I’m a self-funded, ordinary woman with 2 cats. Though, I do have two degrees and I have also travelled across Tibet and Northern India, worked and lived in China, Salzburg and in Shetland. At the age of 53, in 2016 I started a Masters in Knitting at NTU. I got the MA, which I am proud of but I’m mostly proud of my journey.
In 2015, I found Shetland through Shetland Wool Week where I attended workshops on the art of Fair Isle and lace knitting. For 5 years, I repeatedly returned to the islands, building on my knowledge and experiences of the beauty of Shetland and its rich cultural heritage in knitting and the social history of the knitters and landscapes. I made friends and gained a tentative foothold on the rocks of island life until finally, on September 10th 2020, I moved, lock, stock, barrel and two cats from Sheffield to Shetland. This was a courageous move to do alone to take a leap of faith – to live life fully. I had a quote that I carried with me from Judi Dench, where she said, “I thought, how many new lives can we have? Then I thought, as many as we like. The difference between what we want and what we fear is the width of an eyelash.”. I felt the ‘distance’ between what we want and fear was more appropriate…
This blog goes back in time to capture my MA in knitting, some of the beauty that I found in Shetland, research on the house that I lived in, and Susan Halcrow, a single woman who lived in the house 140 years before me. The blogs run up to the present, where I am still experimenting with colour in knitting stranded knitting design.
After one year of living in a raw, extreme, isolated location in Shetland, I decided that I missed my son and daughter too much and made plans to sell the beautiful house and move back to Sheffield, so that I could be part of their lives again. This was not an easy decision nor an easy move. On 23rd October 2021, I boarded the Northlink ferry with my two cats for the long journey to return south.
I continue to teach online colour blending workshops – for stranded colour work and bring groups of like minded knitters together. My one year in Shetland will stay with me forever. I followed my dream. I was brave. I lived life fully and I learned a lot. Shetland and Smola are a huge part of my life. They are embedded within my bones, part of my own history. Memory is in the hands. I knit, I make, I write and share these experiences here in this blog.
I am now on another journey – who knows where it will take me
If you’d like to follow this journey with this blog, please sign up in the box below for updates – and my knitting patterns are linked below.
I continue to design small knitting patterns and I teach online colourblending workshops to enable you to make your own successful colour choices for a Fair Isle patterned vest. Currently online workshops are here.
all patterns are here on Ravelry. If you don’t have a ravelry account, email me, if you would like to buy a pattern.
ONLINE COLOUR BLENDING KNITTING WORKSHOPS – If you are interested in the workshops, please do not leave a comment on this page as it is not possible to respond – Please complete the online form on the Online knitting/design workshops, where I can see your email address to respond, many thanks. Tracey
If you would like to support my creative practice, I have a Patreon site with 5 tiers – including one for £1 per month. Please take a look at the website link below
https://patreon.com/tracey_doxey
If you would like to read my outcome from my residency at The Booth in Scalloway, please see link below
Most of my updates are on instagram @traceydoxey
tracey doxey 