Knitted lace traditions from around the world

02/08/2018
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Many countries have their own distinctive style of lace knitting. Britain is no different. The most famous British lace knitting of all is probably from the Shetland Islands, which lie on the shipping route between Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Scotland, the Mediterranean and the United States. Here's some insight into an ancient tradition that can be broken down into three categories: Orenberg lace, Shetland lace, and Estonian lace.

Lace Knitting on the Shetland islands

Knitting on the Shetlands goes back at least as far as the 1600s. By the 1700s the islanders were profiting from their skills, exchanging their work for money and goods, and by 1901 around 30% of all islanders were involved in the hosiery trade.

Lace knitting on Shetland kicked off in the 1840s, thanks to better transport links between the islands and the mainland. Islanders brought in the latest, most fashionable lace articles to copy, and the northernmost island of Unst profited thanks to its legendary finely spun yarn made from the neck of sheep, perfect for delicate, expensive lace shawls and scarves.

Shetland lace was expensive and luxurious. It was also unique, with no casting on or off. You'd simply start off with one stitch then knit the edges diagonally on the bias. No wonder it was loved so much by Queen Victoria, who often commissioned it for herself and as gifts.

Shetland lace tends to be either garter or stocking stitch, and the pattern is worked on the right and wrong-side rows.

Russian knitted lace from Orenburg

Orenburg lace can be traced back to the Orenburg region of Russia, at the remote, dramatic southern tip of the Ural Mountains. It's an oral tradition passed down through countless generations. The industry was so vital to the area that the Russian government subsidised the production of lace for many decades, something that only came to an end in 1995.

Traditional Orenburg knitted lace features ten main motifs: peas, honeycomb, fish eye, mouse print, strawberry, large strawberry, cat's paw, accordion, chain heart, and diagonal. In Orenburg lace, the pattern is worked on both right and wrong-side rows. The lace tends to be knitted in garter stitch and the holes in honeycomb, sometimes with two and sometimes three rows.

Estonian knitted lace traditions

Estonian lace has its own set of unique stitches, used to create the Lily of the Valley pattern that's so famous in the region. They're also hot on edging. Estonian scarves and shawls usually have a scalloped edge, made via the region's special nupp stitch, and often feature flower motifs.

The town of Haapsalu, on the west coast of Estonia, sat at the hub of all this activity, which started around 200 years ago when Russia ruled Estonia. The women in Haapsalu, on Estonia's west coast, started a lace shawl knitting tradition that remains to this day.

The lace they make features dozens of complex patterns including twig, leaf, ash leaf, birch leaf, blueberry, ligonberry and lady bug, and the famous nupp – a bobble-shape – completes the picture. They also create interesting and unusual textures thanks to varying the placement of knitted-together stitches.

Can you learn to knit lace?

The simple answer is yes, you can learn to knit lace. There might even be a class in your area. There are certainly plenty of books to start you off, including the First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel, first published back in 1972 and still available second hand at Amazon.