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.

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.

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!

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

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!

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!!