A Fibre Artist on a Big Scale. . .

If you are in Toronto over the next few weeks, it's definitely worth a visit to the Textile Museum of Canada, tucked away on a side street behind City Hall.  They are hosting an exhibition of fibre artist Sheila Hicks' work and it was quite incredible to see.  Here are just some of her creations - weaving, twisting and assembling fibre (mostly linen and wool), on quite a large scale to produce some eye-catching results.

And her work isn't just about vibrant colour. Here she shows just how textured fibre can be, even in its neutral, undyed state. The wraps form interesting textured shadows.

I love how she's blends her colours together.  It really is painting with fibre.

These two in particular were stunning!

She also has a playful side.  You can certainly make art out of a large stash!

A Weekend of Clarity. . .

I've had a wonderful weekend with lots of time to ponder my crafting life   It really started on Friday morning when I attempted to sort out some of my yarn stash. I'd bought these large plastic clothes bags from Lakeland which I thought would be perfect to store some of my sweater quantities of yarn and then I could use the rest for other single skeins (the package contained 10 bags).  I thought I maybe had about 4-6 sets of sweater quantity yarn. Eight at the most.

Ahem.  I was wrong.  Turns out when you really start digging through all the baskets, all the boxes, and all the project bags that contain yarn, you find all sorts of purchases you had forgotten about.  I had enough yarn for at least sixteen sweaters, not including various skeins in twos and threes that I could combine for colour work or stripes.  In short, I need to go back to Lakeland for more bags.

I am a bit horrified at how much yarn I have.  This has sobered me up which is a very good thing with Yarndale looming.  I really need to be much more restrained.  I need to keep all this lovely wool in my head against all the temptations of more lovely wool that I know I'll encounter at the show.  I am not good at self-control but this experiment has really opened my eyes and I'm actually looking forward to a challenge of restraint.  The good news is that I've planned specific projects for almost all of the wool, so it will just be a case of casting on and working my way though it all.  For the next decade or so. . .

Saturday, I went over to the Wirral with my friend Sue, and took a six hour workshop on eco-dyeing at The Wild Dyery.  Below, I think is the madder plant which you use to get a reddish colour.  I was all excited to buy some of these plants and grow them in my garden until I touched the leaves which feel a little tingly/spiky. You certainly don't want to stroke them.  And the colour comes from the roots and can take up to four years to cultivate.  In the workshop we used natural madder powder which you can just order online.

It was a very well organised and enjoyable day.  Justine showed us this beautiful sample that she made showing how the addition of extra material such as iron, copper and soda can subtly change the colours.

We then got to make our own little swatch books with these silk squares. And spent the morning learning various shibori techniques to play with patterns on square bits of cotton.  

After lunch we all got to play and dye our own silk scarf.  I just love how different and vibrant everyone's turned out (mine's the one on top - I later took it off the line and had one more dip in the indigo so those lines of squares are now blue like the scarf in the bottom left.  Yep, I totally stole her idea because it looked so good).

Sunday I went off to York for the day, pottered around the streets in the morning and then met up with a lovely group of knitters who call themselves the Northern Knitting Powerhouse and had come from a number of different cities to have lunch, a couple of drinks and some good conversation.  Now, it may seem daft to travel two hours for a knit and natter group, but I really, really enjoyed the afternoon.  They meet once every two months and though I follow and communicate with several of them through ravelry and social media, there's no substitute for just getting together in person, eating good food, having a laugh and doing a lot of knitting.  For various reasons, I haven't been able to go to a regular knit group in Liverpool and I've really missed it. Plus, I got a lot of knitting time on the train, tried some Earl Grey beer, had some excellent fish and chips for lunch and some tasty mini Yorkshire puds with gravy for the ride home, so all in all it was a very productive day.

And I had a good conversation at the knit group about spinning.  I have tried for several months now to improve my drop spindling.  It's not getting much better.  And even when I have spun something I'm happy with, I'm really hopeless at plying.  I was toying with the idea of investing in a spinning wheel, but honestly, do I really have the time to learn yet another craft?  No I do not. I have a lot of knitting to do.  I'm actually fairly good at knitting and that is my main enjoyment.  I need to dig out my loom again as I really loved weaving as well (and it will use up stash).   I had lots of fun at the eco-dyeing workshop and can see myself giving it a go at home but in a very small way.  I have a lot of fabric in my stash and learning to sew my own clothes would be far more useful than learning to properly spin.  So that was a great weight off my shoulders.  I will use my fibre for felting instead.  One of the women in my workshop described how you could add it to silk scarves as an embellishment and then felt it. Perfect.

And if it's a choice of getting on a train, travelling to another yarn festival (I've already been to six this year!) and buying more stash, or going to another knit group in York, I think for the time being (Yarndale being the exception - but I really will be a model of restraint!) the latter will win out - at least until I have about five more sweaters finished.

Preparing for Yarndale or Why I'll be Making a Beeline for the Blacker Booth. . .

Next week is Yarndale, one of my favourite woolly shows, and really the start of the proper autumn knitting season.  Last year, it was all about finding different single British breeds for the Knit British swatch-a-long, which is still ongoing.  And I was determined to get my hands on some of the limited supply of Cornish Tin, the 10th birthday blend from Blacker Yarns.

I did get three skeins of undyed Cornish Tin DK and knit the body of my Gwindra Shawl in it earlier this year.

The demand for this limited wool was so popular that Blacker are just about to release Cornish Tin II for their eleventh anniversary, and Sonia was kind enough to send me a sample along with some shade cards.  It is a glorious combination of all-British fibres: Alpaca, Portland, Saxon Merino, Gotland, Jacob, Shetland, Black Welsh Mountain, Mohair and English Merino.

I decided to crochet a little coaster as it always surprises me that more crochet designers don't use pure wool or natural fibres, apart from cotton; I regularly see glorious and very time-consuming blanket pattern kits and they often come with yarn that is 50% or more acrylic.  Which just turns me off.  Personally, if I'm going to spend months on a project, I want to use proper sheepy yarn which will keep me warmer and last longer.  Marie Wallin will be releasing a new Winter Crochet book at Yarndale and I believe she'll have some of the garments on display, which is another reason why I wanted to test out Tin II with my hook, which was a 3.75mm one.

From just feeling the ball of yarn, I could tell that it was much softer than its predecessor.   It was very smooth to crochet and my washed and blocked swatch has bloomed slightly and has a wee bit of a halo with a few stray black and white fibres sticking out. It is soft and cozy to the touch and I think it would have a decent stitch definition and look fantastic in a cabled sweater.  Seen side by side with the undyed Tin I (which, when washed and blocked got softer), I would say the only difference is a slightly more brownish tinge to Tin II, but it's barely noticeable.  Running my hands over both projects, I can't really tell the difference in terms of texture or softness.  Suffice it to say that fans of Tin I will be really happy with this newer version too.

Tin II will not only be available undyed of course. Have a look at these luscious colours!

At the moment, the Ding Dong Purple which is a deep plum, and the vibrancy of Wheal Kitty Orange are calling to me. Cornish Tin II comes in both 4ply and DK weights and will be available online on September 20th from both Blacker and online retailers such as BritYarn.  And of course they will have plenty of skeins (I hope) at their Yarndale booth.  It will be limited though, so get your hands on it early.

Blacker has also teamed up with The Knitting Goddess for their St. Kilda lace, a mix of Boreray and Soay wool, and she has dyed the most beautiful rainbow of colours.  These will also be making their debut at Yarndale and will be available at both the Blacker and Knitting Goddess booths.  There's a great interview with Joy at the Knit British podcast here, where she talks about the collaboration with Blacker and announces that there will be mini-skeins available of the St. Kilda lace too.  A bundle of those is definitely at the top of my want list. I'm very pleased to see that Blacker has also introduced a darker undyed colour which is also very beautiful.

I need to be quite restrained at Yarndale as my stash is really getting out of control, but it's hard when so many lovely vendors are showcasing new yarns and new colourways. I want to support them all. 

Another booth I'll need to visit is the Border Tart. I've bought some of her indigo dyed yarn previously but she's really been expanding her colour palette.  I was especially taken with these packages of Masham/BFL wool that she posted on Instagram.  All her colours not surprisingly,  go very well with indigo. 

And I always need to stop by Baa Ram Ewe. There are some new shades of Titus out and also their Dovestone range is now available in five undyed aran colours This is a mixture of BFL, Masham and Wensleydale and is very, very covetable. 

Daughter of a Shepherd will be there and I need to pick up a few more skeins of her gorgeous wool. She recently posted a teaser photo on IG that suggests she may have a few project bags woven out of that same wool.  Oh, so, so tempting.  I bet they will not last long.

I'd also like to pick up some natural coloured linen from Midwinter Yarns, or Namolio,  already thinking to next summer's knitting. I have various gradient colours in my stash and need some neutrals to balance them out.

And given my recent Scottish holiday on the north west coast, I will need to visit Ripples Crafts and revel in all the beautiful hand-dyed yarn, inspired by the colours of the Assynt that I fell in love with too. 

I live in constant danger of coming home with a spinning wheel too. 

But mostly Yarndale is all about the train ride up to Skipton with coffee, knitting and friends, walking along the beautiful canal, bumping into people I know from ravelry and IG and putting faces to names and knitwear, getting inspired by the creativity of awesome vendors and just soaking in a wonderful atmosphere.  Can't wait. 

Bring on Autumn. . .

September has arrived as a sunny, summery day but I'm actually looking forward to crisper, cooler weather which I hope will spur me on to finish a number of knitting projects that will be perfect for a fall wardrobe.  I'm eyeing all the warm, rich, reds and oranges and yellows in my stash and wanting to cast on a dozen things.

First off, I'm fairly close to finishing my Miette cardigan, which is a free pattern designed by Andi Satterlund who does the sweetest cropped sweaters. I've got another sleeve to knit and then the button and neck bands.  I've been playing yarn chicken with this project, but think now I will be fine and this will be such a useful piece to throw over a dress.  I think I may even have the perfect buttons for it, but will have to fudge the number of button holes.  The yarn is two different weights of Cascade Eco and Cascade 220 Heathers, in approximately the same colour.  The ribbing and bands will be in the lighter weight which hopefully won't be too noticeable or jarring.

I haven't stopped knitting haps though.  Nearly finished my Noro Nut-hap, designed by Jen Arnall-Cuilliford.  I'm on to the tucks which I'm doing in some Madeline Tosh laceweight from other projects. The sheen on the yarn is a nice contrast to the silk/wool texture of the Noro which I used for the main ribbing.  I've goofed and done the tucks in the wrong direction, but as long as I'm consistent, it should work out fine. The colours are definitely wintry even though I was aiming for a lighter, summer scarf.  But this will really spice up a plain black or grey outfit so I can't wait for it to be finished.

And since I always need a hap on the needles, over in the Jen Arnall-Culliford ravelry group, a new Picture This KAL has begun - you can knit anything that is inspired by a photo.  I really want to capture the hills that I love to walk in, with all their heathery glory, particularly at this time of year, so this is my inspiration photo.

And with a little bit of stash diving, I've come up with these skeins to knit up a Montbretia designed by Carol Feller.  

Heather was also on my mind when I dug out a bag of Noro Kochoran bulky that I bought when it was being discontinued.  I had ten skeins and each one has been used to crochet a lovely big granny square. This will make a lovely blanket for the sofa.

And I'll be adding a cushion to go with it.  Back at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, I purchased the pattern for Janie Crow's amazing Persian Tiles blanket.  I still intend to make the full blanket some day, but was curious to see if I could make it.  So just using some scrap bits of wool, I spent a morning crocheting one of the main motifs.  I really love how it turned out and it's just the perfect size for a pillow. The instructions are very clear and it's simply a case of just doing one round at a time, although there are a million ends to weave in (that's a project for another day).

I don't want to look at another pastel colour until maybe March - time for wool and warmth.  And to that end, even though Yarndale is less than a month away (yay!), I couldn't resist ordering some of Ripples Craft's gorgeous skeins, inspired in part by the Assynt coast that she lives near.

If these beauties don't say autumn, I don't know what does.

Spinning: The First Draft. . .

To be honest, drop spindling is proving to be a lot harder than I thought. I think it's one of those skills that some people immediately get the knack of, and others struggle.  I'm definitely in the latter camp, but then I remember when I first learned to crochet and how awkward it was to learn to hold the hook correctly.  Now I don't give it another thought. So there is hope.

I keep practicing but am still getting a much thicker yarn than I'd ideally like.  It is slowly, slowly getting thinner, but I'm still having problems with tension, too much or too little twist in the yarn and my fibre joins aren't always very smooth.  But I'm determined to crack this skill, because I love the idea of being able to take fibre and mix it with other colours to create a unique yarn to knit with.

I recently managed to spin a thick and thin ball of Jacob fibre.   I've probably gone from super bulky with my first attempts, to chunky.  A DK or 4ply is what I'm aiming for.  I'm trying not to think about the woman I met at the Wharfe Wool Fair who was spinning laceweight after only two months.

I then spun a similar weight of some of my yellow dyed Shetland mixed with some other grey Shetland fibre I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival.

Then I plied the two together  (oh, dear, this doesn't look pretty at all).

And got roughly a ball weighing just over 100g.

I was then at least able to knit up a square of about 8.5 inches with a 7.5mm needle.  I thought it might make a useful trivet. I do like how it looks in stockinette but I probably used too small a needle; it was hard on my hands pulling that wool through, especially the thicker bits. 

So I then ripped it out and made a big granny square.  I like the look in crochet - it's thick and substantial and feels lovely to walk on. A number of these would make a lovely rug. 

Over on Erica Eckles' blog, is a wonderful post about all the essentials you need for quilting and among other ideas, she had me thinking about using wool roving as quilt batting.  So if this spinning thing doesn't work out, I at least know what to do with my extra fleece. At the next wool show I attend, I'll be on the lookout for a hand carder, I think.  And a lot more advice from experienced spinners.

Until then, I'm still spinning a little each day.  Trying some Zwartbles fleece now; I love its deep, dark brown shades, and any small bits of colour I add to it really pop against it.

Edinburgh Yarn Festival Recap Part 2: Skeins With A Story. . .

One of the great things about going to a yarn festival like Edinburgh is being able to talk to so many indie vendors about the yarn they spin or dye or knit or crochet or weave with.  There are just some incredible British yarns out there produced by people who are passionate about promoting the British wool industry.  I definitely went a little over budget with my purchases but I love a skein with a story, not to mention how gorgeous and top quality these yarns are.  I'm going to need to find some very special projects for these beauties.  All these are available online (or will be soon) so if you weren't able to attend EYF but want to knit with British wool, here are some suggestions:

Daughter of A Shepherd:

I've been following the story of this yarn ever since Rachel Atkinson wrote this blog post that touched a lot of people when it went viral.  Her father had sent 300 Hebridean fleeces to the British Wool Board and received a cheque for only 94p in return.  Rachel decided that she could do much better and decided to research the process of turning those 300 fleeces into skeins of yarn.  The result was launched in Edinburgh and it was the first booth I headed to when the marketplace opened.

My photo doesn't do the colour justice - it's a rich, dark chocolatey brown with black, grey and even reddish brown fibres sticking out of it.  It's really soft and has the most glorious and intense sheepy smell.  I can't wait to see how it knits up.  We were allowed to buy only two skeins each, but they will be available online soon.  Click on this link to see better photos and sign up for her newsletter that will let you know when the yarn is available. 

The Knitting Goddess:  Wensleydale/Shetland Blend:

How absolutely gorgeous is this yarn?  The Knitting Goddess is well known for her sock yarn, but I'm thrilled that she's dyed a non-superwash, pure British wool, which also had its debut at EYF.  This is 85% Wensleydale and 15% Shetland and is a 4ply weight.  The colours just glow, thanks to the lustre of the Wensleydale.  It's not as soft as Blacker's new yarn, Tamar, but the crispness will be wonderful for stitch definition.  Brityarn also stocks it. 

Speaking of Tamar:

I've blogged previously about this beautiful yarn here, but it was so nice to look at the full palette of colours in the Blacker booth and to see lots of Tamar skeins going home with knitters. 

Ysolda Teague also came with a new yarn - Blend No. 1.   I had read about it on her blog (she had wanted to create a soft "cool undyed grey" ) but I didn't know she also had some skeins dyed in greens and blues. That green really pops so it had to come home with the grey.  It's a mixture of Merino, Polwarth and Zwartbles.

I never go to a yarn show without stopping at the John Arbon booth (and thankfully they seem to be at every show!)  In some ways they are the heroes of British wool.  They spun both Daughter of a Shepherd and Ysolda's Blend No. 1,  in addition to providing lots of yummy skeins of their own.  I seem to be drawn quite heavily to grey these days and they had a limited edition Devon Grey Wensleydale 4ply that was so luscious I had to buy three skeins.  I also bought some Exmoor Zwartbles DK weight.  Mmmm, dark grey with light grey and green.  That's a good combo.

Speaking of grey, The Little Grey Sheep was also at EYF.  This yarn comes from their own flock of sheep in Hampshire, is scoured in Yorkshire, spun in Devon and then dyed back at the farm.  I'm in love with their Gotland lace and was so excited to see mini-skeins in that weight too.  I'm already thinking a striped Featherweight cardigan needs to be cast on with this.

I have to admit I was a bit starstruck meeting Kate Davies at EYF.  She is my number one knitting heroine, not only for her wonderful designs and blog, but for creating her own beautiful Scottish yarn Buachaille.  Her launch of it last year with the Seven Skeins club was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had with knitting.  And as with all of her patterns, there was so much thought put into the development of the yarn which she wrote about here and here and here.   The hard work and the skills involved by so many people to produce the yarn that is flowing through my fingers as I knit makes me feel very proud on their behalf and makes me cherish the yarn even more.  I love the new golden Furze colourway and can't wait to see all the upcoming designs that will use this yarn.

Finally, I bought some very special wool that is the last of its kind.  Jane from Orkney Wool has decided to retire and stop dyeing the Texel wool she gets from a local farmer.  The remainder of her stock is being sold by Kathy's Knits in Edinburgh where I got these balls; she still had quite a few left as of Sunday but I don't think they'll last long.   I love this mustard colour as it will be the perfect matched for some of the many grey skeins I've bought in a striped or colourwork jumper.  I just need to find the perfect pattern.

I'd say that if the Edinburgh Yarn Festival accomplished anything (and it accomplished TONS!), it definitely showcased the very best of British wool and the amazing people behind it all.  And this is just a tiny portion of what was available in the marketplace.  I feel so incredibly spoiled for choice living in the UK; truly, these are some of the best yarns in the world!

Tamar and Gwindra: New from Blacker Yarns. . .

Take a moment just to look at the COLOUR of the above swatch.

It has such depth.

It almost glows as if it had silk in it.

But this swatch is actually knitted out of 100% British wool.  This is Tamar, the new blend from Blacker Yarns.  Now I've been a huge fan of this company for several years.  I have always admired their dedication to promoting British breeds and supporting small farm producers and their yarns are gorgeous; I've always enjoyed knitting with them.  So when the call came out on Ravelry for volunteers to review Tamar, I jumped and emailed them right away.   Sonja sent me a small complimentary skein of the 4ply, (Tamar also comes in a DK weight), in the colourway Kensey.  All opinions on this yarn are of course my own.

I have been using some Blacker breed specific yarns in my British breeds swatch-a-long and I've already swatched with two lustre breeds - Cotswold and Black Leicester Longwool.  So part of the appeal of Tamar was not only that those two breeds were part of this blend, but it also included Wensleydale and Teeswater (both waiting to be swatched in my British breeds stash).  I have at least hand squished all four of these breeds and they are soft and silky and luscious and putting them all together in one blend along with 30% Cornish Mule to give it strength and bounce, is simply ingenious.

I loved knitting with this yarn.  It flows through the fingers but is very soft.  There is a slight halo to the yarn which remains even after washing and blocking, but as you can see from the photo, this doesn't detract from the stitch definition.  A comparable yarn in terms of the feel and halo, would be Titus from Baa Ram Ewe, which also contains mostly Wensleydale, but adds some alpaca to it.  There is no getting away from the Tamar glow though, and that is what makes this an exceptionally beautiful yarn.   I knit the above swatch in the recommended 4mm needles which I think is the perfect size for garter stitch giving the rows enough spring and stretch. If I were doing a garment in mostly stockinette, I'd go down to 3.75mm or even 3.5mm to create a firmer fabric, but that's just personal preference.

Close up, you can see that Tamar would work fine for lace ( I could have blocked it a little more aggressively) and for textured stitches, while they may not pop as strongly as with other yarns with shorter fibres, the cables are definitely pronounced enough.

I wore the swatch next to my bare skin for an hour and barely noticed it was there.  This would be a really suitable yarn for almost any type of project, but especially one where that extra coziness is called for - hats, mittens, cowls, shawls and socks. I definitely want to knit a sweater in this yarn, possibly one with colourwork.

The Tamar palette is one of the things I most love about this yarn. There are 17 shades in all, available for both the 4ply and the DK weight, including two natural shades -  Gwindra, which is a silvery grey, and Ottery which I'd still call a light grey, just a shade or two up in intensity from Gwindra.

I took the above photo of the shade card outdoors and it's pretty close in colour to the actual card I have in my hand.  I'm absolutely crazy about this muted, heathery palette and how well each shade fits, not only against the natural colours, but against the shades within their own colour family.  Look at the four blues, for example. And the three (count them!)  gorgeous purples.  I especially like Valency, which is pale mauve-lavender mix that in certain lights can look more purply, or more grey. It could serve either as a very versatile neutral colour,  or part of a gradient of colours going from the purples right into the greys.  Blacker then throws in a shade like Tiddy Brook - that bright pop of yellow on the right hand side.  Put that next to the aqua blue of Tresillian or the dusty rose of Kensey and suddenly you have a really vibrant and fun combination of colours.

Blacker Yarns will be launching Tamar on March 3rd and it will then be available on their website here.  They'll also be bringing it to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival which I think will be the hit of the show.  I know I'll certainly be buying a few skeins.   Brityarn will also be stocking it.  It's amazing to think that as beautiful as this yarn is, the sheep breeds involved - Teeswater, Wensleydale, Cotswold and Black Leicester Longwool - are all listed as either "at risk" or "vulnerable" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.  So kudos to Blacker for supporting the farmers who are trying to keep these breeds alive and relevant, and showcasing the sheep's qualities by creating this beautiful yarn.

Blacker will be creating patterns for Tamar and I also volunteered to test knit the Gwindra Shawl, designed by Sonja Bargielowska.  The Tamar swatch I knit above uses the cable and lace stitch pattern that is found on the edging of the shawl.  For the test knit however, I decided instead to use some other Blacker yarns from my stash.  The main body is knitted in Cornish Tin, their limited edition tenth anniversary yarn.  I snapped up three skeins at Yarndale last year and it was perfect for this shawl.  It's knitted on 5.5mm needles with lots of texture formed by the garter ridges.  I added some Polwarth and Ryeland on the last three pattern repeats to inject some bold stripes and I love how the natural shades play off each other.

The deep lace and cable edging was a lot of fun to knit and really anchors this shawl nicely.  It's big and cozy, whether wrapped around my whole body or just the neck and shoulders.

The pattern is free and can be found here.

Thanks to Sonja and Blacker Yarns for allowing me this sneak preview.