A Knitter's Day in Edinburgh

What a glorious afternoon, a truly exceptional city - especially for knitters. Imagine the weather hitting 22 degrees, the bluest of skies, making my way through the city to 5 different sources for so many different yarns. It's enough to drive one to fibre distraction.

My trek took me to discover one of a kind, indie dyed yarns at K1 Yarn Knitting Boutique in the Old Town, to McAree Brothers Haberdashery and Knitting, and Kathy's Knits just down the street in the New Town, with 2 excellent department store offerings in between. I was truly amazed at the variety of what was so easily available for knitters here, all within walking distance of each other.

 I had a particularly good visit with Catherine at K1 and Heather at McAree Brothers. There is some sort of kinship that comes out when people hear about our knitting tour. They find it odd, interesting, but mostly they find it completely alluring. I wonder if local knitters in Edinburgh realize how fortunate they are to have such a selection in a city of 500 000.

 

That evening we were thrilled to have Emily Wessel (on left) of Tin Can Knits come to visit us. Emily and her partner Alexa Ludeman, used to work together in a yarn store in Vancouver. They began designing and collaborating on publishing their knitwear designs, and have produced 2 enthusiastically received collections: Nine Months of Knitting, and Pacific Knits. 

Emily moved to Edinburgh 2 years ago and they’ve been able to continue their collaboration, extending their reach over 2 continents.

 Emily was thrilled to announce that sometime this week, the e-book version of their newest collection: Handmade in the U.K. will be hitting the internet waves.  Here are sisters Ginger at left and Lucie holding up my favourite of the collection. Link to their website to see samples of the designs and get information about ordering shortly.

Having seen many of the sample garments, I was awestruck. The creativity and attention to detail in each of their designs  was superb. We were all thrilled to have the opportunity to fondle the glorious fibres in such wonderful designs. Emily’s visit was truly  the cherry on the sundae of our time to Edinburgh.

To finish off this segment of knitting in Edinburgh, I wanted to make sure that everyone saw that I managed to finish the first of my mittens in Turtlepurl’s Softshell Worsted, a rich blend of BFL wool, cashmere and nylon in the Detour Mitts that I committed to in the last newsletter. 

Unfortunately, my elbow has been bothering me, and I know from past experience that I’m better off passing on knitting anything that puts stress on the elbow, that is to say, anything cabled and firm such as the second mitten. But I’m working diligently on the Wingspan scarf that is turning out to be a perfect representation of the colours of Scotland: the greens of the hills, the yellows of the gorse bushes and daffodils, the blues, pinks and purples of the heather. I promise a picture as soon as it’s off the needles.