Shetland knitters raise thousands to help preserve their craft

A Shetland knitting organisation has raised thousands of pounds to help “preserve, promote, and protect” their heritage from dying out.

Shetlands Organisation for Knitters (SOK) launched a Crowdfunder in November after declaring that Shetland’s knitting heritage was facing “several serious challenges”.

A goal of £40,000 would mean that the community could record more senior knitters sharing their story and practices and offer training sessions to younger Shetlanders to keep their specific knit style alive for generations to come.

With two weeks of fundraising to go, the organisation achieved their goal and any further funds raised will give them breathing room as they start sessions in January.

“I think that what SOK is doing is a great idea,” said Janette Budge who is a Shetland knitwear designer and tutor.

She teaches Fair Isle knitting – a traditional technique using two colours per row to create intricate, geometric patterns, named after the remote Fair Isle island where it originated.

She said: “They think as early as the 1840s that Fair Isle knitting was being made in the island of Fair Isle.

“My ancestors, they were on Shetland mainland, so they probably only started knitting Fair Isle, I would think, somewhere about the late 1800s maybe early 1900s because of how the fashions were working at that time. Because when Fair Isle was knitting the Fair Isle, the rest of Shetland was doing Shetland lace.”

She supports the SOK crowdfunder as she said techniques of Fair Isle knitting are at risk of being lost.

She said: “I think it will be really good, because there are gaps. We have the Shetland Textile Museum, which will keep actual items there. But the actual techniques of Fair Isle knitting isn’t being catalogued in the same way.”

The crowdfunder says as experienced knitters pass away “their skills and stories are being lost with them”. A donation of £25 helps SOK to record the older knitters’ stories and a donation of £100 supports local training sessions.

Elizabeth Johnston, a trustee of SOK, has been knitting for almost 70 years and started the craft before she first went to school.

“Everything was hand-spun up until about 1900 and then hand-knitted for the next 30 to 40 years before machines started to come in.

“So we still have that knowledge, and most places in the world don’t have that complete handmade knowledge. Professional handmade knowledge, not hobby, because it’s professional.”

She will be one of the Shetlands knitters who will be teaching youngsters her skills in the New Year.

She said: “My children didn’t knit much, they can knit but they didn’t knit much.

“And now my grandchildren don’t knit much at all and we need to catch this before it goes another generation.

“If my generation goes, there won’t be the knowledge to pass down. So we need to fix that now.”

She continued: “People my age have a lot of work to do to record and teach so that the knowledge is there.

“You can record everything, but you have to teach it, they have to see it being done.

“There’s a lot of work to be done.”