In January 2019 Kate sent me the first chapter from Wheesht. I settled down with my coffee that Sunday morning to read ‘Don’t Ask’, and it hit me like a tonne of bricks
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All articles filed in landscape
Udal
In the spring of 2018, after a hard winter in which I’d been struggling with my depression, I spent some time in Berneray and North Uist. You can get a sense of how much I immediately loved the place, and how very much I enjoyed meeting Meg Rodger and learning more about her work –…
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Light and lambs
Hello everyone, it’s Tom here. I thought I’d pop in to share some of my photos from our recent Hebridean trip to the isle of Berneray (Eilean Bhearnaraigh). As a photographer, I find the ever-changing weather and shifting quality of light in Scotland’s Western Isles really stimulating in my work. On this trip we were…
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at lamraig cottage
We’ve just returned from a very relaxing break in Berneray and North Uist, staying in lamraig cottage – a beautiful Hebridean blackhouse: carefully restored, formerly occupied, and now run as a holiday rental by our friend Meg (of Birlinn Yarn fame). If you’ve read the Shieling section of my West Highland Way book, you’ll know…
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Making books by hand: part 3
Making Latitude Hello again, it’s Tom here with my third, and final, instalment about making my new book, Latitude. In my previous two posts I’ve spoken about the craft of bookbinding and the importance of the choice of materials to the finished book object. Today I’d like to tell you more about the concepts and…
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Hush
Have you ever visited Cowal? Bound by Loch Fyne on the west and the Firth of Clyde to the east, this peninsula extends, through a rolling landscape of hilly peaks, forestry, and sheltered coves, down to the Kyles of Bute. The minute you turn south of the A83, you realise why the area is often…
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Ootlier 2: Range
Hello – this is Tom today rather than Kate – I’m here to tell you about Ootlier 2, which has just been published today. I enjoy many different kinds of photography, and my Ootlier zines give me the opportunity to explore my ideas and practice in different ways. Last year you may remember that I…
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croft, craft, creativity
One of the many things I really like about the communities and cultures of crofting is their distinctive effect on the way people work. What I mean is this: in towns and cities, jobs tend to become more and more specialised, people do what they do within smaller and smaller categories, individual work occurs in…
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The work of water
This week’s West Highland Way club design is Stronachlachar – a loose-fitting tee, with, sinuous twisted stitches. The simple cables which twist over the surface of this design have a very direct inspiration in my local built environment, specifically the pipelines and waterworks of the Loch Katrine scheme, which runs from Stronachlachar all the way…
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Boxing day jumper
For the past six months I’ve been designing a collection. I have developed the ideas for six garments and six accessories, made swatches, knit prototypes, re-knit prototypes, re-knit again; drawn charts, produced grading spreadsheets, written patterns, re-written patterns, written patterns once again; edited the patterns, styled the designs, and, finally, modelled them myself. I’ve by…
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Snow Ball
Hiya! It is I, Bruce! As we all know, one of the most confusing things about living with humans is that the sounds they make (which they call words) can sometimes have several meanings. Today I am here to help you, my dog friends, by clarifying the double-meaning of one of these confusing sounds –…
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Introducing the West Highland Way club
I’m particularly excited about this year’s club and design collection. This is because it takes its inspiration from my home landscape and daily stomping ground: the West Highland Way. The West Highland Way is a long distance walking route of just under a hundred miles that travels from Milngavie in the south to Fort William…
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