Ding, dong merrily on high and stuff

Christmas is but 37 days ago. 37! That's barely enough time to prepare as it is! My handbag and my house and my desk are full (FULL!) of lists of presents to buy, cards to write, groceries, things to do... and on top I have a Christmas Craft Fair and Christmas Farmer's Market to prepare for! So, I also have lists of items I must take and things I must do in preparation. And that's all after my real job. Crazy!

But I love Christmas. I love the cold (when I'm indoors and toasty). I love the smells of baking and cinnamon and nutmeg and the pine needles. I love the unexpected visitors who I ply with mulled wine and fruit-filled pastries. I love the crinkling of paper and the sheen of ribbons; the happy Christmas carols playing in every store and, if you're lucky, sung by groups at the train station; the beautiful light displays adorning street lamps and shop windows like crowns and the twinkle of fairy lights and the coziness of chunky, winter knits and the beautiful glow that a room full of candles gives. The season imparts such a wonderful feeling for me, so to be able to be a part of some lovely events which will help others get in to the spirit is wonderful.

So, in preparation I have been dyeing and labelling and making up learn-to-knit kits for kids and knitting all manner of cozy items to keep people warm and, generally, preparing for a pretty, Christmassy stall!

I'm currently spinning up a second bobbin of some beautifully soft merino and cashmere. I'm yet to decide whether this will be a two- or a three-ply yarn but, whatever it will be, it has to keep the soft bounciness that this fibre has. Hopefully, it will make a lovely soft cowl. I am really hoping for some slightly better weather this weekend so that I can take some photos. It's so dark when I get home that photographing is impossible.

In the meantime, Schnarf is here to let you know what he thinks of all the festivities...

News!

Well! My exciting thing has materialised... My Etsy shop is now open!
Due to lack of light and, therefore, lack of pictures, the shop does not list a huge amount. It is a start, though! Hopefully, many more items will be listed there within the next few days. Wooo!

Exciting things!

Well, the last week has been full of busy-ness and rushing and photographing and all sorts for something very exciting and (almost!) imminent... Hopefully just a couple more days and I'll announce what I've been up to.

Secondly, one of my favourite bloggers ever, Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks, has her book published. Karen is an inspiration of epic proportions - from her beautiful photography to her poetic lilt, I am an avid reader. Her book, The Beauty of Different, is available from Bright Sky Press and also on Amazon. This is going to be the perfect Christmas present.

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!!

Updates!

Well, the sun stayed out long enough for me to take some pictures when I got back yesterday evening which made me so happy!

Au Naturel - 100g/345m Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn £9.00

Waterway - 100g/345m Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn £9.00

These next yarns are 80% alpaca and 20% silk and it is the most beautiful, softest yarn with a beautiful sheen to it. Each colourway shown below has two skeins of yarn as each 100g skein has 262 metres which I, honestly, feel is not enough for a pair of socks. Because of this, I will be selling them in lots of two hanks, unless people particularly want just one. Two hanks are priced at £21.00 and one at £11.00.

Apricot jam - 100g/262m Alpaca/silk sock yarn £11.00

Fuschia party - 100g/262m Alpaca/silk sock yarn £11.00

Inversion - 100g/262m Alpaca/silk sock yarn £11.00

Harlequin - 100g/262m Alpaca/silk sock yarn £11.00

Rosegate - 100g/262m Alpaca/silk sock yarn £11.00

I hope you all enjoy knitting with these as much as I loved dyeing them!

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...