Monday morning we woke up to snow on the mountains and set out on our trusty coach to visit the newly rebuilt Scottish Crannog Centre on the banks of Loch Tay where a cold wind whipped over the water into the village.  We tried to keep warm as we explored the weaving, spinning, blacksmithing, and other demonstrations in the open thatched village highlighting early Scottish civilization. A tour of Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery in the afternoon may have changed some of our preferences for whisky, or at least gave us a better understanding of what to look for when choosing a wee dram. I learned that 70% of the flavor comes from the cask, and that it must be aged for at least 3 years and 1 day to be considered Scotch. 

Tuesday took us to the Highland Folk Museum in Perthshire where we explored the open-air museum as well as their vast collection of textiles and weaving/spinning equipment. We headed north from there for a quick stop at the Tomatin distillery shop, and then on to our next hotel in Ross-shire, a quaint, family-run country house hotel.  

We were all excited to have a pop-up shop put on that evening by Julie of Black Isle Yarns. Julie and knitwear designer Emily of Flutterby Knits gave us a fascinating talk about their individual businesses and the process of collaborating on their new book Perspectives (available on the Black Isle website). Julie’s naturally dyed yarns were luscious. I’m not much of a knitter, and I don’t usually buy more than “souvenir” yarn while I’m traveling, but Julie had some yarn that spoke to me and I’m going to try to knit a vest pattern from the book. I was lucky enough to sit across from Emily at dinner. She is a talented designer and gifted storyteller, and I appreciate that she designs and advocates for plus-sized models. She is also a hoot.  She was enthralling us with stories about how  she decided to get out of her comfort zone and try a kayak trip.  

You can  follow her on Instagram @flutterbyknits to get the gist of the story. This was the first hotel with a bathtub, so after shopping and dinner I took a nice long soak while listening to the drizzle outside.

On Wednesday, after a quick stop at a local weaving shop and Eileen Donan Castle, we were off for the Isle of Skye, part of the Inner Hebrides archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. We took the bridge and landed for a short stop in Portree before heading to our next hotel, about 10 minutes north. This was the longest we were staying anywhere so we took the opportunity to wash out a few things on the portable clothesline I brought.  I didn’t fully appreciate how much longer it takes clothes to dry in the humid, drizzly climate than it does in Colorado, so fortunately all of the hotels had heated towel racks which greatly speeds up the process.

We had been blessed with beautiful weather and only passing showers up to this point, but Thursday woke us up with wind, sleet and unrelenting rain.  Of course, this was the day we were going to spend a good part of the day outside with Yasmin and Trevor at Island at the Edge croft, a farm specializing in raising rare breed sheep, including Black Cheviot, Hebridean and the North Ronaldsay (a seaweed eating sheep), and Highland coos (cows). Fortunately, we had all brought warm and waterproof gear so we were able to get out and see the animals, although we probably cut it shorter than we would have on a nice day.  However, it gave me a real respect and appreciation for the conditions these farmers work in for much of the year.  In the winter, they only have sun for about 6 hours of the day and the animals get trained to move about and get fed by flashlight. We squeezed into Yasmin’s shop to hear about the traditional gansey sweater she made for her husband, and took a little time to shop, as you can imagine! She then took us down to her home by the waterfront and fed us hot fish soup, homemade bread, desserts,and hot drinks.  I got the “naughty” mug (think Jamie Fraser, a kilt, and a windy day). We tried our hand at her spinning wheels, and thoroughly enjoyed their company.  I didn’t want to leave.  We had planned to explore some of the dramatic scenery on the north of the island, but given the blustery weather, we decided to head back to the hotel.  

    

We were fortunate that Lindsay, our Fiber Ambassador, was prepared with stitchery kits just in case this kind of thing happened along the way.  She runs a business called The Border Tart which specializes in all things stitchery.  She gave us some tips on piecing in the Japanese Boro style, gave us fabric and needles, and let us spend an enjoyable cozy afternoon stitching and drinking tea. 

We woke up to blue skies on Friday and headed to explore Dunvegan Castle on the northwest side of the island, stopped for a quick lunch before heading back east and north past the iconic Old Man of Storr on the Trotternish Peninsula, to visit Shilasdair Natural Dye Studio. Simon took us to his studio in back of the yarn shop and introduced us to the process they use to dye yarns from a multitude of plants they collect locally and from other sources. They are committed to promoting yarns from british breeds, and have a beautiful selection in their shop. Many bags were filled with squishy goodness when we got back on the bus (even my non-knitter daughter had a full tote!).  We headed back to a delicious dinner overlooking LochPortree.

It was a little sad to leave Skye on Saturday.  The island has a bit of wildness to it that I really loved. We headed south and took the ferry across to Ft William.  Marcus, our coach driver, had never driven on a ferry so it was a new experience for all of us.  Fortunately, it was smooth, but that didn’t stop a few car alarms going off from a jiggle here and there.  We drove past Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the country, which still had snow on the top and through the windy, lush countryside of the highlands. Our next stop was a quick photo opportunity at the Glenfinnich Viaduct, also known as the Harry Potter train, before heading to our next stop,The Caledonian Wool Co. in Ft. William. Jam led us in a needle felting workshop in the afternoon.  It was interesting to see how we could all start with the same materials and instructions but end up with such different end results. Right next door was a lovely restaurant where I had monkfish scampi, my best meal so far.  We headed down the road to our Scandinavian style cabins that we shared with 2 others from our group.

Sunday, our final day. Whew, it went so fast.  I was glad I brought a notebook to keep track of what we did every day as it all blended together after a while.  I also took a photo of each room when we checked in (before we got it all messed up) which has helped me remember which room belonged to which hotel! We drove through historic Glencoe on our way back to Edinburgh.  Oh, and more sheep.  We ended up seeing plenty of sheep! Most of the group was staying until Monday, but my daughter and I were headed to Ireland for a few days and had a flight out that night, and so we did some last-minute shopping and then gathered as a group to say our goodbyes in the evening. 

I was tired, but also sad to have it end.  I had signed up for this trip 9 months before and loved having it to plan and look forward to.  I was a little worried that I had built it up too much in my mind and that it could never live up to my expectations, but I’m happy to report that it exceeded my expectations in many ways. I was able to see things and meet people that I never would have had access to traveling on my own.  I was impressed with the quality of hotels, meals, activities and organization provided on the tour. The Fiber Ambassadors did a great job of mixing activities with free time, and throwing in surprises along the way.  Of course, you can always nit-pick and find things that weren’t perfect, but I truly believe that a lot of what you get out of life is what you make it. The best advice I received before the trip was: keep an open mind, and bring an extra bag for yarn! In addition to all of the wonderful Scots I met, there were talented and interesting people on the tour from all over the US, and even New Zealand.  They inspired both me and my daughter with their talent and gave us the encouragement to step out of our comfort zone and try some more advanced knitting projects. Several people had been on other Rowan Tree Travel or other fiber related trips in different countries, and I hope I have the opportunity to do more as well.

 

Photo courtesy of Jack Garrett