Organisers of Shetland Wool Week are set to release the details of the 2014 programme on Thursday morning, with tickets for classes and events on sale from Monday 28th April. The festival takes place from 4th to 12th October.
In addition to the now standard favourite such as the Makers Market, Factory tours and Fair Isle classes with Wool Week Patron, Hazel Tindall, there are many new events and exciting locations for classes this year.
A joint exhibition of the Moray Firth Gansey Project will be held between Shetland Museum and Archives, Shetland Textile Museum and Unst Heritage Centre. The exhibition looks at a range of traditional Scottish fishermen's ganseys. In a similar thread, visiting tutor Stella Ruhe will be teaching a class to knit a modern gansey based on old Dutch designs. Stella is the author of "Dutch Traditional Ganseys". A second visiting tutor, Vivian Høxbro, author of "Domino Knitting" will offer knitters a new experience in using colour in different ways.
New venues for Core classes this year include the new Education Room at Sumburgh Head and aboard the training ship, The Swan. One class on the Swan will be an introduction to the Foula Froke – the only gansey design to originate in Shetland.
The opening ceremony, this year at Mareel, will offer visiting and local textile enthusiasts an opportunity to meet with local designers and fellow Wool Weekers at a Shetland Textile Showcase. The opportunity for interaction continues through the week, with the Wool Week Hub open every day in the Boat Hall at Shetland Museum and Archives. Information on classes, events and Shetland's textile history will be available here, with members of the Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers in attendance to demonstrate and teach their skills.
A full range of classes will again be held at Hoswick. Following a successful week of full classes in 2013, the "Hoswick Wool Week" will be repeating some of the favourites and adding in a few new ways to look at fleece, dyeing and spinning.
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 is sure to continue the success of previous years.
One of the event organisers, Emma Miller, said “We're very excited to be announcing the 2014 Shetland Wool Week programme. There are so many people from all around the world eagerly waiting to get their classes booked for coming here in October. It's quite humbling to see the enthusiasm and passion that so many people have for our islands and our heritage. The line-up of classes for this year is excellent as always and I'm sure it will be well received.
We're also delighted that this year we have so many of the key players in Shetland's textile industry on board as core partners. Without the co-operation and involvement of the textile industry, Wool Week could not be the success it is, and it's only going to get better.”
Full event listings can be found at www.shetlandwoolweek.com from 10.00am on Thursday 24rd April, with bookings for classes taken through Shetland Box Office from 10.00am on Monday 28th April.