Several of the designs in my forthcoming mini collection feature a stitch pattern called ‘shepherd’s plaid’. This is a stranded colourwork pattern that is based on a weaving pattern of the same name, also known as ‘border tartan’, ‘Northumbrian tartan’, ‘border drab’, or ‘border check’. The weaving pattern is ancient, as evidenced by a 1700-year-old fragment of cloth found in Falkirk:
My love of the shepherd’s plaid stitch pattern relates to its use in in a pair of Yorkshire Dales gloves pictured in The Old Handknitters Of The Dales. The gloves were made in Swaledale in Victorian times, and feature shepherd’s plaid in the palm:
Because of this Yorkshire connection, I previously used shepherd’s plaid in the Little Tyke tank top pattern. However, my use of it in the new collection primarily relates to the name ‘shepherd’s plaid’, which very firmly connects the pattern to sheep!
Here it is in the cowl that forms part of the forthcoming collection. In the weeks ahead I’ll show you additional items from the collection in which I’ve used shepherd’s plaid.
Just learned about Sanquhar last year. Now I see there were other areas of the British Isles also developing patterns