Shilasdair

Before we went to Skye, I had come across a snippet about Shilasdair Yarns in The Knitter magazine, so of course I managed to squeeze in a visit once I got to Skye.

It's a small but wonderful hand-dying yarn company that produces some amazing yarn combinations of cashmere, alpaca, cotton etc. in a whole rainbow of colours. Their secret is that they use local natural dyes for most of their colours, which they find on the beach and in the hills around the peninsula where they are based, such as wild-flowers and lichens.

Some recently dyed yarn:

They kindly showed me their dye studio, where some blue socks were bubbling away in one of the vats:

Here's a shot of the shop, where you can see the many hues they produce, in various types of yarn (sorry for the blurred photo):

I couldn't just leave all that yarn there by itself, so of course managed to fill my basket! Here's some luxury DK in a cashmere/angora/lambswool blend that I plan to use for a sweater:

And some lovely greeny Aran lambswool for a blanket. The colour doesn't show up well here; I'll try to take a better photo:

Finally some silk in a lovely raspberry that I'll make into a tie for DH:

If you're ever on the island it's well worth a visit, but they also ship (oh dear, sounds dangerous!).

Skye

I've finally had a chance to sit down at the computer and tell you about our week away.

DH and I had a week in Skye the week before last. If you've ever been there, then you'll realise that the photos below were taken in very brief breaks in the weather! It mostly rained, was windy and we even got a flat tyre in the middle of a horrendous hail storm! May is meant to be the best month on the island, so I pity the islanders their winter.

Despite the weather, we did manage to get out every day and had a very relaxing, and interesting week. I have wanted to show DH the island since we met (10 years ago) as my family used to holiday there for a week each October when I was much younger.

It can be beautiful, and quite atmospheric. Judge it yourself from the photo's:

A view across the sea to Sconser from our cottage on the Braes:

The sweet little croft that we cuddled up in at night as the winds threatened to lift off the roof!:

The recognisable Old Man of Storr:


A road sign that made me laugh:

Not what you'd expect to find, perched on a farm gate as we walked in the middle of nowhere:

The only "sandy" beach (actually it's coral):

Lambing season; they were everywhere:

Some of the colours and textures of the island. A bush at Armadale:

Seaweed on the beach on the Braes:

Moss on a hillside:

Lichen covering a rock on the beach:

Finally we stopped off at my parents on the way back, where they had miraculously grown this magnificent Himalayan poppy (apparently it's very rare):

Don't worry, there's a knitty post to follow!