Autumn Giveaway

Organic Merino Aran

Goodness the summer has vanished - and it feels like it too from the drop in temperature and amount of rain that is falling (well here in Northern France at least!).

a closer view - isn't it soft and squidgy looking?

We started the giveaway in June with the Summer Organic Cotton Boucle (colour still to be chosen - Sarah!). For the Autumn we though we'd offer something warm and comforting! Our choice this time is 3 x 100g hanks of Organic Merino Aran weight yarn. The Merino is not a British yarn, but is pure Merino and beautifully soft and warm. Organically certified and processed the dyer still refuses to go through the hoops!!! We are offereing 300g of the yarn which should be plenty for a hat and scarf to keep the Autumn winds at bay - try looking at Woolly Wormhead's site for some fab hat patterns, I have a scarf pattern that I will include with the yarn! The recommended needle size for the yarn is 4mm and the approximate hank length is 150m.

We have decided that as not everyone wants to join facebook we will also include followers of this blog, if you do NOT wish to be included in the draw please drop me an email and I will miss your name out!

Hope you like our choice of colour - it is Logwood and Lac, the yarn is handpainted and there is our usual guarrantee that if you find any problem with the dye in terms of rub off whilst knitting up then you are entitled to a replacement yarn.

Good luck to all!

Home Sweet Home!

We got back home at 9.30 on Tuesday morning - we set off at 9am on Monday morning from Lanark in Scotland.

The day was very loooooooooooong! We included a trip to New Lanark Mill to buy some wool (which I will be dyeing in the near future!) The place is fascinating and they had mules for spinning the wool, they even knew what the difference was with Asa Lees's mule (something important to me as my Grandfather used to lecture on the subject of Asa Lees's Mule!!!) Then a stop to see my sons' near Haydock Park, then called on John's Dad who's just back from hospital, then down to the port. The ferry was at 5am so we had to check in at 4am then sit on the ferry and hve a snooze, add an hour for the fact we are now in France drive for 1 and a half hours and here we are at home!!! It has taken me 2 days to catch up on my sleep and clean up the house a bit - as we are away so much over the summer it is impossible to keep on top of everything! (That's my usual excuse!!)

You didn't really need to know all that - but I will write a proper post later, I have lots of things to tell!

Alpaca Sock yarn

Today has been quite efficient - well for me! I mastered getting my flickr account linked to my Ravelry profile, which seemed quite a challenge at the time, but ended up being quite simple (one day I guess it will all seem less frightening!)

I also managed to get some alpaca sock yarn hanked up ready for the Knit Camp next week - still lots to do, but I thought I'd let you have a preview of the colours now!
The names of the yarns will as usual be the dyes that have coloured them and I can assure you that any that include indigo will have no rub off, I offer an immediate exchange if there is any problem with yarns that have been dyed with indigo and leave blue on your hands when knitting (or crocheting or..) and of course if you want to pre-order............!
I have an exclusive pattern for this yarn designed by Cecilia Hewett who is a member of the Woolclip and also one of the organisers of Woolfest, the pattern is fab and I'm told it's quite simple to do (no I haven't tried it yet, I have a thing about knitting!)

What I can tell you is that it is lovely to crochet with - I have dseigned a cover for my iPhone, very simple, but works a treat! The back has a pouch to hold the cable or earphones and the phone fits snugly inside! The yarn is so soft and non scratchy it even cleans the face of the phone getting it in and out!

Embroidery Silks

A couple of years ago I had a commission from the National Museum of Wales to dye embroidery silks suitable for reproducing an altar frontal. After much sampling and deliberation we came to the conclusion that our 3 ply filament silk in single ply would be ideal.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the altar frontal, but at the International Medieval Congress a friend and fellow trader brought the purse she had embroidered to show me! Tanya's work is stunning as you can see, the pictures show the 2 sides of the purse.

Tanya is a storyteller and textile worker, her table braid is famous in re enactment circles and she has started producing complete cushion kits to embroider for the "modern" world!