Shetland - Days 7 and 8 - October 12 and 13

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 background (the heap was HUGE...).

After an introduction of the carding process, we got to grips with the different types of carding machines...

Even an electrical machine, which churned out humungous batts. I was too busy with my mind wanderings and spinning that I didn't even get a go ;)

And the machine which I've got at home as a Junior edition, the Louet. This was my fave to work with (funny that...).

It was great fun playing colours, sparkles and different textures...

We learnt lots about layers, folding, colour accents and the use of different types of materials.

And as I'd brought my wheel, I could spin up some of the carded batts straight away...

After a lovely lunch and more playing about, I went home with a head full of ideas and a table full of silly batts and some spun yarn... ;)

Apart from one silvery white one with bits of blue, it's all spun up now!

Green tweed: my fave

Closely followed by Sheherazade

Play

Sari Cored

Palaver

and Fluffy Core

This was so much fun! I spent lots of time just looking at colours and feeling textures, and I brought some fun stuff home to experiment with. I've even started scouring the house and thrift shops for fabric to rip into strips and use, haha... More carding to come soon!

And then... after taking ages to fit everything into our bags and suitcases (the words 'This is HOPELESS!!!' were muttered several times), a very short night's sleep and an early rise, we had to head back to the airport and home...

The wind had picked up a bit, and we wanted to take advantage of this to take some pictures of the sea. And for the first time that week, we smelt the sea! 

There was even a sheep that let me pet him. Well, running away is a bit hard when you're tied down... 

We also made a stop-over here, at St. Ninians...

This was a-ma-zing! We walked across, did some beach combing, reflecting on our week, and tried to spot seals. And then we turned around and this happened... 

How cool was that!!! The seal had been keeping an eye on us, and as soon as we were far away enough, he just quickly crossed the beach... Leaving only his footsteps behind...

And that was it... after dropping off the car, a coffee at the airport, it was time to board our private plane...

Dreamily look at the clouds and the sun...

Get slightly flabbergasted at the fact that Lady Gaga was singing at Glasgow Airport... The same 6 songs every half hour. Poor girl...

Poor us. A four(!!) hour transfer...

And then we were home again! With lots of memories, photos, YARN, and most of all, lots of inspiration after meeting all those other wool lovers in Shetland. WE MISS YOU!!!