Loads going on.........

The local craft fair in Sudbury last week didn't have me run off my feet or sold out of goodies - but not surprising in the current economic climate - but it was good fun and I did teach Dawn to knit - hence the photo!

I've been really busy with seasonal knitting (we don't mention the C word in our house until December!) and have discovered the delights of www.etsy.com. Don't know what I'm talking about? Go have a look - it's a treasure trove for those of us who love handmade goods. Exceptionally easy to use and a wealth of fantastic products. Check out etsy.com



And ....... I've finally gone and done it - got myself a spinning wheel. Isn't it wonderful? And what's more, it's got a lovely provenance - which goes something like this. The wheel was made in Ipswich (unfortunately, a cursory look on the net gives no information about wheel manufacturers) sometime in the 70's and was then rescued from a local dump by a member of the Framlingham Spinners - since then it has been used as a "teaching" wheel and now has found its way to me. Isn't that a great story? If anyone can fill in any of the missing details I'd love to know. It runs smoothly and now, having had all of two lessons, I'm feeling very confident and excited about using it - you never know I might even be able to post some home spun here soon.

Autumn return

I have just read a post from WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise)
which says don't apologise for not updating your blog - however, three months is a bit long - so I'm sorry I haven't blogged as conscientiously as I intended post holiday, but to be honest, I don't know where the time has gone! Now my youngest has started school and I have got over the feeling of losing my left arm - I promise to try and do better!

The Knit and Stitch Show at AllyPally was such fun this year - if you didn't make it you must go in 2009! The picture above is me (on the left) and Jackie on the Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Stall. We were kept pretty busy all day with questions and enquiries and Jackie had great fun trying to teach me to spin - I just about managed the treadle bit but it went pear shaped after that! I did get a chance to have a wander, get lots of ideas and of course, spend too much money. I was really inspired by the beading exhibition - something I've not been that bothered about before - it was breathtaking. Now what can I incorporate that into I wonder?? I have some wonderful single ply silk to play with - any suggestions??

Up and running ........ and now gone

Where does the time go? Now, having finally got yarnsmith.co.uk back on the internet we are closing for a couple of weeks whilst sunning ourselves (hopefully) in Spain. That's if we ever get there - still so much to do. Have remembered to leave copious intructions for the house sitter re: dog/cat and fish. Have also remembered to print off tickets and checked passports, suggesed kids get their own stuff together but not making much progress at the moment...... guess it will all come together!

Have spent the last couple of weeks contemplating which project to take with me - finally settled on a couple balls of Louisa Harding Quattro (mohair-ish) and some cirular needles to see if I can put together a "Victorian lace" inspired kit for the shop - watch this space!!

Up and running again......

After a week off line, yarnsmith.co.uk is up and running again and appears to be non-the worse for idling in cyber-space for 7 days. Many thanks to all those who left messages of sympathy and support both on the blog and on the answer machine.

One positive amidst all the hassle is that I've finished the lace! Once I'd got my head around knitting on the border it was actually quite easy (I had of course chosen a pattern that only has a border on two sides, so didn't have to do anything technical round corners!) but I really enjoyed this project and am fired up for the next one.

Just have the simple task of "blocking" to size and am still debating the best method - certainly don't fancy plunging mohair in to water and hoping for the best. The current plan is to cover our bed with an appropriate sized towel, laying out the shawl and spritzing with warm water before easing into shape - may even leave out the pinning! Has anybody got any other ideas?

(Photos will follow once the lace is looking its very best!)

A great way to spend a couple of hours.....

Following a wretched week - website still down, (don't talk to me about techies!), a bit of a health scare (however, the NHS are wonderful in a crisis) and grotty weather (the dog needs more walks and the grass needs more cutting) - I pulled myself together and joined the Ladies (and one Gent) of the Guild for a basic workshop on fleece choosing and preparation.

To be honest, I'm nowhere near confident enough to tackle a whole fleece, but just to sit for a couple of hours joining people, card, spin, knit and weave is a very therapeutic experience - thanks be for the Guild of Mid-Essex Spinners Weavers and Dyers!

New technology strikes again!

If any one has been trying to get on to the Yarnsmith.co.uk website, sincere apologies, but it would appear we have a gremlin in the system. I have spent all day trying to convince the webhost that there is a technical problem and have learnt alot of new phrases in to the bargain.

The last conversation went something like;
Me: Just ringing to see if there's an update on the problem I logged this morning.
Tech Guy: The engineer says he's "pinged" the website and there's no problem.
Me: That's interesting, this morning the engineer said you didn't host this website, so presumably he's changed his mind.
Tech Guy: Would appear so. Anyway, there's no problem.
Me: Could you try and get on to the site please?
Tech Guy (bored!): Ok. (pause) Oh, I can't get on. It says no website address.
Me: That would be a bit of a problem then. Could you get the engineer to stop "pinging" around and fix it.................

..............................................you get the general idea?

So, as I say, sincere apologies if you've been trying to get to Yarnsmith. Watch this space.......

Play Day!

Ok, whilst I remember, the lace work patterns have come from Jane Sowerby's fantastic "Victorian Lace Today" book (published by XRXbooks). I have to be honest, I have practically read this book from cover to cover - the historical stuff is interesting and the pictures are stunning. It's quite fun as some of them, Cambridge and Lavenham, are local to us.

I've always thought that lace work would be far too complicated for me - I have chunky fingers and therefore have always thought I'd be better at nothing less than 4 ply, not the case however. I decided to mix and match some of the patterns from the book and see what happened. The border is taken from the striped border scarf from Weldon's pattern (page 80) and the centre pattern is the centre diamond panel from the large rectangular pattern on page 20. I have doubled the number of stitches on the border however to make a wider stole (85sts). Still haven't decided on the side borders yet! This yarn is not one I would normally have chosen but happened to have in store - Kiddy Print by Laines Du Nord - colours look nothing on the ball, but I'm really pleased with the results so far.

Have had a real "play day" to day - should really have been doing the paper work, (then the washing, hoovering and ironing) but the call of a new project was too much to resist. Never done any dyeing before so this was exciting. My colleagues at the spinners, weavers and dyers would probably disapprove of the use of Kool-Aid, (so apologies to them) but I wanted to get to grips with the process and just see how easy it was to achieve basic results. I'm quite pleased - colours are a bit garish (see above) but will make something great for the kids! Note to self - if you do this again, remember to wear the suggested gloves to avoid self-henna hands!