Back in 2012, when I lived in Scotland, I read about the oldest post office in the world being located in a little Scottish town called Sanquhar (pronounced San-curr). It was having it’s 300 year anniversary. So, I planned a trip with my friend Rachel, and we took the train south. It took about an hour an a half, and was a very pleasant journey.
It was delightful experience. Sanquhar is a surprising little town that has a little bit of everything: we visited the post office, where I sent off a number of postcards and letters; we went to the museum; we passed an old inn where none other than Robert Burns scratched a poem into one of the windows, and we also went to the castle that’s at the edge of town. I took a lot of photos of this castle, I think partly from the thrill of having to break through a fence that stood around the property. The adrenaline rush of being somewhere forbidden made it pretty exciting. But that is a story for another day.
In the museum, they had several examples of a local phenomenon: Sanquhar Knitting. A bold (usually) black and white design, akin to Fair Isle, but it’s own unique thing. Some of the designs are un-named, but some have charming names, such as ‘The Duke’ and ‘Shepherd’s Plaid’.
I didn’t know how to knit yet back in 2013, but years later, when I visited a dear friend in Glasgow, she gave me a little booklet of Sanquhar knitting patterns.
Sanquhar knitting began in the 18th century, and the villagers made and sold gloves for extra income. By the end of the 18th century the designs were becoming well known, but the exact beginnings of the knitting designs is not known.
I recently wanted to make a hat for a friend, so I thought I’d combine some of the Sanquhar patterns together and see what happened! I also “softened” the traditional black & white by doing white and gray instead. It was the first time that I’ve “designed” my own knitting project, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out!
I had only done some practice squares in the past, and I really enjoyed doing a whole project with Sanquhar patterns.
Beautiful hat! And thanks for sharing about Sanquhar!!
How gorgeous! How have you not told me about this knitting before? It's so fascinating and beautiful and I am in awe of your knitting skills. I wish I had the patience for Fair Isle. 😅