Gladys Amedro
This is the obituary I submitted to The Scotsman of Edinburgh. It was published on May 4, 2001.
Gladys Amedro, knitting designer, author of ”Shetland Lace”
Born September 22, 1920, in London.
Died 12 March, 2001, at Liberton Hospital, Edinburgh, at the age of 80.
Gladys Amedro’s book “Shetland Lace” was first published by the Shetland Times in 1993. There are other books on the subject, although not many, but it is no exaggeration to say that it is Gladys’ book and her other published patterns which made the traditional craft of Shetland lace knitting accessible for the first time to ordinary knitters throughout the English-speaking world.
Gladys Ayres grew up in London. After leaving school, she worked as a shorthand typist with the London, Midland and Scottish railway. During the war, she served with the ATS. She met her husband, William George Amedro, fondly known as Buff, in Jerusalem. They were married in 1946, the beginning of a happy partnership which lasted until his death more than fifty years later.
They lived for much of their married life in Perth, where Buff was Deputy County Architect with Perth and Kinross County Council. They spent their holidays in the Shetland Isles, as keen birdwatchers and lovers of wildlife. After Buff retired in 1976, they made their home at Burravoe on the island of Yell.
Gladys had been a knitter and needlewoman all her life. In Burravoe she became a close friend of the late Mrs Nellie Tulloch, a native Shetlander whose knowledge of lace knitting was bred in the bone. She taught the craft to Gladys. In those days, there were no readily-available patterns for the cobweb yarn with which the famous Shetland “wedding ring shawls” are made -- so called because a large shawl can be pulled through a wedding ring.
It was not long before Jamieson and Smith, the Shetland Wool Brokers in Lerwick, asked Gladys to design a shawl in cobweb wool. That first design was published in Woman’s Realm magazine in 1978. Other patterns followed, including a baby robe and shawl commissioned by Woman’s Own magazine in 1988 to celebrate the birth of Princess Beatrice. The design incorporated the rose of York and an anchor, compliments to the baby’s naval officer father, Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Gladys signed these patterns with a pseudonym, Gema Ord, an anagram of G. Amedro.
The yarn sold by Jamieson and Smith comes
from native Shetland sheep, spun on the mainland by Hunters of Brora.
Soon, Jamieson and Smith put in so large an order for cobweb yarn
that Hunters queried it: perhaps an extra digit had crept in by
mistake? There was no mistake. Gladys’ patterns had created a
new demand. The demand continues. Today, Hunters give the credit
entirely to Gladys for the fact that they still have in operation
carding and spinning machines for superfine wool .
Plans for a book followed, containing patterns not just for
shawls but for other lace items such as a Christening dress and even
a ladies’ skirt. It was slow work. Everyone who was involved
with the production of it remembers the meticulous attention Gladys
gave to every detail.
Proofreading a book of lace knitting is notoriously difficult . A typical line might read “S1pw *** T k12 (k1 Tc k2 Tc k3, cTB, k2 cTB,....” and so forth, almost indefinitely. The punctuation is as significant as the letters and numbers. The slightest mistake or omission will confuse and irritate an expert knitter, and can drive one less skilled to abandon the project altogether. There are books, in the brief bibliography of the subject, which are almost useless for this reason. Gladys was determined that it should not be so with hers. Two teams of proofreaders worked independently, one person reading the work aloud to the other. Gladys took a justifiable pride in the fact that among the many letters of appreciation she received about the book, there were none pointing out a mistake.
The book is signed with her real name, but she never put herself forward as more flamboyant knitwear designers have been known to do. She would occasionally meet groups of fans, often with her husband Buff at her side, for lace knitting demonstrations at Jamieson and Smith, but she remained surprised that so many people made a fuss over her designs.
She was a good friend to her many friends. Callers could count on Gladys for “a good spread”.
In her last years, she lived at Gorebridge near her son Guy. She is survived by him and her other son Graeme, of Lerwick, and by three grandsons. One of their grandmother’s shawls is named for them -- a practical shawl, in a yarn slightly heavier than cobweb, for keeping a baby cosy.
* * * * * * *
I have knit more of Gladys Amedro's designs than those of any other designer on my well-stocked shelves. (Kaffe Fasset cames next.) You can see some of my knitting at