We had one more visit before leaving Scotland in May, and that was in Thurso. It is the most northern city of mainland Scotland, situated on the edge of the North Sea. And of course there is a castle.
I was there to talk with John Glen whom I’d met on my previous trip. John is another of the designers and yarn makers from the Highlands, marketing his yarn under the name Caithness Croft Yarns. Like all of the yarn makers I met, John’s house and shed are stuffed with fleece from his neighbors’ crofts. He markets the yarn at the various yarn and craft fairs, along with his line of knitting tools and patterns. And although this is one of his major activities throughout the year, his real job is granddad.
During his childhood, John spent most of his time with his gran, at home, having some illnesses that kept him out of school. His home schooling was full on crafts in addition to academics, and he learned to knit and spin and also to cook (you’ll find some of his recipes on his website).
Prior to the Pandemic John organized knitting retreats in Rhodes, with one or two instructors in addition to himself. He now has Zoom classes with students from Shetland, Germany and an Inde dyer from Greece.
In the summer of 2021 he was given 20 kilos of black alpaca, some of which he had blended with rose fiber at the Border Mill. He’s thinking about blending the remainder with grey Herdwick fleece. He has no shortage of ideas for yarns, it’s only a matter of time for execution.
John maintains a close relationship with many of his knitting and spinning students (as well as classroom students he taught during his career). Sometimes truly special things come together because of those relationships. One of his students recently lammed 2,000 sheep, keeping aside her first cut fleece. This young woman’s great aunt will spin the yarn that John and her mom will knit into a Shetland shawl. John will then serve as the celebrant for her wedding. This story brought tears to my eyes as such a wonderful example of closeness and community.
A dress being knit for John’s granddaughter.
With more than 150 kilos of Shetland, Cheviot, Charollais, Herdwick and Zwarbles fleece in the shed, John dreams with his nearby neighbor Graeme Bethune, of a local mill, and between the two of them, it doesn’t seem at all far-fetched. Meanwhile, he will be showing at the Perth Festival of Yarn in September, and is seriously considering Shetland Wool Week for his vacation. Color me envious!
I also have to say that there’s quite a bit of additional envy when it comes to John’s brioche knitting and design. For some reason I haven’t been able to get my hands to encompass the discipline to make it work. I think I may have to make another trip to Thurso for lessons. Given the level of patience he has, I think he could teach brioche to cats (which makes me think I might have a fighting chance of learning it myself).
Time to be a tourist
We had about 1/2 a day before heading to the airport for a little tourist activity, so headed to Stirling Castle. I also had some wild idea that we should spend our last night in a nearby castle (not realizing that the rooms all were in the upper turrets accessible only by stairs).
Meanwhile……
I’ve written the first draft of the pattern for the boot topper inspired by a Swedish glove and Sami woven bands, and it’s in the hands of some of my Wednesday knitting group friends for test knitting. They also have asked for the pattern for the beret I made from my fractal spin (my friend Nancy says, “get on with it!” because she wants it right now). On it, Nancy! Pattern writing isn’t difficult, but remembering exactly what I did with any particular project isn’t always straight-forward (I should take notes, but I never do). And with that particular beret, I have to size it because I made it for my very large head, and her’s is on the small side. That means two additional sizes that I need to figure out with respect to the math on the decreases (Bruce, Help!).
I’ve also begun to spin the Gotland fleece from the lovely lamb Linnea (now that I’ve convinced Lyla to relinquish her roving “bed”). It spins like a dream (look at that shine!), and I’m getting a nice, fine single that I’m expecting to make a 2-ply sport weight. I was expecting the spin to be a little more black than charcoal, but there actually is quite a bit of white undercoat (you can see it in the fluffy bit wrapped around the post on my wheel), so the result is more charcoal than black. It also is softer than I expected (yea!).
I have a vague notion that I might like to ply the yarn with some Racka fleece I got from my friend Heather (would that make the yarn Rockland or Gotrocks?) It certainly would make a tweeded yarn, as the Racka is a soft taupe-like color, but that might not be the most perfect marriage…we’ll see. The Gotland or my Tour de Fleece spin need to be the basis for my next sweater, but I don’t have a perfect design yet in mind.
I’m baking bread and making gazpacho soup for lunch today, so it’s kitchen destruction time (I’m much better at mess than cooking). I have a dozen gorgeous heritage tomatoes on the brink of going bad, so must intervene before that happens. I could easily eat gazpacho 3 times a day in summer. It’s “just right” on hot, humid days.
Stay excited and knit/spin/dream on!
Ah, Scotland… Sounds like you had a wonderful and productive time.