What Inspired Some Popular Knitting Patterns?

The forefathers of the Aran Islands' fishermen gave us a seemingly inexhaustible treasure in stitch designs. Each design has a meaning. The picturesque Irish landscape is depicted by a variety of such designs. Small fields enclosed by stone walls are illustrated by the trellis stitch. Zigzag designs represent cliff paths twisting along the coastline. The handiwork of the industrious bee provided the inspiration for the honeycomb stitch.

Family life also produced a wealth of ideas. The plaited cable served as a reminder of the interweaving of family life, whereas the desire for the family to be well fed and healthy was portrayed by the spoon. Various cable patterns depict the fishermen's ropes. And unmistakable religious influence can be seen in the tree of life design and also in the ladder of life, representing man's climb to eternal happiness.

Over the centuries, the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands have developed a multicoloured knitting technique called "Fair Isle." A flat weave, known as the stocking stitch, is used for all garments, and colourful motifs are knitted in as part of the weave. Patterning in delicate colours is mostly done on a light background. No more than two colours are used in a row, but a change of ground shade and pattern shade in alternating rows gives a multicolored effect.