Hooray for Grans

Earlier in the week, I mentioned that I had a nice picture of my Gran from the weekend, but I said I didn't think she'd like it posted on the Internet. Well, it turns out I was wrong - I spoke to her last night, and she actually seemed positively keen to get her face out there. So here she is:

My knitting hero (no, not the monkey)

She learned to knit at the age of three, by copying her mother, and has been doing so ever since. I don't think she'll mind me telling you that she's now 87 - so that's a lot of years of knitting. She taught me to knit, but I can't ever imagine being half as good as she is. Did I tell you guys that my Dad's side of the family are from Shetland? Perhaps not - but I have now. Anyway, she comes from a long line of Shetland knitters, and she always says she taught me to knit like a Shetlander too. I don't really know how that's different from any other knitting, apart from that she taught me to use a knitting belt, and I think there's something about how we hold the wires... but knitting styles seem to vary loads anyway, don't they? So maybe my Gran just says crazy things from time to time (I know I do, and I must get it from somewhere).

These days my Gran mostly makes these:


It's a cockleshell scarf made with 1-ply Shetland cobweb wool, and she knocks these out at a frightening rate - honestly, her hands are a blur. She makes them for a shop in Lerwick which sells traditional Shetland knitwear to tourists. If you're ever up there, do consider getting one. Apart from anything else, you might need it - it's quite brisk that far North. And I believe they're very reasonably priced :o)

So, today's post has been a little rambling - sorry about that - but I think my main point was just that Grans are great. Hooray for Grans.