College Student designs new product for Museum and Archives shop
A joint initiative between Shetland Amenity Trust and the Shetland College has created a new range of products inspired by the St Ninian’s Isle Treasure to sell in the Museum and Archives shop. The St Ninian’s Snood, designed and made by local student Angela Irvine, combines traditional fine lace knitting with contemporary fashion to produce a range of highly decorative lace and bead hats.
When the students visited the Museum and Archives to study the treasure, Angela was inspired by the bowls: “I was drawn to the bowls immediately and sketched and studied them. The colours and patterns were so sophisticated for their age, I wanted to take these and create something modern and ‘chic’ to reflect the skill it took to make this treasure which is so important to Shetland.”
The students also had the opportunity to study the Museum and Archives extensive textiles collection. This is where Angela saw a traditional yoke jumper with beads knitted into the Fair Isle pattern, which inspired her to use beads in her design. Angela Added: “I had never seen a yolk pattern with beads knitted into it. The beads gave the Fair Isle a delicate look, which I thought would really suit my design. I learned to knit Shetland lace with beaded Fair Isle, as I wanted to take my design from paper to the final product. I am really happy with the result - a ‘chic’ modern hat that reflects the precious beauty of the bowls themselves.”
The snoods were created as part of Shetland Amenity Trust’s ongoing retail product development project - the aim of which is to develop a range of quality products which are inspired by, reflect and celebrate the Museum and Archives collections and Shetland’s heritage and culture. The snoods are a prime example of this type of product, and fitting addition to the range of high quality local products already on offer in the shop.