Ann Feitelson's The Art of Fair Isle Knitting is known for being an incredibly detailed and loving look at the knitting traditions of the Shetland islands. The audiobook version, released by Knitting Out Loud, offers just the introduction and first chapter of her book, but it still provides a lot of information.
This part of the book tells the history of Fair Isle knitting and how it was often thought of more as a craft, a necessity, rather than an art, by the people who practiced it.
Knit for Love
Listening to this audiobook might make modern knitters happy they didn't grow up on the Shetland islands during the time when many families were supported by hand knitters.
Feitelson notes that knitting in the Shetlands has always been connected to money.
"Shetland women knitted because they had to. Today, most of us knit because we love to," Feitelson wrote. She explains that knitting is not only a great way to keep warm in a harsh climate, it also provided a good distraction for women whose men were away at sea.
She also spends a lot of time writing about the different definitions of terms such as Fair Isle knitting and Shetland knitting and explains how the definitions have changed through the years.
For instance, performing stranded knitting with more than two colors in the same row would not traditionally be considered Fair Isle knitting, but these days more patterns, more colors and different shapes of garments are used that traditionalists wouldn't call Fair Isle.
The Spanish Armada Theory
There's always been a lot of conjecture about how exactly this style of knitting and the patterns used actually came to the islands. Feitelson refutes the most common theory, that they were brought by Spanish soldiers when an armada ship wrecked there in 1588.
In reality, there's no connection between the motifs seen in Spanish knitting and the Shetland knits. The main influence on knitting in the islands was Norway, though visitors from other lands might also have contributed to the eclectic style.
The voice of the reader, Melissa Hughes, is pleasant, and she does different voices for quotes so that the listener doesn't get confused. This brief (two CDs lasting an hour and 30 minutes) audiobook is great listening for while you're knitting, as a reminder of where we as knitters have come from.
It also serves as a reminder of how lucky we modern knitters are to not have to knit in order to keep our families afloat, but rather to get to knit what we like for our own enjoyment.
Despite the short length of the recording, it provides a nice lesson in the history of Fair Isle knitting for those who haven't read Feitelson's book or might not be interested in all the patterns and techniques presented in it.
