Shetland lace is one heritage knitting tradition within the wider world of fine lace knitting. Learn more about how Shetland lace is identified, why fine lace shawls are sometimes misidentified, and why naming lace traditions properly helps protect the stories behind them.
Fair Isle is one of the world’s best-known colourwork traditions, but not all stranded colourwork is Fair Isle. This post explains the difference between a technique and a tradition, and why accurate naming helps protect the stories behind the work.
SOK includes domestic machine knitting in its heritage work because it has a role in Shetland’s knitting story and is a skilled practice in its own right.
Living heritage is not only what is preserved. It is what is practised, taught, remembered, and carried forward.
In April 2026, SOK: Shetland’s Organisation for Knitters welcomed more than 80 attendees to ‘Mrs Hunter’s Shawl: A Return to Shetland’, a public event celebrating the life of Agnes Hunter and the lasting importance of Shetland lace knitting.
Our mission requires on-going support.
We are delighted to announce a pair of events hosted by SOK: Shetland’s Organisation for Knitters to honor the knitter Agnes Hunter and her iconic shawl.
The purposes of this Inventory align with SOK’s mission: to preserve and protect living heritage. In SOK’s case, that means the preservation and protection of Shetland Lace, Fair Isle knitting, and domestic machine knitting.
SOK: Shetland’s Organisation for Knitters has two general audiences that we serve. Are you in the right one?