On the way here there was a bit on BBC 4 about Ellie Greenwich, and I f
ound myself singing along to Chapel of Love before I quite realized that I WAS indeed going to the chapel! Love those kind of co-in-ki-dinks.
Jen, the brains & talent behind Fyberspates, works out of a Chapel, and it’s lovely! So is she. So is her yarn. So is her cooking (onion & goat cheese pastry with lovely roast potatoes – YUM!)
The building is amazing, and was renovated into a very comfortable, roomy home. The classes today were held in a lovely white space with so much good light I was in pure heaven. Good light is the unsung hero of teaching.
Before class I made some joke about praying, which was received NOT as a joke (because – for better or for worse – Americans tend to be perceived as rather religious due to the coverage of our political battles)
It took a little straightening out – and a bit of swearing – to convince the ladies that I am, indeed, no lady.
Back to Jen. I knit a sweater – which was unfortunately caught in the UK customs black hole for several months – and it’s just arrived back home in St. Paul.
It’s absolutely glorious to see miles and miles of her beautifully dyed wool laid out in rows and rows of color. I’m so surrounded with beauty here, I’m just beside myself.
On the way down from Edinburgh I took a side trip to a portion of Hadrian’s Wall, and then had tea at Lanercost (I believe it’s a former Priory, now a wonderful tea room / gift shop)
I think folks can rent out space and stay there, I’m thinking it may be a good place to hold some classes when I’m back next summer.
The wall was … wall-ish, wonderful, but wet (it was raining) and made me feel quite bad for the early Romans who were posted here from warm Italy.
Then the sun came out from behind a cloud, the sheep pepped up, and all bad feelings for the Romans were gone.
Tomorrow I have two more classes with many of the same excellent knitters who were in class today. I’m very excited – we had a swell time – and I cannot wait to walk them through the maze of double knitting!