For anyone on Shetland this week there is a wonderful Wool Week Display at the Church of Scotland, Bridge End, Burra
Monday 25 to Friday 29 September- 11am - 4pm- Teas, Coffees & Tabnabs
[Tabnabs is the local word for Cakes, Biscuits and Finger Foods]
Having just seen pictures it looks to be a wonderful display of knitted and embroidered work, worth looking in if you are in the area.
Oh my word...that looks fabulous! I am not a knitter. I am allergic to wool, hahaha. BUT I loved the products the locals produce on Shetland.
Our tour group stopped at a small village called Hoswick at the Visitor Center. We met with the ladies that run it and they were such fun! They are working to keep the knitting tradition alive in Shetland.
Shetland wool week is a really big deal! I am gutted that we were there two weeks ago and not this week. Here's their website Shetland Wool Week For any avid knitters out there who want to go next year, you'd best start planning now as accommodation and events sell out fast. There is also an annual knit along, where everyone knits the same garment (this year is a hat) in the same pattern but different colour combos. I'm doing the knit along even though I am not there. Great fun and a good way to get visitors to Shetland in autumn, thus extending their season.
One of these days I will make it to Shetland Wool Week. I've been getting their newsletter for years and will hopefully be able to plan a trip there at some point.
Pam, I'm not a knitter either but I love wool felting, wool rug hooking and other fun stuff with wool. It's such a wonderful fabric.
Jacqui, if you ever go during Wool Week, let me know and I might have to plan a trip up there then!
Mardee! It's a deal. If we plan a trip I will be sure to let you know. I have just completed 4 hats in fair isle from their Wool Week Buggiflooer pattern (available from the wool week website).
Jacqui
Mardee--so you're a (rug) hooker, too! I love all things fiber-related, but my always-have-something-going crafts are primitive rug hooking (24" x 38" pictorial rug on my floor frame) and knitting (various scarves, a sweater and the elusive 2nd sock that's been waiting nearly 10 years to join its mate.
I just returned from Edinburgh and can't stop thinking about Scotland, and a return would have to include Shetland--not sure if I'd be lucky enough to be there during Wool Week, though.
@ Christa, even if you are not there on Shetland for Wool Week, there are plenty of small local craft venues. On my tour we went to the Visitor Center at Hoswick and talked with a couple of senior ladies who were in the local knitting group. There was another store in town with merchandise from local knitters as well. I also went into a small local craft shop in Scalloway. I am not even a shopper, hahaha!!
I loved chatting with the local women and men about knitting. The owner of the hotel where we stayed and his wife were answering our questions about knitting. They looked to be mid-30's and said they had had knitting classes in school. The wife said she goes in every couple of months to do a knitting class at her daughter's school. She also said that her husband was a better knitter than she is! I love the notion that they are trying to keep the tradition going!
Pam--excellent suggestions, thank you! I would love to see Fair Isle knitting in action as I am quite the beginner when it comes to that kind of fancy colorwork. I have visited Tallinn twice and also Riga, and both of their countries are famous for their unique knitting traditions as well.
I love that this post has regained interest, a month later.
Something I only noticed because of the weekly service which is still posted, 3 years after Covid started, on the Shetland Presbytery facebook page- which page I had been watching well before Covid due to the closure of nearly half the Churches on the islands. That has turned out to be a very protracted exercise, but with a number of happy endings where the Churches have been taken into Community use, rather than becoming private dwellings. My interest in the closure process has been to try to ensure the future of the war memorials from the closed churches.
I have just re-formatted the dates above. I must have been having a bad day when I put 25th and 29th as I know better than to put 'st' and 'th' on the end.
@christa there is also a knitting and textile museum in Lerwick where the docents are all avid knitters and knit while they are chatting to visitors. I'm sure they would be happy to answer any knitting, spinning, weaving questions.
Somewhere else, that people may find interesting, which I have just heard of-Burra Bears- https://www.burrabears.co.uk/
Mardee! It's a deal. If we plan a trip I will be sure to let you know. I have just completed 4 hats in fair isle from their Wool Week Buggiflooer pattern (available from the wool week website).
Sounds great, Jacqui! You really must be a knitter! I get the patterns, too, and keep sending them to my daughter as she is the knitter, but so far she hasn't taken the hint. 🙄
Mardee--so you're a (rug) hooker, too! I love all things fiber-related, but my always-have-something-going crafts are primitive rug hooking (24" x 38" pictorial rug on my floor frame) and knitting (various scarves, a sweater and the elusive 2nd sock that's been waiting nearly 10 years to join its mate.
christa, maybe we should make our Shetland trip a group event! Yes, I mostly sew (lots of apparel and bags, the occasional quilt, etc.) but do love rug hooking. I wish I could knit but get too distracted to make anything worthwhile. I've knitted a few scarves and when I showed one to my cousin, who is an avid knitter, she looked at it for a minute and then asked, "Did you mean for it to look like that?" 🤣🤣🤣 Point taken. No more knitting for me!
I must have been having a bad day when I put 25th and 29th as I know better than to put 'st' and 'th' on the end.
Stuart, looks like American English is rubbing off on you, lol!!!
Wendy at Burra bears is fantastic. I met her I. 2010. I actually have four of her bears. I sent her a vest and she made a vest for me. Did not get to met up her when I was there in 2022.
Her husband is an inkster which is my maiden name. My 2nd great grandfather was from there.
Just came across this excellent article in the New York Times about Wool Week! It's gifted thru this link so you should be able to read it even if you are not a subscriber.
A quick thank you for the original posting about Wool Week. Myself and two friends have just secured our accommodation for Wool Week 2024 and I would have never been aware it existed if not for stumbling upon the original post back in late September! I'm a new knitter (taught myself during the pandemic), another friend is new-ish crocheter, and our other friend will be along for all the wooly fun and shenanigans. Thank you!
I hope you do a TR when you get back! Are you planning to fly to Shetland from mainland Scotland or take the Northlink Ferry (overnight)? Asking because I would want to add some flex time in between your International flights and your flight to Lerwick/Sumburgh and again before your first Wool Week events.
That's lovely to know that a post has encouraged someone to visit Shetland. I might let Rev'd Fran (whose photos inspired the original post) know.
@ Pam - We're still working out all the details of what our travel plans will be. It's likely I'll be arriving a week or more before my friends (more PTO, fewer home responsibilities) and slowly making my way north. The other two will likely arrive a day before we head to Shetland. Right now we are leaning towards taking the overnight ferry.
As I understand it you'll want to book well ahead to get a cabin for that ferry ride. I've seen some poor reviews of the sleeping pods and reclining seats. I've never traveled in ANY of them so no personal experience!
https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/the-journey/accommodation/
Fun that you will have extra time! There is SO much to see anywhere in Scotland!
Northlink have not yet opened bookings for beyond 31 March as they are awaiting the Scottish Government to agree their fare increase for 2024, no date currently when that will happen.
Yep, I've signed up to be notified when they (Northlink) open ticket sales for next summer and will then diligently monitor the site for when our travel dates will be available.
Having travelled on Northlink from Aberdeen this September I can tell you that the ferries in both directions were fully booked. We had one of their priciest cabins as that was the only option when we booked. It gave us access to the Magnus lounge for dinner and breakfast, both payable (and general hanging out and drinking tea - no charge!). There's also a fridge of free soft drinks in there and you get a voucher for wine or beer with dinner. That would appear to be the only advantage of the more expensive cabins. Inside they are exactly the same as standard cabins. We went to look at the sleeping pods and were not impressed! However, overall the ferry journey was great and the crew members were all wonderful.
Also for wool week itself you will want to book any courses or seminars that you want to attend. I understand they get booked up pretty much as soon as the programme is announced. And if you really want to fit in get hold of the annual hat pattern when released in April on the wool week website and knit yourself a beanie before getting there. They do a photo of everyone in their beanies at the main welcome event in Lerwick.
Ask your accommodation provider for dining recommendations too. We were there the week before wool week this year and restaurants were busy. We needed reservations for the popular places. No88 in Lerwick was excellent as was the fish & chip restaurant in Braes.
Jacqui, every year I get that pattern in my email and every year I send it to my daughter, hoping she will take the hint and make me one. Maybe it's time to be more direct, lol! Either that or I might have to take up knitting again before I go!
Another fine example of Shetland textile work- shared (as was the original post) by Shetland Presbytery, by facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=744708411025809&set=pcb.744708957692421
A "stunning" new addition to a nativity scene on display within an historic church in Aberdeen has been unveiled.
The cloth backdrop, known as a cyclorama, helps to accentuate the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, the true meaning of Christmas, at St Machar's Cathedral.
Each panel represents different characters and the colours that have been woven are drawn directly from the nativity scene incorporated in the east window of the church, designed by William Wilson.
The cyclorama was created by Rachel Birse, who is currently in her 4th year as a student of textiles at the University of Highlands and Islands in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles.
A native of Aberdeen and a familiar face in the choir at St Machar's when she's not studying, the 23-year-old was commissioned by the Friends of St Machar's group and wove the cyclorama from wool to make a traditional tweed on her own loom at her home in Lerwick.
Miss Birse said she "enjoyed working with the bright colours from Wilson's window and being able to weave older traditions with the new, telling the Christmas story in a fresh way".
She worked in partnership with craftsman and elder Michael Strachan to create a structure to hang the woven cloth and set the nativity scene with an intimate surround.
Fiona Kennedy OBE, honorary president of the Friends of St Machar's, said the group is "absolutely delighted" with the cyclorama, which has made the nativity scene a real centerpiece.
She described Miss Birse as "hugely talented" and said what she has achieved is "truly magical".
Rev Sarah Brown, minister of St Machar's Cathedral, said: "I am inspired by this wonderful addition to our seasonal decoration.
"Advent is a time to be reminded that light will always come to end the dark times and with such a lot of darkness around, the startling colours of this commission call us into a new space filled with hope and promise of what is yet to come.
"What better way to do this by encouraging young people to contribute to the wonder of the story we live by in the church?"
The cyclorama is the second commission that Miss Birse has been involved in at St Machar's Cathedral.
At the age of 19 she worked with artist Ruth Lough, who was 89 at the time, to produce an embroidered pulpit fall.
