Fair Isle Knitting

Each major claim carries one of three labels. established means supported by primary records, official bodies or several independent reliable sources. shared means the core fact is sound but sources disagree on details, dates or interpretation. traditional means widely repeated but not traceable to a primary or independent source.

The shipwreck is thoroughly documented by archaeology. The knitting connection is not. The weak point in the history is the early period: records of knitting on Fair Isle before the 19th century do not say whether the garments were patterned. Surviving patterned pieces are much later than the wreck.

The island and the technique

established Fair Isle lies between Shetland and Orkney and is administered as part of Shetland. Its knitting is a form of stranded colourwork. Each row uses only two colours; the colour not in use is carried loosely across the back of the work. Patterns run in horizontal bands of motifs, including crosses, diamonds and eight-pointed stars.

established The colours came partly from Shetland's sheep, whose wool naturally ranges from white through greys and browns, and partly from dyes: madder for red, indigo for blue, and lichens for reds, browns, oranges and purples. Synthetic dyes appeared in the 1850s but were used only in small quantities.

The Armada wreck

established In 1588, after its defeat in the English Channel, the Spanish Armada was driven around the north of Scotland by storms. El Gran Grifón, a 650-ton supply ship built at Rostock and flagship of the supply squadron under Juan Gómez de Medina, anchored off Fair Isle and was driven ashore at Stroms Hellier on 27–28 September. It struck the cliffs and broke up, but most of the crew escaped. They were later sent home to Spain. Divers led by Colin Martin found the wreck on 9 June 1970, and excavations recovered guns, shot and a silver coin of Philip II, now in the Shetland Museum.

Did the Spanish teach the islanders to knit?

traditional The famous story says the shipwrecked Spaniards, in gratitude, taught the islanders their colourful patterns. There is no evidence for it. In a 2004 paper for the Textile Society of America, the historian Deborah Pulliam treated the story as a mix of folklore and history. She argued that the colour patterning developed in northern and eastern Europe, comparing Fair Isle work with the knitting of the Baltic states and eastern Europe, and suggested that some motifs may derive from Italian embroidery. The Victoria and Albert Museum also notes evidence of design influence from nearby Scandinavia. No patterned Fair Isle garment survives from anywhere near 1588.

How old is Fair Isle patterning?

shared Islanders knitted for trade long before the 19th century, and early records mention knitwear of "variegated colours". But those records do not say whether the colours were patterned or simply striped or natural. Surviving patterned pieces date from the 19th century, when knitters made stockings, caps and scarves. According to the V&A, Fair Isle-style sweaters were not made until the First World War. The style is therefore a genuine island tradition, but it is not the ancient art it is often said to be.

The 1920s and fame

established Fair Isle sweaters became fashionable in the 1920s, partly because the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, wore one for golf. Natural shades of brown, grey and white were especially popular. Shetland knitters responded by returning to patterned work. Fair Isle has stayed in fashion ever since, and the name is now used worldwide, loosely, for almost any multicoloured stranded knitting.

• Fair Isle knitting never uses more than two colours in a single row.
• Red came from madder and blue from indigo; lichens gave browns, oranges and purples.
• El Gran Grifón was built at Rostock on the Baltic, not in Spain.
• Most of the wrecked Spaniards survived and were sent home.
• The wreck was not found until 9 June 1970.
• Fair Isle-style sweaters were first made during the First World War.
• The Prince of Wales made Fair Isle fashionable by wearing it for golf.
• "Fair Isle" is now used loosely for many kinds of stranded knitting.

• Do not say Spanish Armada survivors taught the islanders Fair Isle knitting.
• Do not call Fair Isle patterning an ancient art; surviving patterned pieces are 19th-century.
• Do not call every stranded colourwork garment "Fair Isle".
• Do not say most of the Armada crew died on Fair Isle; most escaped the wreck.