21. september 2026 – 28. september 2026 Scotland
Knitting in Scotland with Annette Danielsen
Can you imagine anything more fitting than going on a knitting course in beautiful Scotland? The country with more sheep than people, some of the finest wool you can find, and a long tradition of knitting and processing wool in all its forms. It is a must if you are a knitter and love beautiful and inspiring surroundings.
Annas Højskole has joined forces with knitwear designer Annette Danielsen, who will give you new ideas and new techniques to try, especially based on the woven tartans, Scottish checks, which for many spring to mind first when the conversation turns to Scottish wool. And we have also joined forces with Sisse Skovbakke, who will share her enormous enthusiasm for and knowledge of Scotland with us. During the week she will teach us more about the Scots, the clans, the kilts and about their rather strained relationship with England.
Sisse will also take us on a company visit to a textile factory and to Glasgow, where we will visit a lovely yarn shop and of course experience the city, which was once a heavy industrial city with shipyards and much more, but today has developed into a cultural centre with a thriving music and art scene.
Our folk high school is located on the edge of the town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders area. The area is hilly and mountainous. There is farmland and forest here, and at times a long way between the villages. The sheep farms follow one after another, and the rivers River Clyde and River Tweed wind through the landscape. The nature is green, beautiful and lush.
On the course we stay in a former mansion that belonged to the Ballantyne family, one of Peebles' largest textile manufacturers, who had several factories and weaving mills in the area. The building is now a newly renovated hotel with bright rooms over several floors. The hotel also has a café, bar, a lovely garden with a lawn and flowers, and cosy nooks indoors and out. The hotel is centrally located at the end of the main street.
Peebles is a charming town with shops, cafés and a couple of pubs. The town has about 10,000 inhabitants and lies down by the River Tweed, less than an hour's drive from Edinburgh. Peebles has a long, rich history as a royal burgh, and it was here that southern Scotland's extensive textile production was founded. Countless wool spinning mills, wool weaving mills and textile factories made the area rich in the 19th and 20th centuries.
At the same time, Peebles became a spa town that the upper classes of the coal-polluted cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow retreated to. They went on health stays at the town's spa hotel, The Hydro Hotel. The Hydro still exists, and during the course we have free access to their spa department, which has a steam bath, sauna, training facilities and swimming pool – so remember your swimwear!
ETA
From 2 April 2025, Danish citizens must have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to travel to the United Kingdom. It costs 16 pounds, and you have to apply for it yourself. They state that it can take up to 3 days to be processed. We therefore recommend that you apply at least a week before you travel. You can read more about the ETA for the United Kingdom here: Travel rules - Scotland
Alle kan være med
Du bestemmer selv dit tempo, og programmet tilpasses holdet. Er du i tvivl om noget, så ring til os — så tager vi den sammen.
Knitting in Scotland 21 - 28 September 2026
Day 1 Monday 21/9
Departure from Copenhagen Airport with a Norwegian direct flight at 13.40 to Edinburgh, where we arrive at 14.30 local time.
Arrival in Peebles and at the folk high school. Check-in to rooms.
17.00: Cake/coffee+tea and Welcome to Scotland folk high school by course leader Sisse Skovbakke.
19.00: Dinner + who's who?
After dinner there is free time to enjoy the surroundings and/or settle into your room.
Day 2 Tuesday 22/9
8.00: Morning exercise in the garden or indoors with Sisse.
8.30: Breakfast.
9.15: Morning singing with Sisse.
9.30 – 12.30: Knitting – module 1 with Annette Danielsen.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00: A walk in and around Peebles, which has a fascinating history. We also take a trip down to the River Tweed, which runs through the town.
After the walk there is a couple of hours' free time in the afternoon, which you can spend in the folk high school's lovely garden, the spa area at The Hydro, to which we have access, or you can wander around Peebles on your own.
17.00-19.00: Knitting – module 2 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner at the folk high school.
20.00: Talk by Sisse Skovbakke: "Highlights of Highland History".
Then an evening song or two.
Day 3 Wednesday 23/9
07.45: Breakfast.
08.30 Coach to Edinburgh.
We walk together the first stretch up The Royal Mile – then we go on our own and arrange our own lunch in the city.
15.45 – 18.45: Knitting – module 3 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner.
20.00: Whisky tasting at the folk high school with whisky connoisseur John Lees.
Day 4 Thursday 24/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
9.45: Morning singing with Sisse.
10.00 – 12.45 Knitting – module 4 with Annette.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
16.00-19.00: Knitting – module 5 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner at the folk high school.
20.00: Mary, who owns the yarn shop Wild Wool in Peebles, gives a talk about producing and trading in Scottish yarn.
Day 5 Friday 25/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
9.45: Morning singing with Sisse.
10.00: Coach to New Lanark – bring a packed lunch. Guided tour and the story of the workers' community that the old cotton mill formed from the mid-18th century.
15.00 Afternoon coffee/tea at The Mill Hotel's Mill One Restaurant.
16.00: On by coach to Calzeat.
16.30: Visit to the textile company Calzeat in Symington, where we are given a tour and a talk by owner Robin Galbraith.
18.30: The coach drives back to the folk high school.
After returning, we are free and have dinner in town on our own (not included in the price).
20.30: Optional evening singing with Sisse.
Day 6 Saturday 26/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00 – 12.00: Knitting - module 6 with Annette.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00 – 17.00: Knitting - module 7 with Annette.
18.30: Dinner at the folk high school.
19.30: Knitting evening with the participation of local knitting enthusiasts
Day 7 Sunday 27/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00: Extended morning singing with Sisse.
10.30 – 12.30: Knitting - module 8 with Annette
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00 – 16.00: Knitting - module 9 with Annette
16.00: Exhibition opening with tea and scones.
19.00: Farewell dinner.
20.30: Closing evening with a Scottish gala dinner and ceilidh – Scottish folk dancing to live music by The Clydesdale Ceilidh Band.
Day 8 Monday 28/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00: Morning singing with Sisse.
11.30: Farewell and departure for Edinburgh Airport.
15.10: Flight departure with Norwegian to Copenhagen, arrival 17.55 Danish time.
*Subject to change
Programme
Knitting in Scotland 21 - 28 September 2026
Day 1 Monday 21/9
Departure from Copenhagen Airport with a Norwegian direct flight at 13.40 to Edinburgh, where we arrive at 14.30 local time.
Arrival in Peebles and at the folk high school. Check-in to rooms.
17.00: Cake/coffee+tea and Welcome to Scotland folk high school by course leader Sisse Skovbakke.
19.00: Dinner + who's who?
After dinner there is free time to enjoy the surroundings and/or settle into your room.
Day 2 Tuesday 22/9
8.00: Morning exercise in the garden or indoors with Sisse.
8.30: Breakfast.
9.15: Morning singing with Sisse.
9.30 – 12.30: Knitting – module 1 with Annette Danielsen.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00: A walk in and around Peebles, which has a fascinating history. We also take a trip down to the River Tweed, which runs through the town.
After the walk there is a couple of hours' free time in the afternoon, which you can spend in the folk high school's lovely garden, the spa area at The Hydro, to which we have access, or you can wander around Peebles on your own.
17.00-19.00: Knitting – module 2 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner at the folk high school.
20.00: Talk by Sisse Skovbakke: "Highlights of Highland History".
Then an evening song or two.
Day 3 Wednesday 23/9
07.45: Breakfast.
08.30 Coach to Edinburgh.
We walk together the first stretch up The Royal Mile – then we go on our own and arrange our own lunch in the city.
15.45 – 18.45: Knitting – module 3 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner.
20.00: Whisky tasting at the folk high school with whisky connoisseur John Lees.
Day 4 Thursday 24/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
9.45: Morning singing with Sisse.
10.00 – 12.45 Knitting – module 4 with Annette.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
16.00-19.00: Knitting – module 5 with Annette.
19.00: Dinner at the folk high school.
20.00: Mary, who owns the yarn shop Wild Wool in Peebles, gives a talk about producing and trading in Scottish yarn.
Day 5 Friday 25/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
9.45: Morning singing with Sisse.
10.00: Coach to New Lanark – bring a packed lunch. Guided tour and the story of the workers' community that the old cotton mill formed from the mid-18th century.
15.00 Afternoon coffee/tea at The Mill Hotel's Mill One Restaurant.
16.00: On by coach to Calzeat.
16.30: Visit to the textile company Calzeat in Symington, where we are given a tour and a talk by owner Robin Galbraith.
18.30: The coach drives back to the folk high school.
After returning, we are free and have dinner in town on our own (not included in the price).
20.30: Optional evening singing with Sisse.
Day 6 Saturday 26/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00 – 12.00: Knitting - module 6 with Annette.
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00 – 17.00: Knitting - module 7 with Annette.
18.30: Dinner at the folk high school.
19.30: Knitting evening with the participation of local knitting enthusiasts
Day 7 Sunday 27/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00: Extended morning singing with Sisse.
10.30 – 12.30: Knitting - module 8 with Annette
13.00: Lunch at the folk high school.
14.00 – 16.00: Knitting - module 9 with Annette
16.00: Exhibition opening with tea and scones.
19.00: Farewell dinner.
20.30: Closing evening with a Scottish gala dinner and ceilidh – Scottish folk dancing to live music by The Clydesdale Ceilidh Band.
Day 8 Monday 28/9
8.30: Morning exercise with Sisse.
9.00: Breakfast.
10.00: Morning singing with Sisse.
11.30: Farewell and departure for Edinburgh Airport.
15.10: Flight departure with Norwegian to Copenhagen, arrival 17.55 Danish time.
*Subject to change
Beliggenhed & ophold
The course venue and surroundings
Our folk high school is located on the edge of the town of Peebles in the Scottish Borders area, south of Edinburgh. The area is hilly and mountainous and part of the Southern Uplands. There is farmland and forest here, and at times a long way between the villages.
The sheep farms follow one after another, and the rivers River Clyde and River Tweed wind through the landscape. The nature is green, beautiful and lush.
Accommodation - The Park Hotel
On the course we stay in a former mansion that belonged to the Ballantyne family, one of Peebles' largest textile manufacturers, who had several factories and weaving mills in the area. The building is now a newly renovated hotel, The Park Hotel, with bright rooms over several floors.
Today The Park Hotel is known for its historic charm and its combination of modern conveniences and classic style, giving guests a feeling of stepping back in time while enjoying today's comfort.
The hotel also has a café, bar, bakery, and a lovely garden with cosy nooks indoors and out. The hotel is centrally located at the end of the main street.
About Peebles
Peebles is a charming town with shops, cafés and a couple of pubs. The town has about 10,000 inhabitants and lies down by the River Tweed, less than an hour's drive from Edinburgh.
Peebles has a long, rich history as a royal burgh, and it was here that southern Scotland's extensive textile production was founded. Countless wool spinning mills, wool weaving mills and textile factories made the area rich in the 19th and 20th centuries.
At the same time, Peebles became a spa town that the upper classes of the coal-polluted cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow retreated to. They went on health stays at the town's spa hotel, The Hydro Hotel, and they went out to walk and get fresh air in the beautiful hilly surroundings.
The Hydro still exists, and during the course we fortunately have free access to their spa department, which has a steam bath, sauna, training facilities and swimming pool – so remember your swimwear!
Meet your instructors
Sisse Skovbakke
One of your course leaders is Sisse Skovbakke, who loves everything to do with Scotland. And she has travelled and stayed in the country an incredible number of times.
Sisse is all good humour, music and, on top of that, she knits too. She has a major in music from university and has had a wonderful and varied working life. Sisse has taught for 10 years at the music school and 10 years at the teacher training college in Nørre Nissum.
After a couple of curious detours, including as a greenhouse gardener and institutional kitchen assistant, she has now landed in the folk high school world, where she has lovely elbow room and thrives.
Alongside her 'real' career, Sisse has worked as a freelance choir leader and choir coach, and the vocal or singing side has been allowed to feature heavily in just about everything Sisse has turned her hand to. Even in the nursery garden.
Sisse has 3 grown-up sons, who are all well on their way with their own lives and families, and that has given time and space for her own dreams. So after many years of living out her holidays as a closet Scot, Sisse decided at the end of 2020 to put her house up for sale and move to Scotland permanently. But Brexit got in the way, so now Sisse makes do with the closet and the holidays. And the music. And the plants. And the knitting. And..
Annette Danielsen
Your other course leader, Annette, is simply fascinated by wool. Scotland and wool are inextricably linked. The Scottish climate demands textiles for rain, wind and sunny days. And here wool is perfect. On top of this, the Scots have used family-designed textiles to recognise and connect relatives.
Annette Danielsen has always knitted, but began designing in earnest in 2006, when her first knitting book was made. Since then it has grown to more than 37 publications and well over 500 knitting designs:
"I love to be inspired by things around me – to mull over how "this and that" can be turned into knitting. What techniques will it require, which colours go with it, or is it the fit that can express my inspiration?" asks the knitting-mad Aarhus native Annette Danielsen, who also holds a fair number of courses and knitting workshops at home and abroad – including with Annas Højskole.
"It is a great pleasure to teach, inspire and disturb other knitters. I love knitting in a group and finding that we can inspire and help each other, finding that it doesn't matter so much who we are, but more that we are knitters. I am known for being a "technician", so on the participants' part there will be an expectation of knitting techniques of varying difficulty". And that is what they get, Annette promises.
John Lees
John is a historian, born in England and living in Edinburgh, where he is a passionate whisky collector. John has tasted over 500 whiskies from around the world, and among his favourites are some of the rarer whiskies from remote small Scottish distilleries.
At our whisky evening we taste 6 of Scotland's finer single malt whiskies, the real thing, from both the Highlands and the Lowlands. We will surely recognise flavour notes of peat, smoke, leather, oil and vanilla while being well entertained by John's stories about whisky and its special place in the hearts of the Scots, not to mention its significance for the endless conflicts between England and Scotland through the ages.
John is married to the Dane Camilla Kornerup, who is course leader on several of Annas Højskole's courses in Scotland.
Praktisk & pris
- Departure 21 September from Copenhagen Airport at 13.40 to Edinburgh with Norwegian, where we arrive at 14.30 local time. A connecting flight from Aalborg can be purchased at the current price.
- Departure 28 September with Norwegian from Edinburgh at 15.10, arriving local time at Copenhagen Airport at 17.55
- Subject to change
Price includes
- The prices are all-inclusive as per the programme:
- Norwegian direct flight Copenhagen-Edinburgh return; a connecting flight from Aalborg return can be purchased at the current price
- Accommodation at a lovely newly renovated hotel, formerly a mansion, in delightful rooms with private bathroom
- All meals at the folk high school included. They are two-course menus. You pay yourself for one lunch on the free day and dinner in Peebles
- All coffee and tea in connection with meals – and in the rooms
- Cake at selected times – see the programme
- Coach transport to the various activities
- Whisky tasting
- Access to a large spa area at The Hydro Peebles, a 10-minute walk from the folk high school – a beautiful former health sanatorium from 1881, now converted into a luxury hotel.
- All talks
- All entry fees
- 2* Danish-speaking course leader
- Contribution to the Travel Guarantee Fund
- Airport taxes and charges
Price excludes
- One lunch on the free day in Edinburgh
- One dinner in Peebles
- Drinks must be purchased separately
- Payment:
- On booking, we ask for a deposit of kr. 3000. The balance must be transferred 2 months before departure.
- In special cases it is possible to pay by Mastercard; please write this on the booking form if desired.
Billeder
What our guests say
“Tak for en fantastisk oplevelse, ikke mindst takket være Anna og dig. Du var en inspirerende rejseleder, der gjorde turen til meget mere end bare en pilgrimsvandring.”
“Skøn tur som puttes i rygsækken med fantastiske oplevelser, smukke fotos og den bedste kursusleder Michael Birkkjær Lauritsen. Elsker oplevelser med Annas Højskole.”
“Jeg har netop været på strikkehøjskole på Læsø ved Annette Danielsen. Uanset hvor hårdt jeg anstrenger mig, kan jeg simpelthen ikke finde noget negativt at sige. Annette Danielsen er en fuldstændig fantastisk inspirerende og forrygende formidler. Østergaard B&B er et skønt sted med lækre lejligheder, dejlig og velsmagende mad, og en meget sympatisk og underholdende vært. Vi mødte skønne og inspirerende fortællere i huset og på ture på Læsø. Vi startede dagene med morgensang sammen med Jens Christian, som fint fortalte lidt om de sange, vi sang. Dejlig start på nogle vidunderlige dage. Det har bare været helt igennem en skøn, pragtfuld og fantastisk uge. Føler mig meget beriget.”
Ofte stillede spørgsmål
Kan jeg rejse med, hvis jeg rejser alene?
Ja — rigtig mange af vores kursister rejser alene. Du bliver en del af fællesskabet fra første dag, og du kan vælge eget værelse, hvis du vil have ro omkring dig.
Hvor god en form skal jeg være i?
Alle kan være med! Programmet tilpasses holdet, og du bestemmer selv dit tempo. Er du i tvivl, så ring til os — så tager vi den sammen.
Hvordan foregår betalingen?
Du reserverer din plads med et depositum og modtager en faktura pr. e-mail. Restbeløbet betales senest 60 dage før afrejse — også via faktura og bankoverførsel.
Hvad hvis jeg bliver nødt til at aflyse?
Vores afbestillingsregler står i rejsereglerne for pakkerejser, og vi er medlem af Rejsegarantifonden (reg.nr. 3122). Kontakt os hurtigst muligt, hvis noget kommer i vejen — vi finder altid en løsning sammen.
Kan I tage hensyn til allergier og særlige behov?
Ja. Når du reserverer, spørger vi ind til kost, allergier og særlige behov, og vi giver besked videre til køkkenet og værterne på destinationen.
Er der dansktalende værter med på rejsen?
Ja, altid. Der er dansktalende kursusledere og værter med på alle vores ophold.
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