This year on Monhegan Island...
Beth Brown-Reinsel, our Guest Designer on Monhegan Island this year joins us this month with a special post. Enjoy!
'No matter where I am in my travels,
knitters are the best – warm and welcoming!
I have been traveling to teach and research historic garments in
museums for over 20 years and have just come back from a two-month teaching tour in New Zealand. My focus is
19th century northern European knitting traditions, because that is around
the time that the sweater (as we know it today) emerged in several cultures. (I had to visit Australia too, since I was so close–I felt really lucky to see some kangaroos in the wild!)
I think it is important that we as fiber artists acknowledge
and honor what has gone before, for all our work stands upon the work of
someone else in the past. When I consider knitting through an anthropological
or social context, it holds more meaning for me, and I feel connected to
knitters of the past.
This perspective has shaped my interest and informed my
work. I love to examine garments that defined
groups of people, such as the British fishermens’ gansey, the Norwegian
Setesdal Lusekofte that indicated where the wearer was from, Latvian mittens,
given as a gift signifying esteem and friendship, or the Danish Nattrøjer, worn
by women from the 18th to early 20th centuries.
There are wonderful techniques in many of the museum garments
I have seen and incorporate into small sampler sweaters or mittens for my historic
knitting workshops. It is through these samplers that I teach the traditional
construction techniques in context, rather than with meaningless flat swatches.
These old methods can be incorporated into modern garments, expanding a
knitter’s choices.
Another aspect of traditional knitting are the many styles of knitting. In Scandinavia,
most knitters hold the working yarn in the left hand (Continental), while
knitters from the UK prefer to hold the working yarn in the right hand
(English). I enjoy teaching knitters to
work with the hand they don’t normally use which is a good practice to distribute, and thereby decrease, the
repetitive stress over more areas of the body. I sometimes include that
information in my workshops.
In this modern age, we are all privileged to be able to knit
for fun. It is no longer the necessity
it once was for keeping one’s family clothed and warm. I feel that knitting
classes should also be fun and stress-free, so I try hard to create a relaxed
atmosphere where my students know a mistake is no big deal. Teaching knitters is one of the
most rewarding things I have done in my life and I hope to continue to spread
the fun for a long time to come!
I am really looking forward to coming to Monhegan Island in
September to enjoy Lisa’s knitters/yoginis in a quintessential Maine
setting! Lobstering has been a way of
life for many generations in this village whose history reaches back over 250
years! So, knitting, yoga, Maine,
lobsters…what’s not to love? September
can’t get here fast enough for me!'
You can check out Beth’s website at www.KnittingTraditions.com and her
Etsy shop at https://www.etsystudio.com/shop/BethKnitsandWeaves/. She lives in Vermont and loves winter!
-->
No comments:
Post a Comment