FiberExperiences- Faroe Islands

FiberExperiences
We had a late night flight from Oslo to the Faroe airport and about an hour drive to Torsham via an underwater tunnel. The Faroe Islands, 18 in all, are located midway between Norway and Iceland. Population is only 50,000. The Faroes are self-governing but of the Danish realm and use the Danish Krona for money.
It started out cloudy but cleared quickly as we set out for a long day of sightseeing. I thought perhaps were living in a story book with sites such as :

We made a stop at the studio of Borgny Dam Paturson.She designs fashions in Faroese wool. I came away empty handed but several made sweater, jacket, and skirt purchases. Down the road was the

with numerous ready to wear goods and a bit of yarn. Disappointment in the yarn shopping arena caused Hilda, our guide, to get very creative and call a yarn shop on her cell phone and beg them to stay open for us. I expect this owner had a very cheery trip to the bank on Monday. She couldn't get any of the North American credit cards to work but was happy to take US and Canadian dollars. Hilda confessed to being a knitter but I doubt she had ever seen such an enthusiastic group of shoppers (obsessed, perhaps). Most on the islands learn to knit at ages 3 or 4. The tradition remains strong.

The yarn on Faroe is from sheep that eat only trees and is undyed. I got some laceweight in the "peat" color for the Litla Dimun shawl from Folk Shawls. Litla Dimun is one of the islands. This yarn is pretty coarse and other brands have been developed mixing with lambswool and shetland, which can be found dyed. I got a couple of each for the Rambling Rows afghan of various sheep breeds and travel specific yarns. Guess I'll have to get that back out. I still have some rows from the Wales trip to include.
Nachaele has suggested making a square or 2 on Sundays. I may have to join her. Note the lovely rose lace shawl which is ready to wear!

The lovely day ended with a magnificent evening at the Nordic center in Torsham. We had an array of food to die for, wine, beer, and I might mention the desserts!!! Additionally, some of the Faroese knitters demonstrated knitting and we had a musical performance as well. The Nordic Center was a beautiful setting, and boasted lots of Nordic artifacts.

As beautiful as Saturday was, Sunday was horrid. It poured down rain as we visited the cultural center in Kirkjubour and an ancient farmhouse. Soaked to the skin, we headed to Iceland in the afternoon.

I found Faroe to be a very lovely place and would have liked to have had a bit more time, and a bit less rain.

Next up, Iceland.