Shawls: in praise of a classic piece of Scottish knitwear.

Friday Nov 10, 2023

In Scotland, it's definitely shawl season.

Perhaps it's living in Shetland. Perhaps it's to do with the Indian part of my heritage. But I do love the versatility of wraps and shawls.

A black woman with a shaved head stands in a rustic stone building with whitewashed walls in Hoswick, Shetland. She wears black tights, a black charcoal woollen dress and wraps a large off white and charcoal shawl around herself, throwing one side over her shoulder. She smiles and looks at the camera,
Jeanette in our Byre wrap.

Wraps also give a wonderful 'canvas' for the designer. Another reason that I am so fond of them!

I consider these deceptively simple pieces of knitwear to be as contemporary as they are traditional. Maybe you are not sure how you might a one?

Let me give you some ideas...

A white woman with fair hair tied back crouches beside a black greyhound outside the old Gospel Hall. Hoswick. She is wearing a contemporary shawl, in navy and off white, wrapped around her shoulders. She also wears a blue long sleeve t shirt, blue jeans and brown suede dealer boots.
Katie in the Rani wrap.

All wrapped up

The most traditional way to wear your wrap is shawl-style, arranged around your shoulders. Just like Katie, above.

However, that's only one of the ways we like to wear ours.

A black woman with a shaved head stands in a rustic stone building with whitewashed walls and a stone flat floor in Shetland. She wears a finely knitted modern shawl drapaed unfolded around her shoulders and down over her dress.. It is charcoal grey with pale grey irregular dots and a thin meandering line in cherry red. She also wears a charcoal woollen dress in a loose fit, black tights and dark brown brogue boots.
Jeanette in our Ebb-stanes wrap.

A wrap is a coat

Simply draped, showing off every inch of the design.

Two women stands in a whitewashed stone shed with flagstoned floor. On the left a white woman with fair hair wears a modern shawl in an ochre colour with irregular dots over a black tunic and leggings. On the right, a black woman with a shaved head wears the same shawl but in charcoal grey and pale grey over a grey woollen dress.
Felix and Jeanette in Ebb-stanes.

My wraps have interesting shapes, detail and pattern features. And there are layers of narrative within each of the designs.

A folded, finely knitted shawl in ochre with off-white dots with a mossy green meandering line.

Each Ebb-stanes wrap has an individually 'drawn', meandering line – an evocation of a boundary drawn on a map.

 

A black woman with a shaved head stands in a rustic stone building with whitewashed walls in Hoswick, Shetland. She wears black tights, a black charcoal woollen dress and wraps a large off white and charcoal shawl around her shoulders and draped down, almost looking like a coat or cape.

 The Byre wrap has its roots in an artwork by Karlyn Sutherland.

A white woman with short fair hair stands on grass in front of a historic stone building with a ccorrugated tin roof in Hoswick, Shetland. She is wearing short wellies, a black linen dress with a gathered skirt and an oversized Scottish knitted shawl scarf in monochrome.
Felix in the Byre wrap.

A wrap is a scarf

Very quickly, your wrap can be go from being a coat or cape-like garment to a gigantic and luxurious scarf.

A white woman with short, fair hair stands inside a rustic stone building in Hoswick, Shetland. She wears an off-black tunic with matching leggings and red platform boots. She wears a navy and off white oversized shawl which is arranged like a giant scarf, and holds of the front to show the pattern

The wraps shown here are all knitted in extra-fine merino.

I have chosen this particular yarn for its superior handle and drape, and its exceptional softness – and for the expertise and care with which it is made.

Cones of yarn in the Nielanell Scottish knitwear workshop, Shetland. Fawns and beiges, blues, greys.

Each of our wraps is knitted by skilled craftspeople here in Shetland and then hand-finished in house at the Nielanell studio in Hoswick.

A white woman with fair hair tied back walks with her black greyhound outside the old Gospel Hall. Hoswick. She is wearing a contemporary shawl, in navy and off white, wrapped around her shoulders. She also wears a blue long sleeve t shirt, blue jeans and brown suede dealer boots.

A wrap is a shawl

We find ourselves wearing wraps a lot, as an everyday knit, all wrapped around our shoulders. Classic Scottish knitwear, but so very contemporary.

As well as everyday wear, shawls can also be a marvellous statement piece for more formal or special occasions.

A black woman with a shaved head stands in a rustic stone building with whitewashed walls in Hoswick, Shetland. She wears black tights, a charcoal and off white shawl is wrapped around her.

There is something about wearing a wrap in the shawl style that makes me feel protected.

A white woman with short, fair hair stands inside a rustic stone building in Hoswick, Shetland. She wears an off-black tunic with matching leggings and red platform boots. She wears a navy and off white oversized shawl, she has the shawl around her shoulders and holds one arm up to her shoulders.

Shape

Our wraps vary in shape and size; the textile design can influence the final shape of the wrap.

The wraps and shawls shown here – Byre, Rani and Ebb-stanes – are three of our most popular designs.

If there's anything you'd like to ask about our wraps – maybe you're buying a present and would like some advice – we'd be delighted to hear from you. Contact details here.

And if you are interested in textile history and etymology, you might like to know more about the words wrap, hap and shawl – and how there are there are variations and concurrences between Scotland and other countries. Read more here.

Thanks

With thanks to our models Jeanette Sloan, Felix Ford and Katie Leask (of Nielanell!). And to Austin Taylor, our photographer – who took many of the photos featured here.

Tagged with: design process musings
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