Celtic Symbols

I've been slowly pulling together material for a talk  to a tour group visiting Adelaide in August. I want to show,  examples of ancient celtic symbols still used in embroidery. There are plenty of images in books and online, but I am concerned about breaching copyright in my PowerPoint,, so decided to draw my own. Drawing freehand it wasn't easy to get them symmetrical  but after the best part of a day, I had what I thought was a useable set.

That's when I decided to embroider them. 

Before tackling the complexity of the knots, I did a trial  with a much simpler, more recent symbol,  the Awen, created in the 18th century by Iolo Morganwg for Cymry Gorsedd, the society of Welsh bards.The Welsh word awen refers to the divine inspiration powering artists, poets and musicians. The symbol carries, in addition, of course, a variety of additional trinitarian notions  - maid, mother, crone; sea, sky land; and for some, the Christian trinity.

I used my 6" seated hoop for the embroidery, then mounted it in a 4" hoop backed with a darket blue fabric.

It was good practice, but not of a lot of use for my talk on the Early Middle Ages!

The  triquetra and circle, or trinity knot, was more on task. If representa the power of three - past, present, future,  as well as the list above. 

The three interlocking arcs proved quite hard to embroider symmetrically. The original drawing on the linen faded and my eye was not quite true, even though I outlined the edges with running stitch. At least my interlocking line is unbroken!

The Quaternary seemed a little easier, although maybe I was just improving with practice. It may also have been easier to embroider stem stitch lines than a satin stitch fill. While I got the interlocking arcs a bit more even, the circle leaves a lot to be desired!

The quaternary was used to represent the four directions, the four elements (air, water, earth, fire) and the four Celtic festivals, Samhain, Beltaine, Imbolc and Lughnasadh.

Finally I plunged into the Triskelion, quite tricky to draw but a bit easier to embroider using stem stitch. This is a female symbol indicating, as well as the trinitarian notions, the need for balance, harmony and things working together.

I had intended to embroider the shield knot as well, but stuffed up when copying the design on to linen, ending up with another, less effective quaternary.  While the circle is better, the knot is wonky. More haste, less speed.

For now I am planning to use the shield knot sketch rather than an embroidery in my presentation..

I'm satisfied with the less-than-perfect results, which I think will at least demonstrate what I want without breaching copyright. 

Kylie Bag

 I've added another Kasia Jacquot bag to my collection over the Easter weekend. 

Back in February. I set another linen, this time Kylie, into a hoop to take up when I needed a break from knitting. It was only on Maundy Thursday, as I was starting another knitting project, that I decided an embroidery project was called for.

The hooped linen was waiting and I plunged in.

As always, it was a lot of fun. I began with the leaves, sticking to a simple herringbone to allow the linen colour to show beneath, then moved on to satin stitch in the buds. I had a quick look at the examples on Kasia's website, then plunged in on my own, deciding as I went along.

I hesitated over the blue heart, settling on a crow's foot that I'm rather pleased with.

 I finished the embroidery late on Easter Saturday.

On Sunday morning I ironed the linen, pinned it on to the bag, changed the thread in my sewing machine, and stitched the linen on.

It has joined the bunch of these bags hanging in my sewing room, awaiting ownership.  I haven't checked, but I think I have four more panels to work before disposal becomes an issue.

As I've said before, these are satisfying and interesting projects to work, not the least because they give scope for continuity, variation and whim - a welcome break from the (equally attractive) repetitive discipline of knitting.

Small Easter gifts

 

In early March, Morris and Sons advertised a range of Corinne Lapiere kits for Easter gifts. I liked the look of them and figured I could just about make them before Easter, if they arrived in good time. 

I ordered them on 11th March and they arrived on the 16th. I set to work straight away, beginning with the rabbit inside a carrot, which is absurd. I thought my health-conscious grandson might enjoy it (he did!)

It was a lot of fun to stitch, but did require a bit of fiddling.

I chose the beehive next because it had more embroidery. It also had 15 tiny felt leaves to attach. I’m glad I ignored the instruction to cut everything out of the felt before starting. There’s no way I could have managed not to lose some of them. It was also easier to embroider the main body before cutting out, holding the whole felt sheet in your hand, rather than a piece less than 3” square.

Instructions  were only for embroidery on one side, but I added to the back as well

. 

After that I tackled the chicken.

This was  embroidered on both sides. Again, I embroidered it before cutting out the pieces. This was nicely varied. Construction requires patience, pins and a little dexterity.

Then came rabbits. The instructions were for making one in each of three felt colours. Apart from facial features they were not embroidered. I decided they could do with a little embroidery. I had by now decided to give these to the girls. It was clear I could get at least two, and possibly three, from each felt colour. I thought I should embroider each one with a different motif.

On the first one, I chose a native red daisy

then some sprigs of wattle.

then wisteria.

After adding a bottlebrush to one side of the next one, I hesitated to repeat it on the other side. It seemed not only unnecessary, but somehow to detract from the first one.

The same applied to the lemon tree.  One is enough.

These are all quite small, about 2" without the ears.

                                                          

My favourite of the kits, however, turned out to be the last, the Star-Gazing Hare. I had to look up the mythology.  The Star Gazing Hare was the companion of the goddess Eostre, from whom we get Easter. It became a talisman for renewal, Spring, beginnings, fertility. 

She carries a star and a telescope and gazes at the sky.  The body stitching, rounds and rounds of running stitch, was a bit repetitive, but it's a charming figure with a most interesting story. 

 

I found this basket in the Frewville supermarket. It was just the thing for transporting these gifts. 

I added bookmark tags to each figure with the recipient's name and put them in the basket, along with some Ukrainian Easter eggs and some nests. 

They were well received.

There's enough felt to make the best part of another set. 

I've also bought a few more Corinne Lapiere kits while Morrison's have them in stock. It's a luxury. As you can see, I really like them.

               

Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl

I was given these three skeins of wool by Nomad Yarns for my birthday. As the labels testify, they are grown in South Australia, dyed with plants, and milled across the border in Victoria.The three colours are Madder no.1 and no.2 and Cochineal no1.

There were 1180 metres in the three skeins and I looked for a pattern that would use it all. A feather and fan shawl was a no-brainer, since I could continue until the wool ran out.

The first task was to find my swift and wind it into balls.   

The pattern, as most triangular shawls do, began with three stitches. I thought the colours invited bands of colour.

It wasn't difficult stitching once the six row pattern was imprinted in my brain. It took quite a while - about six weeks of stitching. I did do a bit of unravelling. By the end there were 570 stitches on the needle, and the brain can easily switch from purl to knit in the middle of a row without realising it.  

It's finished - soft and drapey, and I think the pattern works. 

I have recently had a dress made from some metres of orange silk. I'm wondering if the shawl is a sufficient match to render the dress wearable in cooler weather. Haven't decided yet.

Manteau Capelet

Back in September of last year, when I used a swift to wind the yarn for my for my Spritz cardigan,  I dug out other hanks of yarn in my stash, and wound them as well. One of the was a hank of gorgeous purple silk. I had already marked a pattern for a Manteau Capelet in the book on the right as suitable for this yarn, but it required another ball of matching, beaded yarn.          It's different to the listed yarn, but should work.                    

I managed to find some of Louisa Harding's Grace Hand Beaded  - a silk/merino mix with glass beads twisted in on a fine acrylic thread - at Yarns on Collie in WA.  

When it arrived I lined it all up with the pattern before getting out the swift. 

I started it as soon as the cardigan was finished. Once I had the beaded border done and started on the centre, I used it as a grab-and-go project in between embroidering Kasia Jacquot panels.

During this time we went through several weeks of heat wave with some temperatured in the mid 40Cs. The silk content of this yarn made it quite pleasant to knit on all but the most extreme days. 

I misread the pattern in several places and did not go back to correct.  There should be more open lace in the top rows.

As I got towards the end of the bottom band it was hard to judge how long the yarn would last. I made a judgement and cast off loosely with a regular cast off. I tried it on, but as I expected, it was tighter than comfortable. I had not used all the yarn, so I undid the cast-off, rejoined the yarn and used an elastic cast off.

Although the finished shape appears trianglular when flat, it moulds nicely to the body. It's not as defined as the pattern illustration, partly because I missed several rows of holes, but also because my yarn is much softer.

Veronica generously modelled it for me and it looks great. No one will want or need to wear it for the next 6-8 weeks, but I think it will get used once Autumn sets in. I'm very pleased to have had the chance to try both the silk yarn and the beaded. The twinkle doesn't show in the photos. It looks quite good and is very pleasant to wear.