Scottish Group Seeks Links with Manitoba Knitters and Dancers

Timespan, a museum and art gallery based in Helmsdale, Scotland, is keen to develop a joint project with knitting groups and Scottish dancing groups in the Winnipeg area. The people of Sutherland would like to share their music, dance and knitting traditions with the people of Manitoba to explore shared histories and learn about new ideas and themes that have been developed over the last 200 years, in light of the 200th anniversary in 2012 of the arrival of the Selkirk Settlers at the Red River Settlement.

Join the ‘Sock Sampler’ project of the Helmsdale Knitting Group and learn to knit old and new stocking patterns, i.e. one stocking knitted in Scotland and the other knitted in Manitoba. They will send you a parcel of knitting yarns, patterns and stories.

Local dance groups can become involved in collaborative song and dance exchange projects where they can learn to sing old Sutherland songs, including ‘Old Kildonan’ and the ‘Kildonan Gaelic place names song’, as well as the traditional dances of the old Scottish villages halls. If you or your group would like to participate please contact Jacquie Aitken at archive@timespan.org.uk.

To find out all the latest news and event information, visit the project blog at:

Kildonan Clearances Trail (talk and discussion presented by Jacquie Aitken)

Museum Without Walls (Twitter feed)