Day 1 - Sunday, 29 August 2027
Welcome to Edinburgh, Scotland
Make your own way to your accommodation.
The rest of the day is yours to discover Edinburgh at your leisure.
This evening we will meet up for our Welcome Dinner at hotel restaurant
Day 2 - Monday, 30 August 2027
Today we venture out of Edinburgh to visit Di Gilpin.
We'll stop at Comielaw Farm, located a couple miles from Pittenweem where we will spend a couple hours with Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell. Di has worked with many yarn companies over the years and created the Rowan Scottish Tweed, which was made at the Harris Tweed mill in Carloway, Isle of Lewis. She wrote a book of designs in this amazing yarn, 'Shorelines" with patterns focused on intarsia, colourwork and gansey knitting. The really exciting news is that with Sheila Greenwell, her right (and left) hand woman, they worked on a new book! It is a fabulous source book for Gansey Knitters with 10 new and exciting contemporary designs in a range of yarns including their special Lalland Lambswool, Frangipani Gansey 5ply and Rowan yarns.
Day 3 - Tuesday, 31 August 2027
Today, we make our way to Shetland where we will spend the next 9 nights. Once we arrive in Shetland we will explore the South Mainland with Chris Dyer, a local historian and archaeologist. We'll visit Jarlshof Prehistoric Nordic Settlement, the Sumburgh Lighthouse and St Ninians Beach before arriving at our Lerwick B&B.
Day 4 - Wednesday, 01 September 2027
This morning we will meet with Janette Budge for a knitting workshop.
Discover the traditional Shetland technique of using a stuffed leather knitting belt and long double-pointed needles—tools that have been used in the Shetland Islands for over 150 years. Originally designed to stabilise the needle, the knitting belt allowed for greater speed and even enabled knitters to walk while working. Beyond convenience, it offers many ergonomic benefits, such as improved knitting tension and reduced strain on the wrists, arms, and shoulders.
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll begin by working with two long double-pointed needles (30–40 cm) and a knitting belt. We'll explore various techniques for holding our yarn during Fair Isle knitting, and we'll have the option to practice knitting in the round with two colours using the belt.
After lunch we will return to the Shetland Museum for a guided tour.
Day 5 - Thursday, 02 September 2027
Today we will visit three yarn producers; Uradale, Laxdale andn Jamieson & Smith. We will have time to explore the Shetland Textile Museum before free time in the afternoon. This evening we will meet again for dinner at a local Lerwick Restaurant.
Day 6 - Friday, 03 September 2027
This morning we will visit the Shetland Mart and watch the sheep sales. Afterwards, we will visit the Textile Museum.
After lunch we'll visit local Shetland knitwear designer, Nielanell. Nielanell was founded in 2008, in the Shetland Islands, by knitwear designer Niela Nell Kalra.
Nielanell builds on the traditions and quality of Shetland-made knitwear, but follows its own design path. Through connection with place, history and world culture—and a passion for colour—they create unusual, contemporary Shetland knitwear.
Nielanell has become known and appreciated for its cornucopia of colour and texture, and their knitwear is often described as art that you can wear. Many pieces are offered in a dazzling array of colours, made in small editions.
Intriguing design narratives, from unexpected sources, invite the wearer to add their own layer of meaning or memory.
Day 7 - Saturday, 04 September 2027
Unst is as far north as you can possibly get without leaving the UK!
Glorious scenery and teeming wildlife are just two of the many reasons to visit these unspoilt remote islands. Both are part of Shetland– Unst is the most northerly of the British Isles, while across the Bluemull Sound lies Yell, famous for its birdlife and dramatic, rugged wilderness.
The Trust looks after seven parcels of land on Unst, the nearby small uninhabited island of Daaey and some croft land on Yell. The islands are of special interest to geologists, botanists and birdwatchers.
Unst is the ultimate Shetland destination - the absolute end of every Great North Road in Britain, it has the northernmost of everything. It is also one of the most spectacular, varied and interesting islands in Europe.
Unst is one of the richest Viking heritage sites in Europe, with over 60 longhouses uncovered by archeologists at Underhoull, Belmont and Hamar. At 61 degrees north, the island was said to be the ideal resting spot for Norse travellers on the trading route between Scandinavia, Greenland and Newfoundland. Many Norsemen settled in this northerly outpost, working the land and making it their home.Thanks to its extreme location, Unst has always played an important role in the nation's defences. The remains of a very early Second World War radar station can still be seen and the Ministry of Defence radar base on top of Saxa Vord, visible from much of the island. The base was reactivated in 2019 and new equipment installed.
Many Unst families are still involved with the traditional crofting life, but there's a variety of other work , including quarrying, fish farming, craftwork (fine knitwear in particular), wildlife tourism and even space exploration.
Yell is a rectangular-shaped island much of which is covered in peaty moorland and grazing sheep, who often quite happily wander out onto the open road – so drivers beware! The untouched moorland is interspersed with coastal crofting communities, the largest of which is Mid Yell.
The island has been inhabited since Neolithic times and there are 12 known broch sites. The Vikings settled during the Norse period, as is evident in placenames like Dalsetter and Gossawater. In the 17th century, Burravoe in Yell became an important Hanseatic trading post and the fishing industry was an important part of the island's economy right up to the 1950s.
More recently, in 2014, Yell became the site of the world's first community-owned tidal power generator in Bluemull Sound, in the north of the island.
Day 8 - Sunday, 05 Septemer 2027
After a sleep in, we will travel across to Bressay Island by ferry to enjoy a Sunday Roast Lunch. After lunch we will visit Garths Croft Bressay; a sustainable agricultural holding run by professional archaeologist and historian Chris Dyer, focusing on native and traditional breeds, within a landscape of spectacular natural beauty and historical heritage. This promises to be a highlight of your retreat.
Day 9 - Monday, 06 September 2027
Burra Bears is based in their small home studio on beautiful Burra Isle, one of the many amazing islands that make up the archipelago that is Shetland. A mother & daughter team who spend most of their weekdays laughing & working together to create the Original Shetland Teddy Bear.
We may have an opportunity to stop in and see Donna Smith (will be confirmed closer to our arrival). In 2015, Donna Smith was invited to be the patron of Shetland Wool Week 2015, a fantastic event held in Shetland each year in autumn to celebrate Shetland wool and the crafts associated with it. She designed the Baa-ble hat to help promote the event and she never imagined how many people would go onto knit it! That was her first ever written knitting pattern which sparked off her journey into knitwear design and pattern writing.
We'll stop for lunch on our way back in to Lerwick. The remainder of the afternoon is at your leisure.
We'll meet again for dinner at a Lerwick Restaurant
Day 10 - Tuesday, 07 September 2027
Today will be spent exploring the North Mainland. Our first stop will be a visit with Becky at Silly Sheep before making our way to the rugged coastline at Eshaness. Fish & Chips are on the lunch menu at Frankie's Fish & Chips and if you're up for dessert, we'll stop at the Original Cake Fridge.
Day 11 - Wednesday, 08 September 2027
Today, we will enjoy our second knitting workshop with Janette Budge. Janette will teach us how to 'steek'. After lunch we'll have a presentation from the world's fastest knitter.
This evening we will gather at a local Lerwick restaurant for our farewell dinner in Shetland.
Day 12 - Thursday, 09 September 2027
This morning we say goodbye to Shetland and fly back to Edinburgh. We will enjoy lunch at our hotel before making the short walk to nearby Grumpy Ginger for a yarn shopping experience. The rest of the day is at your leisure before we meet up for dinner.
Day 13 - Friday, 10 September 2027
Today, we will travel to New Lanark to visit a unique 18th century mill and UNESCO heritage site as well as the beautiful ltown of Sanquhar where we will discover the Sanquhar Pattern.
Day 14 - Saturday, 11 September 2027
Today, we say goodbye to Scotland. Make your own way to the airport for your onward flight home.
Important Disclaimer: SPJ Retreats reserves the right to alter the order in which everything is experienced, at their discretion.