Anne Stewart is a knitwear designer who is based in Machrihanish in South Kintyre. She started knitting for her son some 40 years ago before starting to design and knit pieces commercially. Much of Anne’s knitwear is inspired by her interest in local history and archaeology – her designs range from patterns from the Ogham Stone situated at the Cnoc A’Charraidh (Hill of the Pillar), just west of the ruins of Kilchattan Church on the island of Gigha and the pre-historic clay pots from Glentorran and Balnabrad which are now held in the collection at Campbeltown Museum.
In 2024 Anne attended a meeting of LOAF (Laggan Opportunity and Amenity Fund) at Macrhihanish Village Hall and was interested to hear about the Medieval Kintyre project, especially Kilkivan, the site of a Medieval Church and burial ground between the villages of Drumlemble and Machrihanish. Anne, after visiting Kilkivan in September that year, and carrying out some of her own research, looking at Canmore, spent the winter months mulling over what the project was trying to achieve and how she could help. At the beginning of this year she designed both a hat and jumper based on the ruined church building at Kilkivan. The patterns in the jumper are based on the arch, the rood screen and the Highland claymore, which feature on the medieval slabs, and which have been taken to Edinburgh for conserving.
Her first pieces were knitted with New Lanark wool, but sadly the mill at New Lanark closed, so Anne had to look elsewhere for yarn. The pieces that she is making now for the project are made with Jamiesons’ wool, which is spun exclusively from fleeces produced in the Shetland Islands. Anne is supporting the Medieval Kintyre Project by donating a percentage of the sales of her hats and jumpers to the project.
You can visit Anne at her workshop in Machrihanish or contact her via her Facebook page:
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