Day 5
Plan: Return to Lerwick to drop off rental car. Do last minute shopping before catching ferry to Aberdeen at 5:30pm .
It’s our last day in Shetland. We woke up to the cries of a lost lamb outside our window. Nobody seemed too concerned, including the mother who didn’t seem in much of a hurry to find him. After our traditional Scottish breakfast of an egg, ham, sausage, a slice of tomato, toast and coffee (but hold the beans please) we set off for Lerwick.
As we drove towards the main road that runs from Northmavine to Lerwick, I skimmed through the guide book and found what sounded like an interesting detour. Just a few miles north of Mavis Grind is a small winding road that heads west towards the coastline and eventually ends at a place called Nibon. The rocky landscape reminded me of our drive to Sandness but with more elevation. Like always, sheep and abandoned crofts dotted the hills. At the end of the road we reached Nibon which was nothing more than a few houses overlooking a picturesque rocky beach. What you don’t see in the picture is the sheep poo beneath my feet. Sheep are so ubiquitous on this island. If you don’t immediately see them you still usually come across some sign of their presence. After enjoying the view we head back towards the road to Lerwick.
As we drove into town it seemed like a good idea to stop at the ferry terminal just north of town to pick up our tickets and drop off luggage before returning the rental car. Luckily they had a “left luggage” room. Oddly enough there was no attendant minding the baggage. The woman at the counter said that they’d never had a problem with theft ( or terrorism?).
After lunch at the Peerie Cafe we wandered around town poking our heads into place that we hadn’t visited and returned to others for one last look. One place that I hadn’t yet visited was Fibres. From the outside it’s kind of hard to tell whether it’s a yarn or knitwear store. The sweaters in the window didn’t look hand knitted but plastered on the other side of the door are yarn company posters. As soon as I stepped inside I saw shelves of yarn and figured I’d found yet one more yarn shop on Shetland. As I wondered up the stars I found knitwear in a variety of styles, some traditional and others less so. For the most part they had the usual UK yarn brands plus Noro. What caught my eye was a basket near the register. It was full of miniature skeins of hand dyed Shetland. As I sorted through the skeins the woman at the register mentioned she had dyed them herself. I picked out four skeins and walked out hoping Paul wouldn’t notice this small wool acquisition.
After Fibres I briefly visited Ninian, a shop with all sorts of gift items with a more trendy flavor. With no more room in my luggage I avoided buying more knitwear however I was very intrigued by the stitch pattern on this sweater in the window. Any ideas on what it is? It’s double-sided.
Besides wool and knitwear there was only one other thing that I was hoping to find on Shetland, a brooch for my lace shawls. I’m not sure whether such a thing is too old-fashioned or not part of their tradition but I couldn’t find one. I settled for this pin until later while in Edinburgh I found this Celtic style brooch which is close to what I had envisioned.
Before long it was time to head back to the ferry terminal to collect our luggage and board the ship for the overnight voyage to Aberdeen.
Along the way we passed Fair Isle. It was sad to be so close but not to have gone there. But there’s always next time.
After Shetland we were off to spend a few days in the Highlands before heading to Edinburgh and eventually London. I have plenty of pictures of our visit to Leault Farm, as well as a few from the National Museum of Scotland’s interesting display of textile related machines and a few knitwear samples from Shetland.
So I left off last time with having visited 
Not much further down the road we finally reached the 
A fellow Feral Knitter who had been to Shetland a few years ago mentioned that Wilma’s studio wasn’t to be missed. I was planning on stopping by there the previous Sunday but somehow missed it. When someone else from the island mentioned that I must drop by there to see her work I knew we had to go down there again, even if it was out of the way.
We left the Jamieson’s Mill around noon so by the time we arrived back in town it was time to eat lunch but before we did that, I headed over to Jamieson’s to pick up that pack of yarn.
After lunch it was off to the new 
The one thing that struck me as I walked through the other exhibits was how often knitted goods were shown along with other artifacts. Here’s a 
was in the office and we didn’t see any one near the door to the mill. I was too shy to wander around the place looking for someone so we waited for several minutes before someone eventually appeared. A woman guided us to the “start” of the mill near the weaving looms and then promptly left. We stayed at the looms for about 10 minutes but the woman didn’t reappear. Besides one guy attending the weaving looms the place seemed to be void of workers. When it didn’t seem like the woman would return we moved along stopping at each machine and guessing its purpose. Having read a bit about spinning mills and previously visiting a 
After passing by all the wool processing machines we came across a room where several knitting machines were spitting out jumper (sweater) pieces. Most of the colorways really didn’t appeal to my sense of color. But as the saying goes, to each his own. I suspect these jumpers end up in Japan.
Eventually we wound up at shop door and found someone to let us in. I easily by passed the stacks of blankets and jumpers for the huge wall of yarn – floor to ceiling of 
Our guide book mentioned puffins hang out near the lighthouse so we headed off up the hill in our car. About 1/2 mile from the lighthouse we arrived at a parking area near the gate to the lighthouse. We had to get out there and walk the rest of the way up. It didn’t take long to find the birds. They were just beyond the other side of a short rock wall in front of the lot. At first it was difficult to get close enough for a good picture but when we walked several yards towards a cliff near the gate we got close enough to snap some good photos. Aren’t they cute? It was so fun to watch them land and take off. I later read that it’s best to look for them in the afternoon as they come home to feed the chicks after fishing all day.
After lunch we head north until we came across one of those signs along the road that pointed the direction to knitwear. The first one that we happened upon was the 
>We drove up the road a couple of miles and stopped at the 
On the drive to Lerwick we spotted three signs along the roadside that advertised the way to knitwear studios. It was hard to pass these studios but I also wanted to catch the end of the festival in Lerwick. I kick myself for not stopping when we drove past a crofter sheering a sheep along the side the road. That’s not something I think I’ll ever see again.
The festival was in full swing when we arrived making it difficult to find a parking spot anywhere near the guest house. We ended up parking at the top of the hill and hauled our backpacks down. Once we checked in and washed up we headed down to Victoria Pier. I was quite shocked to find the place packed with so many people. It was hard to move around between tents to visit the crafts, demos and events. The enthusiasm of the locals was heartwarming but after having travel so long that day, the crowd became overwhelming. We dashed between the dozen or so 
Purlwise 