Oh boy. This re-entry has been a bit of a bitch, and it took me by surprise. Usually I get the jet lag flying west to east, but I had no real problems when we got to the UK. Coming home has been a different story, and the past three days have been mostly a lost cause. I am finally starting to feel human again, which is a good thing, since I have to go to work tomorrow. I guess as problems go, jet lag isn’t the worst thing to have, though!
Our trip to Scotland was lovely. We saw several different parts of the country while we were there, and I could easily have spent a whole vacation (or “baycation” as one of John’s grandsons calls it!) in any one of them. Here’s the outline of where we were:
Manchester, England, for two days, visiting good friends that we met on a cruise several years ago.
Edinburgh, for two nights and one full day.
Nairn, on the Moray Firth, for three nights.
Skye, for two nights.
Onich, near Fort William, for two nights.
Glasgow for two nights.
It would be impossible for me to pick a favorite. I enjoyed the more rural places that we visited very much, but also enjoyed Edinburgh, and Glasgow was a complete surprise. It’s perhaps not the prettiest of cities, but has a ton of cultural things to do, and good museums as well as some terrific restaurants. I am still sorting through photos, so I’ll just show photos for now of what I know you are interested in: the wool!
Yes, there were sheep! This fellow was grazing near one of the two yarn “shops” we found. We were driving down this road:
And saw this little building:
I don’t have any photos of inside the shop, they were on John’s camera, and he hasn’t downloaded them yet (long story involving a dead hard drive on his Mac when we got home). It was a tiny shop, the lady inside raises sheep and has all sorts of wooly things for sale. She also had a lovely compost toilet out back that I desperately needed at that point, having had an ale for lunch. So I had to buy some yarn, right?
She raises Gotland sheep for their wool, and that’s what this is. It’s not very photogenic, but it’s the prettiest natural grey wool, light fingering or heavy lace weight, take your pick, and about 500 grams worth. It will make a huge shawl.
Next stop on the wool trail was here:
This is the view from the second shop, Shilasdair. Sorry about the crappy photo, it was a fairly moody and murky day. Here’s the shop and some photos of inside.
Those are some lovely handknit sweaters on the wall. I really like the one on the upper right (click to embiggen).
That one is from a tiny “museum” behind the shop. The owner dyes all the yarn with natural dyes. She wasn’t in that day, so I didn’t get to see the dye shop.
And here’s what I bought.
Beautiful, eh? The red on the right is a fingering weight, the rest is worsted weight. John picked the green for a hat/mittens, the others are mine mine mine.
OK, that’s enough for now. I need to get organized for work tomorrow. I’ll post more photos as I get to sorting them. And I might even have some knitting and spinning to show next time!
One more photo. This was part of the coastline of Skye:
All that yarn is truly droolworthy! During our trips to Scotland and Ireland we were pretty much skunked at finding yarn shops. Maybe next time I’ll know where to look. Welcome home.
There are 2 sweaters in that photo that I love: the one in the middle row that is cabled in ecru & shades of brown & the cabled one that is only half in the picture on the right- off white, pink & gray. I am also fascinated by the one on the left with what looks sort of like fair isle bands but going in more than one direction. I’m curious to know how it was knitted (I don’t particularly like the result – it’s not something I( would like to wear but I would love to know how it was knit!). Looks like you had fun.
Also – I covet the gray lace/fingering weight yarn. I love natural undyed sheepy colored wools.
Welcome back! I particularly love that last photo. 🙂
Here’s hoping you wake up recovered from jet lag tomorrow…
Welcome home! The scenery is lovely, especially the last pic here of the falls. The yarn is even more luscious…esp. the gray wool. You could make a really large shawl or a regular sized one with fingerless mitts to go with it. Of course, if you decide you don’t want it after all, I’m here. Just sayin’………….. LOL
Hope your jet lag is nonexistent by work time.
Welcome back and good luck with your first day at work tomorrow!
Your trip sounds fabulous and I hope you’ll manage to post more photos.
Wow beautiful scenery and yarn! I wish there was a pill we could take to prevent jet lag. Hope re-entry isn’t too bad.
Welcome back…I so want to go back to Scotland, and your lovely pics are tiding me over for now.
Wonderful pictures, and beautiful yarn. I particularly enjoyed the photo of the dye materials. Very interesting!
Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! My head is exploding, there’s so much to comment on. Look how thick that sheep’s fleece is although it’s not long yet. I love the sweater in the upper left corner and I agree, how was the one with the swooping fair isle knit. It’s all just so lovely. I hope your jet lag clears soon. 🙂
Oh oh oh!! Love it all. Our big city was London… next time it’ll definitely be Edinburgh and/or Glasgow! Hope you’re feeling with it again soon. Can’t wait for more!
Welcome back! I love all the photos! 🙂
Welcome back! Thank you for sharing your wonderful pictures/trip. Love the sweaters in the upper left and right corners of the pic!
Great pictures – it’s just what I dreamed it would be like.
Such amazing scenery! I guess their wool culture is not as well merchandised as our is. I love what you found. I’m a Gotland fan these days, and the second store looked like a treasure trove.
I love that sweater on the upper right, too. Did you see raw wool on the fencing out in the country? Was it whate or what? When I was in Ireland, I would hop out of the car just to look at and smell that clean fresh wool. I live in the very dirty and dusty Central Valley of California, where it never rains and any wool that is caught up on a fence is dirty and oily, I shear sheep and let me tell you, it is one icky job, Irish shearing? A pure pleasure.
As lovely as Scotland is, Ireland is just breathtakingly green and clean…and in that they speak English sort of, it is fun to strike up a conversation with just about anyone.
Glad it was a trip dreams are made of.