Herring Girl Knitwear

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Herring Girl Knitwear

About me

Herring Girl Knitwear is the brainchild of Founder and Designer Margaret Anne Elder in the Isle of Barra. “The Herring Girl Collection is inspired by a collection of knitting patterns that my granny passed down. My granny taught us to knit when we were young, she was always knitting.  It was a skill that she was determined we would grow up with just as she had.  For many years I’ve been determined to bring the story of the Herring Girls to life in some way, to honour those brave girls and women who had such a hard life and spent their time off creating such gorgeous gifts for their families.  And what better way to do that than recreate the beautiful patterns which have such a strong cultural link to both past and present Hebridean communities. Each pattern has a story that relates to our island heritage and I am proud to ensure those patterns and styles live on and can be passed on to future generations. Margaret Anne (CY Grian nan Oir)   “The history of patterns is fascinating, with each island having its own identifiers. If you met a fisherman wearing a handknitted guernsey you’d be able to tell his home port just by looking at the pattern. As well as remaining true to the unique patterns, our hand knitters remain true to the colours used by our forebears with the traditional, greens, blues and browns forming the basis of the range.”