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Mercury 13 was a privately-sponsored programme to assess and train women pilots to become astronauts in the 1960s. Thirteen women passed the tests which their male counterparts in Mercury 7 also underwent. In many cases, the women performed better than the men. Wally Funk was one of those women. Her story has been told in the book, Wally Funk's Race for Space. However, when NASA realised that this programme existed, it was abruptly halted. A government hearing was held.  Evidence was given. The training programme was cancelled and these amazing women never realised their dream for which they had worked...

Taigh-dubh is the Gaelic word for blackhouse, the crofter's traditional stone cottage. The name, blackhouse derived from the soot-lined walls caused by the open peat fire.  On a recent trip to Harris and North Uist in the outer Herbides, we were captivated by the beautiful walls of our cottage, a recently built blackhouse. We also came across a semi-derelict blackhouse on North Uist, after we had visited the Uist Mill. Beautiful rounded slabs of rock created the walls. These are some of the oldest rocks in the world: Precambrian banded Lewisian gneisses; metamorphic gabbros of the Scourie Dykes; and metamorphic sedimentary schists. Having...

Plant conservation is very important at Woolly Originals. Many of my bag designs are based on Scottish plants. The Save the Willow range, first in a series on climate change and plant conservation, was designed with the help of the Herbarium staff at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and launched in late March 2019. Sales from these bags at Edinburgh Yarn Festival totalled £1355. Thank you so much for all your support. Woolly Originals has donated ten percent of this today to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to help fund their vital research into plant conservation. This will continue for all future...

Introduction In May 2018, I was intrigued when I learnt that the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh had been running a project for almost twenty years to save endangered native alpine plants. On further investigation, I discovered that one of these plants was the woolly willow (Salix lanata). I instantly knew that I had to create a design that highlighted not only the species itself, but also its vulnerability to climate change. The synergy between the woolly willow and Woolly Originals could not be ignored! The woolly willow is a native, low growing, alpine shrub found in the remote glens of Scotland. It has beautiful...