Here it is, my finished Holst jacket of many colours:
Yarn: Holst , mixed qualities, held double
Hook: 4mm
Pattern: Improvised - the stitch is the Short Wave stitch.
Pictures by Machelle Salmeen
Monday, 29 April 2013
Holst Jacket
Or as my friends have dubbed it: Big Old Hippie Jacket.
Here it is, my finished Holst jacket of many colours:
Yarn: Holst , mixed qualities, held double
Hook: 4mm
Pattern: Improvised - the stitch is the Short Wave stitch.
Pictures by Machelle Salmeen
Here it is, my finished Holst jacket of many colours:
Yarn: Holst , mixed qualities, held double
Hook: 4mm
Pattern: Improvised - the stitch is the Short Wave stitch.
Pictures by Machelle Salmeen
The spoils of war....
So here it is, my unusually restrained pile of goodies from Wonderwool:
From back to front:
- About half a Shetland fleece, washed but pretty fresh off the sheep
- A pottery bowl bought at Erwood Station Craft shop on the way back
- containing a selection of cotton and silk embroidery yarns ordered by my mother
- 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden bought at a bargain price, to replace a hat that my aunt has lost.
- Buy of the Day: 100gr pure cashmere fibre in very subtle pebble colours, and only £15!
- Small amount of orange merino fibre for edging my hand spun Glacier Sweep
- Two big braids of Blueface Leicester from Oliver Twist. I'm planning on spinning one ply of each and plying them together.
- My hard-won skein of Fleece Artist SeaWool in Stone
- 2 hanks of pretty Juno yarn for my mother and one of her friends
- piece of dyed cotton scrim from Oliver Twist - apparently this is used in felting (?) but I'm just planning on hemming it and wearing it as a scarf!
- piece of patchwork fabric from Brecon.
Did you go to Wonderwool this weekend, or maybe some other yarn show? If so, what goodies did you come back with?
From back to front:
- About half a Shetland fleece, washed but pretty fresh off the sheep
- A pottery bowl bought at Erwood Station Craft shop on the way back
- containing a selection of cotton and silk embroidery yarns ordered by my mother
- 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden bought at a bargain price, to replace a hat that my aunt has lost.
- Buy of the Day: 100gr pure cashmere fibre in very subtle pebble colours, and only £15!
- Small amount of orange merino fibre for edging my hand spun Glacier Sweep
- Two big braids of Blueface Leicester from Oliver Twist. I'm planning on spinning one ply of each and plying them together.
- My hard-won skein of Fleece Artist SeaWool in Stone
- 2 hanks of pretty Juno yarn for my mother and one of her friends
- piece of dyed cotton scrim from Oliver Twist - apparently this is used in felting (?) but I'm just planning on hemming it and wearing it as a scarf!
- piece of patchwork fabric from Brecon.
Did you go to Wonderwool this weekend, or maybe some other yarn show? If so, what goodies did you come back with?
Wonderwool!
I woke up on Saturday having been giddy with excitment all week : finally time for Wonderwool Wales!
My favourite woolly, yarny event - I love it for the wealth of independent dyers and producers who attend (and the lack of big commercial ones), for its focus on Welsh and British wool and the showcase it offers to our local weaving and spinning guilds. I also really appreciate the setting at the Royal Welsh Showground which is at the heart of Welsh sheep trading, so going there to buy yarn feels like coming full circle.
It also helps that it is set in the Brecon Beacons National Park which makes for a stunningly scenic drive up.
I had the good fortune to be travelling with my friend Machelle from Chopped Tomatoes , a mind who thinks alike and does a double take when she spots signs for Farmers Markets along the way. There was one such sign at the entrance of the small town of Brecon, and as impatient as we were to get to the show, we still decided that a small town market (and flea market!) on such a beautiful sunny morning would be perfection.
We arrived, Machelle who is a city girl marvelled at the cheap parking (50p! for a whole hour!) and emerged from a little alley and straight onto Bobbins - a charming haberdashery and patchwork shop. The lady there was really friendly and chatty - I even bought a piece of fabric to maybe make a project bag with. (I do sew, but not very well or patiently...)
After a quick wizz around the flea market and some lovely cheese from the farmers section, we ploughed on and arrived in Builth at 11am - only an hour after opening time but to a rammed full parking lot! This was a good sign though: last years show suffered from some really unfortunate weather and there had been grumblings from exhibitors so I was happy to see so many people attending.
That said, all these eager shoppers caused a bit of a problem when we first got to the show - the inability to see any of the actual yarns! Between the packed stalls, keeping track of eachother, looking for the rest of our knitting group, looking for people I needed to meet up with and keeping up with the shopping lists my mother was texting me, I just didn't know where to start at all!
We peeled of for our traditional knitting group lunch and a chance to organise my thoughts.
The afternoon was lovely - I went and made friends with the sheep and explored a lot of fibres which really inspired me to spend more time with my spinning wheel. I spent a long time amongst the splendid colours at the Oliver Twist stall. I also spent a long time explaining how my Holst cardigan works as so many people were stopping me about it (more on that later).
In the end I had collected a nice little selection of fibres, from the barely house-trained Half-A-Sheep-In-a-Bag to some exquisite pure cashmere. And then it struck me: apart from things bought for friends and family, I had not bought a single skein of yarn for myself. Not one hank! It's tricky being a dyer and a shopper at the same time, there is always a niggling feeling of having a house full of yarn, and many of us use similar kinds of base yarns. Nonetheless, I refused to leave the show without something for me! I took several increasingly frantic rounds through the stalls looking for that unique hank to speak to me. My friend had given up and sat down for coffee and behind her sat a lady crocheting in the most amazing, deep, warm orange yarn. I asked her where she'd got it from and she did say she'd bought the last of that colour, but it was a stall that I hadn't quite paid too much attention too so I felt it worth another look. It paid off : I took down the details I needed for the orange yarn and found an unusual blend of wool and seacell fibre which I hadn't yet tried for my special yarn from the day. It sounds silly, but choosing an actual yarn just made the day feel complete for me.
My favourite woolly, yarny event - I love it for the wealth of independent dyers and producers who attend (and the lack of big commercial ones), for its focus on Welsh and British wool and the showcase it offers to our local weaving and spinning guilds. I also really appreciate the setting at the Royal Welsh Showground which is at the heart of Welsh sheep trading, so going there to buy yarn feels like coming full circle.
It also helps that it is set in the Brecon Beacons National Park which makes for a stunningly scenic drive up.
 |
| Storey Arms valley picture borrowed from Google Images - I was driving, my passenger was having vertigo... |
We arrived, Machelle who is a city girl marvelled at the cheap parking (50p! for a whole hour!) and emerged from a little alley and straight onto Bobbins - a charming haberdashery and patchwork shop. The lady there was really friendly and chatty - I even bought a piece of fabric to maybe make a project bag with. (I do sew, but not very well or patiently...)
After a quick wizz around the flea market and some lovely cheese from the farmers section, we ploughed on and arrived in Builth at 11am - only an hour after opening time but to a rammed full parking lot! This was a good sign though: last years show suffered from some really unfortunate weather and there had been grumblings from exhibitors so I was happy to see so many people attending.
That said, all these eager shoppers caused a bit of a problem when we first got to the show - the inability to see any of the actual yarns! Between the packed stalls, keeping track of eachother, looking for the rest of our knitting group, looking for people I needed to meet up with and keeping up with the shopping lists my mother was texting me, I just didn't know where to start at all!
We peeled of for our traditional knitting group lunch and a chance to organise my thoughts.
 |
| The idea is to make or bake things at home for sharing I'm looking at you, tesco sandwiches and coke at the back ;p |
The afternoon was lovely - I went and made friends with the sheep and explored a lot of fibres which really inspired me to spend more time with my spinning wheel. I spent a long time amongst the splendid colours at the Oliver Twist stall. I also spent a long time explaining how my Holst cardigan works as so many people were stopping me about it (more on that later).
 |
| The impossibly tidy-looking Poll Dorsets |
 |
| A Gotland sheep, who didn't ask me for the pattern for my sweater |
In the end I had collected a nice little selection of fibres, from the barely house-trained Half-A-Sheep-In-a-Bag to some exquisite pure cashmere. And then it struck me: apart from things bought for friends and family, I had not bought a single skein of yarn for myself. Not one hank! It's tricky being a dyer and a shopper at the same time, there is always a niggling feeling of having a house full of yarn, and many of us use similar kinds of base yarns. Nonetheless, I refused to leave the show without something for me! I took several increasingly frantic rounds through the stalls looking for that unique hank to speak to me. My friend had given up and sat down for coffee and behind her sat a lady crocheting in the most amazing, deep, warm orange yarn. I asked her where she'd got it from and she did say she'd bought the last of that colour, but it was a stall that I hadn't quite paid too much attention too so I felt it worth another look. It paid off : I took down the details I needed for the orange yarn and found an unusual blend of wool and seacell fibre which I hadn't yet tried for my special yarn from the day. It sounds silly, but choosing an actual yarn just made the day feel complete for me.
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Spring dinner
And now for some gratuitous food pictures: I was a little proud of the grown-up dinner I cooked last night, and I thought it looked so pretty in the pan!
Tagliatelle with garlic sauteed courgettes, edamame beans, feta cheese, mint and chili
Tagliatelle with garlic sauteed courgettes, edamame beans, feta cheese, mint and chili
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Guilty pleasure
Another new base yarn, and one that I decided to work with for completely selfish reasons: Squishy Merino!
The same high twist, slightly-heavier-than-4ply as the Squishy Sock, but in 100% indulgent Merino Wool - one of my all time favourite yarns! I have shown this to people who have absent-mindedly spent the rest of the conversation stroking it and squeezing it. It also takes colours beautifully.
First couple of colours out of the pan - I have been working on developing more subtle shades, but there will be bright ones to follow!
The same high twist, slightly-heavier-than-4ply as the Squishy Sock, but in 100% indulgent Merino Wool - one of my all time favourite yarns! I have shown this to people who have absent-mindedly spent the rest of the conversation stroking it and squeezing it. It also takes colours beautifully.
First couple of colours out of the pan - I have been working on developing more subtle shades, but there will be bright ones to follow!
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Finding gold...
So spring is really trying its very hardest to spring, and gave us an opportunity to tackle some of the heavier gardening we've been waiting for. Amongst them, a bit of a re-organisation of our garden to finally install the raised bed we got at Easter and get rid of last years unsuccessful grow-bags.
I did have some help...most of which is currently smeared across our kitchen floor...
It may have been mostly down to the miserable wet summer we had last year, but I didn't think a single thing had grown in there, all of it wiped out either by enormous slugs or just bad drainage. But when I started transferring the earth into the new bed, I started finding tiny little balls of pale yellow gold! The tiniest, sweetest little potatoes, prettier than anything in Marks & Spencers miniature vegetable aisle! Something edible had actually grown!
I also took up and transplanted the healthy looking strawberry plants for use on our allotment, and planted my little tree peony which I have high hopes for.
In knitting and crochet news, I have reached the large shawl collar/ border on the coat of many colours. Since I like setting myself stressful and unrealistic goals, I'm hoping to have it ready and washed for Wonderwool on Saturday...
Also progressing quite effortlessly is my "handbag knitting" ie the project I keep in my handbag for emergencies: doctors waiting rooms, major traffic jams, being on hold on the phone to the gas company... I stole the idea straight off Jan in my knitting group who brought in a shawl in the new Zauberball Lace 100% wool - just completely plain to let the yarn do the talking, and on slightly bigger needles than the yarn requires for an airier and more textured fabric. Mine is in the 4ply 100% wool as that is what I had at home, but the effect is similar.
I did have some help...most of which is currently smeared across our kitchen floor...
It may have been mostly down to the miserable wet summer we had last year, but I didn't think a single thing had grown in there, all of it wiped out either by enormous slugs or just bad drainage. But when I started transferring the earth into the new bed, I started finding tiny little balls of pale yellow gold! The tiniest, sweetest little potatoes, prettier than anything in Marks & Spencers miniature vegetable aisle! Something edible had actually grown!
I also took up and transplanted the healthy looking strawberry plants for use on our allotment, and planted my little tree peony which I have high hopes for.
In knitting and crochet news, I have reached the large shawl collar/ border on the coat of many colours. Since I like setting myself stressful and unrealistic goals, I'm hoping to have it ready and washed for Wonderwool on Saturday...
Also progressing quite effortlessly is my "handbag knitting" ie the project I keep in my handbag for emergencies: doctors waiting rooms, major traffic jams, being on hold on the phone to the gas company... I stole the idea straight off Jan in my knitting group who brought in a shawl in the new Zauberball Lace 100% wool - just completely plain to let the yarn do the talking, and on slightly bigger needles than the yarn requires for an airier and more textured fabric. Mine is in the 4ply 100% wool as that is what I had at home, but the effect is similar.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Mean and moody...
And another few new colours on the lovely new bases, including the Luxury Lace - beautiful British Bluefaced Leicester wool with 20% Silk for a glorious lace weight yarn.
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