Bonfire Night

I'm planning to use some of these photos for my sketchbooks. Fireworks (when you can capture them!) are an obvious choice for interpretation into textiles but the photos of the bonfire have some fabulous movement, texture and shade that I think will be very interesting to explore.

This one was just for fun! I think it's called the frog - but it was very funny!

And one of my lovely niece and great-niece (none of my nephew as I couldn't catch him!)

And the grown-ups - yes, we got sparklers too : )

October Clubs - Jack O'Lantern

A warm and spicy shade for Autumn!

Shetland humbug...

 And alpaca/nylon sock...

Northern Quarter Art

On a wander to meet the lovely Tracey for a bit of retail therapy (and an essential stop at the Sugar Junction, naturally), I spotted this...

Isn't it fantastic?

Hydrangeas in Bloom - September club colourway

Keeping up the momentum (and nearly up to date!), September's colourway was "Hydrangeas in Bloom".

By September a lot of our flowers have finished and we’re busy deadheading in the garden. However, we are still enjoying the lovely hydrangeas. I find it quite fascinating that colours can be changed purely by altering the quality of the soil. I use my alum mordant to get the blue-y purple shades in my garden as these are my favourites (and it’s a good use for my buckets of mordant water!).

And here is my interpretation of our hydrangeas, a lovely Merino Superwash sock yarn.

Making books, boxes and journals!

Can't believe I nearly forgot to post about this!

This was one of the highlights of the Guild calendar for me last year. Although we are essentially a Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers we like to mix it up occasionally with something a little different. Judith Fearnley is a lovely lady who makes the most awesome journals, handmade books and boxes. I had a fantastic day making books with her in 2010 so I was delighted to hear she was visiting again in 2011.

This is how the day started (note how tidy and organised we were)...

A couple of hours later - not so organised but Julia and I were having a great time...

My work in progress - this will be a sketchbook for my OCA course

And our completed project for the day - cute boxes covered with old maps!

And two finished projects from Judith's last class..