Woolly Wednesday

So, the blog's been a little quiet of late... well I'm hoping to remedy that with a little roundup post about the Knitting & Stitching Show!

Last month I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever Edinburgh edition of the Knitting & Stitching Show. I've attended the Harrogate show a few times and enjoyed it, so I was intrigued when I saw the announcement that there was to be a Scottish one. Needless to say, this needed to be investigated!

The show was held at the Royal Highland Centre within the Highland Hall and I attended on the Sunday (the last day, but the show started on Thursday of the same week). My friends and I got wind of a free shuttle bus, which we took full advantage of.

One of my favourite parts of the show was the "knitted feast" - a competition for which creative folks submitted all manner of fibre foods. Some very inventive crafting! See below for some highlights...

Woolly Wednesday is back!

Hello! Happy new year to you all.

January seems like a natural time to reasess things and figure out your goals for the coming year. One of my goals this year is to have a *massive* destash, declutter and general life detox.

With that in mind, I have signed up to take part in the Edinburgh Yarn Festival's Big January De-stash! I have a rather humungous stash of yarn, more than I will ever be able to use within this lifetime, so I'm going on a bit of a "yarn diet."

I'm joining other fellow crafty types at the Columcille Centre in Morningside this Saturday (16th January) to sell, swap and socialise. If you live in or near Edinburgh and fancy coming along, it's only £2 entry per person - EYF are asking folks interested in attending to pre-register so they can gauge numbers on the day. The event is being run by Edinburgh Yarn Festival as not for profit, in support of and to raise awareness of its nominated charity, the Teapot Trust who provide art therapy for children who suffer from chronic illness (all proceeds from the day go to the charity).

I'll be there for the afternoon session which runs 1-4pm but there will be yarny goings-on from 10am onwards.

Goodies I plan to sell on Saturday include:
- Rowan pattern books
- Knitting/craft magazines
- Rowan and other hand knitting yarn
- Knitting & crochet tools
- Lace trim and other notions
- Fibre for felting or spinning

I might also have a few hand knitted items for sale on the day too :) Hope to see you there!

Find out more about the Big January De-stash event here.

Woolly Wednesday

Great news - Edinburgh Yarn Festival is back for 2015! Some of you may remember the first one back in 2013 (was it really that long ago?!), which was held at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith.

The return of the EYF sees the event evolve a bit - they have expanded to a larger venue and the festival now spans across two days, Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th March at the Corn Exchange.

This rather curious creature greeted visitors in 2013!

The last one was well-attended and had plenty of things for the fibre fiend in you but this year the exibitor list boasts over 100 different companies ranging from local yarn stores to independent yarn producers. How exciting!

I dare anyone to try and come away empty-handed. If the last one was anything to go by it will be a serious challenge! It wasn't just yarny delights at the festival, there were also some fab indie designers selling their patterns and there were a few stalls with some lovely notions - all in all a great way to get some inspiration for your next/latest crafty project.

There are individual day tickets (£8 each) or weekend passes (£12) available, or you can go the whole hog and sign up for the evening events (knitty pub quiz, anyone?) or alternatively take part in one of the workshops and classes on during the day!
 

For more information about the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, 

visit their website: www.edinyarnfest.com. 

Advance tickets and class bookings are available online.

To read more #WoollyWednesday posts, click here.

Wondrous Wool

This is a special edition of Woolly Wednesday - it's Wool Week!

(This is a kitty commission I made 

from Merino lambswool a few years ago)

...What's Wool Week, I hear you ask. 2014 is the 5th year of the Campaign for Wool's week dedicated to wool, that most wondrous of natural fibres. This year's edition runs from the 5th - 12th of October and features a whole host of activities and events promoting wool. Want to organise your own? Check out Picknit for some LoveWool resources.

I love the idea of the Wool Ride, a brand new woolly cycle ride held in London on the first day of Wool Week. It appears to have a similar feel to the annual Harris Tweed Ride in Glasgow, albeit perhaps a little more light-hearted and rough (fluff?!) around the edges.

My latest knitting project is a pair of stripy mittens (shown above) in a lovely pure wool yarn. Seemed like the perfect time of year to start something like this, now that the air is crisper, the leaves are turning and it's starting to get dark sooner in the evenings.

One of the reasons I love making things with wool is its versatility. It can be incredibly useful in its many different forms - the elasticity of the fibre lends itself well to clothing which will keep its shape well, but not only that, it has a natural tendency towards repelling water, due to the waxy lanolin of a sheep's coat, even more so if you felt the fabric as the water will simply bead on the surface and roll off.

You can achieve a great stitch definition in a yarn 

with a high wool content such as this one (80% wool)

As many of you will know, wool is a rather wonderful natural fibre, meaning of course that it's biodegradable, unlike many manmade fibres. One which is renewable (thanks to the sheep growing a new fleece every year!), breathable and happens to be pretty great at absorbing a vast rainbow of dyes, as well as coming in a beautiful range of natural hues. Did you know wool can even be used as an insulation material? It's also naturally flame-retardant, believe it or not!

If you're interested in reading further woolly witterings, click here for more #WoollyWednesday posts.

Woolly Wednesday

Here it is! Another Woolly Wednesday :)

I intend to make these themed posts fortnightly for the time being, which hopefully gives me plenty of time to track down some new woolly things to shout about.

Image via Selvedge

The first of these this week is the recent KNIT issue of Selvedge magazine (issue 60). If you're not familiar with it, the magazine is a rather wonderful publication and provides articles covering the world of textiles, via its many applications in art, craft, fashion, design and interiors. The title is published bi-monthly and is one of my favourites (and has been for a number of years), as it features beautiful photography, insightful pieces on the history of textiles and it showcases some really beautiful art and craft. A highly recommended read. I also *love* the giant chunky cable knit scarf on the cover

Image via Selvedge

Issue 60 features knitting in its many forms and some absolutely stunning photography from Ian Lawson's book, "From the Land Comes the Cloth" - a breathtaking visual journey telling the story of Harris Tweed, showcasing the natural beauty of the Hebrides, the woollen raw materials, the painstaking traditional production process and the world-famous finished product. Needless to say, the book is on this girl's wishlist! If you want to have a look at a little preview of the book, click here.

Image via The Catskill Kiwi on Instagram

Continuing with the woven cloth theme... in my Instagram wanderings, I discovered The Catskill Kiwi's feed which piqued my interest because as someone who dabbled with weaving but realised it wasn't for me, I can live vicariously through the lovely textured tapestries of Toni Brogan.

IT'S Woolly Wednesday!

One thing you should know about me... I love a bit of alliteration, so when I was dreaming up ideas for blog posts recently, I thought, how about having a Woolly Wednesday! (Why not?!)

...I very much doubt I'm the first person ever to have come up with that but I do hope you like it anyway :)

Here are some woolly things that have tickled my fancy this week:

Image via Etsy

I love this Lambswool Birdie by Sally Nencini, discovered while having a look at a few things that popped up on my feed whilst using the Etsy app. Not just because I adore birds, and think lambswool is pretty awesome, either! I particularly like the way she has used different patterns and muted colours to create an overall kind of folkloric effect. Plus, who wouldn't want one of these cheery birdies sitting on their mantlepiece?

I quite enjoy using the "your feed" tab as a way of browsing actually, and it's a great way to find new things or stumble across pretty treasuries. Do check out Sally Nencini's Etsy shop, it's packed with lots of fun (woolly) designs including an elephant cushion or one featuring a fleet of red London double-decker buses, not to mention her quirky knitted toys!

Image via Ohhdeer

How about some woolly jumpers? This "Cool Sweaters" greeting card with sheep sporting knitted designs made me smile. It's the work of illustrator Jacques Maes, and I very much like the nostalgic feel of this print of his.

...and finally, here's a little bit of sporting yarnbombery: Commonwealth Games nations knitted flags for Glasgow 2014
 
Fear not, dear reader, more wool-related action coming soon!

In the meantime, you can check out all of my blog posts related to this rather fabulous fibre here.