Knit one, purl fun

From Google Street View to Sheep View.

Just a little over a year ago, the archipelago of the !>À"i#$Ã%>&`Ã#Ü>Ã#w}'Ì(&}#Ì"#Li#Ãii&°#)"*«À(Ã(&}# £n#Ì(&Þ#(Ã%>&`Ã#%"V>Ìi`#(&#Ì'i# "ÀÌ'#cÌ%>&Ì(V#LiÌÜii&# the Shetlands, Iceland and Norway, the residents «iÌ(Ì("&i`#-""}%i#Ì"#Li#vi>ÌÕÀi`#"&#-""}%i#-ÌÀiiÌ # ########6(iÜ#LÞ#VÀi>Ì(&}#Ì'i(À#"Ü&#ÛiÀÃ("&#"v#Ì'i#*>««(&}# ÃÞÃÌi*#ÕÃ(&}#>À}Õ>L%Þ#Ì'i(À#}Ài>ÌiÃÌ#&>ÌÕÀ>%#ÀiÃ"ÕÀVi#q#Ã'ii«°

“The tiny capital of the Faroes, Tórshavn, is my home, and my colleagues and I wanted to share our beautiful, green and undiscovered land with friends and acquaintances around the world via Google Street View,” says Durita Andreassen, who launched the campaign. “As Google hadn’t reached the Faroe Islands, we decided to bring the Faroes to the world in another way – Sheep View 360. We’ve chosen the ultimate eco-friendly option for our equivalent of Street View – the humble sheep. After all, the Faroes were originally known as the Sheep Islands.”

With a human population of around 50,450 – including a high number of knitters – and around 80,000 sheep, the woolly animals were the obvious choice!

Durita and her friends mounted 360-degree cameras, very gently, on the backs of sheep, plus a mobile phone and some lightweight solar panels to charge the batteries. “It weighs less than a kilo in total,” Durita assures us. “The sheep walk around as normal, grazing freely while taking photographs of the rocky cliffs and open hillsides. The pictures are sent to me, with GPS co-ordinates, and I upload them to Google Street View.”

Sheep View has provided some exceptional shots over the rugged isles, and succeeded in its aims. Just a year after the wÀÃÌ!Ã"ii«!#$Õ%Ìi`!Ü&Ì"!>!V>#iÀ>!Ü>%`iÀi`!$vv]!'$$}(i! announced that Google Street View now features the Faroe Islands! ”When we started this project, we wanted Google Street View available in the Faroe Islands so we could share our beautiful country with the world,” says Durita.

Unable to resist a few puns, Google described the Sheep View project as “shear brilliance” and supplied the Faroese with a Street View Trekker and 360-degree cameras so that residents could assist the sheep in capturing even more &#>}ið!/$$(Ã!ÕÃi`!&%V(Õ`i!Ãi(wi!ÃÌ&V)Ã]!L&)iÃ]!L>V)«>V)Ã]! cars, kayaks, horses, ships and even wheelbarrows!

“We’ve chosen the ul!mate eco-"iendly op!on for our equivalent of Street View – the humble sheep!”

are a The Faroe Islands within self-governing region the Kingdom of Denmark. brought The first sheep were Irish settlers to the islands by y. in the sixth centur Sheep are so prevalent on Faroe they even make house visits!

On any of the islands, you’re more than three never miles from the sea. The name of the islands translates from Old Norse as “the islands of sheep”.

Weather is incredibly erratic on the Faroes. “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes” is a local saying.

The Faroe Islands are famous for their rough terrain.

Wool is considered the gold of the Faroe Islands.