Felting & Natural Dyeing Craft Holidays & Courses in the Highlands of Scotland

Description:

Come and join us in the Highlands of Scotland to get really immersed in traditional wool crafts. We run our Fleece to Felt week in May, our Dye to Spin weeks in July and August and our Craft retreat in September. We start our May and July weeks by shearing one of our Shetland sheep and washing and sorting fleeces. We go on to picking dye plants, making natural dyes and dyeing our fleece over outdoor fires the traditional way. Mid week we visit some of the areas stunning scenery for inspiration, including Glen Affric (one of Scotland's most beautiful glens). The last two days of the course are spent either wet felting (usually a wall hanging inspired by the stunning landscapes and colours around us here) or needle felting with Fi Oberon (UK renowned needle felter). Fi creates stunning animals from hand-dyed fleece. This year guests went home with garden birds, a badger, Highland cows, hares and of course sheep! Once the technique is learnt it can be applied to any animal, bird or sculptural piece. Last year Fi released one the most comprehensive and beautiful books published on needle felting. She is an excellent teacher who is great fun and very knowledgeable.
Bridie teaches hand-spinning on our Dye to Spin week, she has been teaching in the Highlands for over 20 years; she is relaxed and very skilled. Guests also have a chance to have a go at spinning on our Fleece to Felt week as well as listen to traditional Highland weaving songs and enjoy comfortable accommodation by the river Glass at Kerrow house or the Old Stables at Corimoney. Our September Craft retreat, is based at the Old Stables, where guests can really enjoy the surroundings and relax, with views out to the local RSPB reserve, the river and the farmland all around. Our craft retreat includes; natural dyeing, eco-printing, walking and felting, along with an evening relaxation session and optional yoga. We also love to cook and we are happy to cater for all dietary needs. We produce and grow as much of our own food as possible.
We also run weekend and shorter courses in Felting, Natural Dyeing, Eco-Printing and Spinning (£150 per person for 2 days).

What's included in the price?

Once we pick guests up from Inverness everything is included in the week (all the workshops, materials, food, accommodation and transfers).
We are happy to cater for any dietary needs. We love to cook and produce as much of our own salad and vegetables as we can and we use local suppliers for our fish and meat.
Travel to Inverness is quite easy as you can fly or take the train. Easyjet flies to Inverness from London, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. There is a regular train service from Glasgow and Edinburgh connecting all major cities in the UK.
Each guest goes home with a sample book of the fleece they have naturally dyed and bag of dyed fleece, course notes and their own needle felted sculptures or a wet felted piece.

Our 5 day courses start at £650 with our 8 day courses starting at £895.

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