Hazel Carter is one of those people that you remember after meeting her just one time. The first time that I met her was in a spinning class at the Weaving Workshop in Madison in the late 1980’s. She was the only person that brought a clunky drop spindle back the second week with more yarn on it than had been generated in the previous class! This was just the beginning of learning what many talents Hazel has, from her professional language and teaching skills to her knitting and pattern designing skills.
Through the years, Hazel has written many patterns for lace shawls and stoles using our yarns. In many of the times that I would visit her to go over pattern details, the discussion would wander to other related lace topics and she would bring out parts of her lace collection. After seeing different pieces each time, it seemed like there was a little museum of samples and information to go with each piece. I suggested that it might be of interest to many others beyond me and that it really should not be hidden away in boxes. A few of the samples had been used for some of her lace demos and classes, but most were just carefully stored in boxes.
She was willing to let me photograph her collection and with her help, put together information about each piece. Over the last few months I have tried to photograph all of the samples including many that she has made herself. The photography is not great, but it does provide a glimpse into what she has collected and made through the years.
Hazel continues to do educational demos and to teach classes in making various types of lace. Sorry, we no longer have her book Shetland Lace Knitting from Charts available though we do carry many of the patterns she has designed for knitting lace shawls and scarves.
-Anne (9/29/2018)
