Gripping Yarns - in pictures

Gudrun Ludvig (left) and Gudrun Rogvadottir, founders of Gudrun & Gudrun at the annual sheep shearing for their ‘fashion harvest’
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

View from the kitchen window on the island of Koltur (number of inhabitants: two and one is part-time)
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

Faroese sheep waiting to be sheared. Sheep have coexisted with humans here since the 8th Century.
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

One of 40 hand knitters working in the Faroes for the brand. This woman is also an expert in traditional knitted blouses
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

Gudrun Ludvig’s design studio above the stockroom in the Gudrun & Gudrun Torshavn store
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

A Gudrun Ludvig piece for the Paris Biennale
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

A family affair: a young nephew of Gudrun Rogvadottir learns about shearing (in the 1990s the market for wool declined to such an extent that fleeces were burned
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

Faroese sheep
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

The Gudruns walk along the rebuilt heritage village on Koltur
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

Island life: lunch including traditional fermented sheep meat and herring prepared for the shearers
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

The resident boat dog enjoys the crossing from Torshavn to Koltur, the first day in two weeks the weather has permitted a crossing
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer

View from the islands to the North Atlantic
Photograph: Jamie Baker for the Observer