Tweed!

If you didn't see it earlier this month it is well worth looking up the slideshow from the Guardian featuring Donald John MacKay from Luskentyre.  As you will know from a previous blog DJ is a tweed weaver extraordinaire (and I love working with his cloth).  He and his wife Maureen live on their croft in Luskentyre with DJ’s weaving shed to the side of the house and wee shop at the front.  They have the most amazing view imaginable to the front of their house, right over the sands to the dunes and then the settlement of Seilebost on the other side, the sea, Taransay and the croft lands and hills of South Harris.  The colours of the land and water are quite indescribable and the whole scene changes by the minute.  The sand there is very flat and wide and although there is a river coming down and dissecting the beach the sea travels a large distance in and out on every tide.  The colour of the water over the sand is quite magical especially when the sun is on it.  The shape of the dunes and where the river runs changes all the time too so it is always different.

Anyway I digress.  The short piece from the Guardian was absolutely charming and captures DJ in a way most newspaper articles have failed to do in the past.  Avoiding the picture and text route this has a large number of images and a simple voiceover.  The pictures are brilliant and show DJ in his natural environment on the croft, round Luskentyre, down on the beach and the dunes, at home and in the weaving shed.  The angles used, especially the weaving ones, are quite unusual and each shot is matched to the voiceover which is DJ talking about tweed, weaving and reminiscing about his earliest memories of being in the weaving shed as a wee fella and his family life.  I think it captures Donald John’s character very well indeed.  Catch up with it here Donald John MacKay slideshow  Watch and enjoy!

Here's a wee bit of tweed to be getting on with, it's a beautiful green predominantly with flecks of other greens, blues yellows and a darker mossier green herringbone design.  It says summer on the dunes to me with the wind blowing in the maram grass and the sea sparkling in the sun.

If you would like to experience Donald John's tweeds for yourself they can be found at 6 Luskentyre, Isle of Harris.

àilean   Borve, Isle of Harris - a great place to stay on your Harris adventure

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