Wednesday 19 August 2009

Destash swap.

I was recently able to take part in a destash swap organised by one of my fellow Folksy sellers, Laura of Jewellery Drops. For the uninitiated, a destash swap involves sending items you have stashed away with the intention of using them at some point in the future, only to find you don't have time, to someone else who will in return send you similar items of their own.

I was lucky to have Alex of Aleximo Croissant as my swap partner and she sent me a huge parcel containing fancy eyelash type yarn, buttons, sequins, beads, ribbons and safety pins! She also popped in a lovely note on one of her Gocco prints. See photos below...





Now I have to decide what to do with it all - the pinky coloured eyelash yarn will probably find it's way into my niece's wardrobe. Watch this space for further updates :)

Monday 17 August 2009

Oooooops!


Can't believe it's over a month since I last blogged! But I have been away on holiday and the kids are off school and I'm still sharing their PC so I suppose I have a bit of an excuse. So much to talk about but not much time so I'll just talk briefly about my holiday today.

We went to Normandy on our motorbike, which is a Benelli Tre-K. As I suffer from Fibromylgia we had to stop on route at regular intervals - always a good excuse for coffee and cake :)

The highlight of the trip for me was a visit to Monet's garden at Giverny. I've been several times before but it's so lovely I just had to go again. I took lots of photos this time as I plan to use them as inspiration for my spring/summer yarn colours next year.


Lovely yellows and reds,


purples and pinks


and blues.


Not forgetting the multitude of greens in and around the beautiful lily pond of course!

Finally as inspiration for some natural dyeing I'm about to do some lovely tree bark..


and lichen.

Friday 10 July 2009

Lovely wooden buttons...


Received these lovely wooden buttons in the post yesterday. They were my prize for winning a competition on Neil Graham's (Wood Jewellery) blog. Unfortunately my camera is not brilliant so the photo doesn't do them justice - will take some more when I get my new camera.
He also sent me a key ring!
Can't wait until he has some more buttons in his Folksy shop.


Monday 6 July 2009

Problems partly fixed.....


I can now upload photos using the kids' PC! So here is a photo of my daughter and I at the craft fair the other week, taken by my 11 year old son. My OH didn't hang around, he had far more important things to do - like wash his motorcycle.



At the moment things are a bit hectic - kids fly out to Australia to visit OH's parents on Saturday so I've loads of packing to do and I'm also in the middle of dyeing silk for baa ram ewe (uber cool new wool shop) in Headingley. I'm also in the middle of writing two essays for my Masters, though progress on them is painfully slow, especially now that my laptop is refusing to boot.


Somehow I've found time to do some knitting over the weekend - with banana fibre yarn. It's amazing stuff, soft and shiny like silk but strong and heavy at the same time. It's handspun with an uneven twist and thickness. Below are pics of my new phone case and purse, which I really enjoyed making.






Wednesday 1 July 2009

Disaster strikes!!!

Help!

My Laptop has ceased to be - well, at least till my other half returns from his business trip and has a look at it for me :(

Until then I'm struggling with the kids' PC, which won't work with my printer etc. Having problems uploading photos too :(

For the above reason I will be unable to post the lovely pictures of my new banana yarn that I have just taken :(

:( indeed!

Sunday 28 June 2009

Whatever happened to the weekend?

Don't know where the last few days have gone - it's all been a bit of a blur really. Fisrt there was tag making for the yarn, then winding the yarn from skeins to balls and back again to get the lovely mixed stripe effect you see when you look at a multi-coloured skein.Then signs to make for the craft fair and address labels to put on all my greetings cards. Just about got all that finished by midnight Saturday then up at 7.30 for the craft fair! Got home again at 1.30 this afternoon and then had to put all the remaining stock away again. I'm exhausted!!!

On the positive side I sold silk yarn and stitch markers and lots of people took my advertising bookmarks away with them.

Below are some pictures of the yarn winding process - the yarn being wound is my 'Choco-Mint Sundae' Merino Sportweight, being sold on Folksy


Thursday 25 June 2009

Wednesday was dyeing day.....

...so I didn't have a lot of time for anything else!



Below are some pictures of Merino sportweight, Alpaca chunky and sockweight and my new silk - it's a loosely spun single ply, approx 275m per 100g.




Today I will be busy making tags for the skeins - they are made so that they are re-usable as bookmarks. Hopefully a good marketing strategy! I have also made bookmarks with the addresses of my Folksy and Coriandr shops on to give away at craft fairs. I've got my first one coming up at Otley Courthouse on Sunday morning. Fingers crossed for a busy morning!

Tuesday 23 June 2009

My lovely new brooch!

I would just like to say a big thank-you to Debbie (DinkyDaisy) for the lovely crochet flower brooch she sent me as a thank-you for the silk yarn I custom dyed for her. (See her blog about this here).

It arrived this morning just before I went to my Knitting Circle, so I wore it with pride!!

Debbie is selling some of her lovely brooches in her Folksy Shop DinkyDaisy.

Busy, busy, busy!

I knew that if I said I'd try to blog every day, events would conspire to prevent me from doing so. I've been so busy over the last couple of days!

I've mainly been preparing for my first Craft Fair at Otley Courthouse on Sunday 28th. Wool to re-skein (so it looks stripey rather than in blocks of colour), tags to print and laminate - they can then be used as bookmarks when the wool has been used, and stitchmarkers, earrings and cards to make.

I've also had to go into Leeds University to see my personal tutor and get an extension for my essays and dissertation because the 'fibro fog' (general forgetfulness and confusion) caused by my Fibromyalgia is making it impossible for me to write them at the moment.

Somehow I've managed to find time to dye some more silk - 'Rhubarb 'n' Custard' and 'Lemon 'n' Lime'




Both are now available in my Folksy shop

Better dash now, Knitting Circle at the Courthouse and we are being featured in the local paper. All good for business!!

Saturday 20 June 2009

Don't know where all my time has gone today! Mainly spent on tidying up I think. My dearest darling daughter (sixteen and full of attitude) is having a BBQ for some of her friends tonight and its chaos here.

Managed to grab five minutes to put some pictures of my yarns on here and a couple of the things I've knitted using them. Unforunately my current camera is not very good so I'm saving up for a new one!

First up is my lovely 2ply pure silk yarn. This is a picture of it in a colourway called Clematis.



Next is my banana yarn, made from pulped banana fibre and a wonderful vegan alternative to silk. It is handspun and has a varying thickness and twist. This one is called Denim.



My favourite yarn is probably Alpaca as it is so soft. This is a 4ply called Aqua which I am currently knitting into a jacket for my friend's baby which is due in August. (Pics to follow in a week or so)



Now for the knitting. I love knitting socks! This is a pair (my own pattern) in 2ply Bluefaced Leicester -Raspberry Crush.



Finally for tonight I have to put on a picture of my Official Wharfedale Woolworks Hat -Lambswool Aran in a colourway called Merlin. It would fit a baby around one year old and I intend to knit a pair of curled point slippers to match.



In future I hope to have pics of knitting works in progress on a regular basis.

Better get off now before daughter and friends get too silly!

Friday 19 June 2009

I've finally taken the plunge......

Hi, I'm Kirsty.

Some of you may know me from Folksy or Coriandr. I run a yarn dyeing business called Wharfedale Woolworks from my home in Otley, West Yorkshire. I started the business following health problems (fibromyalgia and depression) which are preventing me from carrying out my admin role in the civil service.

I'm also studying for a Masters degree in Religion and Public Life, haing completed my degree in Theology and religious Studies last year. I got a 1st !!!

I have two wonderful kids, a very supportive husband and two gorgeous fat rescue cats - they have been on a diet since they arrived with us but the weight just won't seem to budge :( Perhaps they need more exercise.... if I had more energy I'd chase them round ;)


They had never been outside until they came here so they have been having lots of fun exploring! Or mainly, as pictured here, lying around in the sun :)

My other main interests are Motorcycle racing, reading and all kinds of music. Current faves include Ladytron, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, White Lies and some French stuff - Calogero and Emilie Simon.

Hoping to blog every day, time permitting, so see you all soon!