Softcover

ISBN 10: 0957032609 ISBN 13: 9780957032606

Publisher: Jamieson and Smith Shetland Wool Brokers Ltd, 2011

With an eye to both the heritage and the future of the craft, Sarah Laurenson has curated a superb collection, bringing together local luminaries with some of the most familiar names in contemporary knitting. From its beginnings, when canny crofters traded stockings with Dutch merchants, through to the beautiful Victorian lace produced in response to metropolitan demand, Shetland knitting has always been expansive, innovatory, connected to the world beyond its island shores. This strong identity, combined with an international outward-looking aspect, has been equally characteristic of Jamieson & Smith's association with hand-knitting, and is clearly illustrated in the current volume. The pieces in this volume reveal the wide knitterly potential of Real Shetland Wool. Jean Moss's cables and Jared Flood's twisted stitches are a showcase of Aran texture, while other contributors have chosen to play with the myriad shades of 2 Ply Jumper Weight. Gudrun Johnston's and Mary Jane Mucklestone's designs are warmed with a soft, autumnal palette, while shimmering jewel-tones dance right out of Lesley Smith's wonderful 'Wool Brokers Socks'. Other designers speak directly to different aspects of Shetland's cultural landscape. Sandra Manson's tunic recalls the Isles' Nordic connections: jolly tea pots (surely a quintessential Shetland motif?) wind their way around Masami Yokoyama's cosy, while many-hued waves break across Toshiyuki Shimada and Grace Williamson's fabulous cardigan. And, perhaps most inspiring of all, Lerwick designer, Mary Kay, marks a lifetime's expertise of Shetland wool, and a forty-year association with Jamieson & Smith, with one of her beautiful signature pieces in fine Shetland lace.