Our third day in Shetland, and a very special one. Not only my wee boy Samuel celebrated his birthday - he turned 6 - but Monique as well. So while I phoned home early in the morning to sing Happy Birthday to my son, Monique had her own choir on the phone ;)
After a quick breakfast, we set out for Lerwick, and on the way there we decided to go for a walk along the beach first, before venturing into town.
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| Wearing my Shetland hat, which became a very welcome, warm and trusty companion |
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| The cemetery at the Knab |
We drove around Breiwick Bay and parked our car at the Knab, a natural promontory facing Bressay, where there are several relics from WWII and also a huge cemetery, with some amazing and beautiful headstones. Almost a view to die for...
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| The view from the cemetary |
Although the weather was lovely when we arrived, quickly the wind picked up and it started raining. We ran back to the car and drove back into town. Time for some birthday cake!
The Museum was an obvious choice, as DutchJan had told us that chef Mike always made the loveliest food. Unfortunately, Mike wasn't in, but his wife Lorna was. What a lovely woman!
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| Inserts in the tables. A different craft in every table. How cute! |
The museum was beautiful. Filled to the brim with items that really emcompass the rich history and heritage of Shetland. Amazing! We mostly focused on one corner of the museum, which had all the lace and fair isle knitting.
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| Delicate lace |
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| Drawers filled with even more treasures! I am so going to knit a hap shawl myself! |
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| Colour samples for Shetland yarn |
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| Who wouldn't want beautiful gloves like these! |
Before I went into town and Monique had to go to her first workshop, we chatted to some of the ladies working in the museum shop. And of course, the talk quickly turned to lace.
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| Monique admiring hand-knitted lace |
It's such a shame I left my notebook behind in Sandwick... I'm so bad at remembering names... This lady was also very impressed by Monique's shawl (see later on in the week) and we spent quite a while looking at and talking about patterns - until Monique really had to dash off...
I walked to Jamieson & Smith first, where a wool grading and sorting demonstration was going to take place. the big man of J&S, Oliver, has been working for the company for over 45 years, and there's nothign he doesn't know about wool. It's great listening to his stories, even though we couldn't always understand his Shetland brogue ;)
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| Oliver grading the fleeces |
After the demonstration, I took the opportunity to go back into town, visit a few exhibitions and do some shopping! First, I had to buy a gift for Monique, and as it was at the top of her list, this is what she got from us. A knitting belt, used by almost every Shetland knitter you see on the island, and handy for both lace and fair isle knitting. I bet Monique will give an update on how useful she finds it soon!
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| The knitting belt |
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| My stash |
My stash from the Monday: three balls of Heritage Yarn (the yellow and burgundy), a bag with Shetland combed top and two balls of Heather yarn.
I thoroughly enjoyed walking about in Lerwick...
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| The view out to Bressay from Fort Charlotte, built to scare off the Dutch. It obviously did not work ;) |
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| And back inland... you can just about see the communications tower at the southern tip of Bressay, south of Lerwick |
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| The beautiful shop display at Ninian |
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| A beautiful woven coat-skirt combo from organic Shetland woven tweed. |
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| This lovely old lady, she must have been over 80, was really working the loom. I watched her work and chatted with her until closing time at the Bod of Gremista. What a joy! |
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| A prize-winning lace knit dress, with beads. Beautiful! Again at the Bod of Gremista. |
After a quick dinner, it was back to town for the trunk show by Kate Davies.
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| Some of the garments designed by Kate Davies |
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| Kate and Cathy admire Monique's 'Across the beach' |
On the way home, we decided to quickly pop in at the TextIsles Pop-Up Shop, just across the bay from our chalet in Scalloway. A very talented bunch of girls, working in all different textile media, showcasing their work and pouring lovely tea - with cakes and macarons. Yum!
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| Another great loom on display, an automatic, 28/32 shaft. Wow. |
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| I have a feeling there will be some knit cushions entering our house too... |
After coming home, we compared stories, watched each other's photos, and then just collapsed into bed. What an exciting day!
Comments
Thank you for the gift, indeed I did try it already, but I have to practise some more.
When I get to my entry about Voe, you'll see yourself with the Hap shawl!
Wat hebben jullie veel gedaan en gezien. Echt de week optimaal benut. Kan je heimwee hebben naar een land/plaats waar je nooit gewoond hebt?? Ik heb heimwee naar de Shetland eilanden!
Dank je wel voor je prachtige verslagen!