5 Travel destinations for fibre artists

Me, knitting on a rock, at the top of Jurassic Ridge, BC. Enjoying the view and of course, knitting

Are you a knitter or crocheter with a passion for travel? If you’ve followed me for a while now, you know very well that I love to travel just as much as I love knitting and crochet!  After an epic year of travel, it’ll be a while before I’m on another big trip, but I can certainly start to compile my next bucket list of places.  In preparation, I thought I would try to niche down my destinations, by looking for places that Google recommends visiting if you’re a fibre artist- from knitters to weavers! 

There are multiple retreats and fibre-based festivals all over the world, which I have covered in a previous blog post, but once I started researching places to visit for fibre artists, I discovered multiple places with history and connections to the world of fibre and textiles. 

In this blog post, I’m going to go over the five destinations that really piqued my interest when searching the top destinations for knitting, crochet and other fibre arts. .The destinations range from the cool and rugged Shetland Islands to the warmth of New Mexico, and to date, I haven’t visited any of them. I hope to change that in the future!

So pack your needles, grab your yarn, and get ready to embark on a knitting and crochet armchair adventure. I’m sure this blog post will spark wanderlust for you, like it has for me. 

Shetland Islands, Scotland

The Shetland Islands have long been associated with knitting, in particular famous for the Fair Isle technique. Through writing this blog, I have learnt that Queen Victoria loved Shetland lace! 

Known for their rich knitting heritage and beautiful wool, the Shetland Islands are a paradise for knitters and crocheters. There’s the annual Shetland Wool Week - a celebration of “Britain’s most northerly native sheep” as well as the Shetland textile industry.

A sample Lopi fairisle sweater, from Iceland. Photo courtesy of Canva.

Iceland

Iceland is famous for its wool industry and stunning landscapes. A place where woollen outfits are a necessity rather than nice to have! The capital, Reykjavik is home to the Handknitting Association of Iceland. Established in 1977 by a group of (mostly female) knitters who wanted to increase their income by knitting and selling their special Lopapeysa (Lopi) sweaters and other garments. The Association has a shop where you can purchase these handmade items knitted with the unique Lopi yarn of the Icelandic sheep. 

While exploring all the stunning scenery I have seen Iceland has to offer, a trip in early summer would enable you to attend the annual Iceland Knit Fest, hosted at the Iceland Textile Museum in a town called Blönduós, in northern Iceland.

Taos, New Mexico, USA

Taos is home to a vibrant fibre arts community and the renowned Taos Wool Festival, held in Santa Fe. Admission to the festival is free and alongside the wool market, you can look at ‘wool animals’ such as sheep and alpacas, get involved in competitions, and enjoy live music from local musicians. It sounds too good to miss! 

If you’re there outside of the festival, you could explore the local yarn shops, including the quaint looking Mooncat Fiber and admire the influence of Native American and Spanish weaving traditions in the area. 

Peru

Evidence suggests that Peru has been in the textile production industry for over 10,000 years! It’s known for it’s alpaca and llama fibres. and their most famous knitwear has to be the colourful and intricate chullos (knitted caps).

Andean knitting often involves knitting with five, very fine, double pointed needles! Which is something to be admired, I haven’t even tried to knit with three DPNs yet, let alone five! I recommend reading this blog post by Cynthia Samake to read more about Andean knitting. 

I saw that Peru was referred to as the knitting capital of the world- now there is a claim and a huge reason for me to visit! 

A row of colourful chullos. Photo courtesy of Canva

Yorkshire Dales, England

A little closer to home for me, the Yorkshire Dales are known for their sheep farming and wool industry. They have a long history of knitting- according to Dales Discoveries, there are 30 times more people than sheep in West Yorkshire! Their website also outlines a great looking Yorkshire Dales Wool Trail, which takes visitors to local yarn producers and craft shops. 

In my research for this blog, I have also learnt about the “Terrible Knitters of Dent”. Dent is a village in the Yorkshire Dales, once a hub of knitters, known for their ability to knit astoundingly quickly, and even one-handed while completing other tasks! I don’t think it was all as nice as it seems though; knitting was a necessity for poor locals who needed to increase their income, and were often exploited for their skills, knitting at every spare opportunity. The Dales Countryside Museum talks more about the history of the “terrible knitters”, along with some samples of the knitwear they produced. 

Image a village in the Yorkshire Dales, UK. Image courtesy of Canva.

There’s so much more to say about the history of fibre, textiles, knitting and crochet or all these places, I recommend looking more into each one yourself. Let me know which destination is going to be at the top of your list! 

There’s also many more destinations, let me know if you’d be interested in a part 2!

I don’t know about you, but I’m starting that savings fund now!