It was a feast of colour and yarn and a real heaven for textile lovers when friends and I visited the only working woollen mill in the Scottish Borders, Selkirk to be precise. It looked a bit dicey weatherwise last night but fortunately the weather had warmed up and although I left home with snow on the ground it eventually turned into a sunny but cold day.
I have visited this mill before (http://www.lochcarron.co.uk) but they were much more organized this time and it was fascinating to see all the weaving machines in action. Much is mechanized and even computerised but there is still a lot of handwork involved too.
These punch cards are used to tell the machines which pattern to weave.
The finished fabrics are a delight and they do have a shop where remnants are sold!
Not an entire bolt though, even if I fancied it like mad!
Here are some of the tartans they produce.
And here the fabrics are shown woven together in strips to show them off.
Afterwards we did some more shopping in Melrose and then I left in order to get home before it got dark. I drove straight into a glorious sunset and met 3 gritters, 2 coming towards me and following another one. I don't know about the roads but my car is well gritted!
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1 comment:
I would love to have seen this place and all those gorgeous pieces in person!
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