Remember these garter stitch stripes?
Well that’s just a tiny bit of something that is now much bigger. I knit a square and then picked up stitches all the way around the edge. The edging is worked outward in the round in a simple feather and fan pattern, and now that I’ve only got a few rounds left it’s a huge blob of bunched up knitting that’s threatening to engulf the sofa (that’s a metre long needle). I’d show you the whole thing spread out, but that’s really impossible.
How big it will actually be will remain a mystery until I bind off, and most likely it will grow again when I block it. I don’t think it’s going to be enormous, but it certainly feels like it right now.
The yarn is much thicker than is traditionally used but this blankie uses several key elements of traditional Shetland Hap shawls – the square garter stitch centre and the feather and fan border with colour bands. It seems like these were made for more everyday use, for snuggling a baby, wrapping around cold heads and shoulders, than the really elaborate wedding ring shawls. The thing is, I really know nothing about the traditions of Hap shawls, just the basic style, but knitting this sort of Hap blanket sparked my interest and I’ve ordered Sharon Miller’s ‘Shetland Hap Shawls – Then and Know’. I’ve heard great things about her book ‘Heirloom Knitting’, so I had to order that too and I’m really looking forward to reading those.
Apparently this is part of a larger desire to learn more about knitting traditions. Yesterday Terri Shea’s book ‘Selbuvotter – Biography of a Knitting Tradition’ arrived, and although I haven’t had a chance to more than leaf through it it looks very interesting and inspiring. My library of knitting books is really rather small, and I don’t have much interest in pattern books, but if you have any recommendations of books in a similar vein to these I’d love to hear them.
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It looks lovely! I’d recommend Nancy Bush’s “Folk Knitting in Estonia.” Like Shea’s book, it has some patterns, but it’s very much about the craft itself. Very interesting and inspiring.
Only a small part of it is about knitting (more of it’s about spinning and other crafts), and I don’t know how much interest you have in early American history, but I absolutely LOVED Laurel Ulrich’s The Age of Homespun. It takes specific artifacts from early America (an unfinished stocking, two spinning wheels, a carved chest) and talks about their historical significance in the context of the American colonies and early US history, what they would have meant for their owners and the larger society. I love the concept of a seemingly innocuous and everyday item holding immense significance for those who know how to look, and it also got me thinking about how hand-crafting can be politically significant: Ulrich writes, for example, about the spinning parties that late colonial women had as protests against the British (less dependence on imported goods) and also as a stand against their husbands and brothers, who were largely “protesting imperialism” by talking big and getting drunk. Anyway, it was super interesting. Highly recommended.
It looks lovely and very cozy. I can’t wait to see it finished.
I can’t say enough nice things about Miller’s books. I purchased Heirloom Knitting several years ago, and just bought both Hap Shawls and the Lerwick Shawl. She does a phenomenal job of compiling the history and detailing out the hows and whys specific patterns were used. I hope you enjoy it!
I can’t wait to see the finished product! Red and grey are so great together.
Latvian Mittens by Elizabeth Upitis, anything by Anna Zilboorg.
I love red and gray together.
I am very interested, too, in Knitting Traditions…
I think that what you are doing here looks pretty amazing and I am intrigued by the historical context that you provide. I hadn’t heard of a Hap Shawl before…
…one book I am yearning for but haven’t got the cash to buy right now was recommended to me by darning artist, Celia Pymm, and is called ‘tales from the ragpile.’ It is Norwegian and amazing.
Oh, you need to add that one to Ravelry so I can add it to my faves!
Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman is a lovely and useful book. She discusses hap shawls. You are correct, they are for everyday use and are in a heavier yarn, usually in black or a dark color to avoid the need for frequent washing.
i agree with you on pattern books. they are so volatile.
i love a little norwegian book by annechen sibbern bøhn called norwegian knitting designs. all elizabeth zimmermanns books. everything alice starmore though they are patterns but also timeless and a source of inspiration.
and then annemor sundbø has written a lot about norwegian knitting and vibeke lind has made a masterpiece in the 80′s called knitting in the nordic tradition.
I love the Hap shawl. Yours is going to be so great! Do you read this blog: http://mustaavillaa.blogspot.com/ She’s made a couple of these shawls, and they’re awesome. Take a look. I think she recommended a book, if I’m remembering correctly. Now, back to knitting for you!
Sorry, no suggestions…my own knitting library is pretty small itself.
I love the sound of Hap shawls–the name, and the fact you can knit something 99% in the round and it’ll come out square. It looks like it’s already really cozy to have on your lap–I can’t wait to see the finished project!
I made one of these recently for a friend’s baby using Sharon Miller’s book and it was a lot of fun….I did the construction differently but when I make another I will start with the center square as you have done. Her books are fantastic and give great insight into the history of these shawls.
I love the historical/ethnic side of knitting as well. What is also interesting is incorporating structures from nature into knitting itself. For a great book to recommend in this area is Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. In each section she gives some basic scientific information and how she is going to relate that to the patterns in that section. I love it! I love how she gets her inspiration for knitting patterns. You should definitely check this one out. Plus the patterns are just so different!
I know you posted this a while ago, but i just wanted to chime in with a couple of suggestions:
First, Anne L. Macdonald’s No Idle Hands: A Social History of American Knitting. Not about a tradition per se, but it details the entire history of knitting in the U.S. from the Mayflower onwards. It’s huge– almost 300 pages– and I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but what I have read/skimmed is well-written and fascinating.
Also, I’ve heard good things about Galina Khmeleva’s Gossamer Webs, on the tradition of Russian Orenburg lace. There’s a great review on the blog A Strikke, where she also lists several other knitting history books she recommends: http://aastrikke.blogspot.com/2007/08/review-gossamer-webs-and-richard-rutt.html