Shetland Wool Week 2018: Days 1-6

The journey to Aberdeen

This is our fourth trip to Wool Week in Shetland out of a possible 9. We missed earlier ones for health reasons and then did not go the summer after we moved house in the winter of 2014. Each year of these four appeared at the time to be the best ever and this year certainly surpassed my high expectations. It has been a truly wonderful experience again. Here I will document some of what we did while in Shetland in the  following posts, concentrating on textile matters. 

(Previous  journals of our Wool Week trips can be found on posts from 8 Oct  16 - 3 Dec 16 and 21 Sept 17-11 Feb 18). 

We left home on Sun 9 Sept and decided to take several days over the journey. We had three special things to do that we hoped would help us enjoy our trip. 

As before we were taking our motorhome which is great as I know everything I need is with me. This does demand many lists prior to leaving and careful packing but it is so lovely to have with me some ongoing textile projects of which there will be more later. 

We left Norfolk when it was still summer weather and couldn’t really visualise wearing some of the clothes we packed, needless to say we did wear them! On the first day, which happened to be a Sunday,  we travelled as far as Knaesborough  and the only travel problem was the treat we had of driving through some of the new suburbs of Peterborough as the A1 was closed. However, this did not delay us much and I was quite impressed by the spaces provided  within the  housing developments in an attempt to improve  the environment. 

Some of the journey was spent making progress on my Mirrie Dancers hat. I did manage to post about designing and making these in the previous two posts (1)

 

The following day we drove up to Barnard Castle and very much enjoyed the wonderful Catwalking (2) exhibition at Bowes Museum where photos from Chris Moore’s life as a fashion photographer are arranged along with some of the actual garments by designers such as Dior, Chanel etc. 

A good leaflet accompanied the exhibition

Being able to see the actual garments was great but being able to get up close and see the detail of the finish was a real treat. I had previously enjoyed the Yves Saint Laurent exhibition here (post of 28 Sept 15) where I had been aware of the attention to detail in the finish. In this exhibition there were several different designers and all but one stood out in terms of finish. If you are able to get to the exhibition it is on until 6 Jan 2019 and well worth the visit. 

This dress had beading around the edge and the net (embroidered) overlay had a lining of a pale green to show up the embroidery. So much work had gone into this. I think it was by Chloe. (I thought I had taken good notes but they are never good enough!) 

If this wasn’t enough Michael noticed that there was a Jacquard Loom set up in a room downstairs at the Museum and it had obviously been used recently. It was such a treat to see this. 

The ‘card’ for the pattern of the loom. 

The following day we had decided to stop at New Lanark Woollen Mill which is a World Heritage Site and were lucky to be able to take a tour with a very knowledgable and enthusiastic guide. Arriving at the car park and looking down to the Mill  site very much reminded me of Quarry Bank Mill In Cheshire which is now owned by the National  Trust. 

This was interesting as the principles of Greg (who built Quarry Bank Mill) and Robert Owen who developed this mill were similar. Both buildings had started life as cotton mills but New Lanark now processes wool. It was lovely to hear and see so much about the social history of the process, again echoing much of Quarry Bank’s history.  Both owners believed  that treating workers fairly would get the best from them and both established a structured community basing  their industrial site on country village principles. I took a photo of the spinning which tries to show the twisting of the yarn onto the cones as the cones move into and away from the back beam. 

If I, personally, have a disappointment in New Lanark it is in lack of the story of the wool being used now and the small place this had in a large ‘gift’ shop. I guess I am spoilt being such a lover of Shetland Wool from Shetland and how this is valued and sought after and as a spinner myself I know the provenance of the wool I spin.

However, that apart Lanark Woollen Mill is worth more than one visit and we are hoping to put it on the itinerary for another trip north. We then planned to spend a couple of nights in Edinburgh as we wished to visit the Royal Yacht which is in Leith. However, I became ill and had to spend 36 hours in bed....my main focus being solely on being able to get the Aberdeen to Lerwick ferry on the Friday evening. However we had another stop at Perth arranged and on the way there veered off to go to the RSPB Loch Leven site. It had a nice cafe with simple but lovely food. While there we saw a Ferruginous Duck, a rare vagrant from Eastern Europe which  we managed pick out from the thousands of ducks present. 

We were booked on the Friday ferry to Lerwick and as I arrived in the lounge on the boat I spotted two Wool Week attendees from previous years. As we got talking and the knitting came out, another group made themselves known .....it really began to feel like Wool Week was about to happen. 

1. This year, I have tried to raise the profile of machine knitting when I have chatted to people during Wool Week. In fact some of us wondered if we could identify other machine knitters somehow. Many of us hand and machine knit, they are different skills and I personally do not believe one is  better than another. Both are equally skilled, machine knitting, in my opinion is not ‘cheating’ particularly if it is done on a domestic machine. 

2. ‘Catwalking Fashion through the lens of Chris Moore’ is the name of the Exhibition 

Shetland Wool Week: Day 24-26: Travelling Home:/Fri- Sun: 6-8 Oct

Surprisingly  despite the movement we slept well on the ferry, in fact better than when travelling over. We had breakfast early and were ready to start driving home at 7.30. Usually it is easy for M to get the motorhome off the ferry and come back for a leisurely breakfast, today was rather different. There was a larger boat waiting for the brith and whilst you could return for breakfast you would be treated to a little trip out of the harbour for a couple of hours or so. We were quite keen to start the journey home. 

We had a good start and knew we were aiming for Glendoick garden centre. We stopped there on the way up and as we arrived they were just opening. This has a nice cafe and we enjoyed a very nice second breakfast. (We find the route to Aberdeen rather sparse in terms of good stops, so if anyone has any other good ones we will be pleased to hear about them). Lunch was at Cairn Lodge where again you can leave the road completely, although we got our own lunch. Traffic was good, we wondered how it would be on a Friday, and we aimed for Ecclesfechan where we had booked a stop for the night. This was OK, lots of static caravans and without the quality of facilities we enjoy at a Caravan and Motorhome Club  site but perfectly fine for a night. I started to loose the feeling in my left side, so took the pills and went to bed. 

Saturday was even quieter on the road and we were only driving down to Vale Royal in Cheshire. We actually enjoyed stopping at Tebay which is a great independent motorway stop on the M6. We stocked up with great food at the farm shop and were down to our home for the night  by early afternoon. We were going to be picked up by friends and would enjoy dinner at the Bells of Peover. It was lovely to catch up with them and we enjoyed the meal, another bonus for this campsite is that the gastropub is just a short drive (or could be a walk over the fields) away. 

We set out on Sunday early, even less traffic, very few lorries but the roadworks were still there in Cheshire. We arrived home at 13.10. 

What a wonderful trip we had had. We love Shetland. We plan to go back, but will we wait a whole 11 months before we set off again....maybe not. 

I can’t choose my best two images, but these two give a range.

Unst - our view, one way, from the Motorhome.

Ollaberry Exhibition, before it officially opened

Look carefully to see the number of items just in this one view and each one you can ‘get up close’ too and each one is worth of hours of study. Tremendous

Shetland Wool Week: Day 19: Tingwall Teas: Sun 1 Oct

The Sunday at the end of Wool Week is always a special day as it is the exhibition of amazing work from Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers - this is accompanied by spinning and knitting demonstrations  and of course the Sunday Tea. If you ever get a chance to experience a Shetland Sunday Tea, don’t hesitate. It is also a chance to thank my tutors and to say goodbyes until another year. I have to say I think this year was the best Wool Week I had experienced, but perhaps I always feel like that at the end of the week. 

We had not got to Fjara before so decided to go there for morning coffee, it is sort of opposite Tesco but overlooking the sea. It was very busy, but we really appreciated the lovely sea views and will return when it is quieter. Our favourite coffee spot remains as Hay’s Dock. 

There are still plenty of ‘wool’ things to do in Shetland:

After coffee we drove on to Tingwall and parked by the hall and got ourselves cheese and biscuit, we would have a second lunch with cake when the exhibition and teas opened at 2.30. It was interesting to ponder just how busy the hall might get, there were more visitors to Shetland Wool Week than in previous years but how many would still be around on this Sunday afternoon? I wondered how my home guilds in East Anglia would manage if not only 300 visitors turned up to see an exhibition but if they also expected an extensive tea as well. The ladies - and their helpers- of Shetland Guild of SKW and D do a phenomenal job. Just before the door opened 2 full  mini buses turned up so it looked like it would be busy. 

We joined the queue and got seats, M collected some food for himself and I left him as I was keen to see the exhibition of work and talk to members of the Guild, eating would wait. I so enjoy looking at the work of other spinners, knitters and weavers and where possible I like to talk to the makers. I talked to Kathleen Anderson who with her sister had been my tutor on Friday and I am in awe of her amazing lace knitting. I was not surprised by the number of accumulated rosettes from shows, including best overall exhibit at the Royal Highland Show, where the standard of entry is extremely high. 

I noticed a Sumburgh Bonnet ( similar to ones I had seen in the Museum) and sought out Ina  Irvine who was demonstrating spinning. This year the spinners were in a separate room..... I arranged to buy a hand spun, knitted hat from Ina and made an arrangement to get a pattern after Wool Week. I understand there is going to be a pattern in the Guild book (which will be published in the Spring). This will be a great book of Shetland Knitting by Shetland Knitters.(1) I have their lace book and it is exceptional. I am sure their skills have been passed down in the genes. Just talking to a Shetland Knitter and watching them knit one can learn so much, even if you have been knitting for many many years like me.

By the time I got back to the table where M was sitting, he had been joined by other friends and it was good to see that Elizabeth Johnston  and Anne Eunson had got up after the ‘Sharing Sherry, Cheese and Shortbread Sunday morning playtime’ they had been helping to host in Hoswick. This provided me with the opportunity to tap into Elizabeth’s drop spinning expertise and ask advice on using the medieval spindle I had brought up from home. Elizabeth suggested using it as a supported spindle would work well and would also be better for my wrist than using it as a twist with the fingers type. (I had already noticed my wrist complaining with my continued practice with this method). I decided I would talk to the spindle maker about the possibility of a support dish. 

Anne got asking about my machine knitting, and Val my machine knitting  friend was there too. It was really great to swap ideas, and discuss items and techniques without the ‘dismissive attitude’ of some hand knitters who assume machine knitting  involves no skill or thought.  (Of course they could not be further from reality in thinking this). 

We chatted and chatted and did not notice that it had long gone 17.00 and we were virtually the only table still there. 

Another great day and so wonderful to talk to Shetland Knitters about spinning, hand knitting and machine knitting. Tomorrow I would be stocking up on yarn and we would be catching the evening ferry back to Aberdeen. 

(1) The book is Fair Isle Designs from Shetland Knitters volume 1 - predicted publication date March 2018