Layering of Eight Point Star Map
I've added some of the sea trade routes that I have come across in my reading. I was inspired to put these routes in after seeing Jane Hunter's maps (I wrote about this in previous post).
Map of eight point star motifs (sourced from books) with some known sea trade routes
Putting in these patterned lines (I used v's to to mimic knitting stitches but also provide direction of movement) illustrates these connections only really written about. It adds another layer of information to the map beyond the cultural information of the hybrid motif variations of how and where the interactions occurred. This only covers the limited information that I have mostly on sea trade in context to the spread of this knitting technique. Shelia McGregor mentions in her book Traditional Scandinavian Knitting diffusion of motif patterns in mittens and gloves over land by trade routes in Norway and Finland. I have yet to find a map that would show roughly that path. Also missing are the motif representation for Finland and Sweden. These two countries, based on my reading, tended to copy motifs already in circulation from neighboring Norway and Estonia with very little variation beyond colour.
Lines/ routes made of v's to to mimic knitting stitches but also provide direction of movement. The Darker blue are routes from Shetland from a map from Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting and the lighter blue lines represent routes written about in Shelia McGregor's Traditional Scandinavian Knitting.
I chose to vary the colour of the lines to differentiate the source of the information but also the direction of which the routes originated from. The lighter blue lines are those originating from the Baltics ( sourced from Shelia McGregor's Traditional Scandinavian Knitting ) while the darker blue originate and stem out from Shetland (sourced from Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting).
References:
Starmore, A. (2009) Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications.
McGregor, S. (1984) Traditional Scandinavian Knitting. Mineola,NY: Dover Publications Inc.
Motif References:
Estonian motifs:
Praakli, Aino, Eesti mustrid ilma laande laiali. Tallinn, Estonia: Tänapäev.
Latvia motifs:
Grasmane, M. (2012) Mittens of Latvia: 178 Traditional Designs to Knit. Riga: Riga National Costume Centre.
Lithuania motifs:
Nargi, L. (2011) Knitting Around the World: A multistranded history of a time-honored tradition. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press.
Selbu Norway motifs:
Selbu Bygdemuseum (2015) Strikkeutstilling. Available at: https://www.selbu.kommune.no/enheter/bygdemuseum/bygdemuseet/strikkeutstilling/Documents/The%20Selbu%20mitten.pdf Accessed: 9 November 2017.
Shetland motifs:
McGregor, S., (2003). Traditional Fair Isle knitting. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover.
pages 116-118
Denmark & Faroe Islands motifs:
McGregor, S. (1984) Traditional Scandinavian Knitting. Mineola,NY: Dover Publications Inc.
Iceland motifs:
Nargi, L. (2011) Knitting Around the World: A multistranded history of a time-honored tradition. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press.