Norwich Shawls, Shetland Fine Lace Shawls and the Shetland Wool Week Annual 2024

What a lovely surprise to get the 2024 Shetland Wool Week annual fall through the letterbox on a very wet and windy day yesterday. 

Usually we are in Shetland to pick this up from the hub, and last year I was the first to get my copy. 

However earlier this year I had some medical issues and we took the decision to not go to Shetland for Wool Week this year. In fact I had my second appointment in cardiology just last week and got some very positive help  with my problems. (It turns out the problem is not with the heart muscle but the nervous control. Reading between the lines it is another aging problem! )

September here has been very busy. Norfolk has Heritage Open Days with special events and I have been able to go to ones related to Norwich Costume and Textiles that I can’t ever attend. These have been great and I have been able to study further the ‘Norwich Shawl’ trade and just on Saturday see, unexpectedly, up close, a very rare example. (1) 

If you have never seen a Norwich Shawl, this is a small piece of one I have had the pleasure of studying. 

There is much more information about them here, on the costume and textile association website  

But, back to the Shetland Wool Week Annual. This is the 10th edition and I am so glad I have all 10. 

I think they get better each year (this one has more pages than last year). This one is really great, it does contain knitting patterns by local Shetland knitters, 10 being represented. It contains fair isle as well as lace patterns ranging from Helen Robertson’s  flying flock (with lace coats) to the Laebrack Hap by Elizabeth Johnston which can be knit as a square or triangle. I was taught to spin many years back by Elizabeth and have since benefitted from her expertise in several workshops. There are two other patterns I particularly want to mention, Skalva Socks by Freya Hutcheson who learned her knitting by being a member of Shetland Peerie Makkers and is just 16, a name to watch for the future. The other is a lace knitting pattern by Betsy Williamson, called Winyadepla , so good to see a lovely pattern of Betsy’s. She has been knitting since she was 4 (like me!) and as anyone who has visited Shetland Wool Week at Ollaberry will know she is a lovely lady with lace knitting in her blood! 

But this is only about one part of the annual which this year looks back over the 10 years of its existence and is very much a heritage issue. The introduction by Hayley Anderson ‘celebrates the creativity , heritage and community that knit together the pages of her beloved annual’. But to me it is more than knitting together the beloved annual, this is what Shetland knitting, whether it be fair isle or lace, is all about - the creativity, the heritage and the community that make up Shetland Knitting. In the second half of the annual there are always interesting articles and this year this section includes more about the lace knitting traditions that form the new ‘Bible’ of Shetland Lace Knitting, Carol Christiansen’s book ‘Shetland Fine Lace Knitting’ using the lace knitting collection in the Shetland Museum and Archives collection as well as associated research. (2)

Later in the day I was fortunate to hear some local Shetland people speak. Hazel Sutherland, the Chief Executive of Shetland Amenity Trust that ‘does’ (her word) Shetland Wool Week. It was very good to hear that the two main focus points this year for wool week are Natural Colours and the Shetland Lace following the Publication of Carol’s book following concern that Shetland Lace in a traditional does not become endangered and that the skills are not lost. Elizabeth Williamson, the Chair of Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers, during a long interview also referred to the Shetland way of knitting a lace shawl as being part of what is Shetland Lace Knitting. 

Another wet day here today so a day of knitting Shetland Fine Lace (currently on the 4th board of Betsy Williamson’s daughter Elizabeth Williamson’s Firth pattern ) and in the intervals getting lost in Shetland amongst the pages of this annual. 

Notes

1. Norwich Shawls were at the height of their production between about 1750 and 1840. They are magnificent large woven pieces that were exported around the world and many of them contained ‘Norwich Red’, a scarlet colour for which Norwich was famous. 
2. Shetland Fine Lace Knitting recreating patterns from the past Carol Christiansen is available online from Shetlandheritageshop.com and all good bookshops.