Jamieson & Smith (Shetland Woolbrokers LTD) have been in business since the 1930’s as a wool broker but since the 1960’s they have also been a producer of Shetland Wool yarns and home products. They annually take in over 80% of Shetland’s Wool Clip from between 600 and 700 Crofter and Farmers, and they turn this raw wool into ranges of yarns and fibres from 1ply Cobweb up to Chunky.
Their yarns are used by many traditional and contemporary knitters and designers seeking the special qualities of Shetland Wool.  Shetland Sheep are a small but hardy breed, perfect for the harsh conditions in Shetland. These conditions give the wool its handle and strength; a Shetland fleece can have many grades within it which we hand sort and grade to get the best out of every fleece. Shetland Wool comes in a wide variety of colours and markings, and in our knitting yarn we have four ranges comprising of the completely undyed shades.

In the summer months Shetland Crofters and Farmers clip their sheep before bagging up the fleeces and bringing them into the company. They deal with flocks ranging from 10 up to 4000 Sheep and pride themselves on paying crofters fairly and quickly for their wool and appreciate the continued support receive from them. The company hand grades and sorts every fleece that comes through the doors of J&S, due to the historical breeding of Shetland Sheep there can be extremely fine wool alongside rougher grades in the same fleece and thanks to the hand grading Jamieson and Smith are able to offer the range of products using all the different grades. On an average day in the summer months they can bale 3-4 tonnes of Shetland Wool, thanks to the skill and speed of the members of staff in the Woolstore. Every couple of weeks at the peak time – approximately 20,000 kilos at a time to be processed. After leaving Shetland the fleece goes to their parent company Curtis Wool Direct who processes the fleece at Howarth Scouring, one of the most environmentally friendly scouring plants in the world. The fibre is then turned into either their woollen spun or worsted spun yarn ranges. Currently, they have nine yarn ranges from 1ply up to Chunky. They specialise in traditional Shetland 100% wool yarns  like our 2ply Jumper Weight which is famed all over the World for its use in Fair Isle knitting, and 1ply Cobweb which is used in 1ply Wedding Ring shawls. Also the company have a number of ranges which use the worsted spinning process creating soft but extremely strong yarns.

The Shop and Woolstore are their only premises based in Shetland, which is located on the outskirts of the capital town of Lerwick in the North Road, approximately a 10 to 15 minute walk from the town centre. Here you can see the raw wool being sorted and graded and have the chance to purchase from the full yarn ranges in the Shop. Also on offer are a wide selection of patterns, books and kits.