tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28554562347153553082024-03-13T08:45:17.434+00:00Hue & DyeBehind the scenes with Debbie at DT Craft & Design - home, life, love (and dyeing!)Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.comBlogger391125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-40523284937720114032015-02-12T12:30:00.000+00:002015-02-12T12:30:00.406+00:00Colourwork Knitting at the Yarn Barn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Undaunted by the recent snow my intrepid bunch of knitters arrived brisk and early for a colourwork workshop at the <a href="http://www.yarnbarn.co.uk/Yarn_Barn/Welcome.html" target="_blank">Yarn Barn</a> in Milnrow. My lovely group enthusiastically got stuck into mosaic (slipstitch) colourwork knitting, Fairisle and even knitting continental-style with a yarn in either hand :-)<br />
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With Judith as our lovely hostess (and her lovely, spacious shop to be tempted by!), some lovely wristlets and wristwarmers were produced...<br />
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Thanks for a lovely day ladies :-)<br />
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Oh, nearly forgot - I'll be doing more <a href="http://www.yarnbarn.co.uk/Yarn_Barn/Workshops.html" target="_blank">workshops </a>for Judith throughout the year, including beginner's crochet, knitting in the round, socks, illusion knits and more, so be sure to check the <a href="http://www.yarnbarn.co.uk/Yarn_Barn/Workshops.html" target="_blank">programme </a>for details :-)Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-53708886552372310032015-02-09T10:00:00.000+00:002015-02-09T10:00:08.349+00:00Workshop news! - Blockprinting on Card and FabricFancy a creative Friday <a href="http://www.themakeitshop.co.uk/ourshop/prod_3676932-4-Indian-stamp-block-printing-Friday-13-February-2015-1012noon.html" target="_blank">workshop </a>blockprinting? I'll be showing you how to make a lovely tote and cards using these beautiful Indian stamps at <a href="http://www.themakeitshop.co.uk/ourshop/prod_3676932-4-Indian-stamp-block-printing-Friday-13-February-2015-1012noon.html" target="_blank">The Make It! shop</a> in Chorlton. It's fantastically simple and you can create great effects with just basic acrylic and textile paints - and best of all, no drawing or painting skills required! <br />
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Here are some simple examples I printed up on card and fabric.<br />
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And here's my finished cotton tote.... fun, fast and easy!<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-367039914142251462015-02-08T11:17:00.000+00:002015-02-08T11:17:25.241+00:00New year new book! - 250 Knitting Stitches by Debbie Tomkies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple of weeks ago a very special parcel dropped through the letterbox - even more exciting than yarn! (I know, how is that even possible?).<br />
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My latest book has been published!<br />
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Working on this latest title has been a real adventure. You might think that compiling 250 different stitches would be a challenge but the real challenge was keeping to 250 and reluctantly leaving some out!<br />
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Nonetheless, I hope I have included something for everyone. There are the essentials for newer knitters, as well as more challenging stitches for more experienced knitters, historical traditional stitches from around the world and exciting new stitches from my design portfolio.<br />
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My personal favourite aspect of the book is that every stitch has both charted <i>and </i>written instructions. As someone who flits between both I find this approach particularly useful and if you're a confirmed chart/written knitter you'll be able to follow the patterns using your preferred method.<br />
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You can pre-order a copy of 250 Knitting Stitches from us <span id="goog_664231836"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/">here <span id="goog_664231837"></span></a>in the UK (published by Search Press). Readers outside the UK will find it in all good stores stocking Interweave publications where it has the slightly different title, Knit Stitch Dictionary. On which subject, the publishers have used UK terminology in the Search Press edition and US terminology in the Interweave edition so you should always be working with familiar terms and symbols :-)Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-28838313224261276652015-01-23T18:15:00.000+00:002015-01-23T18:15:55.811+00:00The No-choc Yule Log ChallengeLast year Pete gave up chocolate. This presented a few challenges, not least when it came to filling up the Christmas stocking - out went the maltesers and 2-foot jaffa cake tubes :-( but we did replace those with yummy handmade fudge from the Christmas markets so not all bad.<br />
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Somewhat trickier was the obligatory - in our house at any rate - yule log. I'm no domestic goddess in the kitchen department and, whilst I do have shelves of cookery books, most of them have accumulated more dust than Miss Havisham's wedding dress.<br />
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So I was quite relieved when presented with "the alternative yule log" - a very impressive affair comprising a vanilla swiss-roll style sponge heavily encrusted in soft buttercream. At least I was until I read the instructions. Now I can manage a basic sponge - it might not make GBBO but it's edible and the chaps like it. But a swiss roll? This requires more than just dolloping mix into tins and slapping two halves of cake together. Hmmmm...<br />
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This is where a cake-savvy friend comes in very handy (especially one who can be bribed with yarn). And this is how we did it (I use the term we loosely - my input was mostly of the moral support variety).<br />
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The mix for the cake (yes, 5 eggs!) <br />
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Only fair to have a pic of the person who did most of the work so here's Julia hard at work... <br />
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<span id="goog_1264851042">The roll (the tea towel was part of the instructions)</span><br />
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<span id="goog_1264851042">And cake 2 - for the crumbly coating (I cannot tell a lie -there may have been "a bit" more extra cake than we strictly needed here. But don't worry, it didn't go to waste).</span><br />
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<span id="goog_1264851042"></span><span id="goog_1264851043"></span>And - ta dah! - the cake (yes, it's sitting in a garlic bread dish - it was a bit liable to rolling)<br />
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The lovely jammy, buttercream interior...<br />
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And a slice to show it off in its full glory...<br />
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With grateful thanks from the Tomkies family to the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/christmas-food-and-drink/9751314/Vanilla-Christmas-log-recipe.html" target="_blank">Telegraph</a>'s <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/rose-prince/" target="_blank">Rose Prince</a> for the recipe and to Julia for culinary expertise. Yule will never be the same again :-) <br />
<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-91870956679295561662014-12-12T10:55:00.002+00:002014-12-12T10:55:23.470+00:00New workshops! Felting at the Make It shop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been having some fun with needle felting recently - it's a fab way to make quick and easy gifts and decorations without needing lots of expensive materials or equipment. And of course, it wouldn't be fair to keep all the fun to myself so I've been running some workshops, too :-)<br />
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It's always lovely when a new crafty venture opens but especially lovely when it's a friend's latest adventure! Danielle of Rubbish Revamped fame has just opened a great new shop in Chorlton. The Make It! Shop is packed with craft supplies and there is an exciting timetable of craft workshops and taster sessions if you fancy a couple of hours trying a new skill or making something special.<br />
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Last week we were making cute needlefelted robins and gorgeous Christmas ornaments. I'm afraid my camera was having a bit of a meltdown so the photos aren't great, but I thought you might still like to see some of the lovely pieces the groups made.<br />
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I'll be running another needlefelting workshop in January - join me at the <a href="http://www.themakeitshop.co.uk/ourshop/prod_3589598-M-Needle-Felting-Saturday-10-January-2015-103pm.html" target="_blank">Make It! Shop</a> on 10th January and make one of these cute owls and a stylish brooch/corsage.<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-40722806470763412452014-12-11T11:00:00.000+00:002014-12-11T11:00:01.378+00:00Q&A's - Is there are white dye that I can use to create lighter colours on my dyed yarns and fabrics?In short, no! White fabric paint, yes, but not an actual white dye as such. So if you want to make a pastel colour the simple answer is to use less dye in relation to the weight of goods (fabric/fibre/yarn etc.) being dyed. <br />
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Creating pastels - immersion dyeing <br />
For "immersion" or solid colour dyeing (where the goods are to be dyed a single colour in a dyebath), reducing the amount of dye powder or dye solution in relation to the weight of goods will lighten the eventual shade. It can take a significant reduction, especially for very pale pastels and you may be panicking that you have barely any colour in the bath but have faith! <br />
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Dyes vary in their concentration and strength depending on the dye type, the brand and even the colour. The goods (the thing you are dyeing) can also affect the take up of the dye. <br />
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As an example, with our procion mx dyes, this <a href="http://www.dtcrafts.co.uk/handDyedYarns/woolChunky/index.html" target="_blank">dove grey</a> only requires 0.1g of black dye powder per 100g of yarn. Here you can see the colour on a pure wool chunky yarn:<br />
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And this is the same shade on our (sadly discontinued), handspun silk/angora goat down:<br />
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Note how the different yarns use the same dye formula and method but the colour looks quite different (even allowing for photography) which shows the importance of factoring in both the nature of the item being dyed as well as the dye itself. <br />
Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-83830822460700204452014-11-26T16:55:00.001+00:002014-11-26T23:05:47.016+00:00Q&A's - Can I re-dye a garment to cover a bleach mark or fading?Unlike paints which are often opaque, dyes are transparent. This means that the dye will "overlay" the original colour but the original colour will affect whatever dye is placed on top of it.<br />
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For example, if a yellow sweater is overdyed with blue, some of the original yellow will remain visible and the final result will have a yellow cast (giving a more or less green shade). Depending on the relative depth of shade of the two colours this may be more or less obvious. A sunshine yellow dye overdyed with a bright turquoise is likely to retain much of the yellow tone, giving a chartreuse to lime green. A royal blue on the other hand may produce a deeper forest green, although if the base colour is very pale it may be very close to blue.<br />
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If the original colour is very pale the finished shade will be correspondingly less affected but may still carry a cast of the original.<br />
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So, why is this relevant to stains? Well, bleach marks and fading are just areas of different colour to the original shade. For this reason, when overdyed the dye will not give the same shade over the entire garment but will give differing colours on the bleached/faded and the undamaged areas.<br />
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To address this, it may be possible to build up the colour in the stained area by spot dyeing then overdyeing.<br />
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<li>Make sure the garment has been thoroughly rinsed in cold water to remove any remaining bleach. </li>
<li>Choose a dye suitable for the fibre content of your garment.</li>
<li>Make up a small amount of the dye in a beaker or jar. </li>
<li>Test the colour by painting the dye onto a coffee filter paper or piece of kitchen paper. What you're aiming for here is the tone of the original shade not the depth of the shade - we'll be building up the colour so we can worry about this later. (I'll be covering colour picking and blending in a future post).</li>
<li>Place a pad beneath the patch to be dyed to absorb any excess dye. An old towel or thick wad of kitchen paper should be fine as long as the dye can't reach any other part of the garment.</li>
<li>Add any fixer as required for the dye (most likely a mild alkali for plant fibres, a mild acid for animal fibres). </li>
<li>Use a small piece of sponge, dip it in the dye solution and squeeze out most of the liquid. </li>
<li>Starting in the centre of the stain, apply the dye by pressing the sponge gently over it. Gradually move outwards until there is no dye left on the sponge. </li>
<li>Re-dip and repeat the process - work slowly - you can add more dye but you can't take it away!</li>
<li>Just before you reach the edge of the stain, start feathering out the colour, lessening the amount of dye. You should aim for a soft edge that slightly overlaps the original. A crisp edge will be more noticeable.</li>
<li>Allow this first layer to dry as the colour will dry a couple of shades lighter. </li>
<li>Repeat as required, drying between each layer. If the colour is still very pale, paste up a little more dye powder with a small amount of water and add to the solution.</li>
<li>You may decide at this point that the colour is close enough in which case there's just fixing the dye to think about. Refer back to the instructions on your dye. If it's a plant fibre such as cotton, it's likely that you will only need to leave the garment (cover the dyed area with clingfilm to keep it damp) overnight and then rinse. </li>
<li>If it's an animal fibre such as wool, it will almost certainly need heat. In this case, dampen the rest of the garment to prevent the heat burning the wool. Try to avoid getting water onto the dyed area. Wrap the garment in clingfilm, place it uncovered in a microwaveable dish and put a beaker of water alongside the garment. This will create some extra steam without overwetting the garment. Carefully microwave it for 30 seconds-1 minute at a time until it is hot but not scorching. If you can, arrange it so the dyed area is on the outer part of the bundle.</li>
<li>Once it's hot, allow it to cool and rinse. </li>
<li>This process can be repeated within reason. If you wish you can then dye the whole garment (I'll be covering dyeing garments in a later post). </li>
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<b>Tips</b>:<br />
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<li>Only add the fixer before you are going to start using it as it will start acting straightaway. This is particularly with plant fibre dyes which should be used within a few hours of adding the fixer. (Animal fibre dyes will keep longer even after the fixer has been added). </li>
<li>Cosmetic sponge wedges are great for applying dye or cut a corner from a kitchen sponge - but remove the scrubby part first!</li>
<li>No microwave? Put the clingfilmed garment in an ovenproof dish, cover and cook on a low heat for 20 mins. Check and return to the oven if it isn't hot enough. To avoid the garment burning, put a beaker of water alongside it in the dish to create some steam.</li>
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Note: This kind of dyeing isn't an exact science and you should be aware that it may not achieve the desired result. My usual advice is that if the damage isn't very obvious or if the garment could be upcycled/altered to hide the damage, this may be preferable. If the garment will be going to the tip if it isn't dyed or if you want to give it a try, go for it! <br />
<b>Important: Health and Safety</b><br />
Always read the health and safety guidelines provided with your dye before you begin and follow them carefully.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-56769201759076211242014-11-18T17:50:00.004+00:002014-11-18T17:50:51.988+00:00We've been on the telly :-)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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You may recall that earlier in the year I had a great time being filmed at Armley Mills Industrial Museum by the BBC for a new series, Glorious Gardens from Above. The programme showcased our Growing for Colour project - a community dye plant and edible garden - maintained and nurtured by Hyde Park Source and their group of enthusiastic volunteers and there was a short piece by yours truly showing our heritage dyeing group dyeing knickers (I know) with a selection of plants from the garden.<br />
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The series is now airing and our episode is part 4, currently available on BBC iplayer <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04plt64" target="_blank">here</a>. It will only be available for 4 weeks though, so don't delay!<br />
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If you're a gardening enthusiast you'll no doubt have heard of the show host, Christine Walkden. Her passion for the gardens she visits is amazing and she visits some beautiful gardens during the course of the series - well worth watching! (and no, we didn't get to go in the hot air balloon).<br />
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Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-58018226838318949592014-10-22T17:14:00.000+01:002014-10-22T17:14:39.918+01:00Armley Mills Dyeing Project - Dyeing begins!<br />
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A great day yesterday at Armley Mills producing the first samples from the Gott recipe book. We tried 3 different recipes and although we had to do a bit of tweaking of the recipes (distilling sulphuric acid and nitric acid weren't really in the spirit of the session!) we got some great results.<br />
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Scaling down the quantities was a challenge - the recipes have little information about the quantity of goods dyed by each recipe so I did some scaling down based more on using small amounts of ingredients and seeing what we could dye! I did calculate the right ratio of ingredients if not an accurate wof:wog (weight of fibre: weight of goods). As a result the colours were certainly in the right ballpark albeit pretty intense and there was plenty left in the baths. I'm sure this wouldn't have been the way dyehouses would have operated as it would have been very wasteful. This leads to questions about whether dyebaths were expected to exhaust after each bath, whether a vat would be used for each shade/range of shades and topped up? If there's a dyehouse dyer in your family history, maybe you could get in touch and let me know?<br />
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So, a great start with more excitement to come hopefully!<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-43557908818689624242014-10-01T18:55:00.000+01:002014-10-01T18:55:05.707+01:00Dyeing al fresco!<br />
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A good summer has had an added, unexpected benefit - al fresco workshops!<br />
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Rachel's lovely shop at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SittingKnitting/photos/a.555510724496131.1073741828.553320574715146/662699323777270/?type=1&theater" target="_blank">Sitting Knitting</a> just outside Birmingham is in a beautiful old building but it's even nicer when we can take the tables, pots and pans outdoors.<br />
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Introduction to dyeing was the order of the day and the group produced a super range of sample cards and some very inspiring mini-skeins.<br />
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By the afternoon they were in full swing producing beautiful colourways....<br />
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Beautiful, no? And if you'd like to see more, including some lovely finished projects, have a look at Rachel's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SittingKnitting/photos/a.555510724496131.1073741828.553320574715146/662699323777270/?type=1&theater" target="_blank">facebook page</a><br />
<br />Thank you to Rachel for a lovely day - we'll look forward to seeing you again soon! <br />
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Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-49051705534853769242014-07-07T10:07:00.001+01:002014-07-07T10:07:02.184+01:00Summer School 2015 - The Dyer's Recipe Book<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hand-dyed wool samples with synthetic dyes</td></tr>
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I'm absolutely thrilled to announce that I'll be tutoring again at the <a href="http://wsdss15.blogspot.co.uk/p/tutors-and-courses.html" target="_blank">Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers Summer School </a>next August (2015) :-)<br />
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My course this time will be an in-depth focus on making your own dye recipe book, creating repeatable colours and colour theory using synthetic dyes. There will, of course, be lots of scope for putting your knowledge into practice, trying out some fun dyeing techniques and generally having a great time with colour exploration but if you're keen to get a good grounding in predicting and planning colourways, this will be an ideal course for you!<br />
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You'll find lots more info about the venue, prices, course programme and how to book on the Summer School blog <a href="http://wsdss15.blogspot.co.uk/p/courses.html" target="_blank">here.</a> For information about the Association in general (and some great pics of last Summer School) the main website is <a href="http://www.wsd.org.uk/ss.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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And, if you'd like to see some of the photos from my last Summer School courses, there's a tiny taster selection <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104033066238064729629/SummerSchoolPhotos2010" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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If you've never been to a Summer School before it is an amazing experience - a whole week of textile exuberance - expect to see spinning wheels round every corner, knitters in every nook and cranny, weavers beavering away into the wee small hours and wall-to-wall chatter about all things textile-related! Heavenly!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-61665279089603913392014-04-02T13:53:00.001+01:002014-04-02T13:53:13.962+01:00Growing for Colour Project at Leeds Industrial Museum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Growing for Colour is a new project I'm really excited to be involved with. The project is a collaboration between <a href="http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/armleymills.aspx" target="_blank">Leeds City Council</a>, <a href="http://www.hydeparksource.org/armley-mills-community-garden.html" target="_blank">Hyde Park Source</a> and DT Craft & Design (that'll be me, then!) to convert part of the outdoor space at the Leeds Industrial Museum site at Armley Mills into a colour garden, filled with interesting traditional dyeplants. Working with volunteers we'll be clearing the garden area, planting lots of exciting dyeplants, and dyeing fabrics and yarn with our homegrown and locally foraged dyestuffs. <br />
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Yesterday we had our first session. The sun shone bright and warm and the rain the previous night had nicely softened the ground, perfect for weeding and digging!<br />
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We had a bit of work to do refreshing the beds and borders after winter, and some of the plants have made themselves very much at home!<br />
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A quick survey of the beds did reveal some tentative shoots of goldenrod,<br />
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tansy<br />
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and a couple of possible woad plants.<br />
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A nice healthy crop of madder was also spotted so I think we can look forward to some good reds!<br />
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I've been busy taking photos so I can do a bit of plant-spotting before next week as some of the plants aren't quite big enough to identify yet, although there may be some hollyhocks. We also have dyer's chamomile enjoying the spring warmth in planters along the front of the mill cottages.<br />
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A spot of seed planting after a picnic lunch courtesy of the <a href="http://hlnleeds.org.uk/about-us/armley-town-street/" target="_blank">Armley Town Street Hub's Pay as You Feel Cafe</a><br />
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After a hard day's work, our borders are almost ready for planting and our first crop of seeds is sown...<br />
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If you'd like to join us, simply come down to the <a href="http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/armleymills.aspx" target="_blank">Museum </a>between 11am and 3pm on Tuesday. All materials are provided but bring a packed lunch and outdoor clothing (we've booked sunshine but you just never know!). Our next session will be preparing our yarns and fabrics for dyeing, doing a spot of foraging for local, wild-growing dyestuffs on the site and having a look at what you can re-purpose from your kitchen and cupboards to produce lovely colours - see you next week!<br />
Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-18382298108758600362014-01-20T10:00:00.000+00:002014-01-20T10:00:00.409+00:00Car boot-y!Car boot sales are always fun (even if only for those "oh my, we have/had one of those" moments!). But just occasionally they turn up something really interesting. And this was my little gem, picked up in Cheshire.....<br />
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What a terrific little haul of old dyes :-) !<br />
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Local dyes developed and made in Bolton...<br />
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Of particular interest is that these dyes are shown as dyeing both cottons and wools - an early fibre reactive dye perhaps? Must research this further.... <br />
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Likewise these Fairy Dyes, manufactured in Glasgow, also refer to dyeing
both wools and cottons, so clearly it wasn't a one-off. It's amazing
that the dye is in tiny little glass test tubes with cork stoppers. <br />
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These dyes are possibly older? I haven't heard of this company so will need to do some more digging to find out.<br />
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I'm guessing the jiffy dyes must date to around the 40's judging by this little message on the label...<br />
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Isn't it incredible how much we take for granted? And how every little bit of recycling really did count.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-2283322203854383172014-01-08T14:24:00.000+00:002014-01-08T14:24:00.251+00:00New Design! - Alien Alert! - The Knitting Collection <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Judging by my recent posts and tweets you'd be forgiven for thinking that I've forgotten all about designing! I can promise you I haven't but running the mail order business, teaching and working on my research project (more of which later) have really sucked up my time. The ideas are there but the hours in the day aren't!<br />
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Still, I couldn't resist knitting up this little number after watching a great programme on retro-gaming in the run-up to Christmas. Fond memories of a mis-spent youth in arcades and cafes blasting little pixelated aliens - ah, happy days!<br />
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So here is my latest little design, the Alien Alert! tie. It's double-knitted which makes it reversible so you actually get two ties for the price of one! The tweedy Jamieson's yarn makes it subtle and earthy enough for the more conservative chap in your house but funky enough to be fun and enjoyable to wear - a grown up tie for boys who haven't quite grown up yet! (It would also make a rather fun lariat for my fellow girl-gamers, too, or knit extra repeats for a super-cosy scarf).<br />
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You can find the Alien Alert! Tie in <a href="http://www.insidecrochet.co.uk/blog/the-knitting-collection-out-now-/" target="_blank">The Knitting Collection</a>, a great new publication brought to you by the fab team at <a href="http://www.insidecrochet.co.uk/" target="_blank">Inside Crochet</a>. Featuring 47 fabulous original designs it's packed with many hours of knitting pleasure - perfect for sitting clicking in front of the fire while the winds are howling and the rains are lashing the windows - brrrr!<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-41730465330814450682014-01-07T17:22:00.000+00:002014-01-07T17:22:47.742+00:00So you think you know your knitting nancy? Well meet her rather saucier companion!Spool knitting, cotton reel knitting, i-cord or knitting nancy? Which one were you? I'll bet you haven't heard of this one. I just found this <a href="http://bigbluebullybus.wordpress.com/tag/knitting-nancy/" target="_blank">cracking post</a> on the <a href="http://bigbluebullybus.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Big Blue Bully Bus </a>blog and it made me laugh out loud so I thought I'd share it. I won't spoil the fun, go check the post! While you're at it, take a nosy round - it's rather a cool blog, too, esp. if you're into allotments, VW camper vans and things crafty (and who isn't?). (Oh, and the author is called Debby and hails from Leeds - not that I'm biased or anything.....)<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-60802052385839148792014-01-07T13:49:00.000+00:002014-01-07T13:49:28.739+00:00Home Make Me Happy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Creative Crafts for a fabulous cause with Home Make Me Happy! </b><br />
I love to help with charitable projects when I can so I was thrilled to be invited to contribute a feature on Funky
Finger Knitting for <a href="http://www.homemakemehappy.co.uk/index.html">Home
Make Me Happy</a>. (If you look carefully in the top centre of
the page you can just see a snippet of my little paws demonstrating how it’s done!).<br />
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<b>About Home Make Me Happy </b><br />
Home Make Me Happy is a fabulous new craft book produced as part of the Prince’s Trust Million Maker’s project.With 29 exciting projects from a whole range of artists, designers and foodies, it’s a great book for anyone with an interest in all things crafty. From cupcakes to cushions, bags to booties, there’s something for everyone! <br />
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You can find out more about the project and buy your copy of the book <a href="http://www.homemakemehappy.co.uk/book.html">here</a>.
Every penny goes to the <a href="http://www.homemakemehappy.co.uk/about-princes.html">Prince’s Trust Charity</a> so you’ll not only be getting lots of hours of pleasure but you’ll
be helping <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to change young people’s
lives, enabling them to fulfill their potential too.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-9018632693171051752013-11-10T10:30:00.000+00:002013-11-10T10:30:00.056+00:00Felt-making - Felted Jewellery in Blackpool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I do enjoy my trips to visit the lovely Paula at the <a href="http://www.westcliffe-knitting.co.uk/" target="_blank">Westcliffe Hotel</a> in Blackpool and not just because I get a very nice breakfast on arrival (!). Paula's knitting holidays are always popular and the guests are so warm and friendly - you'd think they'd all been friends for years!<br />
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Felted jewellery was on the menu this time and the group quickly got to grips with making their felted fabrics. We started with felt-in-a-bag (aka minimal-mess felt!) for brooches later on.<br />
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Then it was on to felt "sausages" for bracelets and necklaces and beads for bangles. <br />
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After a very nice lunch everyone got busy assembling their felt, making some lovely brooches, corsages and jewellery, embellishing with beads and stitching..<br />
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Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-46112767193902733792013-11-07T11:00:00.000+00:002013-11-07T11:00:05.778+00:00Fibre EastAfter last year's welly-clad squelch-fest, this year's Fibre East couldn't have been more different!<br />
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The sun was cracking the flags, the new venue was much easier for set-up and it was ice creams all round!<br />
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A big thank you to Jan and her team for all their hard work :-)<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-26883170007575225102013-11-06T19:00:00.000+00:002013-11-06T19:00:00.454+00:00Self-patterning yarns - dyeing workshop at Purl City Yarns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love this particular workshop because it combines not only the essentials of learning to dye yarns but it also brings in some real creativity around developing colourways and creating a planned yarn. It's also fun working out how to use chairs, tables and string to make improvised skein winders to make 10 metre long skeins!<br />
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And if you're not sure how this works, here are our skeins-in-progress, upstairs in the lovely workroom at <a href="http://www.purlcityyarns.com/" target="_blank">Purl City Yarns</a> in Manchester...<br />
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Colourways and patterning....<br />
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Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-67845101174571103772013-11-04T12:30:00.000+00:002013-11-04T12:30:00.306+00:00Belated Woolfest post - better late than never!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This feels like it should be a caption competition! Oh, go on then, another one...<br />
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Tsk, now the alpaca feel left out....<br />
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But of course there was lots more than lovely animals to be enjoyed at this year's <a href="http://www.woolfest.co.uk/" target="_blank">Woolfest</a>. Here are a couple of super pieces that customers brought along that they'd made from our goodies.<br />
A gorgeous hand-dyed, knitted mermaid.<br />
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Some felted soaps dyed with <a href="http://www.dtcrafts.co.uk/dyesFixers/koolAid/index.html" target="_blank">Kool Aid</a><br />
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And these are some amazing sample boards made by <a href="http://www.artybirdcarnforth.co.uk/" target="_blank">Kate Horner</a>, the multi-talented owner of <a href="http://www.artybirdcarnforth.co.uk/" target="_blank">Artybird Carnforth</a>, using our <a href="http://www.dtcrafts.co.uk/dyesFixers/botanicalColors/index.html" target="_blank">Botanical Colors</a> liquid natural dyes. <br />
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Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-69284432656854007412013-11-02T11:00:00.000+00:002013-11-02T11:00:00.396+00:00Billy Bragg brings his beautiful tunes to Band on the Wall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Part of the pleasure of seeing politico-pop veteran Billy Bragg is that it's still possible to see him "up close and personal" (metaphorically speaking) and not in some impersonal, concrete aircraft hangar with warm, canned beer at outrageous prices.<br />
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A favourite artist in a favourite venue - it was guaranteed to be a good night out. And indeed it was.<br />
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Mr B was on good form, and embarrassing his backing keyboard/guitarist by pointing out that his Mum and Dad were in the audience was such a funny parent-moment (well for the audience anyway!). Having listened to the new album and not being wholly convinced, hearing it live was a conversion moment. It's rarely left the CD player (yes, I have a CD player not an ipod) and it gets better with every hearing. Combine that with some old favourites and it was an all-round great gig.<br />
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Oh, and I know he's getting older but this seemed a bit over-cautious....<br />
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For those who haven't yet had the pleasure, the <a href="http://bandonthewall.org/about/" target="_blank">Band on the Wall</a> is a fab venue. Not only does it serve great food and real ale, including local brews, it is also a non-profit charity that offers amazing opportunities and facilities for anyone interested in pursuing a career in music/production and music-related projects. So not only a great night out but one that helps support aspiring musicians, too - you can have a great night out safe in the knowledge that it's all in a good cause :-)<br />
(did I mention the real ale? Just checking.).Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-582319670089402842013-11-01T17:42:00.000+00:002013-11-01T17:42:16.939+00:00It's all indigo-go-go!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Having a tidy up of my picasa albums and I was very pleased to find some pics I thought I'd lost! They are from my Nature's Beautiful Blues Indigo & Woad workshop - which I was invited to run by the <a href="http://northcheshireswd.co.uk/" target="_blank">North Cheshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers</a> earlier in the year.<br />
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North Cheshire is my "home" Guild and it's a lovely, friendly group - I've learned so much from my fellow members over the years (over 20 of them!) and we've had some fantastic speakers, tutors and events. Indeed, I became a dyer following a dyeing workshop with Frances and Tony Thompson on my second meeting, way back in about 1990! I'd heartily recommend any textile enthusiast to check out their local Guild -but be careful, you never know where it may lead..... :-)<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-63139698269692753102013-09-26T10:30:00.000+01:002013-09-26T10:30:00.652+01:001-2-3 Blue-2-3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For Christmas I received a great pressie, Michel Garcia's indigo dyeing workshop DVD. Since then I've watched it numerous times and I've been waiting to try his 1-2-3 indigo vat for ages but it took me a while to gather up the materials, the ingredients (and the time!) to give this a go.
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The ingredients list isn't particularly extensive - indigo, calcium hydroxide and fructose. The equipment list isn't exactly challenging either - just the usual pots and pans, stirrers and so on. I did get hold of some glass marbles - recommended by Michel for helping the indigo to combine with the alkaline calcium hydroxide and the water, but other than that my only additional piece of kit was a slow cooker that my in-laws kindly gave me as they weren't using it. <br />
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So how did it go?
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Well, it was pretty straightforward. The 1-2-3 refers to the relative proportions of indigo, calcium and fructose to use, so I duly measured out my ingredients.<br />
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I combined the indigo and calcium, shaking them up (with the lid on!) with some glass marbles.<br />
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Next came the vat, using the fructose to de-oxygenate the vat. A slightly nervous wait as the vat warmed and (fingers crossed) turned that familiar clear, greeny-yellow with the oil-on-water surface. <br />
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and there was the reassuring indigo flower (the blue-y foam on the water surface).<br />
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All set!
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Folding and clamping some pfd (prepared for dyeing) cotton fabric...(yes, these are bag clips from the £1 shop!)...<br />
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Using an old kitchen sieve to immerse the clamped fabrics in the vat. The sieve stops the fabric from touching any sludgy bits of indigo that may be lurking in the bottom of the vat.
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A quick last test of the vat (just blotting paper to check the colour). <br />
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And in they go... <br />
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Cover and keep at around 50c for about 10 mins <br />
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Remove from the vat....<br />
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And watch the colour develop...<br />
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Remove the clamps...<br />
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Rinse and dry....<br />
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Not bad for my first 1-2-3 vat!<br />
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(Note: I've since repeated this exercise after leaving the vat for a couple of days then refreshing it by warming it up. The colours were much deeper and more of a true indigo blue).<br />
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I see lots more 1-2-3'ing in my future!Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-17206691403436935902013-09-22T14:00:00.000+01:002013-09-22T14:00:01.141+01:00Beautiful blanks - dyeing at Purl City YarnsSome super dyeing with my lovely students at one of my favourite venues, <a href="http://purlcityyarns.com/store/department/17/Classes-and-Workshops/" target="_blank">Purl City Yarns</a>. Blank canvas dyeing is always fun as students get really creative with their colours and patterns! I can't wait to see the socks knitted from these beauties....<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2855456234715355308.post-65880435093056580412013-09-21T12:00:00.000+01:002013-09-21T12:00:05.125+01:00Funky felt!More fun with the year 10s!<br />
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The groups got stuck into felting with some real gusto! The trickiest thing was keeping them supplied with wool!<br />
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Lots of lovely felted pictures, names and patterns and even some funky, brightly coloured hair falls (aka woolly dreadlocks)......<br />
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<br />Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14417107068704956202noreply@blogger.com1