Tall ships and Shetland jumpers

Friday Aug 18, 2023

A few weeks ago Shetland welcomed the Tall Ships Race, with Lerwick hosting a wonderful four day festival of sail.

We took the studio up to town and were on the quayside for the duration, right beside Shetland's historic fifie – Swan.

That's Katie, below, with Swan. Thankfully she did not jump aboard and take off on the high seas!

A white woman with her light brown hair tied back stands on the quayside in Lerwick. In front of her is Swan, a hundred year old timber boat. She is wearing a fair isle style jumper in an all-over pattern in blue and yellow, jeans and tan suede dealer boots.
In the harbour at Tall Ships Lerwick with Swan: Katie wears her Shetland Smookie jumper.

It was amazing to be surrounded by so many fine vessels and to meet people from Shetland and much further afield.

Interesting visitors

As tall ships arrived and departed there were also some wonderful sights around Shetland – Katie took the photo below from Hoswick.

A photograph taken through binoculars of a tall ship with 3 masts - its sails unfurled. The boat is offshore at Hoswick, Shetland with the shoreline and fields in the foreground.

Tenacious at anchor off Hoswick.

The ship shown here is Tenacious, of Jubilee Sailing Trust, registered in Southampton. Tenacious is the only tall ship in the world designed and built to be sailed by a mixed ability crew – her maiden voyage was in Sept 2000.

The boats in the Tall Ships Races are crewed mostly by young people: the  annual race series has been arranged by Sail Training International since 1956 and it continues to provide life-changing adventures for thousands of young sail trainees every year.

In the Harbout at Tall Ships Lerwick, many sailing boats moored with bunting and sails furled.

In the harbour

Our Smookies got a lot of attention during Tall Ships. These jumpers are of course inspired by features of the clothing worn by sailors and fishermen around Shetland.

A woman with olive skin and dark hair tied back wears a charcoal grey and white fair isle style jumper with a stand up neck. She smiles and looks to one side.

The all-over patterning is inspired by  Fair Isle ganseys; the stand up neck and tunic shape are related to sailor's smocks (of which Niela is a great fan herself).

And – of course – there is the very popular storm cuff. Whether you are tying a bowline or walking the dog these will keep your wrists warm.

Detail of fair isle style smookie jumper with purple and pink. The cuff is inset and is striped with a yellow highlight.

We have some zingy colours (isn't it interesting what the introduction of a marled yarn does?) along with quieter tones.

Detail of a fair isle style smookie jumper. Soft pale green and grey. The inset cuff is striped and has a klein blue highlight stripe.

Just drop us a line if you'd like any further information, or click through to browse the current selection of colours (most of which are one-offs!).

With thanks to all those involved in Tall Ships Lerwick, to all our visitors and to our fellow stall holders!

A white woman with her light brown hair tied back stands on the quayside in Lerwick. She turns and faces the camera, smiling. In front of her is Swan, a hundred year old timber boat. She is wearing a fair isle style jumper in an all-over pattern in blue and yellow, jeans and tan suede dealer boots.

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