Shetland Wool Week

Have you heard?

As background for the uninitiated there are a multitude of knitting festivals going on all over the world on a semi-regular schedule. There is the Maryland Sheep and Wool in early May, SAFF in Ashville in the fall, and of course NY Sheep and Wool is always held the 3rd weekend in October, in beautiful Rhinebeck. What happens at these shows you ask? Various local yarn sellers, indie dyers, button ladies (!), pattern designers, set up booths to entice me and my BFFs. There may also be sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas and sheep dogs.

Sometimes there are parades, with nuns, walking sheep.

NY Sheep and Wool Dutchess County Fairgrounds, Rhinebeck, NY

So many people - all wandering around wearing a lot of hand knits. There is a posse of podcasters, with middle aged women fan-girling them. There may be men in kilts. There may be voiceless plays with people dressed as sheep. Folks come up to one another and say things like “I love your Starting Point!” “Is that an Andrea Mowry?” “I think I saw the Sockmatician!” At Rhinebeck, many years ago, I tried to talk the Tsarina of Tsocks into selling me just the pattern, (not the kit) for something. I told her that I had just too much sock yarn. She shouted into the crowd “ IS SOCK YARN STASH?”. The entire booth replied “NO!!!”. I think I have 4 Tsock kits upstairs.

For many years nows- I have dreamt of the mecca of these festivals, SWW (Shetland Wool Week to the unindoctrinated). I think is was in 2023, that I declared that we were going to make it happen in 2025.

This is a newer festival - only 10 years young, and it took a hiatus during Covid. The dates are always a bit varied, late September to early October. Sometimes it is a whole week, sometimes more or less. Sometimes it starts on Saturday, sometimes on Monday. The dates for the following year’s event are not ever released until after the current year’s event.

In case you don’t know where the Shetland Islands are, I suggest that you now look at a map.

It is practically in the middle of nowhere, aka the North Sea. I’m pretty sure that there is not a big Hilton presence. There are only 23k people living on these tiny islands. SWW brings in another 1000. This is nothing compared to the 30k who go to Rhinebeck every year, but it’s a whole lot for these little towns to accomodate.

Last summer, I spent a morning trying to “guess” when would SWW be held in the fall of 25. Then I found an Airbnb that accomodated 4 in Lerwick. Glory be, she offered full refunds. I consulted the “I wanna go!’s”, and booked it. Guess what!?!?! I guessed right !!!! Another 3(!) have also signed on, and found a place in Bressay. We have been booking planes, and 14 hour ferry rides, and calculating how many days to allow for crappy weather. What to pack and what to see.

“A whole week??”, you might say?

My favorite thing differenciating this festival from the others (IMO), is that the “sale day” is only one afternoon - the WHOLE REST of the week is made up of various field trips and activities! I can sign up for a croft tour, or bird watching, or visit some broch, ancient viking textile classes, brewery and shetland woolen mill tours, something called Sunday Tea, fiddlers in pubs, lace making, on and on and on and on. I LOVE TOURISMS. I LOVE TEXTILES. I LOVE OLD ARCHEOLOGICAL THINGS. I am very excited.

This past weekend, my buddy Julia held a SWW planning weekend. 2 folks flew in for it! We got together at her house on Friday and all day Saturday. We got to meet the new peeps, we ate, we crafted, did yoga and played games. One gal had to miss (and we sorely missed her). Andi showed me how to needle felt, and I made this witchy gal who amuses me and I cut the steek on the armholes for Lily’s sweater.

Rousing round of Shetland Jeopardy

I am SO looking forward to the upcoming trip. I think it just might be epic.