Woolly wonders set for spotlight as Highland festival gets down to the knitty gritty
A FIVE-day Highland knitting festival is expected to pull in visitors from around the world and create a significant tourism spin-off for the local area.
Loch Ness Knit Fest, which has just published its 2019 programme, has grown from strength to strength over the last three years, establishing itself as a must-see celebration of all things yarn.
Record numbers flocked to last year's event from over 22 countries.
This year, it returns to the Inverness Leisure Centre from October 16-20 promising an enhanced five-day programme with over 20 workshops, more than 60 vendors in the marketplace, demonstrations, entertainment, sightseeing tours and evening events including Highland feast,a ceilidh and a knit along with Danish designer Christel Seyfarth.
Christel Seyfarth said “I’ve attended Loch Ness Knit Fest since the beginning in 2016 and it’s always such a joy. I bring a significant group of Scandinavian knitters with me each year and they’ve simply fallen in love with all that Scotland has to offer. We’re really excited to start planning our trip for this year’s event”.
The event was first inspired by another knitting festival, Strikkefestival in Denmark. Strikkefestival has been running for a decade and attracts more than 7,500 attendees from across the world to the small Danish island of Fano each year, boosting the local economy by more than £4million.
Festival director, Cecilia Grigor, said “When we first started this event we never imagined it would grow to this size and pull in so many different nationalities from all over the world. It’s quite incredible. We’re delighted to welcome so many visitors to the area and offer them a truly memorable experience. Although it’s all about the wonders of knitting and yarn, the cultural elements of the event help to give people a good dose of highland hospitality. We bring together a mix of traditional and contemporary music, spectacular Highland dance, tasty food and a warm welcome”.
“We encourage locals to join like-minded yarn lovers from all over the world as we come together in October for a spectacular international celebration of knitting”.
A range of teachers will be sharing their expertise and inspiring those that attend Loch Ness Knit Fest workshops, here are a few to look out for.
Shetland born, Elizabeth Johnston, teaches spinning and knitting and is also a successful author. Learn how to spin with Elizabeth in her sell-out introductory class or join her improvers class to advance your skills and techniques. For those looking to make something you can wear and show off to family and friends, she’ll also be teaching how to create a Shetland hap and knitting Shetland lace.
John Glenn presents a knitting podcast called Beardychiel’s Knitting Banter as well as organising international knitting retreats and producing his own Caithness Croft Yarn. He’ll be teaching an introduction to brioche, how to create a simple beanie and Tunisian crochet.
Deborah Gray started knitting in the 1970s and speaks of her ‘fascination with the whole process of transforming raw materials into beautiful useable fabrics’. Deborah will be teaching how to design and knit colourwork bunting and how to knit socks two-at-a-time.
Hazel Tindall particularly loves knitting Fair Isle and she was previously crowned as the world’s fastest knitter. She now writes knitting patterns for other knitters to follow. You can experience knitting with two colours in a row at her popular introduction to fair isle yokes class and how to swatch with purpose.
Stephanie Hoyle will teach an introduction to Gansey knitting. Ganseys were working garments worn by fishermen so designed to be hard wearing and warm.
Tania Ashton Jones returns to Loch Ness Knit Fest with her sell-out class in Dorset Buttony techniques. She loves sourcing a variety of different yarns and choosing a design to best showcase the nature of the yarn.
Amy Davidson, of the woolly business named Fluff, ventures north from East Lothian to teach for her Loch Ness Knit Fest debut. She’s an advocate of the arts and had found that needle felting in particular is a great way to help with anxiety and stress. Join her at the painting with wool or felt your pet brooch workshops.
On top of all this, festival guests can browse the marketplace to stock up on their favourite yarn at the ‘largest pop-up wool department store’ in the Highlands. The crafting village will also showcase boutique craft businesses and top hobby-crafters who will offer demonstrations on loop and advice to help bring crafting visions to life.
For tickets and more information about Loch Ness Knit Fest, please visit www.lochnessknitfest.com.
