College Staff Design Garments for Scalloway Jarl’s Squad

Staff based in Shetland College UHI’s Textile Facilitation Unit have been working on a special project in recent months – a set of knitted garments for the Scalloway Fire Festival Jarl’s Squad.

Jarl Bryan Garrick, and his wife Alison, visited the textiles unit to discuss ideas for the project, aware that staff had provided garments for the Jarl’s Squad in 2014. With this guidance, and some inspiration from the internet, college staff began work on a green, grey and silver design which would fit in with the striking colour scheme of the other outfits to be worn by the squad.

There were seven girls in the squad - each were provided with a knitted dress, wrap and matching hood. The three youngest members (some as young as 18 months old) were provided with dresses and large blankets. The squad had researched a traditional Celtic motif which they wanted included in the design, and shared some imagery which had been engraved on their axes and shields. These designs were knitted with a light grey yarn which gave a nice contrast against the dark green of the garments. A small amount of silver yarn was knitted in with the grey, which caught the light and helped the designs pop out.

Staff used the college’s twelve gauge Shima Seiki knitting machine, the only one of its type in Shetland, which was perfectly suited to the complex patterns requested by the Jarl. All the items were all knitted in lamb’s wool, which helped keep everyone warm during the day’s proceedings.

Roisin McAtamney, Assistant Textile Technician, led the project and was extremely happy with the finished results:‘this project was highly enjoyable – it was great to have creative freedom when designing these garments and seeing the final designs collectively showcased on the day.’