»Glenfinnan Viaduct
Waistcoat, slipover
Film costumers and fashion editors alike have once again made the Fair Isle sweater a hot commodity to own. Sadly many Internet searchers have been content to spend between £15 and £80 on a machine knit imitation hoping to get ‘the look’ and up to £800 or £900 for designer labels made in China or Italy not realising the harm their purchase makes to this vital cottage industry in the Shetland Isles. Thankfully, many more appreciate the real deal - a painstakingly hand knit Fair Isle jumper taking over 100 hours to complete using a single pair of needles made by the daughter or grand daughter of a Fair Isle native and now living in Shetland.
Thistle & Broom took out a small ad in The Shetland Times for ‘experienced hand knitters of Fair Isle’ and on the first day the ad ran a woman called who had been knitting over seventy-five years!!! Shetlanders are known to speak plainly and she told me that £100 they were paid (which needed to also cover the cost of the yarn at more than £30) for a full Fair Isle jumper was insufficient to have her bother selling her handiwork commercially. We were in complete agreement that unless the young picked up needles to learn (and hone their skills) this cultural icon would die with this generation and that would only happen with financial incentive and a real value being placed upon the art. Armed with a lifetime of knowledge and a portfolio of more than forty authentic Fair Isle patterns allow me to introduce Helen Jamieson. Born in 1922 Helen has been knitting since she was four years old. Like Rosabell Halcrow, Agnes Bowie and Jackie Irvine she has never personally used a computer - but boy can she knit. Helen’s knitting stitches are tiny and perfect but it’s her superlative use of colour that takes your breath away, which made us think of the most heart wrenchingly beautiful vistas in all of Scotland to name her sweaters for.
Entrusted with the task of developing a Fair Isle sweater to complement our Lovat green Thistle & Broom Tweed we’ve called this effort of Helen’s a'Ghlinne Mhòir. The Great Glen runs from Inverness to Fort William covers 73 miles, 117 km, and whether you walk it (less than a week to complete) or take the train the forests and flowering plants and brilliant gold light from the sun you’ll experience along the way play out in Helen’s beautiful a'Ghlinne Mhòir jumper.
If you think about what you spend on that fleeting cup of Starbucks a couple of times a day versus the pleasure of owning something so extraordinary it should be in a museum the price will become entirely reasonable. We perfectly understand that not everyone fancies blue or green so if you like a particular pattern but would like it a different colourway just let us know and we’ll make every effort to accommodate. Please understand that each jumper is made to order, 6-8 weeks is an absolute necessity for completion, so if you want it for a special occasion plan accordingly and we’ll provide a gift card with photo of the original explaining.
Your purchase allows us to help preserve this uniquely element of Scotland’s cultural heritage through our Fair Isle Knitting Project by creating a financial incentive for young people to actually learn from these incredible women as 8% of the net profit of your purchase serves to benefit Thistle & Broom Scholarship. As with all of the Fair Isle Knitting Project offerings 66% of T&B’s retail price goes directly into Helen’s hands. We both thank you in advance for socially conscious purchase.
