Season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and unsolicited calls

First the mellow fruitfulness - we seem to have gone from summer to autumn overnight.

One of the joys of moving to Orkney has been a lack of unsolicited phone calls.  In Newcastle, despite being registered with TPS and meticulously searching all forms for that tiny hidden box to tick or un-tick to deny permission for our telephone number/address to be sold to unscrupulous cold-callers we were plagued by them.  Most days we received more than one unsolicited phone call.  Exceedingly annoying when in the middle of a long row of complicated lace knitting to say the least!

Today, along with the mist - time to play 'spot the sheep' - I got a second unsolicited call in 2 days.  Both from a company offering free house insulation.  I'm not sure how much free insulation they think an old stone croft house with solid walls and built straight onto solid rock can use - but then these companies don't actually research who they contact.

 

Anyway, having pressed option 5 yesterday to get through to a human so that I could tell them we were registered with TPS and should be removed from their mailing list immediately, today it was gloves off.  I clicked 5 again so I could get the name of the company.  When I asked that they put the phone down.
So I went to the TPS website.  As I thought, unless you have the name of the company you aren't able to make a complaint.

Which is pretty frustrating when errant company puts the phone down on you when you ask for the name.  However, for the first time I saw the link to ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) and followed that up.  It appeared at first that I'd ended up in some catch 22 since it looked like I was being referred back to TPS, so I rang the enquiry number for ICO.  Which was an incredibly useful thing to have done because I got a very helpful gentleman who explained a lot about the system that I didn't know.  So this is what I'd like to share here because if enough of us act we can move forward the process of making it more difficult for these obnoxious companies to blight our lives and get away with it.

So, first important thing to know, TPS only covers calls made from within UK and made by a human being.  If the initial call is automated, even if you then click to speak to a human being, it's not covered by TPS.  That's point one in my letter to MP and MSP - TPS must be expanded to cover these automated calls and put the wishes of the public to choose not to receive these calls above the lobbying power of the cold-calling companies.

Second, as explained from the very helpful gentleman at ICO, they have never heard of anyone successfully being removed from one of these calling lists even after speaking to a human to request this.  So the advice is NOT to click the button to speak to a human.  Just put the phone down, dial 1471 to get the number, and use the form at ICO to report the call.  Choose the option of an automated call which ends up taking you here.

Next interesting thing I learnt is best explained in this blog post from ICO:  An effective regulator needs effective powers. 

The measures they are able to take are limited by current legislation.  So the more of us that contact our MPs, and MSPs for those in Scotland, the better.  There is a huge industry built around the annoyance and disruption of unsolicited calls and that means the cold-calling industry lobbying our MPs and delaying legislation to give us, the public, what we want and need.  So we need to put pressure on our public servants to put our needs first and get this legislation passed sooner rather than later.

I know from past experience that writing to my MP really does make a difference.  If you don't do anything else this week, please take a few minutes to make a difference for yourself and other people and write that letter or email to your MP.   Read the blog post from IOC first - it will take only a couple of minutes and enable you to put the appropriate content in your letter, asking for the threshold to prove substantial distress from a nuisance call to be reduced or removed.  We shouldn't have to reach the point of  'distress' in order to get unsolicited calls stopped.  This legislation needs to be changed NOW.

When I made my report to IOC today I could feel the sigh of relief that I was able to explain that rushing into the house to pick up the phone, thinking it was an important call I was expecting, meant I had to release the bantam I'd just caught.  Next job for me is to try and catch her again -  and it's Medusa, so that is an extremely arduous and distressing task!

Report back - Medusa has made herself very scarce and is nowhere to be seen.  I thought you'd enjoy seeing a photo of my escapologist bantam, but you'll have to make do with my youngest clutch of chicks, also running fast away from me.

Their broody mum is an extremely nervous and over-protective bantam, so I'm not attempting to train them to come to the bucket until they've left her and moved into the teenage chick housing in one of the fields.

My older chicks really enjoy living away from protective broody hens and hanging around doing the chicken equivalent of getting up late and imbibing questionable substances

So, to summarise, feel-good job for as many people as possible to do this week,  for the betterment of all our lives, is to read the IOC blog and then write to your MP.  Let's give IOC the powers to give the spammers the kicking we'd all like to deliver.

End of Summer

The final day of August gave us the glory that is Orkney in sunshine with light wind - plus a smattering of midges, but it's a small price to pay for days like this.

I thought I'd do a photo-census of the 'beasties' as we move from summer to autumn.  The nights are noticeably drawing in now; it's not yet 9pm but I'd need a torch if I went out now.


So let me introduce you to the current inhabitants of the farm, starting with the bantams who have each hatched and raised a clutch of chicks.  Sadly too keen on the grain to pose for the camera - they are Anne, Emma, Harriet and Medusa.  Not forgetting Andrew the Pekin cockerel who fails dismally on the fertilising eggs bit.  He just falls off on the few occasions when he tries.  So sadly no bantam chicks this year.

Then we have Gertie and Gloria who are two year old geese.  They just graze on the lawns and let us know when anyone comes to the house.  Their enthusiasm for hissing is greater than their desire to get friendly with me, but they're pretty easy to be around as geese go.  They did amuse us for a number of weeks with the 'incubating broken crockery' event, but that deserves a blog post of its own.

 Next we have Albert and his harem of 7 ducks.  They provide endless amusement and some rather good eggs.  They even lay in a nest they make every night in the duck house rather than just dropping their eggs randomly on the ground.

 Time to move onto the chickens.  George still rules his roost but with some Marans added to his Light Sussex girls.  They've been doing a good job with eating sheep parasites during the year.  Faecal testing on the sheep has been consistently negative for fluke and only minor levels of other nasties.

George is moulting at the moment so he's not looking his best.  There are chickens in each of the fields and the chicken house on the moorland field is where we keep the surplus cockerels.  Fighting is kept to a minimum by not having any hens with them, but any sign of aggression is a swift move up to the top of the roast/casserole list.  Free range, foraging cockerels of at least 8 months age are totally delicious and quite unlike what you buy in supermarkets.  Plus knowing they've had a fantastic life and a very stress-free, quick end only improves the feel-good feeling about our home grown meat.  Sadly the current inhabitants on the moor were deep in the heather and camera shy this afternoon.  I did allow some of them a little holiday with groups of hens, so not all of these chicks below that we've hatched under broodies are from George.

This is the oldest group above - some of these boys will soon be moving to enjoy many months on the moor.

The two most recent hatchings are still with their broody mums on the lawn, protected from Hen Harriers, Hoodies (the crow variety) and the larger seagulls.  The Maran hatched 10, which was a lovely end to a summer of looking after broody hens.

The black chicks are from our group of Black Rock hens, and these young chicks were fathered by a new cockerel, Gandhi, who is a cross between a Black Orpington and Jersey Giant.  He's also a lovely gentle cockerel, so hopefully that characteristic will be passed to his sons.

I also put some duck eggs under a broody and had 2 hatch - they are now living in the area where we try and grow edible stuff in the hope they will keep the slugs down.   The Saxony, Cherry Valley cross has produced very attractive, large ducks.  These are just 8 weeks old.

So what about the Boreray Boys?  Well they now number 8, the original 5 having been joined last November by a ram lamb of a different blood line and two older wethers, William and Wesley.  The ram was named by my 'darling' children.......... Bollocks.  Well, it had to be a 'B' name since he was born in 2013.

 

 Bollocks is on the left of the photo above - note his splayed horns which come from his English father.  Rams from the Scottish bloodlines have tighter horns like Boris.  William is the grey sheep just to the right of Bollocks.

All the Boys are looking very smart in their summer fleeces - I'll post more photos another time of their glorious winter fleeces, now all rooed or blade-sheared off.

 Here they are following me up the hill - in front is greedy William, then Bollocks and Bertie, Boris behind them, and the 3 in the back from left to right are Wesley, Bilbo and Brookes.  Broder is just out of the shot, but here he is below with Brookes, both hoping I'll hand feed them a little treat.  These 2 twin brothers are my tamest sheep.

Many of you will know that Boris fathered twin ewe lambs from a lovely Shetland ewe we had.  I will blog about her story, but if you can't wait then Sue shared her story here.  Warning - you may need a tissue.

Here are the lambs with Zena shortly after their birth on 14 April.

 Penny is on the left, Tuppence on the right.

Here they are today, 4 1/2 months old and around 2 feet high at the shoulder.  Too heavy for me to pick up now.  Affectionately known as the Heffalumps due to their size and large rear ends.........

In both photos Tuppence is on the left and Penny on the right.  They will be getting friendly with Bollocks in late 2015 in the hope that motherhood will settle them down a little.  Early signs are that both have some degree of their mother's gorgeous fleece.

So now we start getting ready for winter - lots of things to tidy up and tie down outside before the September gales start.  The 'beasties' are all enjoying the glorious sunshine while we have it.  For around 6 weeks in mid winter the sun won't make it high enough above this hill to the south of us to shine on the house or any of our fields.

Golden Dawn

One of those clear cold bright early mornings when everything is turned to gold.

 It was a little difficult to spot the lambs in this field until one of them saw me and bleated.

North Atlantic Native Sheep & Wool Conference 4

Day 4 of the conference was spent at Shetland Museum and Archive listening to the lectures from the invited speakers.  A very diverse range of speakers and I found the day enthralling.

Jim Nicholson, one of the people who had demonstrated Flock Book points for rams at the Mart on Saturday, introduced the Lecture Programme.  He told us that as late as the mid 20th century Shetland sheep used to be mainly on hills and rooed.  Now there are fewer sheep on the hills and more in fields.  The Shetland Flock Book Trust ensures purity of Shetland Sheep and makes them commercially viable so crofters will keep them..10% of Shetland Crofters are members of the Trust.

Then followed:
Dr Carol Christiansen: Sustainability through the ages
June Hall: Soay Sheep (Ovis aries) - Prehistoric Survivors on Britain's Remote Islands
Deborah Robson: Rare Breeds from North Atlantic Native Sheep: An Important Piece of the Sustainability Puzzle
Ólafur R Dýrmundsson – Icelandic Sheep and Sheep farming in Iceland in the context of sustainability
Dana MacPhee: Cloimh Uibhist – Sustaining the islands through a textile tradition
Panel Discussion: All speakers will take questions from the floor
Conclusions and outcomes of the day summarised by Ronnie Eunson

A wonderful day where I learnt so much.  I've transcribed my notes at the end of this post.
This is a photograph of the speakers just before the start of the Panel Discussion.

June had also brought a wonderful selection of items relating to Soay sheep and St Kilda for us to see.

Lunch time was a chance to share thoughts about everything we were learning, and to persuade Felicity Ford to show us her Baby Layter sweater.  I first saw the original Layter over 3 years ago and I'm very cross with myself that I've not yet knitting one myself.  It's a great way to use wool from several different breeds of sheep.








At the end of the session we heard from Ronnie Eunson about how the Shetland Flock Book was started in 1927.  Up to 40-50 years ago, in Shetland, wool was more important than meat.  Castrated male sheep grew the biggest fleeces and were 'leader sheep' in snow conditions. 
Sheep offer sustainable and beneficial land use and produce.




In the evening we all travelled to Tingwall Hall for a meal together with traditional music and dancing demonstrations.  A really enjoyable evening with good food and great company.

 Towards the end of the evening Felicity performed the Shetland Wool song that she'd written at the beginning of Shetland Wool Week.  It went down very well!

 You can see Felicity performing her song here

For the final morning we started with Jan Hicks presenting details about Wool Clip and how this led to the annual Woolfest event.  Having enjoyed visiting Woolfest for a number of years I was very interested to hear about the story of Wool Clip.

Karin Flatøy Svarstad then gave us a summary of the conference - I can't believe we fitted so much into so few days!

Next was a very exciting presentation by Jóhanna Pálmadóttir introducing the 2014 North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference which will be held in Iceland from 4 - 8 September 2014.  And having enjoyed this conference so much and heard what we'll be doing in Iceland, I'm definitely wanting to go. 

We'll be seeing sheep and wool in different parts of Iceland, travelling through areas of the country away from the usual tourist venues and seeing one of the famous sheep round-ups.  This is one of the places we'll be visiting - the Icelandic Textile Centre - and if you'd like to find out more about joining the 2014 Conference you can contact Jóhanna Pálmadóttir at textilsetur@simnet.is
I can't wait!

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are my personal notes, transcribed from what I scribbled down during the talks, so I may well have made errors in noting something down.  If you're reading them, please bear this in mind, and if anyone spots a glaring error, please let me know.

These notes are a real help for me since I can read them with full memory of the passion and enthusiasm of the speakers, and the wonderful images they all showed us.  I can only encourage people to try and listen to these speakers 'live' if the opportunity arises.

Dr Carol Christiansen, Curator and Community Museums Officer at Shetland Museum and Archives.  She is a textile archaeologist whose research includes the use of Scottish and Scandinavian landrace sheep breeds for textile production.  Her talk was titled, 'Sustainability through the ages'. 

She spoke about how people in Shetland made the most of what they had in textiles by adapting to change and using opportunities.
The 16th century saw the change from weaving to knitting.
The 19th century saw the development of lace knitting.
Maintaining the tradition of hand knitting has been the focus of the 20th century.

A very interesting photograph of loom and spindle weights before and after the Norse entered Shetland.  They got bigger - does this reflect a change in the length and weight of fleece staples?  Were new sheep introduced?

For the 200 years after Shetland was pledged to Scotland in 1469 rentals were paid in a cloth called Vadmal - a heavy, dense twill that used a lot of wool.  In 1627 there was 7,400m of cloth used for rentals.

The introduction of knitting was a most significant change to life in Shetland.  Did this change Shetland sheep since a softer wool without hairy tips is needed for knitting?  Another change from weaving to knitting is that instead of combing the wool for spinning they were carded for the woollen spinning more suitable for knitting yarn.

Common garments that were knitted were stockings, caps and underclothes which were sold to fishermen.  When this market declined in the early 19th century there was the introduction of lace knitting (1830).  When the young Queen Victoria was gifted a pair of Shetland lace stockings which she very much liked, a fashion was started leading to exports even to New York.
A benefit of lace knitting is that it requires little wool but a great deal of skill is needed in the spinning of the fine yarn and the knitting of the lace.

In the 20th century hand working of knitted garments continued in Shetland even when the rest of the UK fully mechanised.  This has become part of the modern Shetland knitting brand and remains part of Shetland knitting even as new products are developed in the 21st century.

Next June Hall spoke on Soay Sheep (Ovis Aries): Prehistoric survivors on Britain's remote islands.
The Soay sheep came to St Kilda with Bronze Age People from southern Europe, so they have been on the island for 3,500 years.  They have evolved in equilibrium with their environment.  The abandoned stone built cleats where the islanders used to store turf, feathers & catches of seabirds are now used by the sheep as shelter.
The population of Soays on Hirta varies between 600 - 1300.  The last two years has seen steep declines in population, mostly in spring around lambing time and the recent wet winters are thought to blame. (I've found more information about this here)
The Soay sheep on Hirta are the most studied in the world, the research currently being done by National Trust for Scotland, University of Edinburgh and Imperial College.
When St Kilda was evacuated in 1930 all the crossbred sheep on Hirta were evacuated and later around 100 Soay sheep were brought from Soay Island to repopulate Hirta with sheep.  This has appropriately managed the vegetation on Hirta.
? Difference between Hirta and Soay Island feral flocks and managed Soay flocks in the UK.
An 1896 photograph of a Soay lamb seems to show it having white colouring on its head.

Soay sheep are the oldest and most primitive sheep in Europe.
85% of the rams are horned, as are many ewes.  There is also a scurred form of the horn which is mostly found in ewes.
The Soay sheep on St Kilda are either dark brown or light brown in colour - known as Dark Phase or Light Phase.  Both colours can be solid or show mouflon marking.

Two more things that June mentioned - that she has a book nearing publication (that's sorted a Christmas present for me this year or next!) and that the National Trust for Scotland is seeking applicants for a PhD to research whether Soay sheep on St Kilda are under threat.

And for anyone wanting to learn more about Soay sheep the 2014 World Congress on Coloured Sheep is in Rambouillet, France in May 2014

This is an interesting piece about the evolution of the two colours of Soay sheep that I found while googling for the links above.

Deborah Robson: Rare Breeds from North Atlantic Native Sheep: An Important Piece of the Sustainability Puzzle
Restoring wool to its rightful place as a central part of everyone's life.
Wool instead of synthetics leads to global sustainability.
Is wool: trash, second crop or primary income source?

It has been and can become a primary income source.
Ancient - meat + wool
Medieval - WOOL + meat
18th - 20th centuries - MEAT + wool
? Future - wool + meat.

Wool is a severely underrated, misunderstood income source with significant potential
Value of breed-specific wool eg Suffolk - sturdy sock wool, machine washable.  Merino is a nice wool but not for socks.
Users today evaluate yarn on dyed colour and softness NOT suitability for purpose, durability etc.
Need best materials for purpose for highest level of crafting. (lustre, length, natural colour, strength)

Wool is environmentally sound
aesthetically pleasing, diverse & versatile, durable & functional.
Using different wools in complement with each other.

Need to capture and guide the imagination of users of these wools.

Overview to see what we're already accomplishing - need to use social media appropriately.
As producers we need to: reach, tantalise & inspire, guide & educate.

Finding the audience (consumers) for:
fleece (raw)
fleece (clean) + processed fibre
yarn
finished goods - functional &/or artistic

Top 4 resources for reaching people:  Ravelry, Etsy, Ebay, Own Website

Tantalise and inspire - tell stories.
Who you are, why you're doing what you're doing.  The more individual the better.

Stories: History (personal), Current culture, Making individual lives better, Making the world better.  Third of these is a big sell point.

Guide and educate - why and how to use non-generic fibres (breed-specific)
Why it's important to maintain diversity - genetics

Individualise - tell stories.
Not all wool is the same (not common knowledge)
Different wools suit different purposes
Life is better with knowledge and use of specialised wools (satisfaction, skills, legacy)

See Clara Parkes - Knitters Review
FFSB now into 2nd printing.
Pattern support for breed-specific yarns - Ann Kingstone, Sue Blacker, Kate Davies etc

Other ideas - The Great White Bale project - Clara Parkes - selling memberships & subscriptions including Armchair Travellers
Shepherd & the Shearer 
Wovember

Making connections between people, animals, places & stories

Ólafur R Dýrmundsson – Icelandic Sheep and Sheep farming in Iceland in the context of sustainability

Last importation of sheep into Iceland was in 1946 - rams from Scotland which got foot rot during their 2 mths of isolation so not allowed out of isolation.  There is no foot rot or liver fluke in Iceland. 
Farming - 4000 farms around coast.  2400 flocks including hobby flocks.

Farmers Association of Iceland 
pdf with detailed information about Icelandic farming - in English

Great genetic diversity in Icelandic breed of sheep - the only breed within Iceland
Have horned & polled, white & coloured.  Some are mouflon

Tri colour is rare.  A few have 4 horns
Icelandic leadership gene - more info here in this online article by Ólafur R Dýrmundsson

Sheep used to be winter grazed but now kept inside during winter.
Rangeland is natural unimproved grazing.
The sheep are shorn before housing in November - except for shearling lambs which are shorn after going into winter housing.  This gives the best fleece.
They are shorn again in Feb/March

Importance of quality control - product quality, traceability of individual sheep, welfare & sound management, sustainable rangeland use.

Conclusion:
Quality products
Local integrity
Diversity
Cultural Heritage
Sustainability.

Dana MacPhee: Cloimh Uibhist – Sustaining the islands through a textile tradition
All Uist wool used to go off the island to BWMB Evanton for processing and returning little to the island.  To address this planned to open a mill in Uist - Uist Wool - as a community benefit society

Got old mill equipment from Argyll.

Creating something of the local fleece that has value and worth.

Blog post about the opening of the mill earlier this year

Jan Hicks:  Wool Clip
In late 1990s there was European funding for underprivileged areas which financed Rural Women's Network.
In late 2001 after Foot & Mouth disaster a retail outlet for selling textile crafts was opened at Priest's Mill, Caldbeck.  Focus on something with a provenance.  Short runs & unrepeatable important.

Selling online didn't work for them because of work updating website for one-offs. 
Set up co-operative.
Working together:
Creates business oppportunities
Spreads risks/costs
Spreads workload
Moral support
Pool of skills/expertise to draw on

North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference 3

Saturday didn't finish with the Makers' Market - it was back to the Mart for a very special event - Fleece grading and sorting with Oliver Henry.

Oliver started off by showing us lower grade fleeces and what many more Shetland fleeces used to look like.  This wool isn't suitable for the fine knitting yarns that Jamieson & Smith produce but it isn't wasted.  It is used in a variety of products including carpets, beds, duvets, throws and the latest product,  numnahs.

 
 Then we saw some of the very fine fleece that some Shetland sheep produce - fine enough for even one-

ply cobweb lace yarn, and an absolute dream for hand spinners.

 Here are the two extremes of Shetland wool - you wouldn't think they come from the same breed.  Both though have their uses where their individual properties best match the required function.

Oliver does talks about fleece grading and sorting as a regular event at Shetland Wool Week, so you'll get the chance to learn so much from him for yourself if you come to a future Wool Week.

There was one final event at the mart - the opportunity to buy fleeces from the fleece competition.  I'd obtained such lovely and interesting fleeces from the Fine Fleece Store at J&S on the Monday morning, that I'd not intended to purchase at this point..........  but then it turned out that the rather special black Championship fleece was actually for sale........  Tom and I decided to split it and buy it between us.  (you'll know Tom from Wovember)  Even half a Shetland fleece will go a long way for spinning lace yarn, and it was just too special to go to one person only.  So, actually, as I'm writing this I'm realising that my purchase of half of this fleece was a sacrificial and altruistic action on my part.  Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

Sunday was a very early start to get to the coach before 7.30am, but everyone made it.  We were going north for the day.  This involved two ferries there and two ferries back.

The journey to Haroldswick in Unst, driving through Yell, took us over 2 hours, but we did make time for a stop at the famous Unst Bus Shelter.

I think we were all very moved when we heard that the theme for this year of Sheep and Wool was in honour of the North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference.  What a wonderful honour and welcome to us from the people of Unst.

I see that Deb Robson has also blogged about the Unst Bus Shelter - you can see her actually knitting in the shelter here.

After being served the most amazing morning coffee/tea at Haroldswick Hall, accompanied by some seriously gorgeous home bakes, we drove on to Hermaness National Nature Reserve to meet some local crofters and their sheep.

They had brought off the hills a selection of Shetland sheep just for us to see and penned them in groups of rams, ewes, and male & gimmer lambs/hoggs - I'm not sure if in Shetland they call their weaned youngsters of around 6 months of age hoggs or lambs.  Also, I realise I didn't look to check if the male hoggs/lambs were castrated or not - if castrated they'd be called wethers.
There is a useful list of sheep terminology here, and a more comprehensive but international one on Wiki here.

Anyway, not only had the crofters rounded up these hill sheep - no small task, but they'd separated them into male, female, boys and girls.  Again I felt very humbled to be welcomed so fabulously by the people of Unst.

Above is a pen of ewes, including a couple of very old, but very healthy looking ewes.  Below are two  of the sheep from other pens that caught my eye.

We were able to spend a good amount of time observing the Shetland sheep and talking to the crofters, and I also observed that there were some glorious examples of knitting being worn by members of the group, and I think possibly nålbinding in the second hat from the left.

Here I got a very clear photo that shows the
characteristic tail that gives the North Atlantic
Short-Tailed group of sheep breeds their name.

Again I was most interested to see the huge variation in the types of fleece on the sheep.

The crofters explained that some of the fleeces looked different because they had been rooed rather than shorn since those sheep had been shown earlier in the year.  Rooing gives a better look to the fleece on the sheep for the show ring.

The other thing I learnt is that in Shetland sheep rooing is easier where the 'join' between the old fleece and the new growth is weakest and this is influenced by the sheep being not in the best condition at the end of winter.  It may be that there is a genetic influence on this as well.









Just before we left I couldn't resist this photo illustrating the story of Shetland wool from 'on the sheep' to finished Shetland wool hat - those of you with sharp eyes may spot that the person studying the sheep so intently is Deb Robson.

History of the Shetland Sheep
Shetland Sheep - A brief description
So we left Hermaness and drove back to Haroldswick through some stunning countryside.

 

At the Hall we were met with the sight of a wonderful buffet lunch made especially for us - a real treat indeed and it was as delicious as it looks.

 There was a craft fair on in the Hall as well, and musicians playing traditional Shetland music.  Many of us succumbed to temptation with the high standard of the different craft goods for sale.

 

On the opposite side of the road to the Hall is Unst Heritage Centre, and the wonderful welcome for us extended there where there were knitters and spinners demonstrating their skills for us to see.

 

There is a fabulous display of historic lace knitting held at the centre, together with examples of the equipment used to spin and knit the famous Unst lace.  Another place that is firmly on my 'must-see' list of suggested places to visit in Shetland.

One of the exhibits at the Heritage Centre that I really enjoyed looking at were these sheep made by the local children.  I think crafts skills and creativity must run in the blood of these descendants of the lace knitters of Unst.

We then left Unst and went to Sellafirth Hall on Yell for afternoon tea and talks from Andy Ross and Liz Gott on the use of Shetland wool in local textile arts and crafts.  There were some lovely samples of weaving for us to look at.

We then had time to look round ASF Shetland, Shetland Gallery and Bayanne House - all the linked websites have great images of the art and crafts we were able to see.  Yell is another island where creativity flourishes!

Just as we were leaving I spotted two Shetland sheep standing on the top of a bank which had partly collapsed to reveal the rock and peat below.  A very fitting image for the end of an absolutely fantastic day.