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Heirloom
Knitting's
Love Darg
Shetland Shawls
Centenary
1910 - 2010
Sharon Miller
With
1909 Love Darg Shawl
& Aunt Kate's Lace Pages
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
"Heirloom Knitting celebrates the centenary of one of the first 'fine' (thin spun, highly patterned) Shetland shawls to be written
down and published. The booklet it is from: Aunt Kate's Home Knitter, is amongst the earliest to include a representative
collection of authentic Shetland Lace patterns as such - and perhaps arguably, the very earliest; so I give here all its lace pages
with my charts. This means that knitters can follow either set of directions : original text or chart, to produce exquisite intricate
Shetland Gossamer work as above - truly museum pieces, or beautiful Cobweb or Lace work. We will also follow some of the
pattern's evolving use in different wools; but better, for those interested in the history of Shetland Lace, what I believe to be a
true little star of old knitting books will be more appreciated.
"Directions are given for versions of the 1910 Love Darg Shawl in Gossamer as above, and Cobweb wools; then there's
directions for the Cobweb 1909 Love Darg Shawl - detail below left; and much, much more!" SHARON MILLER
ISBN 978-0-9554231-3-0
£18.50
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Heirloom Knitting's
Love Darg
Shetland Shawls
Centenary 1910 - 2010
CONTENTS
FOREWORD / AUNT KATE
Cobweb and Gossamer Versions
next page
The Love Darg Shawls ~ Some Facts & Opinions
page
1
The Love Darg Shawls ~ Overview
page
5
1910 Love Darg Prize Shetland Shawl
page
7
The Cobweb 2010 Love Darg Shawl
page 11
The Gossamer 1910 Love Darg Shawl
page 13
Alternative Gossamer Centre Pattern
page 18
The Antique Gossamer Centres
page 19
Yarns and Quantities ~ Guidance
page 20
1909 Love Darg Prize Shetland Shawl
page 21
'Knitting Shetland Shawl' Border (cover design)
page 24
Inwards
page 25
Outwards
page 26
Aunt Kate's Home Knitter ~ Lace Pages
Text Stitch Abbreviations
Knitting Tips and Advice
Chart Symbols
page 27
page 28
page 54
inside back cover
Andrina Petrie shown with a dressed
stole as if it were still being knitted
c.1915. She may well be one on the
left dressing the Gossamer Shawl
(page 1) with I think, her mother
Barbara.
By 1905 the Petrie family from Unst,
ran a family business in Lerwick
dressing shawls – one of the moves
that indicate the trend toward more
uniform standardization of knitted
items by that date. The photographer
Jack Rattar married into this family
and often made studies of his wife's
relatives at work.
1909 Love Darg Shawl
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
AUNT KATE of "THE PEOPLE'S FRIEND"
This traditional Scottish national weekly magazine was
founded in January 1869, as a "monthly miscellany in
connection with the People's Journal" published by
John Leng & Co of Dundee and London. It was a paper
designed to instruct and entertain and be "especially a
friend of the mothers, wives, daughters and bairns of
Scotland" (John Leng – quoted in the 140th Anniversary
Edition). Still available but now published by D C
Thompson Ltd., it continues to feature stories, crafts
and home centred advice; also producing Annuals and
occasional interest books.
By the 1890s, the Friend's home advice page ('Gossip
with Goodwives') was overseen by an Aunt Kate, who
began to issue little "one penny" books on a wealth of
subjects ranging from the first Aunt Kate's Handy Book
of personal and household information (including
health - how to cure Consumption no less! ; employment
for women; budgeting; courting & marriage ; etiquette ;
presents ; signs and omens ; and even emigration) to
later books on DIY & gardening ; parlour games ;
dance music ; national songs ; conjuring tricks ;
cookery and needlework. A typical advert for this series
is shown on page 49. Knitting & Crochet books start
appearing around 1896.*
By 1910, Aunt Kate's Home Knitter is almost certainly
to be the work of / or under the editorship of Helen
Greig Souter.* I have three editions of this book
spanning what seems to be a decade, judging from the
adverts and knitting fashions, and I give here the one
that has the widest collection of lace patterns. By the
end of the Great War in 1918, the Knitter reverts to
more utilitarian patterns and so largely drops the lace.
A DARG is defined as a Scots term for the produce of a
day's work. By the early 1900s, The People's Friend
called their yearly craft competition a 'Love Darg' as it
had charitable as well as competitive intent.
*Richard Rutt, A History of Hand Knitting
Batsford 1987.
INTRODUCTION
This turned into quite a complicated little book as it has taken me a while to connect up several apparently unrelated pieces of
evidence. Starting at the beginning, I bought the above Cobweb shawl in March 2006, from Christina Vaughn of Kansas, a
descendant of the Jamieson family of Walls, Shetland; who had made it from her granny's pattern. A few years later, I noted the
same edge and border in some Shetland Museum photographs dating from the 1900s (two are on page 3) and then strangely it
seemed at the time, they again turned up on a different shawl, this time illustrating a 1953 National Geographic article on
Shetland. But this was not the end, I then recognised identical patterning on an antique Shetland stole in another Textile
Collection.
So, with niggles that maybe all this was more than coincidence - given the time spans noted and the reputed usually unique
patterning of each Shetland fine lace piece (normally, I've never noted more than single copies of presentation pieces) I charted
the border pattern, filed it away for the set of books I'm writing as More Heirloom Knitting, and continued working.
Then I got another edition of the old Aunt Kate's Knitter series I'd been collecting – the one that is to feature here - and it proved
to be the revelatory link that joined up all my 'coincidences'. There too, were directions for an earlier 1909 Love Darg Shawl :
again with a picture of a border I'd already seen as a photograph taken of a shawl in 1952, now in the Shetland Museum Photo
Archives (P05487 shown page 23), two Beehive Knitting Books ; and in Sarah Don's Art of Shetland Lace (Mills & Boon 1980).
More research turned up another post-1930s knitting pattern of the 1910 shawl : SNOWDROP, see page 4, and here we are.
Initially, this book was to simply interpret and present the two Love Darg Shawls in this centenary year; but as I further read and
charted up my newest Aunt Kate's Home Knitter, I became aware that I was looking at what is probably one of the earliest
published books giving a comprehensive selection of authentic Shetland finest lace patterns as such – arguably, the very first.
Radical regrouping followed and I now include all the lace pages with my charts. This will mean that knitters can follow either
set of directions - written or charted, to produce fantastically fine elaborate work or beautiful Cobweb or Lace; and better, this
little 100 year old star in the history of Shetland knitting books gets to be more properly appreciated.
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
The Love Darg Shawls
~ Some Facts & Opinions
A gossamer version of the shawl being dressed c1925 + (Nat Geo : Oct 1953); The women may be from the Petrie family of Shawl Dressers there are marked resemblances. This shawl has a slightly different edging and centre, and an extended border to that of the Aunt Kate's one.
History may be defined as the study of a comprehensive assembly of related
time-based 'facts' to make a coherent logical interpretation or explanatory
commentary on them which nonetheless, still has to be considered 'opinion'
because it might always be unprovable. So let's start with an undisputed fact :
this Love Darg Shawl has its centenary in 2010! I had found out a little about
this beautiful shawl which is one that had caught my interest for a long time
before I came across a master pattern for it in a quite rare knitting booklet
produced by The People's Friend (my copy is quite tattered and the acidic
newspaper it is printed on is very fragile).
Now for an opinion : I consider this to be perhaps the first published true,
gossamer lace Shetland shawl pattern* - I have not come across any earlier to
date despite dedicated looking; and all its small pages to do with lace are here
so those that are not happy with charts can use them. The book also had the
1909 Love Darg Shawl, which is almost certainly Shetland as well for the
same reasoning that will follow, but that was done in a thicker Cobweb-type
wool and was not as complex.
*There are patterns for 'Shetland Shawls' in knitting books as early as the 1840s but the
ones I have tracked down as yet are not in this 'finest lace knitted' class - generally they
have been more elaborate versions of Old Shell bordered shawls and so normally, of
lace knitting. They also seem to be of dubious Shetland attribution. As The People's
Friend is a Scottish publication it seems most probable that it would be one of the best
placed to record regional Shetland's beautiful famed knitting, and provide its
knowledgeable and appreciative knit-skilled readership with accredited designs.
Page 1
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
The Love Darg Shawls ~ Overview
Primarily this shawl can most successfully be made in three yarn weights ranging from relatively fine to much finer:
respectively, Shetland Cobweb, Cashsilk and Gossamer Cashmere (for 'Yarns' see page 20). To start, I shall give this lovely
pattern as it is given in Aunt Kate's Home Knitter – suitable for Cobweb / Cashsilk yarns (Original, below). Then, the simplest
and quickest of all to make is going to be that done with Shetland Cobweb 1 Ply (A), this 2010 version has mitred borders and
is a lot smaller than the original. Those who wish to work in the much finer Gossamer yarns (B) will have more knitting but
more choices of centre patterns. However, because for these highly skilled workers, so many factors are going to be outside my
control, I too – like the Knitter's original directions, will have to assume that tension, yarn quantity and needle size will be
worked out by the knitter after sampling the gossamer yarns – but I will give pointers! For these, the Gossamer shawl is made
in a traditional Shetland "Straight Borders" way. Dotted outlines below show one full pattern repeat – each of these is about the
same size.
Original 1910 Knitter Border Cobweb / Supreme 1 Ply / Cashsilk
Page 6.
For the Cobweb / Shetland Supreme 1 Ply, Page 11. The pattern for this version is to be explained in depth with a
choice of two centre patterns as it is a smaller scaled pattern for the averagely skilled knitter.
2010
Cobweb
Border (A)
Gossamer Border (B) For example, made in Gossamer Cashsilk or Gossamer Cashmere Page 13.
The Original shawl's borders are mitred from a third of the way up, as too, is (A). The Gossamer versions are knitted straightsided until the final large motif where mitred side decreasing follows the natural shaping of the top of the zigzag diamond tree
motif; there's additional gathering too at the border top. The edging for the Gossamer shawl is different from that of the Knitter
in that the insertion is missing, and there are lacier modifications for the border – for example, more motifs fitted in the plain
knitted diamonds and more rows of net pattern. It's unusual to note from the picture on page 1, that there are plain rows at the
start and finish of each edging strip. Otherwise, the original 1910 Love Darg directions match those for a gossamer shawl in
that they also advise for 9 repeats of the first motif + 3 extra sts = 372 sts. This indicates for me, that the Knitter's 1910 shawl
was actually intended to be made in only a slightly finer wool than Cobweb – maybe something like a 1/18NM of today. For
Gossamer Shawl Dressing Notes, see page 16.
Page 5
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
This 1910 Love Darg Shawl Border done in the Cobweb wool is exactly as given by Aunt Kate's Home Knitter.
The Fancy Net pattern is black arrowed. The useful Break Pattern that can hide increases or decreases, is shown
at the top of the border by a grey arrow. This border has some charted starred stitches meaning you have to "knit
into back of st" for certain stitches, compare the charts with this picture to see the effect doing this produces. Also,
compare this with the pictured Gossamer version on page 17, and refer to diagrams on the previous page.
Page 6
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Skilled Experience * * * *
1910 Love Darg Prize Shetland Shawl
Knitting Cast On - this makes a stretchy cast on :
Put a slipknot on the needle, knit into it and put the new stitch
back onto LH needle (2 sts). Knit into the most recent LH stitch
and put the new stitch back onto LH needle until 20 sts are made.
See also Waste Wool Cast On, page 54.
Borders with Ring and Dice Lace Edging
The 1910 Love Darg Shawl's edging is an effective edging + insertion
combination that makes for a wider pattern element. The blue dotteddashed line over the chart shows the division between the edging and
the insertion. The sample pictured right is made in Cobweb 1 Ply with
a 1.5mm needle - I recommend a larger needle for an airier lace, see
Note, page 11.
7 x 25g Cashsilk / 275g Cobweb + 2mm / UK 14 / US 00 needle.
Tension: 22 sts x 36 rows = 4 in /10 cm: This will make a shawl over 72
inches / 183 cm square. Use a smaller needle or less repeats of pattern for a
smaller shawl 60 inches / 150 cm do 6 x 41 sts = 290 border sts = 30 points, for
a Centre of 181 sts (11 repeats of 14 sts + 27 side sts) x (9 repeats of 36 rows =
324) + 16 plain = 340 rows = 170 ridges for the 185 st top of borders.
Using chosen wool + needle e.g. cast on 20 sts. Knit one row, turn
knitting: the casting on yarn tail should be hanging down on the RH
side - it should always be on the RH side at the start of every odd row.
Now make 38 edging points, cast off loosely. Then :
"Pick up on the edge of lace the first five ridges as one stitch, then
one stitch from each ridge until the last five are reached : pick up
these as one. There should be 372 stitches." Aunt Kate
Chart 2
Chart 1
Next, knit as shown by Border
Charts 1 & 2 ~ Diagram above.
The Knitter's border stops at
Row138; but I strongly advise the
following extra rows - useful in that
they hide decreases for the two side
borders, see Note, page 9.
Rows 139 & 140 : Knit.
Row 141 : Break Pattern :
K1, 'O, T,' to end. Knit next row.
Make four borders.
Leave 1 top border of 265 live* sts
+ 2 side borders x 206 live* stitches
on threads ready for making up.
On 4th border (265 sts) knit Centre,
then neatly sew seams and dress.
Cast on 20 sts
*stitches are not cast off.
Page 7
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Left : The effects of evening light show the
delicacy of this pretty shawl.
The Centre is knitted on the fourth border.
For a Cobweb Version of 1910 Love Darg
Centre see text by chart, page 16.
For The Small Leaf Pattern below, you need
to do the following on Row 142's 145 sts :
Knit into front and back of every 10th stitch
until you get 159 sts. Knit 6 plain rows.
Look at the Centre Pattern Chart below :
18 Repeats of 8 sts + 15 side sts = 159 sts.
This is a 12 row pattern repeated 23 times
before you knit 6 more plain rows.
6 plain rows +
(12 rows x 23 = 276 pattern rows) +
6 plain rows: 288 rows.
Centre Pattern Row 289: Decrease by doing a
'k2tog.' every 10th stitch until there are 145 sts
again in readiness for the top border to be sewn
onto it. Knit next (290th) row.
290 rows ÷ 2 = 145 ridges for the two side borders
to be sewn to.
Small Leaf Centre Pattern
8 LH sts
Page 12
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
18 x 8 sts
= 144 sts
7 RH sts
Skilled Experience * * * *
The 1909 Love Darg Prize Shetland Shawl
For 2 sizes: approx 56 60 in / 142 152 cm square :
175g / 200g Cobweb or Supreme 1 Ply + 3.25 mm / UK 10 / US 3 needle.
Dressed Garter Stitch Tension: 20 sts x 34 rows = 4 inches / 10 cm.
Cast on 14 sts make 41 points as above. Pick up and knit 6 sts per point –
1 st a ridge: 6 x 41= 246 sts. Adjust on last point to be 245 sts for 10
flowers. Knit Borders, next page. Row 108 : (24 sts x 6) + 17 = 161 sts.
Adjust one Border for Centre to have (8 sts x 18 = 144) + 14 extra sts =
158 sts and knit Fern and Bead Pattern for 17 / 21 repeats of the 14 row
pattern = 238 / 294 rows for original smaller or larger shawl + final Rows
1 - 10 = 248 / 304 rows + 6 start and 5 finish plain rows = 259 / 315 rows.
Lace 2 Ply Variation 60 in /152 cm
300g Lace + 5 mm / UK 6 / US 8 needle
Dressed Garter Stitch Tension :
20 sts x 36 rows = 4 in / 10 cm.
Cast on 14 sts and make 22 points of the
18 row edging, below. 9 sts picked up
and knitted per point to get 198 sts (for 8
flowers).
Border Rows 50 to 74 replaced with
this 4 st x 24 row section - right.
Centre : (24 sts x 4 = 96) + 17 side sts =
113 sts. Plain knit for 226 rows.
Page 21
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Page 27
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Notes on the Text and Charts:
As far as possible I've kept to the original published directions, only taking out the odd problem and evening up the
patterning – by say, adding extra edge stitches; so these are my charts of the patterns and not simply charted versions. If
there is a serious mistake in the text that's come to light I've added it in a footnote. Abbreviations weren't all explained, and
the format of information (such as 'T. O. 4 times' contrasted with 'T.O.T.O.T.O.T.O.') hints that there must have been several
sources as does the fact that two of the patterns are repeated. Because of limited space, knitters need to refer to the
accompanying written version for full directions.
Aunt Kate's Home Knitter (AKHK) Pages 27 &43 were full page adverts and so have been left out.
Page 28
© Heirloom Knitting 2010
Repeats of 7 sts + 2 extra.
No. 2.
Star = This is a form of k3tog: 'SKD, then put
this stitch on LH needle to lift the next stitch over
it before putting this stitch back on RH needle.'
Can be done as STD instead.
No. 1.
Repeats of 6 sts + 1 extra for chart.
K = knit. P = purl. O = make 1. T = 'take in' (Shetland k2tog). S = slip a stitch. STD = slip 1, k2tog., pass slipped stitch
over. SKD = slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over. PT / Pt = purl 2 tog.