Inspired by a Former Math Teacher.

The second half of my inspiration tour started as we left Shetland, flew into Aberdeen, crossed the highlands in a small bus...and boarded a ferry to the Outer Hebrides.

Did I mention I get seasick? I spent the three hour ferry ride talking to fellow knitting people in the lounge…standing. The idea was to try to counter the inevitable rise and fall of the ship with bent knees serving as shock absorbers.

Did it work? Let’s just say…every so often I had to walk around the deck, stare at the horizon, and take deep lungs full of cold air until my stomach settled down. Mercifully, we docked at Stornaway about sundown.

Our class in the Outer Hebrides was taught by Alice Starmore.

When I think about it now, the whole idea of taking classes with Kaffe Fassette and Alice Starmore in one trip is mindboggling, but at the time they were just “the instructors.”

Our class was held in a bed and breakfast on Lewis Harris...actually two islands that are so close together that they are often referred to in one breath. Truth is…at low tide, the two become one. Harris is the home of Harris Tweed, BTW.

On the way to the B&B, we stopped to visit a couple who were using natural dyes to create cloth in “the old way” on huge antique looms.

  

                            

Alice’s class, when I look back now, was a major inspiration in my knitting life. At the time, it was a bit overwhelming. I had never tried any kind of colorwork before this trip (witness my intarsia fiasco). Like Kaffe’s class, yarn was thrown in a heap in the middle of the floor and Alice got down on all fours and began arranging yarn to make the patterns standout against the backgrounds. It was fascinating.

Six months after our trek across Scotland, Alice was in the states for her Knitting Across America tour. She taught classes in Fair Isle, Aran, lace, and a fascinating needle point technique over three days on a shop in Asheville, NC…and I was there…all three days. Can you say “fan girl”?

During the weekend, AS signed one of her books for me…which ended up a minor casualty of a major flood in a basement apartment I once lived in. The book looks a little worse for wear now, but by gosh, I still have that autograph! See “fan girl” note above. 

                            

Alice’s use of color and pattern is incredible. She is a former math teacher and her work reflects the exquisite blending of an artist who appreciates the subtleties of shading with the mind of a mathematician who enjoys the precision and beauty of a perfect equation. To echo last post, would that I could have a fraction of her talent.

I probably have all of AS’s books and most of Kaffe’s. Such wonderful, inspirational artists…both of them.

Varian
brandonknittingdesigns.com
Ravelry: varianbrandon

Note: Again, these photos were taken long before I had access to a digital camera.