A successful Craft Fair... and some sad news

Well! The Craft Fair at the Fairfield Halls did turn out to be a success. And I must thank the ladies of the Croydon knitting Group for showing their support. The weather was incredibly cold, but the turn-out was a little better than anticipated. We were slightly disappointed at the lack of crafty stalls - there were a lot of people selling things like light-up plastic stocking fillers, commercial beauty products and even shoes. But there were some really special stalls, too. Our stall was in the foyer because the Angora bunnies needed a good supply of fresh air (Skye came on Saturday and Misty on Sunday) and both of them behaved absolutely beautifully, even when Basil Brush came out and disturbed the peace! (Please excuse poor quality of photos - these were all taken with my phone in the poor light available)...

Ice rink on the forecourt

Pretty! Bright lights from the Ferris wheel
on the forecourt

Tess spinning Angora fluff at our stall

My good friend Roz was there with her friend Anne, selling the most beautiful hand-embroidered cards, Christmas decorations and hand-made gift tags. Everything of theirs is so incredibly intricate and beautifully made! I now have a beautiful star decoration for my tree, some even more beautiful cards and the perfect tags for my gifts!

Roz and Anne's stall with hand-embroidered cards,
decorations and hand-crafted gift tags

There was also a lady called Joanne selling the most incredible hand-crafted jewellery all made with semi-precious stones and Stirling silver. This picture does not do her craft any justice at all, but I was drawn to it again and again. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a website, but I will update this as soon as I hear that she does.

So, the snow threatened over the weekend but didn't arrive until Tuesday and everything ground to a halt. It took me over three hours to complete the 13 mile journey home from work and, to make matters even more complicated, I arrived home to a FREEZING house as the boiler had broken down. Typical! As I am neither elderly nor do I have have small children I was not a priority case and it wasn't until yesterday, 6 days after the breakdown, that the gas man was able to come and replace the broken valve. Incredibly, due, I'm sure, to the breakdown and subsequent start-up of the boiler, I now have a leaking radiator in the bathroom and have to call someone out to fix it. Ugh. At least, though, the house is starting to warm up!

Snowed in!

The bad weather which kept me indoors over the weekend did, however, allow me to sit in front of an electric fan heater with a hot water bottle and finish a couple of Christmas knitting projects... Photos will follow after the recipients have received them!

The sad news I mentioned is that of Alfie, a 5 month old Labrador/Greyhound cross with a fatal liver condition. He has had four homes in his short life, all of which have passed him on after learning of his illness. It is treatable, but the surgery will cost £3,500. He is currently living with the kind people at the Happy Endings animal shelter in East Sussex. In light of this, I will be updating my Etsy shop this week, and offering a 10% discount on all purchases (details to follow). All proceeds will go towards Alfie's plight. I will also enter everyone who purchases in to a prize draw and the winner will receive a FREE(!) skein of hand-painted, hand-spun yarn. Yay! Please check back and I will update the shop very shortly with all sorts of goodies for your winter spinning, felting and knitting needs!

Emma x

A SHEEPish update

Well, it was lovely to chat to Lesley of Devon Fine Fibres on Savile Row. I didn't realise that she is the main fleece supplier for the cloth weavers who supply the tailors of Savile Row. It shouldn't be a surprise, though - the fineness of her British rare breed Bowmont (Merino x Shetland) fleeces is second to none. At approximately 15 microns, the fibre is just beautiful. There was a woolsack full of the raw fleece which, I must say, looked very clean - it was just so beautifully soft.

This beautiful breed is has the Merino look, without the thick neck folds - and the finer facial structure of the Shetland. They all seemed plenty happy enough, munching on their hay and delighting the crowd with the hopping, skipping and jumping. "Spring is bustin' out all over" was playing in my mind. And in a small space like this it is easy to see how "sheep" as an adjective has come about. Where one went, the others followed all huddled together.


There was also a small flock of Exmoor Horn sheep - their fleece is significantly coarser, but still fine for knitwear. These guys seemed much more relaxed with all the crowds around, and this guy on the left looked as if he was having a real conversation.

These pictures aren't the best, as they were taken on my phone, but the trek across the City to see them was well worth it! Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit Lesley on her farm and see them in their 'natural' habitat. I would love to spin one of her fleeces but, it seems, there is just so much demand for them commercially - that would be why the Savile Row tailors are so exclusive!

Celebrating Wool Week

It's officially the start of Wool Week and I am so excited! I work in London and there, generally, isn't much in the way of fibre-y "stuff" to see and do. Today, however, Savile Row (lauded for its impeccable tailors) is being turfed over and a flock of brightly coloured sheep brought up by Lesley from her farm in Devon. Even better, Lyle and Scott are sponsoring a Sheep Parade in Covent Garden tomorrow, which is even closer to my office.

HRH Prince Charles is patron of the Campaign for Wool, a fantastic organisation which hopes to bring this wonderful resource to the forefront once more. british wool, and the cloth made from it was once the pride of the nation. Now, we are so consumed with cheap, throw-away fabric and our fantastic wool is burnt in huge piles as farmers cannot even cover the cost of shearing with the price that fleeces can muster. This versatile fibre can be used in all sorts - the finer, softer fleeces make wonderful knitwear while the coarser fleeces can make the most hard-wearing rugs and carpets. Or even building insulation! It seems heretical that such a resource is wasted year on year.

As a hand-spinner, I really appreciate a beautiful fleece. There is nothing more satisfying than knitting with yarn that I have spun, watching the project develop from raw (and often filthy!) fleece to a beautiful scarf or hat or sweater... one that I know will last an absolute lifetime.

Wool is wonderful... spread the word!!

Happy September!

I love September. Mainly because it means that Christmas is SO. CLOSE. (Although that means that I really have to pull my finger out and get on with the Christmas knitting.) But, also, because Autumn is coming, and I just love the short period of time when the leaves turn and the mornings are much crisper. Summer, my favourite season, is pretty much over. It's still quite warm out, but the mornings and evenings are far cooler now than they were just a couple of weeks ago.

The Bank Holiday weekend was far busier than anyone's long weekend should be. The Farmer's Market on Saturday was brilliant, and it was lovely to see Christina again. On Sunday I went to visit my friend Claire at her farm, and time just ran away with me! And Monday was spent dyeing LOTS of yarn. My space for drying is limited, so the hanks were in the airing cupboard to dry and, while it is relatively warm in there the heating is not on, (I refuse to put it on until next month) so the drying process has been slow. By the time I get home in the evening the light has all but gone, so I will be photographing all the skeins this weekend. This weekend I have a lot more to dye. I'm slightly upset that the fibre I ordered a week ago has not arrived. Yes, it was a big order but I have never waited a week for delivery. It's not as if I NEED it now, but the thought of the lovely squooshiness, which should be with me but is, in fact, either still with the supplier or squashed in a box all alone with Royal Mail makes me sad. What makes me happy, though, is that I will have some beautiful new yarns over the next couple of months, including alpaca/silk and merino/bamboo sock yarn . I love how the different fibres take up dyes so differently.

My alpaca is still on the bobbin, and I just nees to spin up some silk for plying. I also have a rather lovely camel/silk blend to spin, that I have been asked to make a scarf with. Whether I shall knit or weave it, I don't know yet.

Forgive my lack of yarn and fibre photos. I shall, instead, leave you with Schnarfums who managed to curl up in to a tiny ball and almost fit in to the brand new cat bed. Crazy creature...

Inspiration

I have a LOT of fibre to dye. It's just, now, going to be a case of finding just a smidgen of time in which to pull out the dyes and my steamer. Steaming the dyed fibre works best for me, seeing as my space is limited. I am so inspired by the new rendition of Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton. All of the pictures I've seen show these dark and moody but incredibly saturated colours which just look so opulent and fantastic:

The colours in these images have really struck a chord with me, and I can't wait to get in the kitchen and start experimenting!