Over five generations, since the 1890s, the Jamieson family have been making jumpers from Shetland wool. The company was founded by Robert Jamieson in Sandness, on the west coast of the Shetland Isles. The snug pullovers with ribbed trim collar, cuff and hemline are an emblem of Scottish heritage, harking back to the first instance of Fair Isle knitting, even earlier than the company's creation in the 19th Century, on a cliffy rock island surrounded by a mass of sea.
In 1981, Bertie Jamieson, Robert’s grandson, pursued the desire to produce 100% Shetland yarn instead of previously used 60% pure blended version. In order to achieve this, fleece needed to be graded, dyed, scoured before blending, twisting, balling and spinning it. Bertie succeeded, and since then all Jamieson’s jumpers have been made with 100% Shetland yarn. Originally Fair Isle patterns would have a lesser palette of five colours, using only two colours per row, consisting of natural undyed colours such as dark grey, pale grey, brown, dark fawn, pale fawn, unbleached white and Shetland black. Where colour was used, natural dye would be sourced from roots and plants. Today, jumpers are recreated in complicated traditional patterns and varying vibrant colour ways.
