Hand-Spinning & Natural Dyeing Retreat, Highlands, Scotland

I don't even know where to start! Rosie's Dye to Spin adventure in the beautiful highlands was a dream come true. Rosie and Alex are welcoming hosts and their farm is beautiful, filled with sheep, chickens, goats, a rabbit, Otto the dog, Lavendar the lamb, and two adorable children. The house accommodations were nice and comfortable. There was plenty of space to spread out and knit until the wee hours. The woods and pastures surrounding the property were breathtaking.
During our week on the farm, we learned the techniques of the process to turn a newly shorn fleece into eco dyed yarn. It was fascinating to see what colors we could create from the local flora around us. Bridie is a wonderfully patient spinning instructor. We were taught the basic skills to allow us to pursue spinning, should we desire. We also had a needle felting tutorial, we got to participate in a "waulking wool" song tradition with Ele, and had a nice introduction to fair isle knitting by Catherine. What I didn't expect, were the amazing meals cooked for us daily! What a treat. The food was healthy, delicious and plentiful. I can't say enough about my week in highlands. It was everything I had hoped it would be, and more!!

I spent a week last July on a Dye to Spin course, staying in the Beaters' wing of a beautiful Lodge on the River Glass. There were six of us, an American couple who divided between walking (him) and very expert spinning and weaving (her) but she had not dyed before. The rest of us were Brits and Rosie made us all feel so welcome and we forged a happy, coherent group. It was so positive and the extra helpers and tutors were amazing as well.
I was not destined to master spinning in the course of the week, but somehow I came away feeling that I might have potential if I persisted. My results are the sort of thing you tie up your Christmas parcels with -interesting but definitely unusual.
But when it came to making a dyed square, collecting plants and arranging them and rolling up the silk square and watching it being steamed and then (patience required) left for 24 hours before being unrolled and admired I was as good as anybody and got so much pleasure out of it all. I loved handling the fleeces and separating them ready for dying, then hanging over the iron pots to watch the process unfold. It was a lovely hillside to stand on, and a magical barn to eat in round a big table as the stewing and brewing went on.
Back at the Lodge the food was very good and the evenings spent with chat, demonstrations and trying to order our project books, if so minded. The rooms were pretty and beds truly comfortable and lashings of hot water. The day when the dyed fleeces were drying we spent walking and picnicking and being awestruck by Plodda Falls.
I hope to return another year, and recommend it thoroughly.