Today I met up with my knitterly friend Christine.
We planned an excursion slightly to the south, before Christine migrates to Glasgow at the end of the month.
Our first stop was a curious little shop in a one-horse town: The Swatchmaker in Laurencekirk.
The shop would not be out of place on the Byres Road: a small hand-picked collection of curios, crafts and vintage clothing. Is Laurencekirk “up and coming”? Who knew? Christine and I both found something to buy, but it was a long way to go for a vintage sewing pattern (me) and a tatting booklet (Christine)!
Luckily, we had also planned a visit to a “destination tearoom” at Balmakewan. When we arrived, they were still serving amazing-looking breakfasts, but we were on a strict coffee-and-cake diet today. We found a bright spot and pulled out our knitting, attracting a stage whisper of: “Exciting!” from a woman at the next table – hee!
I hadn’t seen Christine’s cardigan for quite some time, and it had grown a lot – wow!
I was able to deliver her Willowherb socks, which she kindly agreed to model in the wild.
Hooray – they fit!
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| Willowherb high-kicking in the willowherb |
All too soon it was time to head home again, each clutching a punnet of locally grown strawberries. On the way, we topped up on local culture at the Grassic Gibbon Centre. I found it strangely poignant to find the writer’s short life reduced to a dvd playing on a loop, some posters and a few personal artefacts, like his Library Card and a boot hook. OK, that’s not a fair summary. Maybe if we had stayed for coffee I would have come away with a different impression. But… it was an odd little place.
Back in Aberdeen, I had 20 minutes in town before my train, and popped into Zara to scoff at the sale. Oh how the cynical are fallen! Look what I bought for £5!
Ha ha ha! Don’t worry – I don’t intend to wear this garment in its current shape. This is 100% linen jersey and there is more than enough fabric here to harvest to make a summer cardigan. It was Made in Portugal and should have cost £20. I imagine it is supposed to worn as a beach cover-up.
But I much prefer the 60’s style of the pattern I bought at The Swatchmaker!
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| Simplicity 4482 |
I had such a lovely day out! Thank you, Christine!
The next time we meet, it will probably be in Glasgow: lots of day-trip potential there! ;)
