Shetland is truly an inspiring place. Though undeniably Scottish, it was ruled by the Norse until 1469 and local life still reflects its shared heritage. The most northern part of Britain, it’s known for its stunning sea cliffs, ancient history and art, music and of course, its beautiful wool. Shetland wool is famous throughout the world for its unique properties and natural colours, used in traditional Fair Isle and lace knitwear design.

During our retreat, the characteristics of these islands will serve as the catalyst for our feltmaking.

On these upcoming Shetland Retreats, there will be island excursions: visits to local museums, working farms, and archaeological sites. We will visit traditional crofts, see Shetland sheep and a Shetland pony or two. We’ll meet Shetland makers and learn more about the textile traditions. Our schedule will be full, but there will also be time to wander, wonder and relax.  

I was born here, and my passion for wool was ignited here, learning to knit from my grandmother, sitting beside her peat fired stove. I look forward to showing you my favourite places people and materials and welcoming you into my summer studio in Shetland.

Registration for retreats in 2027 opens at 7:00 AM  PST, September 7th, 2027

Our Two Retreat Experiences

I offer two distinct types of retreats in Shetland: Tour Retreats and Mentorship Retreats. Both combine exploring the islands with time in the studio, but the balance between the two is different.

Tour Retreats — Explore, Discover & Create

Tour Retreats offer an even balance of experiencing Shetland and creative felt making.

We spend four days in the studio, creating a unique feltwork inspired by the landscapes, stories, traditions and textiles we encounter during our travels. Alongside this, there are two full-day tours and two evening outings, giving us plenty of opportunity to discover some of Shetland’s highlights.

The pace is easy and unhurried, with visiting and making thoughtfully woven together. These retreats are ideal if you want to experience Shetland, while learning new techniques and bringing them into a felt project embedded with memories of your travels.  

Mentorship Retreats — Develop, Design & Create

Mentorship Retreats have a stronger focus on  design, feltmaking, and developing your creative practice.

With five and a half days dedicated to studio time, there is much more opportunity to explore ideas, experiment with techniques, refine your designs, increase your skillset and receive individual guidance throughout the creative process.

We also have five part-day outings, often taking place in the evenings after our studio time. These provide opportunities to experience Shetland, gather inspiration and connect with the landscapes, stories and textiles that make the islands so distinctive.

These retreats are ideal if you want to go deeper into your own  design and feltmaking, with Shetland providing the inspiration and setting for a more concentrated creative experience.

Small Groups, Personal Experiences

Both retreat experiences are intentionally kept small, with just 6–8 participants. This creates a warm, intimate atmosphere where everyone receives plenty of personal attention and individual guidance.

The small group allows us to be responsive to your interests, needs and creative direction, while giving us the flexibility to embrace those unexpected moments and spontaneous opportunities that make a retreat truly special.

It also means we can take the time to get to know you, support your creative process and make sure you feel well cared for throughout your stay. With more space for connection, conversation and discovery, these small groups help deepen the experience—both in the studio and out exploring Shetland.

The Felting Tour Retreat

Spend 9 days/8 nights exploring Shetland, meeting special people- artists, makers, and crofters. We’ll visit the museums and historic sites, like The Shetland Museum, the Shetland Textile Museum, The Crofthouse Museum, Jarlshof, and Sumburgh Lighthouse. We’ll visit crafters and yarn producers like Uradale Farm, or Garth’s Croft. We’ll visit local makers like NielaNell, Shetland Handspun or others. As time and weather permits, we’ll visit gorgeous natural sites like Eshaness and St.Ninian’s Beach. Not only will we be creating, but we’ll be having the most full, rich experience of this unique place.

Three full days + are dedicated to felting in my summer studio, working with various forms of Shetland wool, from raw fleece, to rovings, to traditional fair isle knitwear and lace to printed cloth, as well as found treasures! We explore felting techniques to allow you to bring any or all of these into your felt projects. I will have examples of 3-4 different project suggestions: a wall hanging, a floor mat, two styles of vessels, and for those that prefer more functional items, cushions or bags. This gives you a strong range of possibilities to suit what you like to make, while new techniques will be suggested to stretch your skillset, all while exploring Shetland wool, textiles, and landscape. It isn’t a set workshop, where everyone makes the same thing. But everyone will have the same set of techniques available to them to apply to a project of their own design, with project suggestions based on my samples.

2027 Retreat Dates:

Shetland Tour Retreats: Explore and Make

May 27 – May 4, 2027

June 11 – 19, 2027

July 22- 30, 2027

August 19-27, 2027

September 9-17, 2027

Retreat Size: Maximum 6-8 participants ( depending on dates)

Retreat Fees:

• Single rooms: $7950 Canadian Dollars  (Approximately  $5730 USD, £4235  GBP, depending on current rate of exchange)
• Shared rooms: $7450 Canadian Dollars   (Approximately  $5370 USD USD, £3975 GBP, depending on current rate of exchange)
• Companion Rate (in a shared room): $5650 Canadian Dollars (Approximately $4075 USD, £3010 GBP, depending on current rate of exchange)
  • (note: there are spaces available for partners/travel companions in June and September only. At this time, when partners/spouses come on the retreats, they are included in all the tours, group outings, and have several special outings organized for them while we are felting.. We don’t have any spaces available just as accommodation only). 

What’s Included:

• Accommodation: 8 nights accommodation in a guesthouse or self catering flat in the heart of Lerwick. We have stayed in each of these during previous retreats, and both have friendly hosts and are clean,  very comfortable and close to everything in town.
  Meals:
  • All breakfasts are included. You will be able to choose from a light breakfast, right through to a full Scottish cooked breakfast.
  • All lunches are included, other than one- on your open day (6 total)
  • Six dinners are included. The only evenings that dinner is not provided is on our two main tour days, as we’ve found many people are happy to have a quiet evening that night, and/or to have a wander through town and choose the type of meal they’d like to have, after a busy day exploring. We always check to see if anyone wants to stop in at a supermarket to pick up anything, so you always have what you need. There are small fridges in all accommodation rooms.
  • Transport within Shetland
  • Workshops: 3.5 full working days, exploring Shetland Textiles and techniques to bring them into our felt projects.
  • All workshop materials, plus necessary tools. This includes raw Shetland Wool, dyes and carded Shetland wool, Shetland yarns, Shetland lace, Fair Isle knitwear pieces, plus access to fabrics and papers for printing and felting.
  • Visits to:
    • a local croft/farm
    • local designers/artists studios
    • The Shetland Museum
    • The Crofthouse Museum
    • Jarlshof prehistoric archeological site
    • Sumburgh Lighthouse
    • Outings to Eshaness and St.Ninian’s Isle. (Weather depending).
    • We may visit the Shetland Textile Museum and/or Jamieson and Smith for a talk on wool and wool sorting- always incredibly informative!)
  •  
  Travel to and from Shetland is not included. Please do visit this page for more information: Travelling to Shetland
   
   

The Shetland Mentorship Retreat

Join me in my summer studio in Shetland for 9 days/8 nights. We work with all  forms of Shetland wool, from raw fleece, to rovings and yarns, to traditional fair isle knitwear and lace to printed cloth, as well as found treasures!  All materials and tools are available for you, along with individual consultations on your project, creative process and path. There will be lots of felting, painting, dyeing, laughing, walking and relaxing! I’ll be in the studio with you to offer guidance and ideas.

The mentorship retreats are smaller, more personal; a curated visit and working time in Shetland. There is more creative time in the studio than in the Tour Retreat.  We will have 5 and a half studio days with some evening outings, plus one free day for you to explore town or other sites we may not have visited together. We want you to have the most full, rich experience while we are together in Shetland and in addition to our studio time, we have a range of field trips planned to our favourite spots like Eshaness and St.Ninian’s beach- plus more that you must see when in Shetland! 

The days are very long in the summer, so there are a lot of hours to make, explore, think, dream and plan! 

The mentorship retreats are for advanced beginners to experienced felt makers. This is about going deeper or in new directions in your work. Contact me if you have any questions about if this is the right retreat for you!

Retreat Dates:

Shetland Mentorship Retreat: Design and Make:

May 13 – 21, 2027

July 1 – 9, 2027

Retreat Size: Maximum 6 participants

Retreat Highlights:

• Individual consultations and guidance
• Access to materials and tools
• Focus on design, felting, mixing media, fabric painting/printing
• Opportunities for relaxation and exploration
• Private rooms: $6750 Canadian Dollars  (Approximately £3150 GBP, or $4175 USD, depending on daily exchange rate)

What’s Included?

Accommodation: 8 nights accommodation in a self-catering flat or comfortable guesthouse in the historic area of Lerwick. Easy access to everything in town, including Commercial Street, Bain’s Beach and shops for supplies- wool, food and beverages!

Reflections on the retreat experience from some Shetland Felting Retreat participants from a previous year. They are so lovely!

RETREAT FEES

The Felting Tour Retreat

• Maximum of 6-8 participants.
• Single rooms:  $7350 Canadian Dollars (Approximately £3950 GBP, or $5275 USD, depending on daily exchange rate)
• Shared rooms: $6850 Canadian Dollars (Approximately £3650 GBP, or $4925 USD, depending on daily exchange rate)
• Accompanying partners: Accompanying partners: $5650 Canadian Dollars (Approximately £3010 GBP, or $4075 USD, depending on daily exchange rate)
  • (note: there are spaces available for partners/travel companions in June and September only. At this time, when partners/spouses come on the retreats, they are included in all the tours and outings. We don’t have any spaces available just as accommodation only).

The Shetland Mentorship Retreat

• Maximum of 6 participants
• Single  rooms: $5350 Canadian Dollars (Approximately £2875 GBP, or $3825 USD, depending on daily exchange rate)

TERMS AND PAYMENTS

Upon receiving your registration form, we’ll send you an invoice that is payable by credit card, wire transfer, or e-transfer (Canadians only).

It  can take us up to 24 hours to see your registration and prepare your invoice, so do be patient and xpect a possible delay in receiving this confirmation and receipt. All registrations are taken based on the order in which they are received.

REFUND POLICY

If you need to cancel 121 days or more prior to the start of the trip,  you’ll receive a partial refund of 75% of the full fee.

If you need to cancel 120 days or less prior to the start of the trip, there will be no refund unless your space can be filled.

In both cases, you may know someone who would like to come in your place and I can help to find someone to take your space.. If this is possible, I will be happy to refund your fee, less $600 CAD to cover administration fees plus the payment processing fees. 

Please note that if a replacement cannot be secured, the refund fees as laid out above apply. I cannot  guarantee that a replacement will be found, but will do my best to help find one for you. 

If you are unable to attend, please let me know as soon as possible. There are many booking and commitments that have been made to make the retreat all come together, with bookings paid for in advance. This is why I must withhold a portion of the fees,  upon your cancellation, especially if your space can’t be filled on short notice.

If the organizer cancels the tour then full refunds will be made.

It is strongly suggested that you take out travel insurance (health and cancellation insurance)  to cover your airfare and retreat fees in case you are unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

TRAVELLER RESPONSIBILITY

All travellers assume the responsibility to ensure the retreat is appropriate to their physical abilities and interests. Travellers are responsible for being in sufficiently good health to undertake their trip; for obtaining the appropriate medical and cancellation insurance; for studying all pre-departure information; and for acting in a manner considerate of fellow travellers and the countries visited. Travellers assume full responsibility for all risks, including (but not limited to) any loss, injury, death or damage to them, their family or their dependents arising in connection with their participation, or the participation of their family, in the trips, and for ensuring that they have adequate insurance coverage to cover any loss.

Once the trip begins, we will do everything possible to ensure your enjoyment, and we rely on you to tell us if something is not working for you. We look forward to a successful retreat together, and we hope that you sit back, relax and get ready for a lovely experience.