A New Path
Madainn mhath!
I've been sitting on this email for quite some time. A little over two years ago now I met a man in Scotland and who knew where this would lead?!Well, as of this writing I have now been in my new home in Inverness for over two weeks. In November I wrote about how this last year (now year and a half) had not played out as expected. You just never know. After closing a Tiny Yarn Shop, moving into a Tiny Yarn Studio and now moving on from there I am contemplating what my new path will be. As I settle into my new home I am beginning to make contacts with the local fiber community, but as of yet I don't know what my role in that will be. Will you come along with me as I discover this New Path?
Inverness is a city on the edge of the Highlands, sometimes known as the Gateway to the Highlands. It is certainly a great base for trips north to Caithness and Orkney, and west into Wester Ross and the Isle of Skye and beyond. It is a vibrant city, in fact, one of the fastest growing in the UK. One of my favorite items is the Caledonian Canal, an early Victorian age project built to connect the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William in Scotland. The canal was constructed in the early nineteenth Century by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford. Inverness has a history which reaches back into the early centuries AD, long before Scotland was a nation. For many moderns it is known for being the locale of the Battle of Culloden, a pivotal point in the fortunes of the Jacobites – a romantic subject for many moderns, a life and death struggle for the Highlanders of the time.
I will include more about Inverness, the Highlands and the local fiber artists, suppliers (there are sheep here!)
Earlier this week I visited with a knitting group which David found for me. We walked down the Ness through town to the Eden Court Theatre venue with a nice café. I got to meet a variety of knitters and crocheters. I will definitely be back. In the meantime we continue along the bureaucratic paperwork path. Thursday, we made the trip by train to Nairn, a lovely little coastal town with great beaches and a yarn shop. Strange as it may seem I did not have any sock yarn (with me in Scotland or in storage in Iowa.) I did pick up a couple balls to start a couple pairs, one for each of us. I have also been keeping in touch with my old fiber crowd: knitting and spinning over the internet. I do miss my loom. Currently I have no ETA for that and my sewing machine is stuck in customers. Hopefully he will be moving north soon.
News break: Shetland Wool Week has just announced this year’s patron and the design of this year’s hat!
You can download the hat pattern, read about the new patron and about Shetland Wool Week on their website: www.shetlandwoolweek.com I have been looking forward to this. Good news! I brought enough Shetland yarn to knit my new SWW hat!
That is all for now. In the meantime, remember not to go anywhere without your knitting (or another form of creative fidgeting.)
Rebecca ann an Alba (Rebecca in Scotland)
