Last week I was thrilled
when I realised we'd actually managed to recruit enough women to make
our Scotland Handknit Map a reality. Right, time to get everything ready
to send out!
Guidelines.
Done, just need to test them. Colour chart, yes. Thanks Catriona. Map
templates. Done... hmm... well, some of them were cut slightly off
line. 'But they'll do,' I said. 'Won't they? Surely.' But maybe... I
decided to look again. Out came the ruler. Oops! Some were as much as
5mm out. And if one row was out by 5mm, how would that affect the next
line? And the next? Would it be a disaster?
Possibly.
We couldn't take the risk. So, instead of starting with a small map (
as we did the first time), blowing it up to massive proportions and
getting it cut into 36 rectangles, we started with the rectangles - 36
pieces of A5 card. This morning we fixed them together (with micropore
tape) at the corners, in rows, joined the rows together, looked for
somewhere to lay them out. Where shall I put it Catriona?
You
might have laughed to see us crawling about on our knees for three
hours on Catriona's kitchen floor, copying a map of Scotland. But
luckily there was no-one with a camera around.
Was
it worth it? Certainly! We have 36 new templates, perfectly equal in
size, each marked with a code number A1-F6, each with an orientation (BL
- meaning Bottom Left) each with 'land' and 'sea' marked (except the
ones which are of the sea only - they're marked 'sea' just in case
someone forgets). We have a new mini-map so you can match your rectangle
to its correct position. We have sore knees... no, just kidding!
Please make sure you send your address in soon, so you can get your template delivered in the old-fashioned way.
Happy knitting!
