Close-knit: exploring how knitting has shaped the historical and enduring relationships of the Shetland archipelago.

Hannibal, Claire

Abstract

By considering the archipelago as a dynamic form, this study examines historical and contemporary examples of island to island ways of being, knowing and doing. Shetland hand knitting offers a contextual backdrop to explore the shaping of historical and enduring relationships between the Shetland Islands. In positioning the Shetland Islands as mutually constituted and inter-related, the study offers an examination of the Shetland archipelago in its own right, rather than as told in relation to the metropolitan centres of Great Britain. Such a perspective affords a more nuanced understanding of some of the smaller islands that constitute the British Isles.

Citation

HANNIBAL, C. 2023. Close-knit: exploring how knitting has shaped the historical and enduring relationships of the Shetland archipelago. Irish journal of anthropology [online], 26(1): islandness, pages 80-97. Available from: https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/irishjournalofanthropology/article/view/4399

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 11, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2025
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Nov 20, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 28, 2023
• Journal: Irish journal of anthropology
• Electronic ISSN: 1393-8592
• Publisher: Anthropological Association of Ireland
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Keywords: Knitting; Shetland; Archipelago; Island; Barter; Wool week
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2152413
• Publisher URL: https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/irishjournalofanthropology/article/view/4399