The Great Tapestry of Scotland

We just returned from a family trip to Scotland and my family and I agree that this was the best trip we have ever taken.  Scotland was more beautiful than I had imagined.  We started our trip in Edinburgh, travelled through the Highlands as far as the Isle of Skye, and then ended up in Glasgow, before we reluctantly returned home. (There was even some sheep shearing involved!)   In my next blog I will post some pictures of the trip but in this one I wanted to write about The Great Tapestry of Scotland which is currently on display at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.  These 160 tapestry panels are freeze frames of the history of Scotland and were hand stitched by over one thousand volunteer stitchers, each one sharing a passion for Scottish history.  Each panel took over 400 hours and measures either 100 x 100 cm or 100 x 50cm.  To see them in person was amazing as the amount of detail in each panel was so impressive.  Of course I have to show you the pictures of the ones involving knitting!

Panel #126 Fair Isle Knitting

Panel #115 Shetland Knitters

And how about this one:

Panel #73

I have to admit I visited this free display more than once as it was so incredible.  This unique way of telling the story of a Scotland's history is one I will not soon forget.