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knitting heaven

Oooh la, now, who wouldn’t want to curl up and knit somewhere like this?

Knitting retreat, Fetlar, Shetland

When Amy and I were planning our trip to Shetland last year, I was super keen to see if we could sit and learn with a Shetland knitter, especially about colour but really about anything she had to offer. Jamieson and Smith was my first port of call; although they were going to be busy hosting the official group coming up from Knitcamp for a full week of classes and tours around the islands, I hoped that they might be able to give me a few names of local knitters who would be happy to give us a class or two… but no luck. And, when we were there, we met and heard of a couple of people- but then couldn’t organize anything. Especially in island communities, where populations are spread out, it can be difficult to access people willing to share skills and, no doubt, we were a bit of a cliche, turning up and hoping to learn, especially when so much of the community moved on from relying on knitting for income a long time ago. Still, if the tourism office and the (amazing) museum are anything to go by, lace and fairisle knitting is still a big draw for tourists coming to Shetland… and the Brough Lodge project seems like a great way to combine the history and traditions of the islands with a living, breathing experience where participants could learn not only skills and craft but more about the local community and current issues and challenges faced by the local wool industry. I so hope that, with the support of Jamieson and Smith and the wider community, this gets up and running… it seems like a wonderful new undertaking for community and visitors alike.

(sounds of piggybank being broken into… )

scarves for japan

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I just heard about this undertaking by (mostly) Japanese students to gather warm woollies for those affected by the Japanese earthquake. The weather will start getting cold there in a couple of months and apparently material aid is slowing down, so Kenta and his gang of volunteers are asking for handknitted hats, scarves, gloves and babywear…

Blossom booties

Why handknit? As Kenta says, “we want to remind the victims that there are still people trying to help them”. Apparently handknit covers handworked knitting machines- and I’m sure crochet, weaving etc. would be great too- which is wonderful as I can make a lot more on my old Singer than I could by hand ; )

I’m aiming to send as many as I can by the end of September and would be really happy to put yours in the box too… just drop me a line.

esha ness

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A walk last year….

Horse drinking; Dore Holm, Esha Ness

Coastline

Ocean, cliffs and seabird

Deep inlet gouged out by the ocean; Calder's Geo

Moss, lichen and rock

Water-polished stones

Creator of fine Shetland yarn ; )

and the shawl inspired by it…

Waves of old shale patterning

Soft and cosy

Shetland colours

Ocean and sky

Moss, lichen, earth and sheep

Finally finished, my enormous hap shawl inspired by a day spent walking the magnificent Esha Ness in Shetland… I love it! A hybrid of Gudrun Johnson’s and Madeleine Weston’s haps, using yarn from Jamieson and Smith, Rennie and Holstgarn. Details here.

winter road trip

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My dad and I drove over to South Australia on Monday, mostly to pass on some photos and stories collected last year in Scotland; his family had emigrated to Australia from Perthshire in the 1850s and he’d never been there, so when I headed over for Knitcamp last August, he decided it was time for a visit. We did some wandering around their old stomping ground, not anything as serious as genealogy but just getting a feel for the place and for what they would have been leaving behind.

Ruthven barracks, Kingussie, Scotland

Anne McArthur of Wrattonbully, SA, has been researching and writing a book on this branch of the Robertson family (Scottish sheep farmers who came out and settled in SA, made lots of cash running sheep and then drank it all away!) and so was interested to hear about our time there. We were lucky enough to see her property in full glory, as her kitchen window looks out over a massive swamp, which had been dry for so many years because of drought, but is now full of water and life. Sadly, no photos- but it was magnificent and very like this!

On our way back, we spent a night at the Royal Mail in Dunkeld- a lovely splurge. I’ve not spent much time in hotels but this is a lovely one; great design, sensitive layout and incredible food and, I think, especially interesting for travellers because it is directly connected to the surrounding landscape of the Grampians ranges…

Frosty morning; Mt Sturgeon, Grampian Ranges

The hotel is the kick-off point for big or small walks through the area…

Boardwalk; ancient Redgum walk

But I have to admit that I didn’t get much further than the gardens surrounding the hotel- local and Australian flora everwhere! I was especially excited to see so many different banksias flowering…

A new Grampians Banksia flower; Banksia saxicola

New flower on furry prostrate stem; Banksia blechnifolia

Wonderful new flower; Bankia prionotes

Totally 1970’s; Banksia prionotes

And yesterday morning, we woke up to a very heavy frost, something I don’t see very often so I was pretty excited! Dad’s car was blue with ice.

Ice on car roof

What looked like this the night before:

Hoary Sunray going to seed; Leucochrysum albicans

was now tucked up protecting itself…

Hoary indeed; Leucochrysum albicans

And my dad got some good use out of the scarf I made him- doesn’t he look dapper?!

Dad wearing circles and rods scarf; Royal Mail

Blues and rust-reds

We took a longer route home so that we could stop at Tarndwarncoort to visit Wendy Dennis and her woolroom. The Dennis family developed the Polwarth breed of sheep at Tarndwarncoort in the nineteenth century and the family continues to run a flock of over a thousand Polwarths today, providing reliably beautiful coloured and white Polwarth fleece, tops and yarn for handcrafters. I’ve knitted her 4-ply silk/ wool yarn before and loved it so was really keen to learn more about what she is doing and also to try running the yarn through my knitting machine…

Coloured and white fleece

Premium Polwarth fleeces; Tarndwarncoort

It was inspiring to talk with Wendy, an wonderfully committed, generous and resourceful woman who is visibly knowledgeable and passionate about what she is doing. She spoke about the beauty of the Polwarth- its lovely softness, bounce and long staple (a good introduction to spinning fine wools because of the fibre length)- and the joys and challenges of her operation, the major challenge being the dwindling number of local scours and mills able to produce a high quality product for a relatively small operator. This situation means that, despite being so close to Geelong, a town built on wool and its processing, Wendy now has her yarn spun in New Zealand, which is reflective of the way so many industries operate these days. Crazy!

8- and 4-ply silk/ wool yarns

The woolroom is housed in an old garage and cider house and is full of atmosphere, a great place for the workshops and regular craft meets that happen here… I also discovered a spectacular collection of books on knitting and other woolcrafts!

Woolroom; Tarndwarncoort

Craft room; Tarndwarncoort

This place is so worth a visit- you won’t be able to resist the softness of the Polwarth and the enthusiasm of its owner! As well as Polwarth yarn and fibre, on sale are the full range of Landscape dyes, Majacraft spinning wheels, spindles and other spinning paraphernalia, handspun yarns, soap made from Polwarth milk and lots more… In the depths of winter, it is best to make an appointment to visit but during the warmer months the woolroom is open from Friday to Sunday.

winter activity

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It’s a grey, drizzly day, the kind that makes me want to stay in my pyjamas all day and cook warm, gooey food. But I needed to go and have a look at a garden I am working on and so rugged up and headed out- the upside of having my car irrevocably damaged in a car accident last week (luckily no one was hurt!) is that I have been walking a lot more! I see so much more this way and, on the way there and back, was reminded how active Australian plants are in winter. Unlike many species coming from cooler parts of the world, our flora does most of its flowering and seed-producing in winter and spring, I imagine in order to avoid risking everything in our often harsh, unpredictable summers. They do what is required in order to sustain the life of the species in the cooler months and then sustain their own life by going into a semi-dormant state over the hottest part of the year! This habit is particularly true for trees, such as our iconic eucalypts and acacias:

Soft pink and grey-green; Eucalyptus sideroxylon

Spectacular flowers; Eucalytpus caesia

Peeling bark; Eucalyptus caesia

Flowers and buds; Eucalyptus

The first of thousands of flowers; Acacia acinacea

Golden rod flowers; Acacia longifolia var. sophora

Petals fallen, leaving behind globular fruit; Agonis flexuosa

Huge orange inflorescences; Banksia spinulosa

Detail; Banksia spinulosa

Other smaller species are also winter-flowerers- or flower more prolifically at this time of year than in the warmer months:

Vibrant winter colour; Hardenbergia violacea

Our own fine and less showy species of clematis; Clematis microphylla

Given how much rain we have already had and the number of flowers around, I imagine that there will be a lot of seed produced this year- which is great news for growers after the last few years of very poor seed availability… and if you need any plants and are inclined towards the indigenous, try VINC in Fairfield. It is a great, community-run nursery producing great-quality stock and the staff are really knowledgeable about our local flora.