To the Edge of the Planet…The Outer Hebrides, Part 3: Grimsay, North Uist, and Berneray

If you follow this blog and Cathy’s Travel Blog, you have learned that she is constantly being bombarded by serendipitous events. While at Howmore hostel, we were told by a local farmer that we should visit with Hazel, the woman who lives in a cottage near the hostel. He said that she is a knitter and spinner. She also provided fresh eggs for sale in the hostel kitchen. We had passed the cottage several times and admired her chickens, but it seemed like she was always gone. Finally, on Thursday, we had to move on and miss meeting her. 

The bus took us north from South Uist, across the island of Benbecula and to the Isle of Grimsay, where it left us off right in front of the Uist Wool Center mill and shop. Cathy happened to mention to the woman in the shop that we had been staying at Howmore Hostel.

“Oh, I live next door to the hostel!” the woman said. 

Surprised, Cathy asked, “Are you Hazel??” She was! We got to meet her anyway AND, more importantly, Hazel added some rows to me using the Uist Tir yarn. Tir means “land” in Gaelic and this yarn is from a flock of Black Welsh Mountain sheep that reside on North Uist. 

The Wool Center and mill “emerged from a collective will to find a fresh purpose for local fleece that would reconnect the community with their cultural heritage of wool-working.” It took a great deal of effort to raise the funds and mount such a project for this small rural community and they have reason to be proud. 

Cathy shopped while Hazel knitted. She finally made some interesting purchases, including a “slubbing cake” which is the way the fiber comes from the mill after it has been carded, but before it is spun. Sometimes called “pencil roving,” it is very easy to spin…or held double on large needles it can be knitted into a very warm sweater. It is similar to the Icelandic unspun Lopi fiber that Cathy purchased in Iceland. 

Saying our goodbyes to Hazel, we had to walk two miles back down the road to the bus stop. Well, Cathy walked; I went along strapped to her pack.  

Hazel suggested that we visit the tea shop we would encounter along the way—seemingly in the middle of nowhere! But we were glad we went in because on the walls a series of community quilts were exhibited. The contributing artists had sewn, knitted, crocheted, woven, embroidered, glued, and felted all sorts of squares depicting life in the Hebrides which came together in a remarkable collection of four magnificent quilts. 

We found the bus stop—again, seemingly in the middle of nowhere—and caught a bus across North Uist to the Isle of Berneray and tonight’s lodging, another Gatliff Trust Hostel right down by the sea! 

We stayed two nights at the thatched Berneray hostel and met another warden, Georgie, who added some of the yarn from the Hebridean Woolshed to me. I’m getting pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself!

While on North Uist, Cathy left me behind one day to take a hike around the island. She almost did not go down to the beach but was later glad she did. Look at these amazing images she found in the sand there. It is almost like the ocean picked up some charcoal sticks and became an artist! This phenomenon happens when the tide slowly recedes creating tiny rivulets in a top layer of light-colored sand revealing the dark layer beneath. It took Cathy the longest time to walk around that beach, but she never saw a soul—she says that it was magical.

And now we return to the Scottish mainland and our “home” in Oban. To hear about THAT journey (and Robert, the Dog Optometrist), you will have to go over to Cathy’s travelblog.