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The blog is now integrated into the website.

Everything is in one place.

n

This time I’m offering four options, something for everyone, and a good Christmas or Birthday Gift which will arrive in January when we all need a bit of a lift.

Clan Surprise.

This will feature [...]]]> All the Surprise parcels were posted last week, and over the weekend I have been planning the new Surprises.

This time I’m offering four options, something for everyone, and a good Christmas or Birthday Gift which will arrive in January when we all need a bit of a lift.

Clan Surprise.

This will feature Clan, my very own 100% merino sock yarn with the unique twist and feel.

I will send you three different skeins, they will be a family. Each skein is 65g and has 210m yarn.

A light, medium and dark, dyed in a layered subtle style.

One skein is enough for fingerless mittens, two for socks, three for a good sized shawl. Knit all three together for a chunky yarn. The three will make a great colourwork partnership, or could be used as contrasting ribs, fingers, toes or edging.

For the UK and Europe, this is £24 plus £3 shipping.

For Worldwide customers it will be £24 plus £5 shipping.

Crannog Super Saturated Surprise

As you know, Crannog is another Yarn Yard exclusive yarn. It’s great for shawls, for scarves, for slender gloves. And it soaks up dye like a dream.
This yarn will be a super saturated near solid colourway. Crannog lends itself to layered dyeing, so you may see the “undercolours” but it will be a really intense feast for the eyes.

One skein. If you would like two for a larger project, just add two to the Cart.

UK and Europe based customers £17 plus £3 shipping

Worldwide Customers £17 plus £5 shipping

And by popular request, a Fibre Surprise.

This is the LAST of the Peregrine 75% merino 25% nylon sock fibre. I have no idea when I might be able to get more of it. There are just nine places in this Surprise, when they are gone, that’s it, there is no more fibre.

I will send 200g of fibre. Enough for decent length socks, or for fatter yarn without you feeling you might run out of fibre for your project. This will be a bright colourway, no shrinking violets! Four or more colours in long enough sections that it can be broken down for stripes if you so wish.

If you would prefer BFL superwash, please email and let me know. If the Peregrine sells out I will offer this as an option instead.

UK/Europe £24 plus £3 shipping

Worldwide £24 plus £5 shipping

And finally, an Embroiderer’s Surprise.

Cotton fabric, fabulous cotton felt, a Mawata silk square (used as thread or for fine layering and masking) and a selection of at least seven threads. Length of thread will be different for each one, 6 strand cotton will of course be a full hank, textured yarns and other threads will vary. All hand dyed.

This will be £17.50 plus £2.50 shipping. This is the same price wherever you are in the world because the weight is much lower than for yarn.

All of these Surprise parcels will be posted during the week beginning January 16th.

I don’t know about you, but I am more than ready to do not much at all for a few days at Christmas.

It seems as though I haven’t knitted anything for weeks, I haven’t spun for months and I’m really feeling it. The dyeroom has been particularly busy this month, and I [...]]]>

I don’t know about you, but I am more than ready to do not much at all for a few days at Christmas.

It seems as though I haven’t knitted anything for weeks, I haven’t spun for months and I’m really feeling it. The dyeroom has been particularly busy this month, and I am fast running out of yarn and thread to dye! This is a good thing because I plan to gut the office over the Christmas break and the less stock there is to hump around the place the better. Expect to see small and bijou collections of one-off exotic yarn and braids of interesting fibre appearing on the shelves in the shop as I work my way through the boxes.

This is what I found on today’s rummage. Cute little sock blocker keyrings, ideal for a stocking (!!!) filler or a swap parcel. They come with a sock pattern as well, and with the way things are shaping up this may be the only thing I manage to finish in the run up to Christmas!

n

I know it was a pretty wet and dismal Summer around here, but I miss it.

The light was better for taking photographs for a start.

The strawberries had a proper freshly picked strawberry smell.

A crunchy salad felt like a meal.

And I swear the grass didn’t grow as fast as it [...]]]>

I know it was a pretty wet and dismal Summer around here, but I miss it.

The light was better for taking photographs for a start.

The strawberries had a proper freshly picked strawberry smell.

A crunchy salad felt like a meal.

And I swear the grass didn’t grow as fast as it seems to be (still) growing at the moment.

My advent blogging has fallen by the wayside as I have been dyeing like a dervish. The Yarn Cake in Glasgow has new stocks of YY yarn and there will be further new stock this week as well.

Yarn Surprises are being packed, ready to post on Thursday, and you should just see the fabulous colours – I like them so much I have dyed extra skeins for myself.

There are things to love about winter though (apart from the fact that it’s almost Christmas).

Pomegranates are back in the shops.

It’s hand-knit sock wearing weather.

The patchwork quilts are being snuggled under on the sofa.

And thoughts are turning to the annual viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life.

n

PS This seems to be the whole movie, so go and get a nice cup of something warming and settle down to watch (snuggled under a quilt, naturally).

The Met Office is forecasting at least 70 mph wind, maybe as much as 90 mph and the [...]]]> Central Scotland is due for a storm tomorrow. Many of the schools are closing at lunchtime and people are being advised to leave work early because the peak of the wind will be between 15:00 and 18:00.

The Met Office is forecasting at least 70 mph wind, maybe as much as 90 mph and the shipping forecast is for Violent Storm Force 11.

Trains are having speed limits applied because of the risk of trees on the line.

I have restocked the woodpile, and charged the torches. There are plenty of candles.

And Mum, if you are reading this, STAY INDOORS!

n

Stanley is a bit of a softie. He is also a scarce yarn – I only have a limited number of skeins and when they are gone, that’s it, my supplier has no more.

100% Falkland merino, and superwash too. This was the yarn I used for the first Yarn Surprise parcels.

Gloriously [...]]]>

Stanley is a bit of a softie. He is also a scarce yarn – I only have a limited number of skeins and when they are gone, that’s it, my supplier has no more.

100% Falkland merino, and superwash too. This was the yarn I used for the first Yarn Surprise parcels.

Gloriously squeezable, a little more bouncy than a sock yarn such as Toddy. Stanley would make wonderful mittens. Cranfords, perhaps.

4340 Crocus is in the shop (just the one).

4339 Almost Christmas is here.

SOLD!

Stanley is part of a new venture into Custom Dyeing.

If you have a colour in mind just go to the new Custom Dye section of the shop, order a skein (or more) of Stanley and I’ll dye it up especially for you.  If you would like a single dyelot for a garment, this is the best way to order it. As an introductory offer this will be the same price as an already dyed yarn.

I will add other yarns as I have them in stock. Depending on other work it may take up to two weeks to dye your order but the up-side is that if the yarn is sitting in the custom dye section it means I have it in stock, awaiting your instructions. Look out for Toddy, Crannog and maybe even Macushla being added later this week.

This is a great way to give a gift (named after the recipient, perhaps).

And speaking of gifts, I’ve also added Gift Vouchers to the menu at the top of the blog and also to the menu on the shop. These start from just £5.00 and are available all the time.

You can find them here.

n

A couple of years ago I started looking for a workshop, and I think I must [...]]]> The last two weeks have been about making plans. A huge amont of discussion and number crunching and trips out the see things and places have this far resulted in…. well not much at all really. All very frustrating.

A couple of years ago I started looking for a workshop, and I think I must have rung every arts organisation and studio landlord within 50 miles.  Some of them are wonderful spaces, but are too far away. Some are within reach but have really high overheads such as heating a room in a completely uninsulated building (and watching the ten pound notes fly away in the wind). Last month I found what looked like the perfect space. Affordable, warm, inclusive bills, ten miles from home… and then it all fell apart at the last minute because of something unrelated to me.

At the moment I am back to square one and feeling rather cross but with no real purpose. There is no-one to be cross WITH, and that in itself is reason to be even MORE cross.

So my Making Monday post was going to be about making plans and has ended up being about making peace with the fact that some things are just not meant to be at the moment.

sigh

I hope everyone else has had a more productive day!

n

PS  It is very unlike me to be so fed up about something (and even more unusual for me to blog about it). Normal service will be resumed tomorrow!

This is an attempt to blog from the iPad and put a photo in…

Let’s see if it works, shall we?

n

This week is our third birthday week, and we are aiming to reach £32,012 before New Year.
There are loads of wonderful patterns on the p/hop website available for download [...]]]> This is just a quick make-weight post to ask if you have seen the p/hop total recently?
Over £30,000 – isn’t that amazing?

This week is our third birthday week, and we are aiming to reach £32,012 before New Year.
There are loads of wonderful patterns on the p/hop website available for download in return for a donation, so without further ado, why not pop over and have a look?

P/hop is here! P/hop is here!

All week we are having birthday giveaways so bookmark the site and visit every day.

n

Gosh, so everyone wants to see THE bag!

I just love it. Usually I use a daysack or a many pocketed travel bag so this is a bit of a departure for me.

Navy blue soft leather, made in Toronto.

They were also available in black and brown but I [...]]]>

Gosh, so everyone wants to see THE bag!

I just love it. Usually I use a daysack or a many pocketed travel bag so this is a bit of a departure for me.

Navy blue soft leather, made in Toronto.

They were also available in black and brown but I fell in love with this one. It has an optional shoulder strap which to my surprise I haven’t used at all. It really is a HAND bag for me.

For scale, this is it next to my Herdy mug and a heap of binoculars and torches of various sorts.

And this is what made me fall for it.

It’s the handbag equivalent of frilly knickers under a boilersuit.

If you look back at the first picture you can just see the lining peeking out on the end pocket.

And this is what it holds.

Notebook.

2012 diary in a fabulous shade of acid green.

Apple.

Perfume – Chanel Cristalle Vert in a refillable spray.

Shoulder strap – unused but carried just in case.

Rohan scarf – the most useful item in my entire wardrobe!

iPad.

iPhone.

Cosmetics purse from women’s co-operative in Nepal with Benetint, lip pencil, lipsalve.

Purse.

Propelling pencil.

Knitting – koigu.

Book.

And the camera I took the photo with.

Even with all this, it’s NOT packed by any means. It’s the Tardis of handbags.

Empty!

The black one had a grey silk inside, but I really wanted the fuschia… and as you all know, I don’t “do” pink!

Did I choose well?

n