Gunnister style purse

I've recently very much enjoyed reading Alison Milton's newly published booklet on the Gunnister Purse, which has detailed instructions for making a replica of this famous example of early knitting based on her first hand inspection and study of the original. of course, as soon as I read it I had to have a go, and this is the result.

Ok, this is an ‘almost’ Gunnister purse, which is all my fault and no reflection on Alison's excellent notes. I handspun the yarn (manx for the brown, the orange is madder dyed) and it was a bit chunky so I had to use 2mm needles, way to big for this project, I was getting 10st to the inch, the original was about 11.5). I also worked a balanced 2:2 rib, rather than the uneven rib of the original, and when I got to the pattern, I didnt have the designin front of me so winged it from memory, with the result that the pattern is similar, but not the same as the original purse.

Alison’s pattern notes and background information are excellent, and I thoroughly recommend this booklet. I’ll be making this again and getting the details right! Even with my little inaccuracies, its a pleasing purse and I’ll enjoy using it.