Edinburgh Yarn Festival recap

I’m probably last to the party, but here, finally, is my recap of the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (EYF)!

Geoff and I finished our Scottish tour in Edinburgh – perfectly timed for me to attend EYF naturally.  I had booked classes on both afternoons, and wanted to spend some serious time in market place, so left Geoff to explore some of the aspects of Edinburgh that I had already visited.

EYF was absolutely manic – the first hour of shopping on the Friday was pleasant (though there was a decently long queue to get in), but as soon as the main doors opened the building was flooded with excited knitters.  As the temperature in the building rose (literally) people soldiered on, wearing beautiful shawls and garments knitted especially for the festival. 

I did most of my shopping in the first hour – my planned purchases included mohair from Woollenflower, a sock blank from The Wool Kitchen, some lambswool from Di Gilpin and a skein of the brightest pink yarn you have ever seen from EasyKnits. 

Later on, there were some impulsive purchases – some SkeinQueen, and skeins from each of John Arbon, The Knitting Goddess and JC Rennie for a 3 colour shawl project I have in mind (Nordic Arrows, from the 1st issue of Laine Magazine).

I picked up some trinkets – a tape measure, some needles, a tote bag – to round things out.

I really enjoyed opportunities to sit and knit with people – including in the podcast lounge, chat to people about what they were wearing, and definitely enjoyed shopping with so many like minded knitters!

Geoff and I rounded out the trip with a delicious seafood dinner, at Fishers in Leith, which was a lovely way to end our trip (yet again, with more good food).

Were I to go to EYF again, or if you are thnking of attending, I would sign up for a morning class, do some shopping in the 9-10am window that’s limited to just class attendees, and potentially a bit more after class as well.  I did find it pretty overwhelming once the main doors opened, and would have liked to come and go, but as the venue is a good way from the centre of the old town there wasn’t much point to coming and going (except to get lunch across the street).

Shetland exploration

From Aberdeen we took the overnight ferry to Lerwick, Shetland Islands. It's a long way north, 11 hours on the ferry (via Orkney).  As you'd expect, there's a relatively small number of people and lots of open spaces. 

 

We hired a little lime green Kia and drove around the main island, breath taken away each time we rounded a bend and saw more of the spectacular scenery. 

We didn't cover much ground, and it is a small island, but we managed to get from coast to coast (going east-west), driving along single lane (not single lane in each direction, but single lane in both directions at once!). 

 We chased sheep.

We said hello to Shetland ponies with Bieber-style hair.

We made it to the end of the road. 

We ate delicious fish – we even had to make a booking for lunch to ensure we got a seat.

And delicious lamb.

I can't imagine living in Shetland which has an average summer temperature below 20 degrees (celcius), but it truly was a remarkable place to visit and explore.

Aberdeen

Geoff and I headed off on our ‘grand tour’ of Scotland – Shetland, via Aberdeen.   

We flew into Aberdeen, ate lunch in a castle, did a quick turn around the city and headed off to the ferry to Shetland. 

Perhaps that’s over simplifying Aberdeen – we weren’t really there for long enough to get much sense of the place.  It was a glorious, sunny day and the granite buildings all looked spectacular – especially the council buildings near Marischal Square

Geoff managed to squeeze in his first haggis meal of the trip – assuring me that there would be many more to come.  

Then it was off to the ferry for the overnight trip to Shetland, which wasn’t delightful, but was perfectly comfortable (if a little cold on the ferry itself).  The view from the upper deck as we left Aberdeen was glorious.

Though it was incredibly wind – which really was an indication of the way things would be in Shetland.  

And certainly the wind continued out on Shetland!