Fair Isle tam with 7 point star

Fair Isle tam with 7 point star

Multi-coloured knitted wool tam. Adult size, hand knitted from Shetland, has Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn in to crown. It was knitted in the round, in 11 colours, main colour light brown. There is a 7 pointed star on crown. The hat is unworn. Patons archive hand written swing tag label states ‘Geunine Fair Isle Beret’. Inspiration for Patons booklet SC104, “Five Fair Isle Tammies in Fiona”, published in the 1960s. 

Fair Isle tam with 5 point star

Fair Isle tam with 5 point star

Multi-coloured knitted wool tam. Adult size, hand knitted from Shetland, has Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn in to crown. It was knitted in the round, in 11 colours, main colour light brown. There is a 5 pointed star on crown. This hat is unworn. Patons archive hand written swing tag label states ‘Genuine Fair Isle Beret’. Inspiration for Patons booklet SC104, “Five Fair Isle Tammies in Fiona”, published in the 1960s.  

Fair Isle tam with 6 point star

Fair Isle tam with 6 point star

Multi-coloured knitted wool tam. Adult size, hand knitted from Shetland, has Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn in to crown. It was knitted in the round, in 9 colours, main colour light brown. There is a 6 pointed star on crown. The hat is unworn. Patons archive hand written swing tag label states ‘Genuine Fair Isle Beret’. Inspiration for Patons booklet SC104, “Five Fair Isle Tammies in Fiona”, published in the 1960s.  

Fair Isle tam featuring a yellow centre and 7 point star

Fair Isle tam featuring a yellow centre and 7 point star

Multi-coloured knitted wool tam. Adult size, hand knitted from Shetland, has Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn into crown. It was knitted in the round, in 10 colours, main colour light brown. There is a 7-pointed star on the crown. The hat is unworn. Patons archive hand written swing tag label states ‘Genuine Fair Isle Beret’. Inspiration for Patons booklet SC104, “Five Fair Isle Tammies in Fiona”, published in the 1960s.  

Childs Hat and Mitten Set

Childs Hat

Childs Mittens

Childs Hat and Mitten Set

Child’s bonnet (A) and mitts (B and C) set hand knitted in Shetland. Dark brown wool with star patterns on crown of bonnet and round brim using 6 contrast colours. Mitts have peasant thumb construction and bonnet has chin strap. Bonnet has Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn into crown, label also sewn in left mitt. Unworn.

Patons archive hand written swing tag labels say “Childs Shetland Bonnet” and “Childs Shetland Mitts”. Patons and Baldwins pattern 923 (4d price) gives instructions for knitting these items though the pattern uses only two colours.

Adult mittens with fairisle star patterns

Adult mittens with Fair Isle star patterns

Wool mittens hand knitted in Shetland. These mittens have a star pattern on back of hand and seeding (alternate colour stitches) on palm. They are light brown with 5 contrast colours. ‘Peasant’ thumb construction. Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn in right mitt. Patons and Baldwins pattern 962 (4d price) gives instructions for knitting these items. (Not available). The gloves are unworn.

Mittens with fairisle star patterns, adult size

Mittens with Fair Isle star patterns, adult size

Wool mittens hand knitted in Shetland. Star pattern on back of hand and small colour pattern on palm. Light brown with 6 contrast colours. ‘Peasant’ thumb. Shetland Woollen Industries Association Ltd label sewn in right mitt. Patons and Baldwins pattern 962 (4d price) gives instructions for knitting these items. (Not available). Unworn.

Fingered gloves with a fairisle band and ribbed cuffs

Fingered gloves with a Fair Isle band and ribbed cuffs

Wool gloves for a child, hand knitted in Shetland/Fair Isle? Light brown with a band of colourwork around the hands. 5 contrast colours. Peasant thumb. Unworn. Patons archive hand written swing tag label says “Fair Isle Gloves”

Shawl with deep border featuring "tree of life" motif

Shawl with deep border featuring "tree of life" motif

Extremely fine hand knitted cream wool shawl, square with centre, deep borders and edging. From Shetland.  Used as the basis for Patons & Baldwins pattern 893 Knitted Shawl. This is documented by Kate Davies in The Book of Haps, 2016, Knitting the Tree of Life, pp 37 – 41. Patons & Baldwins pattern 893 states "designed in Shetland" "based on traditional Shetland patterns and designed by Mrs.A.Hunter of Unst".

Christening shawl

Christening shawl

Cream wool hand knitted shawl. Paper label attached says ‘Knitted by Miss Hunter of Unst’ and a swing tag ‘Baby’s Christening Shawl’. A further label dates it at c. 1930. At one point the shawl has been exhibited and an identification label No 34 indicates it was “Lent by Coats Patons Handknitting 1989”.

Traditional Shetland lace shawl

Traditional Shetland lace shawl

Shetland shawl, square. Fine wool. Cream Patons archive hand written swing tag label says “Historical Item No 9 Traditional Shetland Lace Shawl”. There is a centre square with striped openwork and a border with diamond lace. 

Shawl with narrow border

Shawl with narrow border

Hand knitted lace shawl in light brown wool. Their Patons archive label states ‘Special Garment No Leaflet’ and also ‘Patons Beehive Fingering 2 ply (Patonised) Shade 212, 7 ozs. Lace Shawl with a diamond lace design in the centre and a diamond edging. Narrow lace border knitted sideways. There is a small darn with red wool near centre (preservation mend).

Shetland Lace Stole

Shetland Lace Stole

Cream wool extremely fine Shetland stole, knitted in hand spun 2ply wool, undyed. The central rectangle and an end panel are knitted in one piece and joined to the mirror image end panel. The edging is scalloped. The order in which the centre and edges were knitted is not known and cannot be deduced from the finished piece. Patons archive hand written swing tag label says “Historical Item No 9 Traditional Shetland Lace Stole”

Traditional Fair Isle Sweater

Traditional Fair Isle Sweater

Hand knitted sweater in eight colours of wool on a white ground. Patons archive hand written swing tag label says ‘Traditional Fair Isle Sweater’. The body is knitted in the round with the sleeves knitted down from the armholes. Each pattern band is different although the colours are repeated up the garment. The neck fastens at the back with 3 small buttons on a moss stitch band.

This sweater featured in a lecture on Design in Knitting, given by James Norbury to the Wool Education Society in 1952 - there is a printed & illustrated booklet with the text of the lecture in the Guild collection.  A photo of the sweater has the caption “Traditional Fair Isle jumper, knitted in hand-spun, vegetable-dyed wool.  The Spanish Armada Cross is prominent in each large design, and the patterns change all the way up the garment.” No pattern based on this sweater has yet been identified, and it was possibly felt to be too complicated for P&B’s customers to knit a sweater with different designs in each band. 

Shetland pullover

Shetland pullover

Colour patterned pullover hand knitted in Shetland using ten colours of wool. Knitted in the round with K2P2 rib, neck and armhole trims. Patons archive hand written label in italic script says ‘Shetland Man’s Pullover, This is a modern design incorporating the “Seed of Life” & “Star of Glory” patterns’.

This design was issued as a pattern in 1952 by the Daily Herald, a national newspaper. (Pattern not available.)  The description in the article offering the pattern says that the pattern was copied from a Shetland original:  "To find fresh ideas for his designs, Norbury, the Herald and T.V. knitter, makes regular trips to knitting centres here and on the Continent.  His latest discovery is [this] authentic Fair Isle pattern...  This design has been knitted in the Shetland Islands for over 100 years.  Norbury first saw it when he judged the famous annual Shetland knitting competition in Lerwick recently.  He brought the pattern back to London and worked out an easy-to-follow pattern chart."  The model for the pullover is named as Michael Howard, apparently a famous radio comedian at the time. Norbury shortened the pullover, to be more in line with 1950s men's fashions.  He also modified the construction method - the original Shetland pullover is knitted in the round, but in the leaflet the front and back are to be knitted separately, with seams at the sides. But the colours of the original are copied exactly, as far as we can tell from the names of the yarn [Patons Fair Isle Fingering]: five shades of brown, with navy, dark green, yellow, carrot and ruby.  

Shetland handknit pullover

Shetland handknit pullover

Hand knitted in the round pullover, V neck in four shades of natural Shetland wool. Pattern bands alternate from a deep K1 P1 rib. Neck and armholes have K1 P1 rib bands. Manufacturer’s label ‘Shetland Woollen Industries Association. Shetland Hand Knit’ sewn in back neck. Patons archive hand written swing tag label says “Mans Shetland V Neck Slipover Brown & Natural”. This sweater featured in a lecture on Design in Knitting, given by James Norbury to the Wool Education Society in 1952 - there is a printed & illustrated booklet with the text of the lecture in the Guild collection.  The caption to the photo of the pullover is “Shetland interpretation of Fair Isle knitting in a pullover in which soft natural colours have been used.  Only two designs have been introduced, thus breaking the Fair Isle tradition of design.”  The stranded knitting designs were used in a P&B pattern leaflet (probably also in 1952), with Roger Moore as the model, though the colours are very different and the designs are only used on the top half of the pullover, while the lower half is in plain rib. 

Lace sweater with short sleeves

Lace sweater with short sleeves

Delicate Shetland lace sweater. With a three button closure at the back neck. White lace knitted top described on its Patons archive hand written swing tag as ‘Shetland lace jumper’ this adult sized garment was knitted flat and seamed. The yarn is white pure wool, 2-ply, possibly hand spun.