Och, another loch

And another castle.  And I just realized there was a Yarnworks today and I forgot to send a reminder e-mail, so I hope people remembered!  In fact, as I type this, I think it has not yet occurred, if I have the time difference right.  Hope it was/will be fun.

Yes, another cruise on a loch, Loch Lomond of song fame, and another castle, Stirling Castle, which features in the William Wallace story.  Nothing new to report from the Loch cruise - it was less windy, so at least there were no whitecaps on the lake until near the end.  Then a rather mundane lunch, then to Stirling Castle.  Some of us were disappointed that we repeated similar experiences rather than having free time to explore the city, so we asked for at least a bus tour, and got one on the way back.

Stirling Castle had been an army barracks, and only recently has started to be restored.  One of the things they have done is to have artist hand weavers recreate the famous Unicorn Tapestries that hang in the Cloisters in NY, so a few of us were excited to see the tapestries and the exhibit about how they were made.  We were only given an hour and a half, so we skipped the guided tour and raced around to see these things.  The tapestries themselves are good, but a little off due to the brightness of their colors and slight artistic differences from the originals, but those of us who do fiber arts were deeply appreciative of the skill that went into them.  At the exhibit we saw the history of the project and were, at last, able to touch the wool that had gone into them.  I have had a book about these tapestries since high school and had read it many times, so I was very familiar with the originals and have several embroidered items with the Unicorn in Captivity scene that I have made.  Overall, the castle seemed off - the repainting of the rooms too brightly colored, too amateur in style, too new.  The kitchen exhibit was also not as I expected, but interesting in its own way.  Last castle, at least last Scottish one.

Before we got back to the hotel we got a tour of Glasgow by bus, but by 5 pm Saturday, nothing was open to see.

Pedestrian bridge over the Clyde.

Another bridge over the Clyde.

This building is nicknamed "the armadillo".

And I'm getting pretty good at knitting by feel.  I realized that I couldn't finish this hat - I originally packed a very long circular needle so I could do it by magic loop (which I have never done and need to practice), but changed my mind and my needle to a 16" circular which is all well and good except that I can't decrease at the top.  So unless I buy DPNs here, this hat will return home unfinished.