of items and books and some recommendations from Carol. It turned out that Emily  had one of the books and rated it highly and I ordered it as soon as I could and it will now be a Christmas present. Items, such as gloves,  are knitted on fine needles and with fine wool and hence are dense and last well. This sounds good to me as during the winter I find myself patching up knitted gloves too frequently. It also seems that Estonia really values knitting, not just for tourists and their trade, but to keep the traditional crafts going and developing. The skills involved are valued and it is possible to study these at a high academic level. It seems currently this is not the case in this country and maintaining and teaching the skills relies on the Guilds and elderly people who have the knowledge, experience and understanding in their heads and genes! Textile courses, even if they exist in colleges seem to get rid of their valuable equipment. A lot of time and effort had gone into the preparation of this through presentation and I for one really enjoyed and appreciated it. In fact it had so much information in it I would like to hear it all again. 

After the presentation, eating my packed lunch and finally getting a drink it was time to view the results of the judges deliberations in awarding the places in the categories and the trophies, in all but one case. The judges today were Anne Eunson and Pearl (I hope I have remembered that properly). It was great to see Anne again, besides going viral for her Shetland knitted ‘fences’ she is a very talented designer, fine lace spinner and knitter. She has designs in previous editions of the Wool Week Annual and I think  teaching 3 classes for Wool Week 23. (She is also a machine knitter and we have spent time in previous years sharing knowledge and exploring possibilities here in Shetland).  

It was good to look at the entries for the different classes under the theme this year of Maritime and I was pleased to see that the Member’s  Choice Trophy went to Rachael Hunter for her imaginatively designed fine lace shawl. (1) I really needed to get back to Michael to see how his leg was, so having checked the time for meeting to help set up the Guild Exhibition and tables for the tea in Tingwall Hall next Friday evening I walked swiftly back to Hay’s Dock. 

I was surprised to see Anne arrive in her car as I got there, and when I found Michael paying his lunch bill she was there too! This is real friendship Shetland style, checking how Michael  was as I had told her what I couldn’t  stay longer at the Guild meeting. 

I managed to get another drink and a sweet treat from the counter. 

M was insistent I should look round the knitwear in the collection as we had planned whilst he go and sit with his ‘improving’ (?) leg up back in the motorhome. 

I really love these bright gloves that were knitted in Yell in the 1940’s.

I homed in on a case I had not noticed before which displayed fine lace knitting from Unst. 

Just consider  that these Unst pieces were created with no written instructions, that is besides the fact that the yarn was hand spun and extremely finely  spun too. Also there were no photos for them to examine either. That is what makes these pieces fine Shetland Lace imo. 

I always like to see the mitre in a shawl or stole, as so much can be learned about the construction. 

 

This is an example of a traditional Shetland method, one advantage of which is that only some of the piece needed to be worked on at a time. These knitters were true masters of design and economy of time and process. Not a gathered corner in sight. Also look at how fine the threads are, these are likely to be formed of 2 ply yarn too. Each ply would be spun from only be a few fine fibres. 

I had not seen this piece before, I love how it had meaning 

I understand it is a sample for a shawl knitted for Queen Victoria. note the crown. It has been attributed to the Sutherland Family. 

Then onto a modern but wonderful example of using lace. 

Again this has quite a story behind it. The highly talented Angela Irvine from Whalsay has updated this yacht originally built by her grandfather in the 1940’s. (2) 

Time to get back to the campsite, get the poorly leg elevated and rest. What a great ‘textile day’ this had been. 

1. In all the fuss I did not take a single photo at the Guild meeting but if you search under Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, weavers and Dyers, including in Facebook you will be able to see some of the items that won the prizes. 
2. Angela produces a variety of imaginative craftwork. Some of this can be seen at  https://www.angelairvine.co.uk