Havin' a yarn...

We are an award-winning archive, yes, (see below) but we are not afraid to admit our weaknesses which are as follows:

We are too fond of Tunnocks teacakes. We shut them in drawers and put Orkney Library bags over them but they call to us still.

We are too good at singing. The customers have complained about our pitch - perfect 10am renditions of 'Nessun Dorma'. When that last high note is hit, the ensuing vibrations shuffle documents out of page order and cause pencils to wobble.

We are too polite and  forgiving of chatter. Masochists must look elsewhere for 'strict librarian/archivist' thrills.

We have too few examples of Orkney knitting patterns in our collection.

The images above are taken from Orkney Archive D1/254 which is a notebook kept from childhood by Helen Nicolson of Brims, Longhope. Helen was born in 1853 and died in 1938. She kept careful note of the knitting patterns she used and even included an example of a pattern tucked inside the front cover.

There are many books on Fair Isle knitting and we have a handful on Shetland patterns, but why no Orkney tomes? We are frequently asked for examples of Orcadian patterns and Helen's book is the only one which we can provide.

Perhaps we should start an appeal?