I went to visit Corinna Krause from Sollas Books (www.sollasbooks.com). Corinna is a book-binder who works from a workshop in the little village of Sollas, about twenty minutes from Berneray, and she makes the most beautiful books and papers. I have commissioned some hand-made boxes to present one of my new products in, so I spent an amazing hour or two looking at all sorts of different papers.......
..... finished products........
.... and Corinna at work. Below she is positioning a finished book cover in the press,
after pasting on the cloth and preparing the recess for the inlay. We also bought some lovely concertina notelets with waxed paper covers - available from Taigh Chearsabhaigh and direct from Corinna herself. Its just amazing the talent that is lurking in the various villages and glens of the Western Isles. Take a peek at the Sollas Books website to see what else Corinna does.
In the evening we attended a meeting of the Wool Development Group - set up a while ago to undertake a feasibility study into whether a spinning mill on Uist would be possible. I've had a long term interest in the project because of my problems in getting local Hebridean fleeces spun up so they can be used for Harris Tweed. It was a great upbeat meeting with lots of people attending and the result of the study was positive.
As part of the study a lot of public opinion was sought, and various events organised to publicise the importance of wool and woollen products in the Western Isles today. As part of this, everyone was invited to participate in making some patchwork quilts by constructing a square that related to wool. The results are stunning!
Good news from Suffolk, home of the Gedgrave Wensleydales (see the link on the left). Lambing is nearly over now and they have arrived in both black......
..... and white. And all are mega-cute and cuddly. Can't wait for our little ones to start arriving at the end of the month!
Now for something completely different - but maybe not. Nicky from Hebridean Humpties has sent me a photo of her new Viking Humpty who was on display at a recent golfing exhibition. His hair is made of white Wensleydale dreadlocks, and he is wearing a plaid made of the Scalpay Linen Hebridean Tweed. Isn't he great?
And finally - our first hen of the season to go broody is a ginger naked neck. So we are going to put 8 eggs under her tomorrow and keep our fingers crossed that some will hatch so there will be new chicks for the Singing Weaver and her party when they visit in a months time.
Oh yes, nearly forgot. Joanne Kaar - papermaker extraordinaire from Caithness (see link at the side) sent me a mail to let me know that Google street maps are now available for our part of the world. So now the world can see the Scalpay Linen weaving shed! Try this short link to see....
1 comment:
Anywhere with an Otter Crossing roadsign has got to be a good place to be! What a tremendous amount there is going on in your wee corner of the Western Isles. Quite apart from sheepy news, I was interested to see the bookbinding. I have a friend who is an artist bookbinder and I had a very inspiring time at one of her workshops recently (no, she hasn't commissioned me to advertise!) - wrote about it on my own blog last week. Anyway I enjoy dropping in on the Hebrides from time to time, courtesy of your blog.
Best wishes,
Kate
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