Knitting Lovers Flock to Remote Shetland Isles for Wool and Heritage

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, November 1, 2026

Anne Doull and her family, who raise 650 sheep on Shetland's Mainland, have been named patrons of Shetland Wool Week 2024, an event attracting global knitting enthusiasts to celebrate and preserve the region's traditional wool crafts. This appointment highlights the ongoing cultural and economic importance of Shetland’s wool heritage, which continues to draw international visitors and sustain historic knitting techniques such as Fair Isle and lace knitting.

Anne Doull and her family maintain a significant presence in the Shetland Islands’ longstanding wool and knitting tradition, sustaining a flock of 650 sheep on Mainland, the largest island in the remote Scottish archipelago. Alongside her engineering career, Doull and her parents, Margaret and Addie, nurture this heritage that culminated in their appointment as patrons of Shetland Wool Week in 2024, an annual event drawing global knitting enthusiasts for its workshops and cultural celebrations.

Shetland Wool Week, now in its 17th year, serves as a focal point for knitters and crafters worldwide who travel despite the islands’ remote location to learn traditional techniques, exchange ideas, and experience Shetland’s distinct landscape. Each year, a new patron designs an official hat pattern for the event, with Anne Doull contributing a Fair Isle-style hat featuring sheep head motifs. The Fair Isle technique, rooted in local history and named after the southernmost inhabited island, involves intricate colorwork where threads are carried through the inside of the garment, creating a warm, multi-layered fabric suited to the region’s variable weather.

The quality of Shetland wool is celebrated for its warmth and durability. Addie Doull highlighted the superior fiber quality by showcasing a sheepskin, noting that it contributes to garments that are ideal for daily rural wear. The islands are home to 11 sheep breeds with over 30 natural fiber shades, inspiring producers to create wool colors reflecting local hues, such as sunsets in deep blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows.

Local wool dyer and seller Becky Pritchard operates Silly Sheep Fibre Company in Walls, on the western side of Mainland. Her operation includes about 50 sheep and other farm animals, and she hand-dyes her wool in small batches, catering to growing demand, particularly during Wool Week when she prepares her popular Advent calendars.

Visitors such as knitters Janni Beichert, Elke Bothe, and Vanessa Jäkel from Germany come to the islands for the immersive experience of knitting, socializing, and exploring the rugged terrain that includes green hills, cliffs, lochs, and turquoise bays. The archipelago, located between the Orkneys, Faroe Islands, and Norway, consists of roughly 100 islands, 16 of which are inhabited. Tourists are drawn by the unique environment and the allure of seeing the Northern Lights in autumn.

The local craft tradition has been preserved through generations. Women on the islands historically passed down complex Fair Isle and lace knitting techniques during long, stormy winters. Lace knitting, in particular, was once a renowned industry, with Shetland shawls reaching Queen Victoria and appearing in fashion publications and shops internationally. Today, small groups continue to meet at the Heritage Centre on Unst, the northernmost large island, to teach and sustain these intricate skills.

Shetland Wool Week features guided tours of wool producers and workshops covering spinning, knitting, weaving, and felting. The Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick acts as the event’s hub, fostering a convivial atmosphere where knitters from as far as Hawaii, South Africa, New Zealand, and Japan converge. Even visitors who do not knit, like Elke Bothe, find fascination in the wool-making process, particularly in spinning, underscoring the comprehensive cultural significance of wool crafts in the Shetlands.

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