Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Generation game: Shetland knitwear company looks to massively increase production with new kit

(L-R): Garry and father, Peter Jamieson, with a new knitting machine for their fifth-generation business: Image: Ben Mullay.
(L-R): Garry and father, Peter Jamieson, with a new knitting machine for their fifth-generation business: Image: Ben Mullay.

New knitting machinery at Shetland’s five-generation strong Jamieson’s Spinning will allow the company to increase production by around 3,000 units per year, equating to around £126,000 in sales.

With the new Shima Seiki machine at full capacity, it will also require around 3,750lb of yarn to knit into jumpers, which will trigger an increase in yarn production from the spinning mill.

Jamieson’s Spinning operates from Sandness and has invested in the latest Shima Seiki knitting machine featuring computer numerical control (CNC) technology – a process which uses computerised kit to create knitwear.

Jamieson's knitwear
Jamieson’s Spinning  mill produces Shetland yarn in five different weights and more than 400 colours. Image: Ben Ben Mullay.

The firm has been awarded £33,600 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) for the project, enabling “whole garment” products to be knitted to speed up the production process.

Jamieson’s has specialised in wool from native Shetland sheep for five generations and has progressed to current custodians, father and son, Peter and Garry.

The business was started in the early 1890s and was set up by Robert Jamieson in Sandness, on the far west coast of the Shetland Isles.

Foreign demand for Shetland hosiery

From Robert Jamieson’s shop back in the 1890s, he bought or exchanged for goods, knitwear from the local crofters.

The knitted goods were then sold on to meet public demand for fashionable Shetland hosiery beyond the island’s shores.

Eventually in 1981, the company opened Jamieson’s Spinning, Shetland’s only commercial woollen mill. This mill, built in Sandness, completed all the stages of yarn production under one roof.

This included grading, scouring and dyeing fleece before colour blending, carding, spinning, twisting and balling to produce Shetland yarn.

Shetland sheep
Jamieson’s has specialised in wool from native Shetland sheep for five generations. Image: Shetland Islands Council.

Home production was hit by a sharp fall when the number of hand-knitters available in the islands declined due to the oil boom.

Demand for the Jamieson’s brand was increasing however, with the family among the first in the islands to harness computerised knitting technology.

New machine will free up Fair Isle garment finishing

The new Shima Seiki knitting machine will be used to produce plain knitted garments, meaning linkers can be diverted to work exclusively on the more skilled task of finishing Fair Isle garments.

The machinery will enable the company to produce more plain knitted clothes and help meet the growing demand for its products from around the world.

Picture of Lerwick
Hand-knitters in the islands declined due to the oil boom. Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire.

Jamieson’s Spinning buys Shetland wool and completes all stages of production at the mill before turning it into Shetland yarn in five different weights and more than 400 colours.

As one of the main textile manufacturers in Shetland, the company supplies a range of textiles to wholesale companies. The in-house production employs more than 30 staff in the spinning mill with more workers at the company’s retail outlet in Lerwick.

‘Steadily growing’ knitwear sales

This outlet along with online stores, sells Fair Isle and Shetland garments as well as hand knitting yarns.

Manager Garry Jamieson, said: “Sales of both our knitwear and hand knitting yarns have been growing steadily for the past 20 years.

“With HIE’s support we have been able to invest in newer technology like this whole gmachine adding to the eight older CNC machines we currently use to produce knitwear.”

Conversation