Incredibly, North East Open Studios might be one of the few public events taking place this year in Aberdeenshire, albeit with inevitable COVID-19 restrictions.
Book a visit during NEOS
With the studio being so small, I'm going to set up a booking option through the Black Sheep Knits Facebook page to allow people to visit exclusively. I'll have sanitiser available and I'll ask that anyone visiting wears a mask, but aside from that I'll try to make the visit as relaxed as it can be.
There will be something on the knitting machine that I'll be working on and, if I can work out a method of taking payment, I've got prototype designs that will be available to buy in a sample sale. Hats, head warmers, wrist warmers and cowls. Most of them have been part of my pattern creation and are one-off designs and colourways. I'm slowly adding things to the website shop too.
I should be sharing my space for NEOS with my daughter, The Illustrated Lab but this year's circumstances have made it too difficult for her to be here in person. But I'll have some of her work available to view and she'll be with me virtually during the whole event on social media.
Wander in the garden
The garden will be open for you to look around if you'd like to wander, but we are not providing refreshments or access to toilets this year.
There's no NEOS directory this year, but the committee have managed to organise the printing of the map and you should be seeing them around. And there's a digital version of the book available on the NEOS website as a PDF or as a flipbook on the ISSU site. So you'll still be able to plan your trips out.
I'll be open from 12-18th September, though NEOS runs till the 20th so there will still be other places to visit.