Fancy a knitting holiday? Come to Shetland for purls of wisdom

IT is Scotland’s go-to destination for tourists seeking a Viking experience.

But the Shetland Isles are now seeing a boom in ‘knitting tourism’ as a firm offers an immersive week of learning about Fair Isle jumpers – at nearly £2,000 a head.

Islander Misa Hay is offering her specialist knitting and hiking tours of scenic Shetland to small groups of knitting enthusiasts – and they are selling out.

Miss Hay, who is originally from the Czech Republic, fell in love with the islands on a school exchange in 1999.

After 15 years living on the archipelago, she is now sharing her love for its greatest craft to knitters from as far away as Japan, Texas and Tasmania.

Shetland Wool Adventures, Miss Hay’s niche tour company, charges £1,790 per person – more than £250 a day – for a week of knitting and walking in the islands.

She said: ‘They come through the summer because it is cooler here.

‘One of the attractions of coming here is that they get a chance to wear the knitwear they can’t put on at home because it is too hot.’