Hand Knitting

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Hand-knitting is one of the most important components of Shetland’s cultural and artistic heritage.  Around 2013, however, the Brough Lodge Trust realised that that heritage was at risk.  A steady decline in the number of commercial hand knitters raised concerns that Shetland could lose the essential skills.  It was also apparent that these skills were not being passed on within families as was once common, due, in part, to decreased economic need.  The ending of school knitting tuition in 2010 created a further challenge.

In contrast, Shetland’s profile as a place with a hand-knitting heritage continued to grow nationally and internationally.  A clear example of this is the growth of Shetland Wool Week over more than a decade.  However, immensely valuable though Shetland Wool Week is, its primary purpose is not to provide practical support for the growth of Shetland knitting skills and knowledge among young people in Shetland. 

Following consultation with a group of experienced Shetland knitters and textile enthusiasts, the Brough Lodge Trust felt that the loss of these skills could be reversed if the right strategy and support mechanisms were put in place.  Preserving the skills was also integral to the Trust’s aspiration to create, at Brough Lodge, a ‘retreat’ where they could be taught and celebrated. 

In August 2014, the decision was taken to develop a pilot project which would restore hand-knitting in schools.  The name chosen for the project was ShetlandPeerieMakkers (meaning Shetland small knitters) and its objectives were:

  • To revive Shetland hand knitting skills and knowledge amongst young Shetlanders through free knitting tuition with expert tutors;

  • To explain and interpret Shetland’s knitting and cultural heritage to a new generation of Shetlanders through new models of tuition and practice;

  • To make young people aware of the cultural value of textiles and the potential economic value of textile education, textile tourism and textile design, for future and current development;

  • To enhance young people’s understanding of the intrinsic qualities of Shetland wool and the link between our economic and crofting heritage and textile production; and

  • To support young people to share and cascade their skills to others in their peer groups and to use digital technology to demonstrate Shetland hand knitting techniques.

The pilot project would involve skilled, volunteer tutors in providing lessons to youngsters in five communities within Shetland, using local schools as safe places to meet. That, in itself, reflects another Shetland tradition: the islands’ communities have always supported skills exchange, socially and within families, whether in inshore fishing, spinning or peat cutting. These voluntarily-shared skills are evident in the many community marinas, rowing and sailing competitions, agricultural shows and at social activities in local halls.

It was agreed that the five pilots would run for a year and that we’d apply the lessons learned to build a sustainable model for tuition in the longer term.

Although the volunteers would give the tuition without payment, various expenses would be incurred, for example for knitting belts, notebooks, pencils and car mileage. We didn’t want anyone to be out of pocket, so we needed to find support.  We were fortunate in being offered Shetland yarns for use in the project by the local yarn spinners, Jamiesons of Shetland, who are based in Sandness in the west of the Shetland mainland.

We decided to use crowd-funding and were amazed by the results. In little more than a week, we had reached the target of £4,500, with donations coming from many parts of the world. There was support from Shetland, Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the USA and Canada, Norway, France and other countries.

Buoyed by that success, we decided that we should raise the target, so that we could pay for a second year of tuition, outwith the education service but in schools, as lunchtime or after-school groups.  This would help us refine the tuition method, allowing us to develop and document a teaching blueprint or toolkit, which we called the ‘Sockbox’.  By the time we closed the crowdfunding appeal on December 11, 2015, £7,194 had been pledged.  This allowed us to run the second year of the pilot and extend tuition to three new schools.

Further fundraising was undertaken, and, in May 2017, we received a grant of £27,480 from the LEADER programme.  We were also very grateful for a gift of £20,100 from a private donor, who wished to remain anonymous.  Further crowdfunding added £8,000.  With all of this in place, we were able to plan the phased extension of the scheme to 28 primary schools by 2020.  Yarn for the scheme continued to be gifted by Jamieson’s of Shetland.

Tuition had to be suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic but resumed in September 2022.  By then, we had received many more offers of support, including sponsorship from a wide range of Shetland businesses.  We are enormously grateful to them and to all the other donors who have been involved.  We are also, of course, indebted to the many volunteers who have come forward to teach the children and to our consultant coordinators who have managed the programme.

It’s very easy to join all those who’ve already supported ShetlandPeerieMakkers.  Just follow the link at the top of this page to our secured Just Giving donation account and give whatever you can afford. We’ll be really grateful for any contribution you can make.

Since we are a charity, your donation can be set against tax and your donation may also be subject to Gift Aid.

If you just wish to contact us, please drop us an email - the address is: info@ShetlandPeerieMakkers.com. Please be sure to give your contact details so that we know who you are.

Shetland knitting means so much to people in Shetland and around the world. It’s very much part of our islands’ culture. Brough Lodge was sold in the summer of 2023 and the proceeds were allocated to ShetlandPeerieMakkers You can find out more about that vision elsewhere on this website.

You can also follow the ShetlandPeerieMakkers project on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

How you can help ...

This project has been part financed by the Scottish Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas Shetland LEADER Programme 2014-2020

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