SOK: Shetland’s Organisation for Knitters has two general audiences that we serve.
The first is our local community. Over the coming years, we hope to record the histories and skills of our older knitters before they are lost. We also want to provide spaces for local knitters to gather to learn traditional skills using traditional methods. We also plan to offer support for those who want to enter knitting-related occupations as tutors, designers, speakers and support roles like editors, pattern graders, etc. And, of course, we hope to serve as a unified voice for Shetland knitters to provide clear information to those outside of Shetland about our living heritage skills and how to use and represent them properly.
And our second audience is those who live outside of Shetland and want help finding accurate, reliable information about our living heritage skills.
While there is some overlap, these two groups need different types of communication for our differing services.
The general Audience
If you are a member of either audience, we encourage you to join the general mailing list, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. All of our information about public events will be shared to those groups, as well as our newsletter which will talk about what we’ve been doing, what’s coming up, and area knitter and company spotlights.
The Local Audience
If you are local to Shetland or have strong, direct ties to Shetland, you should also join our mailing list for local people and follow the local practitioners Facebook group.
What do we mean by a strong, distinct tie to Shetland?
Some examples of who we consider to have strong, direct ties to Shetland:
If you were born and are currently living in Shetland, whether you are a knitter or not.
If you have moved to Shetland and are learning to knit or just curious about local history.
If you were born in Shetland and are currently elsewhere, but still come home to Shetland regularly and would like to join us for a meet-up when you’re here.
If you are a Shetland-born tutor who currently lives away but would like to take part in our trainings and events.
Some examples of who we do not consider to have strong, direct ties to Shetland:
If you lived in Shetland for many years and have left and don’t plan to return multiple times a year.
If you have visited Shetland in the past and plan to visit again.
If you teach a form of Shetland knitting abroad, even if you learned it through multiple workshops with Shetland tutors or on visits to Shetland.
Why does this matter?
The information shared on the local list may rarely include personal information that local people do not want shared with the wider world.
At times, we may be working on local initiatives that require the input of local voices, and participation from those outside of the community can muddy the process or silence local voices.
The mailing list for locals is hosted by our email service for free because it is small. If the list was open to anyone from anywhere, we would need to use our charity’s funds to pay for it instead of using them where they can be of better use. We already pay for the general email list, which is where we share all the information we have that is relevant to those outside of Shetland.
To ensure that the local communication channels remain local, we asked those who sign up to share their postal code or an explanation of their connection to Shetland.
Our promise to you
We do not want to flood people with information they don’t need, which is another reason why we’ve divided our communications. As we choose what information to share, we will ensure that the general list is informed of all the information about events, gatherings, and initiatives that everyone is welcome to be part of, including those who are visiting Shetland or who may be able to access it online. We want visitors to be part of what we are doing, but we also need space for the community to be the community.
Join Us Through the links below
For those with an interest in our work, including local people:
Join our general mailing list.
Follow us on Facebook.
Follow us on Instagram.
For those with a strong, direct tie to Shetland:
Join the mailing list for locals.
Join the Facebook group for locals.