Before the trip...

Tonight, eight of us met for dinner and "getting to know you" time. At the gathering were Polly, Tara, Sara, Alice, Deb, Marcia, Mary and myself. In twelve days we will gather at Logan Airport, meet up with the remaining travelers and take off for the Shetland Islands! Are we ready ladies?

Shetland - Cornwall The Beginning

My first adventure!  My travels have been limited to New England, Florida and Bermuda, that's it!  This is my first International travel...first passport...first foreign currency...first blog.


My good friend Sara and I will be joining 13 other ladies for a fabulous trip of knitting, fiber, museums and beautiful countryside.  We leave in two weeks so stay tuned as we chronicle our adventures...

...It all started when I saw a post on Ravelry (a fabulous knitting site) about the trip.  It sounded fabulous so I printed the brochure and 'presented' it to Sara, my travel/knitting buddy, with my fingers crossed that she would want to go.  It didn't take much arm twisting for Sara to jump on-board.

Read on...the brochure!  How could any knitter resist?

KNITTING TOUR OF SHETLAND AND CORNWALL

May 12 - 26, 2012

Spend 12 wonderful days knitting your way across the Shetland Islands and Cornwall, all the while taking classes, visiting yarn shops, knitting mills, farms, castles, gardens and taking in all the wonderful sites and spectacular countryside these two very different regions of Great Britain have to offer.

After a day of travel from Boston we will arrive in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands, get settled in our

hotel and rest up for the next day when our classes with Elizabeth Johnson and tours of Shetland begin. Monday we

will visit Jamison & Smith, start our classes(Fair Isle or lace knitting or weaving) and enjoy the rest of the day walking

Lerwick to discover the many Shetland craft shops. The next three days will continue with classes, visits to local crafters and a stop to see the garments in the Shetland Museum. One day will be an all day trip to Unst, the northern-most of the Shetland Islands, to visit the Unst Heritage Center. You never know what you might see along the way.

Friday we depart early in the morning for our flight to Cardiff where we are met by our private coach and travel to Bath. The next day we are on our own to enjoy this wonderful town - The Roman Baths, The Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum, Bath Abbey and much more. Be sure to watch your favorite Jane Austin videos for atmospheric background.

After two nights in Bath we head down to Cornwall a land of dramatic scenery, with castles, gardens and of course, sheep, mills, and yarn stores. Our home base will be St. Michael’s Hotel in Falmouth.

Cornwall offers so much in the way of gardens, castle ruins, dramatic landscape and ofcourse yarn. We will be visiting a variety of yarn outlets, including the home of Fangipani, a wonderful source for gansey yarn. Pendennis Castle will be a short walk from our hotel and we can walk across the Causway St. Michael’s Mount if the tide is right. You can work

your way through the maze at Glendurgan Gardens and enjoy the tropical landscape at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. The area was also home to Daphne Du Maurier so we will stop at Jamacia Inn and for Doc Martin devotees there will be a stop in Port Isaac where the series is filmed. We will also be attending a performance of the Port Isaac Fisherman’s Friends at the Minack Theater, a dramatic setting carved into the Cornish coast. For those who wish to explore there will be the options of going for walks along the coastal way footpath or a visit to the Poldark Mine(cost additional). Of course, we must stop for scones and clotted cream and enjoy the good food of the local pubs.

Included are:

✤ 5 nights hotel in Lerwick, Shetland(Glen Orchy House)

✤ 2 nights hotel in Bath(Abbey Hotel)

✤ 5 nights hotel in Falmouth(St. Michael’s Hotel)

✤ 1 night hotel in Bristol(Winford Manor)

✤ 4 evening meals(upon arrival in Lerwick, Bath, Cornwall and Bristol)

✤ 12 English breakfasts

✤ round trip air fare leaving from Boston and all travel expenses in Great Britain and

Ireland(flights from Dublin to Aberdeen to Lerwick, Lerwick to Cardiff, Bristol to

Dublin to Boston and private coach in Great Britain)

✤ workshops on Shetland in either Fair Isle or lace knitting or weaving

✤ National Trust pass for entries to historical site plus entry for Roman Baths, Lost

Gardens of Heligan , Dartington Hall, Pendennis Castle

✤ Visits to yarn shops, farms and mills