Fair Isle knitwear in the Shetland Museum; its knitters aren't named on the display. Photo Julian Paren, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (from Geograph).
The Fair Isle sweater
What it took directly
- documentedThe Fair Isle craze took from Edward, Prince of Wales, who made Fair Isle knitwear fashionable in 1921"1921 Edward, Prince of Wales, makes Fair Isle knitwear fashionable." Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle), history timeline
- documentedThe 1920s Fair Isle craze took from Stanley Cursiter's painting The Fair Isle Jumper, and the Prince of Wales golfing in one"In the 1920s, Stanley Cursiter’s painting ‘The Fair Isle Jumper’ and the Prince of Wales's appearance sporting a Fair Isle jumper while golfing, inspired an unprecedented Fair Isle craze that continued into the 1930s." Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle)
- documentedThe Fair Isle sweater comes from the First World War: earlier knitters made stockings, caps and scarves"The early knitters produced stockings, caps and scarves. Sweaters in the Fair Isle style as we know it today were not produced until the First World War." Victoria and Albert Museum, regional knitting features (archived)
- documentedShetland's roadside knitwear sales took from the publicity of the Prince of Wales's endorsement"Thanks to the publicity generated by the Prince of Wales’ endorsement, there was heavy demand for Shetland knitwear in those days" Alastair Hamilton, Shetland.org
- documentedFair Isle knitting's public life comes from its first appearance, at the 1851 Great Exhibition"explore the mythology that surrounded Fair Isle knitting from its first ‘public’ appearance, at the 1851 Great Exhibition." Helen Wyld, National Museums Scotland (Knitting History Forum, 2026)
- documentedFair Isle knitwear as a product comes from the earliest advertisement for Fair Isle knitwear, in 1862"1862 The earliest advertisement for Fair Isle knitwear appears." Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle)
- documentedFair Isle knitwear's reach took from William Bruce's Antarctic expedition, which packed more than 100 Fair Isle garments (1902–4)"1902–4 William Bruce’s Antarctic expedition kit includes more than 100 Fair Isle garments." Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle), history timeline
What it learned to do
- statedFair Isle knitters learned from knitting in the round on "wires" with a padded knitting belt"The traditional method of hand-knitting Fair Isle ‘in the round’ using double-pointed needles - known locally as ‘wires’- along with a special padded knitting belt, continues to this day." Elizabeth Riddiford, knitter on Fair Isle (Exclusively Fair Isle)
- statedA Fair Isle garment learned from a rule: two colours in each row, about four in the whole garment"In genuine, traditional Fair Isle knitting made on Fair Isle, two colours are used in each row with an average of four colours used throughout the whole garment." Elizabeth Riddiford, knitter on Fair Isle (Exclusively Fair Isle)
- statedOld Fair Isle reds took from bartered madder root mixed with Korkalett, a lichen found on the isle"Madder root was also bartered for and, when mixed with an orchrelechia lichen found on the isle known as Korkalett, produced the reds (known as madder) so distinctive of old Fair Isle knitwear." Elizabeth Riddiford, knitter on Fair Isle (Exclusively Fair Isle)
- documentedFair Isle colourwork learned from grounding every palette in one or two natural, undyed wool colours"Like all Fair Isle design, there was always the use of at least one, but usually two natural colours, no matter how many dyed shades were used." Dr Carol Christiansen, Shetland Museum and Archives curator, quoted on Shetland.org
The tradition it sits in
- documentedFair Isle knitwear's trade comes from island men on whalers who bartered garments for necessities"A long tradition of island men who travelled the world on whalers and bartered garments for necessities started the commercialization of Fair Isle knitwear" Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle)
- documentedThe Fair Isle pattern comes from nearby Scandinavia, on the evidence"However, there is evidence that these design influences came from nearby Scandinavia." Victoria and Albert Museum, regional knitting features (archived)
- documentedThe story that Armada sailors taught Fair Isle its patterns comes from legend: Spaniards stranded on the island in 1588"Legend has it that Spaniards stranded on the island after the break up of the Armada in 1588 taught the islanders to use the colours and patterns typical of Fair Isle knitting." Victoria and Albert Museum, regional knitting features (archived)
- documentedThe Fair Isle brand's air of authenticity comes from the mid-19th century"the qualities of authenticity, hand craft and local specificity that are today embedded in the Fair Isle brand have their origins in the mid-19th century" Helen Wyld, National Museums Scotland (Knitting History Forum, 2026)
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedFair Isle knitwear comes from its sea route between Orkney and Shetland, where Europe-America traffic passed"Fair Isle lies between Orkney and mainland Shetland on a major sea route that for centuries has seen sea traffic between Europe and America; this sea route determined the development of Fair Isle’s distinctive knitwear." Fair Isle Knitwear Ltd (Mati Ventrillon, knitter on Fair Isle)
- statedThe Fair Isle pattern, by an islander's account, comes from somewhere no one now knows"The origin of our knitting patterns is not now known." Elizabeth Riddiford, knitter on Fair Isle (Exclusively Fair Isle)
- inferredThe Fair Isle pattern comes from a patterned garment bartered in from a passing Baltic ship, perhaps"Much of this trade was with ships from the Baltic nations and this is from where the knitting could well have originated." inferred — Elizabeth Riddiford thinks it most likely and the V&A points to Scandinavia, but Helen Wyld (National Museums Scotland) notes the origins are not well understood; nothing settles it
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