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After your visit, continue to Kathy’s Knits where you will meet Lucy Hague, a well-known pattern designer and author of Celtic Cable Shawls and Illuminated Knits. After your visit, we return to your hotel where the remainder of the evening will be free for you to explore the city at your leisure before meeting back at the hotel for your welcome dinner. Overnight in Edinburgh, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
We will then walk to the adjacent RRS Discovery and Discovery Point Museum; this prize-winning visitor attraction tells the story of the RRS Discovery from her beginnings in Dundee, her remarkable Antarctic expedition with Captain Scott and his team and her voyages thereafter. Continue to Aberdeen where we take the overnight ferry to Shetland. Although the ferry crossing takes about 12 hours, the journey is comfortable; cabin accommodation will be provided and there is a bar, lounge and restaurant as well as a shop selling souvenirs, gifts, travel products and snacks. Overnight Northlink Ferries, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
There are also tools associated with the production of Shetland textiles, as well as historic papers and patterns. Staff will be on hand to tell us about their displays and do some interesting demonstrations. After your visit we continue to the Shetland Museum and Archives. The museum galleries are arranged in an easy to follow trail which takes you through Shetland Islands history from the early beginnings and people, through social, domestic and industrial developments and into the more contemporary oil era changes. Enjoy a guided tour where your guide will pay particular attention to the knitting related history! After have enough time to explore the museum, the remainder of the day is free for you to relax in the hotel. Overnight Shetland Islands, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
After your class, head into Lerwick where we will visit Jamieson & Smith Wool Brokers. Jamieson & Smith purchase Shetland wool from over 700 of Shetland's crofters and farmers, and transform it into high-quality Shetland wool products including yarns, knitwear, blankets and carpets. At the centre, one of the staff will show us around, speak to us about the fleece, how it is spun and what type of garments are made from the different grades of wool. Return to your hotel where the rest of the evening is free. Overnight Shetland Islands, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
After the workshop we continue towards Burra where the first stop is with Ronnie at Uradale Farm. Uradale Farm consists of 2000 acres of naturally challenging land where sheep graze right from the hill tops down to the shores. We will meet some of the sheep and learn about Uradale Organic Knitting Yarns which reflect the colours of the flock. Your final stop today before returning to your hotel is Burra Bears. Burra Bears is a lovely local business that makes beautiful handmade teddy bears mostly out of old Fair Isle sweaters and waste panels from local knitwear factories. We will have a quick tour of the studio where the bears are made and learn more about this fabulous sustainable product. Overnight Shetland Islands, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
Finally, we travel to the very south of the island to visit Jarlshof which is the best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. Discoveries made here include oval-shaped Bronze Age houses, an Iron Age broch and wheelhouses, Norse long houses, a medieval farmstead, and a laird’s house dating from the 1500s. The views from the section of the island are amazing! Overnight Shetland Islands, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.
First stop is a tour of Jamieson’s of Shetland mill. Jamieson’s is a family owned business, which has specialised in wool from the native Shetland sheep for five generations. Recognising the potential for woven fabrics using these unique colourful yarns, Jamieson’s installed weaving looms and now make an extensive range of genuine Shetland Tweeds and blankets. Return to Lerwick where you will have time to relax after you check in for your return ferry to Aberdeen.
Continue to Perth to Askival of Strathearn for a Kilt Making Demonstration. Discover the origins of tartan, the "fall and rise" of tartan, and how it is immersed in Scottish heritage. Learn about Kilts from the feilidh-mor (the big kilt), the feilidh-beag (the little kilt), and then the tailored kilt. Explore how the Kilt is made, why it is constructed the way it is; the math; the instinct and the variations of pleating. Most importantly discover the difference between good and bad kilts, how to tell a well-made tailored kilt and how it should fit. Overnight in Pitlochry, Bed & Breakfast Included.
We pay a visit to the Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum where we discover how Andrew Carnegie became the wealthiest man in the world and father of modern philanthropy, supporting the establishment of globally renowned landmarks such as the Carnegie Hall in New York and the Peace Palace in The Hague. Continue to Edinburgh where the remainder of your day is free for personal sightseeing or shopping. This evening we meet at the hotel reception and travel together to an Edinburgh city centre restaurant for a final farewell dinner. Overnight in Edinburgh, Bed & Breakfast Included
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