Beautiful knitted sweaters have long been made on Shetland’s windswept isles, where livelihoods have relied on sheep and the sea. Esther Rutter reveals the origins of this design classic
On a tiny island caught between the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, a woman carries a basket of peat on her back. In her hands, she holds knitting needles, while at her waist are a makkin belt and a ball of worsit yarn. As she walks, her hands repeat four fluid motions – in, around, under, off. She is a Shetland crofter, one of generations of hand-knitters whose exquisite knitwear is a product of the islands’ unique geography and culture.
The best known of all Shetland knitwear is the Fair Isle jumper. Two distinct styles are associated with the islands: all-overs and yoke jumpers. All-overs, as the name suggests, have stranded colourwork patterns across the entire garment, while yoke jumpers are mostly plain, with patterning across the shoulders.
The story of these jumpers combines traditional knitting techniques with the unique qualities of Shetland wool and the influence of other cultures, all working together in a design classic recognised and worn all over the world.
Knitwear has been a staple of Shetland’s economy since around 1600, when European fishermen first visited the islands in pursuit of herring, and traded gin, gingerbread and other commodities for knitwear. The oldest surviving example is a ‘haaf’, or fisherman’s hat, knitted in blue, red, brown and cream. Caps like these were worn in Shetland from at least 1822, when visiting geologist Samuel Hibbert described the striking “boat dress” of Shetlanders, including a “worsted covering for the head dyed with so many colours that its bold tint is recognisable at a considerable distance”.
FISH AND KNITS
Fishermen were also some of the first people to wear jumpers in Shetland. In the early 19th century, sweaters were not fashionable: most men wore shirts, waistcoats and jackets, while women opted for dresses or blouses covered with woven or knitted shawls. The only people who did wear jumpers were gardeners and sailors, men whose work outdoors required warm, close-fitting garments. Heavy and dense, their jerseys were tightly knitted to retain warmth and repel water, and from Shetland to the Channel Islands, woollen jumpers were fishermen’s de facto workwear for over a century.
They were not called jumpers, but ‘Guernsey frocks’ or ganseys. In use since the 1820s, gansey is our oldest word for a jumper and is believed to come from ‘genser’, the Norwegian term for sweater. By the 1830s, the word ��
