07.15.08
The House of Manannan
The next museum Brian and I visited was the House of Manannan. I really enjoyed this museum. Well, honestly, I enjoyed all of them, ha! But this museum seemed pretty comprehensive as far as explaining the history of the Isle of Man. Here’s a view of the entrance of the museum.
Off to the right is a bronze sculpture of several Vikings. I wanted to get a closer look at those Vikings, so sneaked up next to one. He didn’t seem to mind. . .
The beginning of the museum starts with a video guide who greets you by saying, “I know who you are! You are travelers!. . . ” Why, how did he know? LOL Anyway, we follow him along as the exhibits meandered from the early settlers who lived in the roundhouses such as the model pictured here to when the Christians came etc.
Some of the exhibits were life-sized with wax figures dressed and poised in various activities. We were lead through these exhibits where we would be seated and a video would begin narrating the scene in which we sat. One of the first of these exhibits consisted of a life-sized scene of the inside of a roundhouse. This exhibit reminded me of Disneyland in Orange County with the old General Electric exhibit. The wax figures moved and had recordings as if they were speaking to one another. It was too dark inside the roundhouse to take any pictures, but we did get some other pictures of their scenes such as this one of a Viking ship below.
And this one exhibiting their long tradition with fishing.
The museum’s exhibits of the history of the Isle of Man is rather extensive. There was so much to read, that we even bought some books for more research later. It was at this museum that I learned of the Manx involvement with the famous Mutiny on the Bounty. Being that the tiny island of IoM is in the middle of the sea, it’s only natural that they have a lot of fishing and maritime history. After all, the settlers arrived on boats and ships. Throughout the years those ships evolved to fancier and more advanced ships. Ship building naturally became one of their specialties, and even today here in San Diego, California is the Star of India, a ship that was originally built on the IoM. It is advertised today as the world’s oldest active ship. One of the rooms on the second floor displays more modern transport ships. The drawers below the exhibits included blueprints of the ships as well as newspaper articles and other pertinent information of each particular ship such as when it sailed, who was captain, etc.
The above exhibit was on the second floor along with other points of interests of the isle such as it’s natural wildlife population (animals, not the people, heheh). The House of Manannan is located in Peel. As a matter of fact, the Peel Castle can be seen from the second floor of the museum.
Quietly sitting by the window, I saw one of the guides working with some yarn. . . oh, oh, oh! I had to go see what she was working on. . . She was very nice and allowed me to take pictures.
This woman was working on a pair of Viking gauntlets for a fellow friend in their Viking club. The type of yarn work is called “nalbinding.” I had heard of it before, and she was kind enough to show me how to make some simple stitches. Here’s another pic of the second stitch.
Basically it looks like needlepoint stitching without the fabric. She was working with their loaghtan yarn, so I purchased a few balls to give it a go. Here’s my supplies and my first attempt sitting on top of the balls.
I found the concept very easy, but getting the right tension is a bit harder for me than knitting or crocheting. I tend to want to work tight, and am thinking I’m doing it too tightly. I’m not so happy with this run, so decided I’m gonna start again. The trouble I find with nalbinding is that it’s not easy to take apart if you want to reuse the yarn. 
Here’s a closer view of the piece I worked up. My camera battery ran out after this shot, so I wasn’t able to get a better picture. If I ever finish a nalbinding project, I’ll be sure to post pictures of it. I did have to take a break from it because I was a bit frustrated with how the yarn would knot up while sewing with the needle. I suppose it’s something I have to get the hang of so that I have better control of the yarn. In the meantime, I’ve decided to take a break and go back to my knitting.
Well, that’s all for now, folks. Better get back to what I should be doing now, again.
Marlakins 
