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Scottish Summer

Well Alexa’s Summer Report is a hard act to follow!  But I have to say… this summer was EPIC.  After launching Handmade in the UK in the spring, I had plenty of time to play… and I made the most of it!

Plenty of days and evenings spent on Portabello Beach – lots of ocean and loch swimming!

The weather was fabulous, so we got out and went hiking in the Pentlands, and spent plenty of time at the beach (I swam outdoors 6 or 8 times this summer, which is pretty much unheard-of in Scotland… it’s cold up here at 56 degrees N).  We also went camping, and climbed Ben Nevis… I swam in the Loch part way up and I only got slightly sunburned!

On the sunniest weekend of the entire year (perhaps, in fact, the sunniest in the history of Scotland), we climbed Ben Nevis, the tallest peak in the UK. It was a long walk… even longer for the boys who foolishly carried a 6-pack of beer to the top!
Slipping about on a patch of snow near the summit!

My friend Kasia from Ottawa came to visit, and this was an excuse for me to take a proper holiday!  I met her in London, and we travelled to Bath.  We wandered the beautiful city, toured the museums, and spent the better part of a day in the Spa… I can’t decide which was my favourite part; the aromatherapy sauna pods, or the rooftop pool with amazing views over the historic city and English countryside…

Bath… exquisite Georgian architecture (plus great shopping, food, scenery… a perfect mini-break).
The Fashion Museum in Bath was an unexpected find! At the location of the historic Assembly Rooms (think Jane Austen novels… where they held the big balls!), they were exhibiting an entire room of Laura Ashley dresses. It was fascinating!
The Museum has a room where you could dress up in period costume! Don’t I look like an innocent little darling (don’t let appearances deceive you!).

Back in Edinburgh, Festival season was in full swing!  Plenty of tourists, performers, and crazy artsy-types pour into the city every August, and John and I try to see as many shows as possible (while still managing to get up for work the next day… not always an easy task!).

The Edinburgh Festival meant busy downtown, and a varied assortment of weird arty types and hilarious street performers… I wonder what this pair are getting up to?!

Puppets were the running theme at this years Fringe for us!  I saw a puppet musical (Avenue Q), an improv show with puppets (Hensons Alternative’s Puppet Up), the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, and several other puppet-related shows.  Why are puppets so hilarious?!

We saw more comedy, theatre, and puppet shows at the Edinburgh Fringe this year than ever before! So much fun…!
John was a goof… as per usual
My lovely university pal Kasia visited from Ottawa, Canada.

We visited the Edinburgh Zoo, which was a real treat for me! It had been so long since I’d been to a Zoo, and I forgot how amazing it was to watch the animals. The penguins, meercats, zebras, rhinos, and squirrel monkeys were my favourites…

We visited the Edinburgh Zoo, and the zebras were one of my favourites… I’m thinking graphic high-contrast knits for fall?

And there were lovely days spent with other little monkeys too:

We welcomed a new baby into the family – John’s first niece Millie… Future baby model?
My baby grew up… and got into plenty of trouble all summer long.

Well… the time has now come to say goodbye to summer, and get ready for fall knitting!  And what better way to welcome the cold weather than by having a sale on Tin Can Knits patterns!  It’s buy-one-get-one free, and it runs from today, Thursday, September 19th for one week only, until Thursday September 26th!

Simply shop on our website (or ravelry.com), add 2 or more products to your cart, then enter the following coupon code: BACKTOKNIT – the lower-priced item will be free!  The Small Print ::: The coupon applies only to products for sale via the Tin Can Knits ravelry store, the full list is here: http://www.ravelry.com/stores/tin-can-knits-designs – please note that print books are excluded from this promotion.

What will you start this fall?  Maybe some snuggly mittens?

Loch MittensAntler MittensMarshmallow Mitts

Emily Wessel

Hi! I’m Emily Wessel, I design fun-to-knit patterns and helpful technique tutorials. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland with my husband and two kids, where I like to run, knit, learn languages, and hang out with friends. I am co-founder and designer at Tin Can Knits - www.tincanknits.com

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2 Comments

  1. littleblackdogsa
    September 26, 2013 @ 2:29 am

    Thanks for sharing, I feel like I took a small trip to Scotland. :-)

  2. Maureen
    September 19, 2013 @ 6:27 am

    Wonderful pictures, as always. I been to Scotland 3 times and would go back in a heart beat. It’s a lovely country. You’re so lucky to be living there.