Shetland Wool Week 2014 / A wonderful week of all things woolly
THE INCREASINGLY popular annual celebration of Shetland’s textile industry begins next weekend.
The nine day long Shetland Wool Week is enjoying its fifth year and will feature a wide range of exhibitions, classes and events covering areas such as weaving, spinning, dyeing, Fair Isle and lace knitting and traditional gansey styles.
Activities around the isles commence on Saturday 4 October, but the official opening ceremony takes place at Lerwick’s Mareel at 2pm the following day.
The event in Mareel’s main auditorium will allow people to meet knitwear designers and wool producers, visiting instructors and some of the many Wool Week participants from around the world.
There will be a selection of traditional Shetland music and a variety of speakers from the local textile sector, along with all the information folk need about staying in Shetland during Wool Week.
Sunday’s opening event will also allow people to join in the national Wool Ride taking place in London that day, by jumping on exercise bikes donated by Clickimin Leisure Complex and donning a Shetland ‘Shwook’ hat.
Throughout the following week between 10am and 5pm at the Shetland Museum and Archives boat hall people can attend the Wool Week Hub to meet members of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, or look for any information about the festival.
With fine lace classes in Unst, Fair Isle classes in Whalsay, hap knitting with Gudrun Johnston and a visit from Kate Davies promoting her new book, the 2014 Shetland Wool Week has something for everyone with an interest in wool.
Full event listings can be found at here with bookings for classes taken through Shetland Box Office.
There are a limited number of tickets available for a few classes, so people are advised to book as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
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