Hippy Chick Headband now available as download

I am gradually working my way through my design portfolio and making all my patterns available as downloads. My Hippy Chick Headband is the latest addition and is also available as a Dye-It-Yourself Kool Aid project kit.

So far, downloads have to be done through Ravelry but eventually they'll be available direct from the website. Patterns are £2.50 each. If you see a pattern you'd like, you can always email me and I can send you a printed copy in the post (same price, no P&P). Payment can be by all the normal methods, paypal, card etc.

Never mess with a knitter....

...if she is a witch that is.

I forgot this photo which I took on our holiday in Cornwall. It was in the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle. I was genuinely surprised to see it as I'd never heard of knitting being used for spell-casting before. (And no, I don't own any glass knitting needles in case you were wondering).

November clubs all done!

Just a quickie update to say that clubs are all dyed and ready to post. Just need to get the labelling done and brave the elements to the post office. Am very grateful that the rains here have been relatively moderate and my heart goes out to all those who have been flooded out.

Why we craft....

The Crafts Council are asking people to help them promote crafting. They can say it better than me, so here is the text from their website.

"If craft is important to you, we want you to let us know. The Crafts Council believes that Craft Matters and we want to show that it matters to thousands of people across the UK as much as it does to us. The government’s own data tells us that “17% of the population took part in a craft activity in 2008/09” – we want to show what that statistic looks like in real support so that everyone can see that craft is highly valued. So, sign up today and pass this email on to friends and colleagues. Together, we will show how much Craft Matters".

It would be great if you could all go along and let the world know how many of us crafters there really are out there - and please pass on the link to as many people as you can, too.....

(Oh, and if you are a teacher/know a teacher/have kids of school age or are interested in getting kids into crafts, there is a great new initiative to help get crafts into schools - well worth checking out : ))

Beautiful Blues - Indigo & Woad Workshop

Now the observant among you will have notice that this is not blue....


But when I tell you that the above murky spaghetti became this.....

and this.....

you'll understand why I think that dyeing with indigo and woad is so magical.

Last Saturday was Indigo and Woad dyeing at the hut and I had a lovely day despite having a yucky cold. Vicky and Emily were very patient with my snufflings, (thank you girls!), and produced some fantastic yarns, fibres and fabrics.

I particularly liked the ingenious pan-balancing structure which was set up to do some dip-dyeing ....

(nice work there - I may have to borrow that idea!) and I'll be looking forward to seeing the free range knitting and felting (no pressure!).

That was the last of this year's dyeing courses, however, you can still catch me for a fabulous day learning all you need to know about beaded knitting at Skeins, the lovely Carole's, workshop in Glossop in December. I have some lovely patterns and projects planned and all materials, including beads and yarn, are provided. Which reminds me, I must go and order some more yummy beads and organise next year's workshop dates.....

Domestic (sewing) goddess

After 2 years prevaricating I finally took the plunge and shortened my bedroom curtains this weekend. They look lovely in summer as they are a full-length, deep red velvet affair and frame the window very nicely, but in the winter they completely cover the radiator unless they are bunched up on the windowsill (not very attractive and they get a bit soggy with condensation).

So on Sunday I grabbed my big sewing shears, pins and ruler and trotted off to do some measuring, pinning and snipping. Thankfully, these curtains are not new (they were a stop-gap when we moved into our house first time round, so over 12 years old already!). Nonetheless, I am quite attached to them and making that first cut was a bit scary.

With pins in place, I dusted off my trusty Bernina 1090, dug out the instruction book and set about blind-hemming the edges. Having never done this before (straight stitch and a bit of zig-zag is about as technical as it gets for me), I was a bit nervous, but Bernina's are just so fab they practically do the job for you. And by tea-time I had finished! One pair of properly hemmed curtains, re-hung and just the right length. I don't know who was more surprised, Pete or me ; )

Of course, now I have no excuse for not doing the three sets of living room curtains.....I hope this wasn't beginner's luck....

Textiles in Sussex weekend

Had a fab two days in Lewes at the East Sussex Guild's biennial textile exhibition, even if I did lose my voice by the end of day two and come back home with a stinker of a cold : (

The drive this time seemed much easier than last time (it's about 400 miles each way). Could this have been to do with the copious amounts of sandwiches, snacks, treats and cake packed by my lovely Mum, I wonder?

We met up with lots of friends, old and new and it was nice to get the chance to speak to people we haven't seen for ages. I would like to say I was very noble and resisted temptation but I did manage to sneak off and buy a lovely fleece, a gorgeous selection of buttons and clasps from the textile garden , and a handmade handbag frame from WitzEnd. I already have plans for these in new designs so watch this space.

As we didn't get off the stall, we sent our roving reporters (aka the inlaws) out on a photo-mission so you can see how pretty Lewes is. I kept expecting to turn a corner and bump into a Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple!

A big thank you to all the lovely ladies and gents of East Sussex Guild for all their help with loading, unloading, teas, biscuits, cakes (mmmm!), and for inviting us along : )

Fiber Baristas - Flora & Fauna Fiber Club

First the teaser....

September was my turn as the dyer of the month for the Fiber Baristas Flora & Fauna Fiber Club and as everyone now has their parcels I can show you the fibre in all its technicolour glory.

The crowning glory of our small garden is a beautiful Copper Beech tree. The colours in this tree are a constant source of pleasure and inspiration. One minute there are just bare branches then seemingly before our eyes, the young green leaves unfurl, signalling the arrival of spring. As the spring progresses into summer, the leaves turn a fabulous shade of purply copper, then in autumn, copper gives way to rich reds, golds and oranges.

So you can imagine that just this one tree gave me lots of ideas for colourways! As we are on the cusp of summer and autumn, I decided to share this mid-season change with two braids – one capturing late summer, the second early autumn. Blended together, as they are just now on our tree, these two braids were designed to make a beautiful combination for a special fibre project.

The fibre I chose was my beautiful British 100% kid mohair combed top. It is a fantastic luxury fibre with a natural sheen that brings a project to life. I thought it really captured the sunlight reflecting off the glossy leaves. I hope you agree : )

And the full colour version.....

And for the lucky prize winners who guessed that I was the dyer of the month, there was a little extra gift of hand-dyed Teeswater fleece in co-ordinating shades.....

New Boots!!! (Feel free to skip if you are not into shoes!)

I've been waiting just ages to post this (I know, it's a bit sad, but there you are).

(cue drum roll please...) My new boots have arrived : )))

Ordinarily this wouldn't merit a blog post, but these are custom handmade ones that I ordered when we were on holiday in Cornwall and they are just so special I thought you'd like to see them.

Just to fill in the back story a bit, this year we stayed in a most wonderful cottage in the middle of nowhere, the nearest civilization being St Agnes. Now it wasn't our best holiday ever since three of us (I was the lucky one to escape unscathed), were horribly ill and this effectively took out two days of our hol : (

Nonetheless, the boys were all very resilient and we still managed to do a bunch of stuff, with sandcastle building, bodyboarding and visits to various interesting places. One such place was St Agnes beach, well, more cove really as it is small (if perfectly formed!). As luck would have it, there are some lovely craft workshops there and one of the craftsmen is a shoemaker, Phil Runwater.

It was fairly quiet and we got chatting and well, I tried on a few boots (it would have been rude not to, right?). Anyway, because we'd had a bit of a miserable couple of days, and I haven't had any new boots since leaving my "proper" job, Pete insisted I treat myself to a pair. Naturally I protested but I eventually succumbed (ok, so I didn't take much persuading). So lots of umming and ahhing later, matching up colours, checking styles, I was all measured up and the deal was struck. Of course it was a bit weird to spend so long in a shop, hand over money and go away empty-handed, but it was absolutely worth it when this super-duper parcel arrived : ))




And they are just perfect!!!! I loooove them to bits! They are quite possibly the best present I've had since I got a Bay City Rollers tape for my ?th birthday (you'll have to work out what year for yourself, I've already said too much).

And here they are, wonderful no? Thank you Phil, you are fab : )))


And the pic at the top is, of course, me wearing them (sorry, rubbish photo as it is very difficult to photograph your own legs, but you get the idea)

(ooh, and do check out Phil's website - there aren't nearly enough pics to do his work justice, but if you are a shoe-o-phile, email or drop in and pay him a visit - you will be in shoe heaven!).

Gift vouchers on the way

Those of you who subscribe to the newsletter will know that September was our special Gift Voucher month. All orders in September counted towards a gift voucher to be spent on any goodies in the store.

This is just a quick message to say that vouchers have now been despatched so watch your inboxes! If you think you should have had a voucher and it hasn't arrived, please let me know asap as I don't want you to miss out!

Vouchers can be spent whenever you like so enjoy : )

(And if you aren't on the subscriber list but would like to be, you can sign up here)