So I am getting on with the gansey for the exhibition.

I had planned swatching on 4.5 and 5 mm needles, but the 4.5 mm I started with was right so I didn’t bother with the 5 mms! I tried the colourwork and the k/p patterns and got the basic design together on a piece of scrap paper as usual:

The pattern repeat is 34 sts which, with an aran weight yarn, is a big one. But this doesn’t have to fit a specific person and three repeats plus the ‘endings’ works well to give about a 44″ chest.

As I am using bits of Eunice’s patterns, I decided to use her ribbing. It is one I remember well from my childhood and keeping its stretch. It is the usual k1, p1 ribbing, but the knit stitches are always through the back of the loop on all rows, so you get an effect which is both useful and decorative:

Many of the sweaters in photos have the dark brown as the background. This is especially true of those who obviously come from poorer backgrounds (dark doesn’t show the dirt like white) and I wondered whether to use the dark brown. But this is an exhibition piece, and the k/p patterns show up more easily in the ‘white’, so I have kept that as the main colour. The motif I think of as ‘Swona’ (because I saw it first on a sweater knitted on that island) is in fawn, while the ‘stars’ will be in the two greys. (Orkney tended not to have so many colour changes in its colourwork as Shetland and often motifs used just two colours.)

So now I am up to the arm holes on the back and am about to start the stars on the yoke. The 3 stitch filler between the diamonds of the body continues in colour on the yoke. If the yarn for the magazine doesn’t arrive tomorrow I should get the back finished this weekend…

And for once I have a new project in the pipeline that I CAN talk about. Yesterday I had a phone call from Karin Flatøy Svarstad in Norway. She is a felter and promoter of the ancient North Atlantic Short Tailed Sheep breeds. It was she who was one of the leading lights behind the conference on North Ronaldsay last April. There is going to be another conference this April, this time in Norway, and associated with it will be an exhibition of things using the wool from the different breeds in a manner based on historical items. It is difficult to put into writing but I knew exactly what she meant.

After the conference, the exhibition will be travelling to other parts of Norway and then to various other regions where there are sheep in the same group – the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Shetland, the Hebrides and a few more I have forgotten!!

I knew almost at once that I would do an Orkney-type gansey. In other words, aran weight North Ronaldsay yarn. I also wanted to make use of the fact that Orkney is very good at ‘borrowing’ from all sorts of different traditions, and wanted to include this aspect.

After a bit of time browsing photos from the various island museums etc, and looking at the photos I have taken of some South Ronaldsay garments from just after WWII, I thought I would work on the interaction between knit/purl patterns and colourwork you get in Orkney ganseys. I charted some of the motifs from several sweaters knitted by the same person:

copyright Elizabeth Lovick 2012

copyright Elizabeth Lovick 2012

This is interesting in that all these designs have a 34 st repeat – not a usual number.  The X and long O one is interesting because it is also widely used in Orkney for 5 ply ganseys as a knit/purl pattern as well as for colourwork.

While in the shed this morning I got out my North Ron aran and find I have all the yarn I need.  I still haven’t decided exactly what motifs I will be using and how,  but things are getting clearer.  I have a throw to finish first, and a magazine design, but I am getting there.

It is lovely to be able to do a design where I don’t have to think up 10 sizes and do things which are easily explained.  I can do my own thing without thinking by numbers!!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks! Some of it has been Christmas related, but much of it not.

In the run up to Christmas I spun up some qivit fibre. This was the ‘raw’ fibre – the bits that fall off the animals in spring. Most of it is the down but there are some (soft) hair in it too.

The fibre was given me by a friend in Australia who has friends in the Canadian Arctic who have a musk ox ranch. She was there at a time when the beasts were shedding. They are not very friendly beats, and the procedure was to go into the paddock and gather the fibre while they were in a second paddock being fed. Cynthia was told she could keep anything she picked up, and she very kindly gave me a carrier bag full! I have been using it over the years but still had a bit left.

The fibre doesn’t look much – just clumps of brown stuff! When you start to tease it apart, though, your hands quickly tell you that this is something special. I pull out any very long and stiff fibres, but leave the shorter, softer ones. The it is a case of spinning from the cloud, on my Orkney wheel.

l to r: a clump, teased cloud, spun single, washed yarn

I was making a pair of fingerless mitts for Marina who runs the Post Office and shop. Her hands are cold most of the winter, and fingerless mitts do not have to come off while serving! I therefore wanted about a DK to aran weight yarn once it had been fulled. I also decided very early on that I was not going to worry about slubs – while they are relatively easy to remove from a lace weight yarn they are more difficult to avoid when spinning thicker from a non-uniform cloud. As I spun, the tiny bits of straw fell out on to my lap.

Once the yarn was spun and plied came the fun bit. After the washing, the bashing!! If anyone was watching through the window they would have doubted my sanity… Hair fibres need to be shocked into fluffing up, and the easiest way to do this is to slap the wet skein hard on the edge of the work top. And I mean hard – sledge hammer back swing and all. The resultant yarn was I had intended, Leaving some of the hair fibres in has given it a bit more cohesion and will help in the wear.

I knitted the mitts from the top down so that I could make a good long cuff without wondering whether I had enough left over for the second. I did each mitt separately to the wrist, working one from each end of the yarn, then I put then both on the same needle and knitted then at the same time so that I could continue until I ran out of yarn. In the event I had a bit of yarn left over.

Marina seems pleased with them.

Then it was working on the items for the KAL which started on 1st January. Rather than being one option, there are a series of possibilities I have called Variations on the Theme of Orkney Lace.

Participants have the choice of various known items or a Complete Mystery, known to be some sort of wrap. Each is made up of blocks of lace patterns used here in Orkney which will be revealed over the coming weeks. So I have been knitting up the samples to make sure the patterns work before releasing them. At present people are only being given the photos of the patterns as they are put up, but at the end the whole thing will be released as an ebook. The KAL sign-ups are now closed, so the rest of you will have to wait!!

And now I am having a break. I am doing some sewing. I had hoped to do this in August, but have only just got round to it… I have one dress cut out and the next sitting waiting. The one I am about to sew is 100% cashmere cloth ex Johnsons of Elgin. Needless to say it is fabulous…. I got it from an ebay shop which specialises in quality British cloth.

Now, I have been acquainted with Ivan’s work for many years, even before I came to Orkney. Amongst other things, he was in the band Wolfstone in the 1990s, and he has worked with a variety of musicians over the years in the US and Europe. An Orcadian by birth and upbringing, his songs often reference the life and times on the islands. Many more details on his website here.

On this occasion he was singing alone, with his wife Linda working as tech assistance etc. I already had several of his CDs, and so knew a good deal of what he sang. However, I hadn’t got the new CD, and those songs were new to me, as were a couple of the instrumental numbers. (He really is a beautiful guitarist..)

In addition to his own material he sang a couple of well known songs, one of John Pride’s and one of Tom Paxton’s. I videoed a couple of pieces and you can see them below. This was just with my fag-packet camera on my knee so the quality is not perfect, but it gives and idea of what went on that evening in the Community Room on Flotta! I have left his comments in to give you a flavour of the gig!

Here is Ivan supported by the community of Flotta singing Tom Paxton’s Last Thing on my Mind…

And here is Ivan singing Give Me Your Sweet Heart from the new CD…

I think we all appreciated him coming over in the foul weather to sing to just a handful of folk (albeit a very high percentage of the island population!). And he sounded as good live as he does on CD (which isn’t always the case…).

Meanwhile, on the knitting front I have been just a tad busy. Unfortunately most of the stuff can’t be talked about now. (This is a major problem when working for mags etc – by the time the pattern comes out you have forgotten knitting the items…!) But one pattern is now out in Issue 3 of the new UK mag Knit Now. This mag is only doing accessories – small projects for people and the home – scarves, hats and mitts of all sorts, baby things, toys, bags etc. All things which don’t take too long to knit.

My pattern is a matching beret and fingerless mitts which can both be made from one big ball of sock yarn. I used one 150 g ball Zauberball Starke 6 which I bought on Papay in the summer. This has long colour changes and I called the set Vantit, an old Orkney word meaning something spun using changing colours of wool (or dyed badly, but we won’t mention that!!). My copy of the mag has been held up in the post, but the photos can be found here, and below.

The first stage was to get it upright and make sure it stays upright. There is a hole in the grass to drop the trunk in to, and 4 strong ropes are attached to the truck about half way up to anchor it to the ground in Winds. The pegs for these ropes are hammered about 18″ into the ground.

Later in the day, the cherry picker arrived to get the lights on. The wind wasn’t kind to them, and the job wasn’t as easy as it sounds. But they made a good job of it, being careful to have lights all over the tree, not in one section only.

The weather was so bad on Saturday folk weren’t sure whether the ceremony could happen. But by 7 pm the rain and hail had stopped and the wind dropped enough for us to be able to stand and sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before Jo flicked the switch.

Usually carols are sung round the tree, but as the rain returned it was decided to have those round the tree in the Community room instead!!

And, just for fun, a pic I took in my garden yesterday. This is what we call a robin in the UK (Erithacus rubecula), and is the bird most associated with Christmas. The males have the very red breast. They are friendly to humans, and vicious to each other, fighting to the death over territory and females.  This one owns my garden.

Rhoda and Lindie brought Traidcraft gifts and food from the Mustard Seed in Kirkwall….

and I had my Northern Lace Too jewellery etc  (more of that soon!).

Phyllis did the home bakes, helped by Marina on the teas.

As the day drew on the weather worsened.  It was blowing a gales and pelting down with rain at 7.30 pm when things were due to start, and we expected no one to turn up.  However, this being Flotta, a huge percentage of the population came out to buy.

We decided that they should have their tea for free as a thank you for coming, and the room was well full all evening.

It was a good evening, and round a bottle of Orkney wine after we had cleared up, we were all talking about Next Year.

HOWEVER… Twelve hours later, in the middle of a power cut, in a cold house and with even stronger winds plus hail, things did not loo so good. The power came back on and we had coffee, checked that the boats were running etc, and at 10.30 I waved the three of them off to catch the boat, while I took my neighbour Christine down to the shop. On the way we noticed that one of the large sheds at Lurdy had lost a lot of its roof, and there was a trail of bits of corrugated iron and wood across the forecourt and against the fencing. This is going to mean a lot of work for various folk.

We had done our shopping and were getting in to the car when Davie came down in his car and waved me over. He told me that the Hoy Head was not running, and would not be going again until Monday morning. That meant I needed more food, so went back in and bought extra.

I got back to the house to find that the other three had come back and were making themselves at home. There was 15 minutes of intense phone calls, accompanied by coffee, and then we settled down to wait until 4.30 when they hoped to be able to get off on the Talisman work boat. Simone was soon spinning on my Orkney wheel….

…. while Rhoda and Lindie started a Wentworth jigsaw.

I was spindling some qiviut.

And that is when the lights went out again..

Fortunately the Hydro men had not got off the island on the Hoy Head, so they were on site to deal with the problem. I have no idea of what it was, but it took them three hours to get it going again. So we sat and spun and did jigsaws in the dark…

As soon as the power came on, it was straight on to the computer to see the weather and shipping updates. By this time the next link in the chain began to break – Rhoda and Lindie live on Burray, which is over the Churchill Barriers. The high seas and wind meant that the Barriers were being shut round high tide, sometimes for several hours. And at 3.30 they shut the Barriers…

More phone calls.

At 4.20 they left my house for the boat, and at 6 pm I heard from Rhoda that she and Lindie had got home safely. Simone is in Kirkwall for the night, as there is no boat to Stronsay until tomorrow afternoon.
Today there has been no talk of Next Year….!!

However, over part of the building there is an upper floor, left much as it would have been a hundred years ago, and before Christmas that area is opened up and filled with Christmas goodies.

note pram in the foreground and REAL fire

all the shelves etc are originals

note hand cart front right

As well as lots of lovely things to buy, if you look, there are all sorts of bits about from long ago.

girdle (top right) goes on the fire to cook pancakes (drop scones)

this is one of the high desks where the clerks would sit and hand write the ledgers

I couldn’t JUST take photos of course. So I HAD to do my Christmas food shopping while I was there. Various things – from special sardines and savoury biscuits to jars of fruit in various alcoholic liquids; the odd packet of chocolate enrobed fruit, and chocolate enrobed ginger biscuits (Duchy Originals for those to whom that means something – didn’t see any of the lemon ones this year, but I will be going back to check it out again!!).
This is my first time off Flotta for 4 weeks, and I am now staying on South Ronaldsay to look after Nigel while Steve has his holiday. I have been shopping twice in two days, and tomorrow we are all going out to lunch in Lucano’s, the wonderful Italian restaurant in Kirkwall. All this excitement….!! And what is more, my car has been mended and when I go home, it will be able to take it back over with me. Bliss…!

There are, however, connections.  There is the same mystery, and some of the same symbolism.

But what is the knitted Robe of Glory?  Now it is a pram blanket given to the firstborn in some Orkney families.  In the 1980s a pattern for a Robe of Glory was published in one of the UK women’s magazines.  The blurb said that it was from the Shetland Isles, but Shetlanders hadn’t come across it.  My friend Karen Wood, whose family are from Stronsay, was given a Robe of exactly the same pattern – but years before the article came out.

The mystery deepened when I came across a reference to a Robe of Glory in a booklet – Shire Album 31 – Fisherman Knitting by Michael Harvey and Rae Compton. published in 1978.  This contains the following paragraph in a section on Fishermen’s coloured garments:

‘It was common practice in Fair Isle for a grandmother to knit her grandson his first Fair Isle sweater to be worn when he reached adolescence.  This was referred to as a Robe of Glory.’

Now, no one on the Fair Isle has heard of this!  Rae Compton was an excellent historian, and would not have made this up!  She goes on to describe the pattern segments, and they are the exactly the same as those used in the Orkney blanket.

I have been asking Orcadians and Shetlanders whether they have come across the Robe of Glory, either as a sweater or a blanket, for the past 15 years.  No Shetlander has heard of it.  (Well, a few remembered the pattern in the magazine but said that was the first they had heard of it!)  However, in Orkney it often rings bells.  There is definitely a Stronsay connection, and probably a Westray connection, but this leaves as many questions as it answers.  Unfortunately Rae Compton died a few years ago, so finding out from her is not a possibility.

I continue to ask every knitter or old Orcadian I meet about the Robe!  All I get is that infuriating phrase ‘It rings a bell!!’  One day something definite will come up.  I hope…!!

Meanwhile I have made Robe of Glory blankets for each of Karen’s grandchildren.  I have used the same patterns as her original Robe, but in colours to match the prams.  I have also put the baby’s initials and date of birth on the back:

The latest for Quin, who was born premature and who had a shaky start to life.  But he is now out of hospital and doing well.  His blanket will be going out to Canada with Karen and Marcus when they go to visit next month.

One thing about the ‘sunshine and showers’ we get all year is the number of rainbows.  At this time of year, with the sun getting lower in the sky, the light is just wonderful.  This is taken from my front door:

Most days Scottie and I get a dry bit of the day to walk down to the shore.  When I was here before I had a large grey seal who would come to my call, and recently another has been doing the same – not every day, but as time goes by he comes more often and comes closer.  A couple of days ago I had my camera in my pocket:

Is he the same animal who came 8 years ago?  I don’t know.  My pictures were lost in the flood so I can’t compare markings.  But the markings on his neck tell me that it is the same animal I am seeing several times a week…

A couple of days ago one of my neighbours, Diana, came to tell me there was a seal pup on one of the beaches and she thought it might be dying.  She took me over to see it.

As we watched, it appeared to get stronger not weaker, and internet research when we got back  tended to confirm my feeling that it was a very newly born pup.  You can’t see it in the photos, but blood was still oozing from the umbilical cord.  (And no, we didn’t go too close or touch it!  There were seals out in the bay watching and almost certainly one of those was mum.)

That was Saturday, and after church on Sunday I thought I could see it a bit further up the bay.  Diana drove along the road and we saw that it was there and was moving – looking stronger than ever.  From that position we could see what looked like other pups at intervals along the edge of the bay, some in the seaweed and some just on the grass.

Today the weather is lovely, if a bit nippy, and Scottie and I wandered down to Pan Hope.  He likes the still water….

… and I love the light at this time of year.

I had hoped to be able to crash when I got back but other things got in the way.  All sorts if bits needed doing, and then my car packed up again.  That was last Thursday and it hasn’t gone since.  Friday I had to go in to town for an optician’s appointment, but very kind neighbours took me to the pier and brought me back.  Folk are like that on Flotta.

Life hasn’t been made any easier by the weather.  Five days now of gale force winds battering the place, whistling round the house, keeping you awake.  It is about this stage when you start getting cabin fever and want to be able to get OUT without the danger of being blown over…

Knowing I would be tired when I got back I had a nice easy knitting project designed and cast on.  A sort of waistcoat made from some of the Sirri Faroese wool I got in Torshavn. For several days it was round-and-round-easy but then I got to the armholes and that was where the problems started.  Faults with the design, and lots of ripping!  You can do the maths and swatches as many times as you like, and with bog standard shapes they will work, but this is slightly different and the maths didn’t work out!  However, I have ripped, re-knitted, re-ripped a few rows, and am now sure of the way I am going.  I think!

Meanwhile, I am working away steadily at various bits on the computer.  I have a couple of patterns nearly ready for publishing (once they have their final proof read) and I am getting along with the design for the KAL for my Ravelry group.  I had a phone call from a friend on Sunday and as a result have ordered the yarn for another Robe of Glory blanket for her newest grandchild.  And yesterday I received 2 cones of black Frangipani for a gansey for the Orkney book.

It is going to be a busy winter…