My Shetland Adventure Continues

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy.  I’ve recently returned from a trip to Shetland and the beautiful island of Vaila, where I was working on further research and photoshoots for the Vintage Shetland Project book.

Arriving on Shetland - copyright Jeni Reid 2015

We had originally intended to stay a week, but this turned into just short of two, as gale force winds and high seas whipped up around Vaila preventing our departure. Our wonderful hosts, plentiful food and a huge amount of work to do meant our extended stay was in no way a hardship or a waste of time!

The stormy seas around Vaila

The limited hours of daylight at 60 degrees north latitude, caused a few challenges during the photoshoots.  However, the beautiful images captured on the visit were worth the horizontal rain and gale force winds.

Copyright Jeni Reid 2015

Here I am being held upright by the wind as we walked to the extreme western edge of the island for a very special view. Hidden inside her parka, is my daughter Charlie, who, along with her chap, Denis, accompanied us to Vaila. Charlie in her role as moving picture Director and Camera-Woman filmed behind the scenes, the photoshoot, and the incredible island of Vaila itself. This stunning footage will be edited together into a short film revealing a unique glimpse of our time on Vaila. Look out for further information of when the film will be available to view.

Denis was also with us for a very good reason, agreeing to be the primary male model in the book. Here he is somehow managing to look completely relaxed whilst surrounded by cameras. You may be aware of an additional photographer behind me in this shot and this is Jeni Reid, who took some amazing 'backstage' photos of the trip which will help decorate the book. 

Two days were also spent at the Shetland Museum Archive, where we set up a temporary studio to photograph each of the original museum pieces which are in the book. This was something I desperately wanted to be able to include in the book and thanks to the Crowd Funding campaign I have been able to do so.

Copyright Jeni Reid 2015

Exciting new research has revealed some crucial new stories and developments, which were previously unknown to me, but which are pivotal to the Vintage Shetland Project story and the completeness of the study as a whole. Whilst at the Museum, an additional garment came to light - the missing jigsaw piece in a way - that brings everything together and completes the collection. I felt it essential to include these new details. So this piece is now already being knitted and will be part of the final photoshoot.

This extra research, knitting and pattern writing is obviously going to take up more time so I have had to move the date of release to the Crowdfunders. All Crowdfunding books will still be sent out first with other pre-orders being sent out shortly afterwards. However for Crowdfunders this does mean that their books won't be despatched until early in 2016. If you are a Crowdfunder you should have been receiving regular newsletters about progress including one earlier this week telling you about this. If you've not been receiving your newsletters please check your spam box for emails from newsletter@susancrawfordvintage.com If there's nothing there either please let us know by contacting tracy@susancrawfordvintage.com 

You can also sign up for my regular newsletter by following the sign up link on my website. And don't forget you can still pre-order your very own copy of The Vintage Shetland Project here.

More news very soon, but

For now,
Susan xx

All images copyright Susan Crawford unless otherwise stated. Images not to be used without the written permission of the copyright holder.