I LOVE Scotland!

We arrived in Glasgow, Scotland, after a chilly 2-day stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland, from where I was taken to the village of Alafoss for a day tour with Ragga Johannsdottir of Icelandic Culture and Craft. This is where first industrial mill was located in Iceland and where lovely Lopi yarn is made from the warm wool of Icelandic sheep. After Ragga gave a little history of the area and took us to the wonderful Alafoss Yarn Store, she and the other visitor, Heidi, each contributed a few rows.

Antje (right, proprietress at the Yarn Cake) and customers helped out!

Once we were in Glasgow, I got over to the West End to visit a really wonderful little yarn store, The Yarn Cake, where you can enjoy both yarn and cake IN ONE PLACE! Sit and knit, drink tea, eat cake, shop for a wonderful array of yarn! How can life get any better? Well it does. Don’t we wish all proprietors of yarn stores were as friendly and helpful as Antje (pronounced An’ tee-ya)? Immediately, Cathy felt right at home laughing and joking with her and the sweet contractor who comes in regularly to be sure there are no moths in the shop. (Smart yarn shop owner!) The lemon polenta cake was delicious along with the two pots of tea that Cathy imbibed! Antje added a few stockinette rows to me, and while she was helping some customers, a couple other visitors inserted some garter stitch rows between Antje work. All the while, everyone talked and laughed and had a good old time.

Look at this cute pair of cardigans
Alison (at the Sparkle Horse) made 

for  a friend's new twin grandsons!

Okay…yarn, cake, laughter, conversation, a lovely store and NOW….We moved down the street to The Sparkle Horse—yes you read that correctly…The Sparkle Horse, one of the most popular pubs in the West End of Glasgow. And what was going on there? A “Stitch ’n Bitch” meet up of 9 women who crowded around a table, eating delicious pub fare, drinking some nice ale, and sharing patterns, advice and knitting. What a hoot! They meet here twice a month—what a fabulous knitting venue!

Knitting at the Sparkle Horse!

Two days later, Kate (the mother of Elspeth, who was our host at the AirBnB home where we stayed) came to visit and she LOVES to knit. So, of course, Cathy passed me to her! Elspeth’s friend, Emily was there too, and she added a few rows as well. Then, Elspeth, herself, who does not knit, but who does know how to crochet, wanted to add something. She is the FIRST crocheter to add to me! We were not sure how she could add a crochet row to a knitted row easily, but her mum, Kate, wisely suggested that she add to the beginning end and voila!

My first crochet addition, double crochet and scallops, by Elspeth Berry!