Spirit of Shetland Hand-Stitching Holiday

This morning’s excursion will take us to Jamieson & Smith Wool Brokers and Shetland Textile Museum.

Jamieson & Smith have been around since the 1930s, when it was founded by the Smith family of Berry Farm in Scalloway, on the east coast of Shetland. In the 60s, they re-located to their current premises overlooking the harbour in Lerwick. In 2004 the Smith family retired, and Jamieson & Smith joined with Curtis Wool Direct in Yorkshire. However, Jamieson & Smith continues to be staffed by Shetlanders and remains a standalone company. The profits received from the sale of Real Shetland Wool and Real Shetland Wool products come back into the Shetland economy and are passed along to the wool producer. All their products carry the 3 Sheep Logo, which signals that the product is manufactured from 100% Real Shetland Wool from sheep that are born and bred on the islands.

Shetland Textile Museum is a community museum dedicated to the island’s textile heritage, particularly knitting. The collection comprises over 700 items including Fair Isle and lace knitting, knitwear, Taatit rugs, tools, tweed, and items by contemporary Shetland makers. The shop showcases the very best of Shetland creativity and sells work from the best makers in Shetland.

This afternoon, we will return to our hotel for our first workshop with Karin.

Our excursion this morning will take us to Jamieson’s of Shetland and Shetland Museum & Archives. Jamieson’s is a family-owned business, which has specialised in wool from the native Shetland sheep for five generations. Shetland Museum & Archives is a 5-star VisitScotland rated Visitor Attraction, which welcomes an average of 86,000 visitors per year.

In 2007, the extensive and rich collections of both Shetland Museum and Shetland Archives were brought together in one building for the first time to tell the fascinating story of Shetland’s heritage and culture and provide an unforgettable visitor experience. Our ‘Textile Treasures’ guided tour focuses on the museum’s fantastic Fair Isle and Lace collections and the importance of the knitting industry to Shetland. 

Enjoy this afternoon at leisure. You can spend some more time exploring the displays at Shetland Museum & Archives, explore Lerwick’s delightful independent shops, or simply relax – the choice is yours!

This evening, enjoy 'The Use of Colour in Textiles' talk by local textile artist Deborah Briggs. Deborah’s pieces are produced from natural fibres using different weights, colours and textures to create unique designs of art to wear and/or display.

This morning is free for you to enjoy at leisure.

This afternoon’s excursion takes us to the small but creative community of Hoswick in the south mainland. Hoswick grew from the fishing industry, which was at its height in the early 1900s but declining by the late 1930s. Post World War II, Hoswick was home to a tweed weaving industry, which came to an end in the 1980s.

The popular Visitor Centre is housed in one of the former weaving sheds. Here, we’ll view displays about the history of fishing and weaving in this area and browse the gift shop full of locally made Shetland produce. Hoswick also has three other creative businesses; knitwear designers and manufacturers Shetland Woollen Company, Karlin Anderson handcrafted jewellery, and Nielanell Designer Knitwear.

This morning, we join Karin for our second workshop before today’s visit to The Silly Sheep Fibre Company, a small family croft. Here, we will enjoy a light lunch and learn what farming and crofting life in Shetland is really like.

Becky and her family have approximately 75 sheep, mainly Shetland, who provide them with beautiful fleeces. They use their own fleeces and some from other local crofts to produce batches of white and natural coloured yarn, as well as fibres for spinning, weaving and felting. All the dyeing is done in-house in small batches.

Today’s full-day excursion takes us first to Scalloway, the largest settlement on the west coast of mainland. Now a fishing port, until 1708 it was the capital of the Shetland Islands.

Here, we’ll visit Scalloway Museum, discovering the story of Scalloway and its people from the earliest settlers right up to Scalloway's position in the present day. Perhaps the jewel in the crown of the museum's displays is the section dealing with the 'Shetland Bus', a clandestine WWII operation using Norwegian fishing boats to transport agents, weapons and supplies to Nazi-occupied Norway and evacuate refugees.

Connected to mainland Shetland by bridges, the inhabitants of East and West Burra mainly work in fishing and crofting, but the islands have a rich arts and crafts culture too. Mother and daughter team Wendy and Robyn are the brains behind Burra Bears, the original Shetland Teddy Bear. The full production process is done on island; from the raw fleece being spun and dyed into wool at Jamieson's Mill, then knitted at Shetland College and finally crafted into bears in the famous Burra Bears workshop. We’ll spend some time here learning about the bears, with plenty of time for questions!

Aamos Designs is a textile design company specialising in contemporary woven textiles, owned by designer Emma Geddes, a 2006 graduate of the Glasgow School of Art. Known for her playful yet confident use of colour, Emma designs original woven textiles, honouring traditional techniques and updating them to create unique and luxurious hand woven fabrics, for fashion and interiors. We’ll spend some time in her home studio, where Emma will give us a demonstration of the floor loom, talk through her design work and answer any questions you may have.