Knitwear companies in Shetland are failing to fulfil orders due to a shortage of knitters.
Reported by the Telegraph, the garments which are highly prized in Japan are under threat because skilled knitters are a ‘dying breed’.
Doreen Brown, of Shetland Collection, the largest hand knitting company in the islands, said: “We have two dozen knitters but they are a dying breed,” she said. “Our oldest is 94 and the youngest is 60 and we can’t get any more.”
Turnover in the sector, which has 150 full-time staff and hundreds of knitters working from home, dropped from £4 million in 1996 to £2.5 million in 2003.
Higher wages offered by the oil industry are blamed, claims the report.
Reported by the Telegraph, the garments which are highly prized in Japan are under threat because skilled knitters are a ‘dying breed’.
Doreen Brown, of Shetland Collection, the largest hand knitting company in the islands, said: "We have two dozen knitters but they are a dying breed," she said. "Our oldest is 94 and the youngest is 60 and we can't get any more."
Turnover in the sector, which has 150 full-time staff and hundreds of knitters working from home, dropped from £4 million in 1996 to £2.5 million in 2003.
Higher wages offered by the oil industry are blamed, claims the report.
