Bonnie Isle Kit for Shetland Wool Week

Shetland Wool Week is a world renowned celebration of Britain’s native Shetland sheep, the Shetland textile industry and the rural farming community on the Shetland Islands. Shetland wool is a world class natural fiber, with a long standing reputation for quality, strength and excellence from the fleece to textile products. 

Since its conception thirteen years ago, Shetland Wool Week has grown into an internationally acclaimed event. This year Shetland Wool Week will be celebrated September 24-October 2.  Throughout the week there are planned exhibitions, classes and events around weaving, spinning, dyeing, Fair Isle and lace knitting, among others. 

Each year a local knitting designer creates a hat to celebrate Shetland Wool Week and that pattern is made available worldwide for free.  This year's hat is called the 'Bonnie Isle Hat' and was designed by Linda Shearer.  This is her inspiration for the design:

"I live on the island of Whalsay, whose nickname, the ‘Bonnie Isle’, became the name for my hat. Living on an island means the sea is ever present in our lives. All the men in my family have worked on or near the sea. But although the ‘Bonnie Isle’ hat has a nautical theme, the patterns mean much more. The chain in the rib represents the link between us all during Shetland Wool Week; and the anchor, a common motif in Fair Isle knitting, symbolizes a sense of keeping grounded, connected to what matters most, and able to cope with life’s challenges. The crown, a circle, is to me a spinning wheel and a tribute to my mother Ina Irvine. A prolific spinner and knitter, she was my inspiration."

You can obtain the pattern by clicking the link below - it is not included in the kit.  

Download the Bonnie Isle Hat Knitting Pattern here

Our kit includes the colors knitted in Colorway 2 which is the version knitted with Jamieson and Smith yarns.

Jamieson and Smith Colorway Kit includes:

• Yarn A : Shade FC41 -2 balls
• Yarn B: Shade 091 - 1 ball
• Yarn C: Shade 1281 mix - 1 ball
• Yarn D: Shade 096 - 1 ball
• Yarn E: Shade 9113 - 1 ball

Each ball is Jamieson and Smith 2 ply Jumper Weight 100% Shetland Wool; 115m/25g per ball(125yards)