Long Thread Podcast: Sissal Kjartansdóttir Kristiansen on Faroese Knitting

Knitting and wool are so essential in the Faroe Islands that in the early 1800s, exports of sweaters and socks made up about half of the economy. Today, the nation of about 55,000 people has 8+ knitwear brands, 2 active spinning mills, and 70,000 ewes. Sissal Kristiansen, the owner of knitwear company Shisa Brand, started an initiative called The Wool Islands to celebrate the heritage and potential of Faroese fiber. “We owe it to our past and our future to utilise the natural resources that we have, and on the Faroe Islands, that is wool,” she says.

The first project of the Wool Islands was a 15-minute documentary that takes viewers on a sweeping journey through the Faroese landscape, meeting shepherds, knitters, and of course sheep. Available to watch free on YouTube and the project’s website, the film welcomes you to the small country, which is located in the North Atlantic between Shetland and Iceland. Today, the economy of the Faroe Islands relies on tourism; the film shows how enticing a destination it is for knitters, spinners, and textile lovers. Sheep and knitting are everywhere in the Faroe Islands, but maintaining the quality and value of the local wool depends on visitors, locals, knitters, and consumers to recognize its unique importance.

Drawing on the natural colors produced by the native sheep, Faroese knitting patterns are characterized by graphic, highly contrasting stranded patterns that generally carry floats over less than five stitches. Sissal’s designs for Shisa Brand feature bold traditional motifs in contemporary silhouettes and scales. Some of Shisa Brand’s iconic garments feature black-and-white geometric patterns, and the ready-to-wear items are handmade by local handknitters using Faroese wool. Undeterred by wool’s reputation for scratchiness next to the skin, she celebrates the lofty texture, warmth, and silkiness of the dual-coated fleece.

Hearing Sissal speak about her home and her passion for Faroese wool will leave you yearning to wear Faroese knitwear, knit with Faroese yarn, and visit the country’s wool islands.

Links

Shisa Brand website and Instagram
Find The Wool Islands film and resources about wool in the Faroe Islands at the program’s website.
Watch a panel moderated by Isabella Rossellini featuring Sissal and other Faroese designers and producers, hosted by the Scandinavia House in April 2024 . Read Sissal’s “Legacy of Wool: Faroese Gold” in Farm & Fiber Knits.

Føroysk Bindingarmynstur (Faroese Knitting Patterns), the collection of Faroese knitting motifs documented by Hans Marius Debes, is available from Navia.
Yarn grown in the Faroe Islands is available from Navia (distributed in the US by Kelbourne Woolens.
Spinnaríið við ánna (Spinnery by the River) produces 100% Faroese yarns at a family-owned micro mill.
Snaeldan mill produces yarn and knitwear in the Faroe Islands.
Signabøgarður tógv offers 100% Faroese wool yarn.

This episode is brought to you by:

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