Yet another glorious day!

I really can't believe the week we've had.

This is one of the wettest areas in Scotland after all!

Today I have suri Alpaca out drying in those

lovely sunny rays

Along with some fluffy locks

These are rather lovely Masham locks

that I am slowly separating after dying.

Can't say its too much of a pain with the

weather like this!

Blowing in the wind...what a day!

Another glorious sunny day in Largs

so it had to be a dying day.

Nothing better than some lovely dyed silk hanging

on your washing line......

tomorrow it better be washing!

New toy and some history!

Many of you know that I studied textile design

at Glasgow school of Art.

While at G.S.A I was lucky enough to 

spend a stint at Huddersfield

working on their flat bed felting machines,

which stood me in great stead for on graduation

going to work at Tait and Style.

Tait and Style allowed me some amazing experience

and I am very gratetful to Ingrid Tait for that.

Ingrid seems to mostly work in Knitwear now....we all change and adapt.

While with them I worked with fashion designers

such as Paul Smith and Marite and Francois Girbaud.

So working with them was really my background for 

creating fabrics using a flat bed felting machine.

20+ years on

My new Toy......wow!

The Simplicity Delux Felting machine

bought from Create and Craft on a

half price deal.

Its like a tiny version of that flat bed felting machine

I worked on many moons ago....

I used one of my standard needle felting packs

from my ebay shop

And had a good old play!

It really was fun!

These were done in about 20 mins.

I love the idea of creating

my own tartans!

And this was what was left after making these bits from my pack!

Lots more to play with!

Such fun......

A good days work....separating those lovely mohair locks

Once I have dyed a batch of lovely fluffy stuff

in this case Somerset Mohair

I like to separate out the individual locks.

This lot took approx 4hrs with a break for the Mentalist.

I am a bit of a CSI/Mentalist/Borgen etc fan!

Individual locks are fabulous to use in felt making,

hoping to have a play this afternoon with my new toy

so I may have something to share tomorrow.

Locks are still drying and there is some lovely fluffy 

mohair left into the bargain.

Good job done!

Where is the sun hiding?

Today the sun is in hiding, so I have

had to resort to drying inside once again

as its soooooooo cold!

Some lovely Somerset Mohair

that I have been dying today -

just gorgeous fluff!

I do like the vintagey colours

but also had to have some 

real blue and a soft 

turquoise, lilac mix.

Then I need more yarns for my packs.

I love dying yarn!

Especially lovely thick and thin yarn....

Also some gorgeous mohair loop!

And yes Shirley the clean up afterwards is a task and a half.

Especially as we only have a small galley style kitchen to work in

it's a squash and a squeeze.....but at least it makes me clear up quickly afterwards!

Sari ribbon drying in the sun...

Such a lovely sunny day in Largs

I managing to get my dying outside

to dry...a rare treat!

Some new colours of Sari ribbon

and some lovely over dyed  Gotland.

Gotland is a lovely curly wool 

that varies from a silver grey to black....

perfect for a touch of colour!

Just soooooo excited!

I am Just so excited!

To find out last night that I have been accepted

to exhibit at this years

Woolfest

in cumbria.

So if its near at hand

I'd love to see you there!

You won't be disappointed if you love all things textiles

its amazing!

Didn't sleep much last night planning our stand 

and this year they are having a 

Woolycultural show

how fun!

Some more photo's as promised!

A lot of the animals were enjoying a wee sleep

in the sun.

The kids had such a great time

As did the adults!

Edinburgh Zoo ....we're just visiting!

We had an absolutely fabulous day at

Edinburgh Zoo today.

It was cold but very sunny - just perfect!

Our first chance to meet the amazing pandas.

Back with more photo's tomorrow.

Dying yarns and fabrics

This week I have been dying some yarn mixes

that are 100% wool so ideal for felt makers.

A lot of my lovely natural yarns come from Ashford fibres.

Also some lovely silk fabrics

the silk voil above is ideal for nuno felting

and silk dupion and raw silk which is great for

creative embroidery

Oh so pretty brooches

Thought I'd share these lovely flower brooches today.

Made using a combination of hand spun yarn and hand dyed

yarns (silk, mohair, merino and cotton)

Little flowers knitted by Vicky

and constructed by me.

Lovely Locks

Had a lovely day dying locks....

wow what wonderful long locks this Wensleydale sheep had.

They took some cleaning but definitely worth it.

Yes Jack they are indeed your lovely Wensleydale locks!

Jack's fibre can be found on etsy and ebay