Midge and Fly Design Sanquhar Gloves by Scottish Women's Rural Institute (SWRI)

Midge and Fly Design Sanquhar Gloves

Knitting
January 1966
Light Fingering ?
US 000 - 1.5 mm
Flag of English English
This pattern is available from shop.theswi.org.uk for £2.50.

G140 Sanquhar Glove Patterns
(Midge & Fly, Duke, Shepherds Plaid, Prince of Wales patterns, £2.50 each)

Patterns are not available for download, but may be purchased online.

For two centuries at least, this craft has passed from generation to generation in the small town of Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire. Originally knitted in drugget on very fine needles in black and white, the modern gloves are knitted in wool in contrasting colours.

This website:
http://www.dumfriesmuseum.demon.co.uk/knithist.html
provides this additional information:

…. patterns which can be seen in the Sanquhar Tolbooth Museum are: Prince of Wales, Shepherd’s plaid, Rose and Trellis, Drum and Cornet, Pheasants or Birds Eye and one of the oldest, Midge and Flea. This pattern was collected along with others by the late Jenny Macmillan for the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute in 1938.

It was not until the 1960s that the main patterns were published by the SWRI.