Fairies and first steps...

... O hì, o hò, crodh an tàilleir, siosar is meuran is snàthad...

There is a Gaelic lullaby about the riches of a tailor. He doesn't have any cattle but he does have his scissors, a thimble, and a needle and thread. I like to think that he found a lady willing to look past his lack of four-legged bovine charm who accepted his proposal and lived out her days in glorious silk and satins, ribbons, braids and seed pearls.

All of which is a rough intro to the fact that I live in the Western Isles of Scotland and spend about half my life speaking Gaelic and the other half worrying about its chances of survival. When I need to escape I turn to to my back bedroom which is stuffed with paint, fabric, clay and just about anything else I can get my hands on to craft with. So I thought I might try to write about these twin obsessions in one blog, and see how it goes.

This first picture isn't even of my own crafting, although it was done entirely through Gaelic. Here are some fairies spotted in Baile Sear in Uist - rather nicer than the fairies which turn up in Gaelic stories. Perhaps I'll tell a Gaelic story next time. These lovely ladies are from a craft kit I picked up as a present on a trip to Edinburgh, from an American company called Klutz. It is inspired - after making two with help this six-year-old artist managed to produce another two entirely on her own, and they are really fiddly. I am very impressed and will be looking out for more - tapadh leat, Klutz!