whalsay

Hello everyone, long time no see! I don’t know how many of you are extreme procrastinators like myself but this week it has seemed that I had a mountain of things to do so instead I decided to take a day trip up to Whalsay! I wanted to visit the Shoard Charity shop (#lifetimeambition) and also the Heritage Centre to see the new additions to their Fair Isle through the decades exhibition – you might remember last year me and Mam went to see it and this year due to how successful it was they have added new items and rearranged the exhibition. So after a lovely bowl of soup at my cousins Joan’s I headed to the Shoard shop (two fair isle ganseys purchased – result) and then onto the Heritage Centre, I think the exhibition is so brilliant because this is all real peoples real knitwear – hardly anything is behind glass and those that are, are still easily visible.

early 1930’s knitwear, on the left a jumper made in Wool and Rayon – yes i checked the neckline, it was steeked! On the right two items made by Helen Hughson for her to be husband and her brother, each has 19 different motif’s.

Interesting ‘Yoke’ style jumper on the left, machine knit with Fair Isle collar, knit by a man – Magnie Irvine. Although many men knit at this time some didn’t like to be seen but Magnie didn’t mind.

Beautiful Jumper, knit for Peter Stewart by his aunt in the 1940’s, the yarn is extremely fine and it is knit at a very small gauge.

Scarf on the left was knit for Andrew aa Creads by his sister Betty for him going to Sea in approx. 1928. Vest on the right was knit by Margaret Simpson for her Husband Arthur before they married. I love the use of shading, often seen in Whalsay knitwear.

This Jumper was knit for Ian Anderson by his mother, he and his 4 brothers all had similar ones made for them by their mam. The style was very popular at the time and sees the move to include modern fastenings in knitwear like zips.

On the left a childs jumper from 1975 with a photo of the jumper being worn, on the right a very traditional shaded jumper of the time -a ‘peerie allover’

Another example of a garment with a photo of it being worn, John Arthur Irvines Mam, Mary made this for her sons.

an overview of some of the amazing knitwear on show, this section is mainly 1950’s – 1970’s.

I loved the collar on the jumper on the left – although it was knit in the 1980’s by Alice Pottinger I find it extremely modern, similarly with the cardigan on the right which was knit by Janet Irvine for her daughter Catherine, knit in the 1990’s I would wear it today!

This is just a small selection of the photos I took at the Heritage Centre – you could spend hours and hours there going through all the things on display. Thank you to Amanda for sending me the handout which goes with the exhibition explaining what they know about each piece, I often think Whalsay knitters are some of the best and most ingenious knitters in Shetland so it’s no surprise how great it is.

I decided to catch a later ferry (Whalsay is about a half hour ferry journey from the mainland of Shetland) as it was such a beautiful day, I went for a peerie drive around and saw lots of very cute lambs and even some coo’s!

Thank you Joan and Amanda for feeding me and welcoming me as always on my trip up to Whalsay! If you get a chance to visit the exhibition I would highly encourage you, its worth the trip and is really inspiring.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures, I’m sorry I have been so lacklustre on the blog this year BUT If you have seen my Instagram today come back on Monday for a new pattern release.. til then, Happy Knitting! x