Crochet scarf

Many years ago I crocheted a scarf out of our naturally dyed linen. I wanted to show how lovely it is when worked, well I want to do the same for all our yarns but I'm not a designer, it therefore takes ages for me to produce items. I crochet cos I can do that without thinking but I rarely write anything down - I don't know how!! Certainly don't know how to make it a legible pattern! Many people have asked for a pattern but I just tell them what I did and let them go and play...

The scarf has always been on display with the linens at all the events we go to however the last time it was seen is Yarndale last September - we have not seen it since and don't appear to have put it in a strange place, I've looked everywhere!

So my Christmas project is to re do said scarf! The colour will obviously be different and I guess the pattern will differ as I have no reference to go back to, but I am going to write it all down! I think a chart may be the way forward so I'll get to work in excel!!

Here's the scarf so far-

Catching Up!

Goodness I've not done very well this year at writing this blog. My apologies, I shall try to do better!

As so much has happened through the year I thought I'd start with a bit of a retrospective, so the first few blog posts will be "things wot we have done this year"

In March we went to the Historical Markets in Piacenza Italy and then the following weekend Orange in the Vaucluse. This gave us an opportunity to have a few days break and investigate the area around Avignon.

One of the rivers flowing through this area is called the Sorgue and many of the towns and villages along the river have waterwheels - which historically used to run factories. We went into various villages and Tourist Information Offices to ask about the water wheels, no one seemed to know what these factories did! As luck would have it the last village we tried the lady in the TI said - oh they used to grind garance here so that's what the water wheel was doing!

(picture is the source of the river at Fontaine de Vaucluse)

I'm sure you could imagine how our ears pricked up at this - Garance is the French name for Madder.

 According to Dominique Cardon "Provence one of the main regions of production, 50 water mills along the small river flowing from the Fontaine de Vaucluse were turning day and night for 8 months of the year, grinding 40 million kilos of roots brought from all over France and Italy and producing 33 million kilos of powdered madder"

 

As we stood on the bridge photographing the water wheel someone came out through a french window in the mill on the opposite bank. (We later discovered that the water wheel has been moved and was actually once the working wheel to this mill) "Here duckie, duckies" was definitely not French!! We obviously started a conversation and got to learn a little more about the mill and then were told that as the plaster was being pulled off the walls inside (it was being converted into a lovely home for the couple who had recently purchased it) madder powder was falling out from the gaps left.........oh my!!! We spent a very happy time talking to the couple and admiring the mill and all the work they were doing there and I'm pleased to say came away with a little pot of madder to play with!

At Summer School in August I gave some to my students to sample - the result I think you will agree is a beautiful colour

. For a powder that has been sealed up in a wall for over 100 years I think it deserves to be admired!

A treat from Pontoise

This weekend has been the Marche Medieval in Pontoise an event we have been doing for quite a few years now. I'd like to thank Christophe and his team from Histoire Vivante for all their hard work organising such a successful event.

On the Saturday a young lady called Marie-Alix came to the stall with some hanks of wool in her hand which were clearly not ours. She said that she wanted to show me her spinning as I had sold her a spindle and given her a lesson and so inspired her that she had gone away and started practising. She is now a very proficient spinner and has started playing with natural dyes too. She had come to the stall specifically to thank me and tell me how much I had inspired her. She gave me one of the hanks of wool as a present - dyed with blackberries.

It's lovely, thank YOU Marie-Alix for both coming to see us and for the wool. I have been walking on air since you came!

I have started to crochet with the wool - it really needs to be made into something special, come back next time and I'll show YOU what you have inspired ME to do!