Winter Solstice 2019

Welly Day??

 

 

Apparently it's 'Celebrating Wellies Day',who knew? I'm all in favour of it though so here's a picture of my Welly Wool and Boot Cuffs which traditionally help to prevent blisters,skinned ankles and chilblains.

New hat styles

Handwoven wool tweed beret with fairtrade hessian flower + ruffle scarf & vintage 'bling' brooch.

Felted wool beret with 'raggedy' woven bow ,handspun wool neckwarmer and handwoven wool bag also featuring raggy bow.

Handwoven wool cushions

I'm weaving wool to make cushion covers and filling them with washed carded fleece in a Bancroft Mill calico case. I've decorated them with either pompom flowers or raggedy bows.Wool is from the Silverdale conservation grazer flock.

new skein bands,new wool

Not a great photo but it shows the lovely new bands I've had printed which go beautifully with the wool spun with minimal processing. The new yarn is in the middle 'Cringlebarrow' is a marl DK spun from 2 crossbred Black Welsh/North Country Cheviot fleeces and 3 Bluefaced Leicesters. Very soft handle!

Wool Week

The Platform Gallery in Clitheroe have set up a lovely window display for Wool Week see their facebook page,it looks really FAB!

Wool Week 2019 Make a Difference .... Choose Wool

Here is the 2019 display of local wool at the lovely Silverdale Hotel on Shore Road in Silverdale. You can see the flock of sheep from Fishwick Farms from the hotel windows and admire a basket of their wool while enjoying a drink or a meal.
Its become a tradition that we occupy a window sill for the duration of Wool Week (7th - 21st October,yes I know its a long week),and I'm always made very welcome.Lovely spot with lovely views of Morecambe Bay (as well as the sheep)  and a cosy family run pub/restaurant /hotel with great atmosphere.
 The Platform Gallery in Clitheroe  is putting on a 'From Farm To Yarn' display of work made from our wool with pictures of the farmers and their flocks,me weaving and Griffiths Mill spinning.
I hope Wool Week goes well and lots of people will choose wool and make a difference.

'Pepperpot' Aran Wool

Lovely speckled grey wool from a 'one off' fleece and a Cheviot/Leicester fleece from the Silverdale Flock..Only 2 fleeces so not a lot of wool and I'd like to keep some for myself this time!
The Pepperpot is a well known landmark in the Arnside/Silverdale area.

Rovings

Here are some of the rovings I have from the conservation grazer sheep in Silverdale.Beautiful for handspinners! Jacobs,Black Welsh and Cheviot/Leicester also organic grown Lonk rovings from the flock in The Forest of Bowland. I don't get to do as much spinning as I used to so if anyone is interested let me know!

shabby chic shed

The shabby chic shed is to be made waterproof to store fleeces as the garage has been taken over by the woodworking and gardening group at the commune! It will be useful extra space and I'm always complaining I need more room! But I'm worried about the hedgehog family who reside under the shed

lap throws

Finished 110 pom-poms for lap throws,scarves! The spare one in the picture is to go on a bobble hat. I'm definitely having a break from pom-poms!

The first signs of Autumn!
I'm starting to prepare for Wool Week in October,I  like pompoms I really do but so far I've made 96 to edge handknit lap throws so I think I'll have a break and get on with another project!

Summer solstice

Greetings at Solstice!

Open Farm Sunday 2019

See where most of my fleeces come from! Its Open Farm Sunday with Fishwick Farms at Low Bankside,Cartmel LA11 7NR. on June 9th.I know it will be a great day! Loads to see and do,nice farm,nice animals,nice family,and I wish I could be there!

Heritage Wool Bags

2 bags handwoven from Herdwick and Lonk wool.These are British Heritage Breeds and both are Northern Hill Breeds which are my favourites! Buttons courtesy of The Lancashire Bodgers Group,Calico lining from Bancroft Mill Museum.

Bodgers Buttons!

I wanted some new wood slice buttons and discovered The Lancashire Bodgers Group who were really helpful,interested in what I do and so knowledgeable about wood. these are the first to arrive from 'Willy Acorn' beautiful Cherry and Holly will sit so well on the Herdwick/Lonk tweed bags and I'm hoping for more from all sorts of wood.Many thanks to The Lancashire Bodgers!

Yarns now shown on Real Good Yarns lovely website

More Wool ..... of course!

Here's the 2018 wool from the fleeces of the Conservation Grazer flock in Silverdale. 3 different weights of yarn from the same lovely crossbred Bluefaced Leicester/North Country Cheviot sheep, DK,Aran and Chunky.Soft,lustrous and bouncy but still looks like it really comes from sheep!

2018 Wool

Here's the first of last year's clip back from the mill and spun into lovely wool. Moorit Shetland DK and Black Welsh Lopi wool from the Fishwick Farms Flocks at Silverdale and Cartmel and spun beautifully at The Border Mill. Rovings from both available for spinners.
Soon to arrive Chunky,Aran and DK from the Silverdale conservation grazers and more Lonk from Whitewell.

Lovely Lancashire Lonks !

I'm promoting the wool from this handsome ancient regional breed! Lonks come from 'Lonkysher' and the breed developed from the ones that were kept by the monks at Sawley and Whalley Abbeys in medieval times.I have DK and Aran knitting wool and rovings and batts for handspinners.Its real wool from real sheep. Fleeces come from a high nature value organic farm in the Forest of Bowland and are millspun in the UK using minimal processing to impact as little as possible on the environment. Yarn samples available if you contact me.
Handwoven Ruana and felted hat made from Lonk wool

more hats

These felted wool hats together with one of the tote bags,a ruana ,throw and cushion are going to the Changing Crafts Exhibition  touring Lancashire and Yorkshire from mid January to March .