Busy Dyeing Days...

Don't know if it's just the good weather but I've had so much more energy than usual for the last couple of days. I've made the most of it by getting on with some dyeing - after all I've had 22kg of mixed yarns delivered over the last week and will be receiving another 8kg (hopefully) in another couple of weeks. Above is a picture of some Banana Yarn and some BFL Aran hanging to dry. This means I will be having Folksy and Coriandr shop updates tomorrow evening :)

Other news: My page at Hand Dyed Haven went live today - BFL Aran sets with co-ordinating trims are available there now!

I'm back!!!

Hi everyone, you may have noticed that I haven't blogged for quite some time. This has been largely due to the fact that my laptop went bang in a big way last summer and I've had to share the PC with the kids ever since. Now, thanks to Mr. Woolworks, I have my own (second hand but still quite shiny) laptop again!

So, now to fill you in on a few things that have happened since my last post...

I am now on a further extended career break from the civil service, so if I don't sell anything I can't pay my bills - but I'm soooo much happier knowing I don't have to go back there. My Fibromyalgia is less of a problem now that I'm not chained to a desk every day and my depression is easing too :)

I've decided to put my MA on hold for a while until I'm well enough to concentrate on it again.

My daughter has dropped out of sixth form and got a job at a local nursery. She's always been really good with kids and it seems to be suiting her.

I'm going to be an Aunty again in May which is a good excuse for lots of knitting lol :D

A little while ago I reached 100 sales in my Folksy shop - and now I'm at 145!!!
By way of a celebration I'll be having a little competition to win a custom dye - or if you don't knit yourself then you could have a gift voucher to give to someone who does :) Watch this space for further info.

I've introduced some new yarns including this lovely Pima Cotton and Alpaca blend Laceweight:



And started to sell wool longies and soakers like these knitted using the Sheepy Time Knits pattern (for which I hold a cottage industry licence):



And now to the future....

I will be adding some patterns to my shop shortly

I will have banana yarn back in stock next week

I will be starting a regular Folksy picks post this Friday.

I will leave you for now with a photo of my fantastic new hat, knitted in my Superwash British Merino Aran - Parakeet colourway. The pattern is Marina by Woolly Wormhead. And yes, it's supposed to be really bright so Mr. Woolworks can find me in the crown at the bike racing!

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 :)

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.

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!