Yesterday Primary 1,2 and 4 went to the Sandness Mill to see how jumpers get made. Our topic is Sandness so we were finding out about our village.

First, when they take the wool off the sheep it goes to the mill. The wool is washed. The Shetland word for wool is ‘oo.’ The wool goes in a giant washing machine – it’s the height of our classroom, and we think it is even longer than our room, maybe into the gym hall! Next, it goes into a giant tumble drier. Next, they dye it – we loved that part! Then it gets pulled and carded. It is spun and twisted to make it strong. Then it gets put on a cone for knitting machines, with oil for the machine, or it gets washed and made into balls!

We also saw jumpers being made and made a visit to the shop where we chose our favourite colours of wool. We are going to make a wool shop in our classroom!

Thank you to everyone at the mill who made our visit so interesting!