Frisian Frillies

And then the week was nearly over... We'd made lots of trips, saw beautiful knitting, and only had 1 more full day for more experiences and activities. For Monique, this meant a trip to Eshaness , for me, it meant a bus trip down to Sandwick. Taking bus trips abroad, is always scary in the beginning, but once you're on the bus, and you realize that everyone else (well, the two other persons apart from the two that are obviously going to the airport) is heading the same way, it's fine! We were going to Sandwick for a carding workshop, given by the endlessly enthusiastic and energic, very talented and creative Niela: and pattern, knitting, dyeing, spinning and carding diva Liz: Some of the participants had spent the previous days up to their elbows in dye, but for those who hadn't, there was plenty of fiber deliciousness for use. Well, not the stuff in the foreground (that was Niela's (core)spun and carded stuff), but the masses and masses in the backgro...

And before you know it, two weeks have gone by... Time for another Shetland update! I've also got lots of knitting news from the home front, but that will have to wait until after I finish this Shetland trip... ;) In the meantime, I've also written a few pieces on this trip (in Dutch), which will be available to read soon. More about that when I know more! But without further ado: the trip to Unst. This was definitely the trip that we looked forward to (and dreaded) the most. Three hours in the car, two ferries... We were crossing our fingers, hoping everything would work out. We set out with glorious weather, me driving, Monique with her Krell pill in hand to combat the motion sickness. The journey up went like a dream. Again, we stopped here and there to check out the beautiful scenery. We arrived at the first ferry on time (we had booked this one in advance), and after a short wait, we could drive on. Right next to the fuel truck! Monique thoroughly enjoyed he...

Today, Monique and I jumped in the car for a visit to the spinning mill in Sandness. We were really looking forward to this trip, as our friend DutchJan had already said that the west of Mainland Shetland is just amazingly beautiful. But, before we set off, we went and did a small shop, as we didn't know exactly what time we'd be back, and had a walk through Lerwick again, to buy some more yarn, postcards, stamps etc... Someone had asked us before: 'Have you seen the selkies at Tesco's?' And truth be told, we hadn't even looked there! Right in front of the store, across the road, in Breiwick bay, there they were: suntanning away, relaxing and letting their bellies hang out. Have a look how many you can find in the picture! Their camouflage is amazing! In town, we had lunch at Fort Charlotte, being watched by a very hungry seagull... He looked as if he wanted to just rip the cheese sandwiches out of our hands! But to no avail, we were hungry ourselves, so h...