Community / Excitement for Shetland Wool Week builds as 2025 patron is announced and new hat design unveiled
THE SHETLAND Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers have been revealed as this year’s Shetland Wool Week patron in a first for the event.
Makkers from all over Shetland gathered at a special launch event held at Shetland Museum and Archives on Wednesday evening to discover 2025’s patron and get a glimpse at this year’s hat pattern – the Aal Ower Toorie.
Chair of the guild Elizabeth Williamson said: “We were first invited to be the wool week patron earlier this year, but we had had to keep it secret until now – with only three of us in the know!
“It was a challenge, but now that the news is out, we’re thrilled to be able to share it with all our guild members!”
Williamson spoke at the event with fellow guild members Jenny Atkinson and Rachel Hunter. She described the moment she and Atkinson were asked to be patrons:
“Stunned silence, I think is probably the best description. I must emphasise that we are here as representatives of the whole guild, it’s not about any individuals in the guild. We went there as your representatives. We were completely unaware!”
The guild has around 70 members of makkers across Shetland, and were well represented at the event with over half of the audience made up of guild members.
Williamson added: “It’s a huge honour for the guild. Shetland Wool Week is held in such high regard world over and to be recognised by such the wider community is unbelievable.”
Hunter designed the hat pattern for 2025, inspired by Chris Morphet’s exhibition Allover that showcased the vibrant colours in Fair Isle knitwear while also drawing inspiration from a traditional vintage pattern from the 1930s.
She said: “We wanted to highlight the Shetland ways and the traditional patterns. The guild has produced some books – one being A Shetlanders Fair Isle Graph Book. We were keen to base the pattern from one in one of the graph books.”
The Aal Ower Toorie is available in three colourways, using local yarn from Jamieson’s of Shetland, Jamieson and Smith, and Uradale Yarns.
Organisations had stalls at the event. Jamieson’s of Shetland and Jamieson and Smith’s patterns both use eight shades emulating vintage and kaleyard colours respectively, while Uradale Yarn’s offering highlights five natural Shetland shades.
The guild also plans to release a second pattern designed to use up any remaining yarn to ensure nothing goes to waste.
Shetland Wool Week 2025’s theme will be Shetland Ways, Shetland Amenity Trust’s chief executive Hazel Sutherland told the gathering.
It will explore the variety of methods used all over the isles in both past and present for traditional maakin.
“What all these techniques have in common is that they are created for two main purposes – to make the fit, design, and finish, be as technically superior as possible while at the same time making the knitting easier and faster,” she said.
“Such a way of creating knitwear relied on the ever skilful finisher who put the icing and the cherry on the cake. Collectively, this was the Shetland Way.”
She added: “But it involved a large number of Shetland Ways and each knitter had their own box of tricks. Many of those amazing techniques are not well known even among lifelong knitters. So what a lot there will be to explore as we go into 2025.”
Reflecting on last year’s wool week, the trust’s cultural heritage manager Jacqui Birnie, said there had been over 1,000 attendees with 14,000 hat patterns sold and 309 events held over the week long event.
Helen Hart, who has been a guild member for a couple of years and runs classes during wool week teaching Viking textiles, was shocked to learn that the guild had been named patron.
“There’s always a buzz going around before, wondering who the patron is going to be. Keeping a secret in Shetland is so difficult – hats off to them!”
She added: “Every year there’s more and more classes that are just phenomenal, and it’s so exciting to be part of. You get to see and do everything here, it’s a fabulous event where you get to know Shetland.”
2024 patrons Anne, Addie and Margaret Doull were also in attendance, reflecting on their time and giving advice to this year’s patrons. Anne said: “Soak it up, enjoy every minute.”
Shetland Wool Week 2025 is set to run from Sunday 28 September to Saturday 4 October 2025.
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