Fences can be a great way to give yourself some boundaries, but sometimes they can look a bit…tacky.
Thankfully, there are people like Anne Eunson, who want to add some beauty wherever they go.
Anne Eunson is a Shetland-based lace knitter. Anne Eunson grew up in Shetland and has been knitting her whole life.
In high school, she took on the project of knitting her first hap shawl. She designed it herself and knit it from yarn she spun herself. She has since spun and knit several of these shawls – each of them taking months to years to complete. Anne does not write down her patterns. Her shawls are done from memory and use traditional lace designs.
Anne loves lace knitting, and how better to express that affection than by completely wrapping one’s garden up in Shetland lace? The fence is fashioned from strong black twine (the same kind that is used to make fishing nets) and Anne knitted it up on specially adapted curtain poles. It took her about three weeks to knit enough lace to surround her front garden, using a 23 stitch repeat of a familiar Shetland lace pattern.
It kills me how the pattern is revealed so strongly, as if it were stretched around the garden on gigantic blocking wires. I gasped when I saw it and really think it is just about the most beautiful fence I’ve ever seen.
At first, when I heard about this story and magnificent creation, I thought “a knit fence won’t work at all.” But now I see it is made with sturdy wire and completed in a way that will surely work as a great fence.
You can see that the flowers and bushes love the fence too! They grow through, and with, the fence to incorporate themselves into this myriad of beauty.
To me, it looks like her garden is wearing a traditional shawl made of love. There’s not much more you could do to this to make it more beautiful. Imagine going for a stroll through the neighborhood and stumbling across this as you walk by: a stunning fence that looks like it’s landed straight out of a fairy tale!
Can someone show me how to knit my own garden fence? Please?