Wonderwool

Hello Folks!

Life seems to have left me with little time over the past few weeks and when that happens blogging is an extra pressure, hence the short break.

I had a fabby day out at Wonderwool Wales with my knitting pal Romain yesterday.  I came back super inspired, full of ideas and wanting to knit.

I bought lots of lovely things and spent more money than usual.  

Would you like to see?  Of course you would.

Firstly a ready made top.  Yes, I know what you are thinking, I could knit that.  You are right.  I could.  It was for sale on one of stalls and I just fancied it.   The yarn is Shetland and it was made by a lady in Herefordshire who has some sheep of her own and makes felted items too.

 It has a really nice contrast scalloped edge.   We came across a lot of jumpers and cardis with a contrast edge, something I might use in the future.

On the Blacker Yarns stall I had a rummage through a bin of 4ply yarn and got 6 balls for £15.00.  Maybe a yolk for a cardi/jumper?  The green at the back is a blend of Blue Faced Leicester with Flax and is wonderfully smooth.

In another bin on the same stall I found two unidentified 400g hanks of mill ends for £8.00 each.

The Baa Ram Ewe stall had a wonderfully soft, squishy, warm yarn called Titus.  It is 4ply with 50% Wensleydale Longwool 20% Blue Faced Leicester and 

30% UK Alpaca.

 

 I got a large skein and 6 mini-skeins to make a Daybreak Shawl by Stephen West.  The shawl on the stall was gorgeous, although they had run out of they grey so I had two lots of green.

Also on this stall I bought a pattern for Dark Pearl, a drapy front lace cardi from Carol Feller.  This was made in the same yarn,  Titus.  

And lastly a single ball of Drops Lima, just to try it out as I haven't used it before.

We had a super time, wandering and chatting, with a few ooooos and aahhhhhhs thrown in.  There was lots of Alpaca and also a lot of felting this year, garments and needle felted creatures.

After our long, tiring day of woolyness, I was asleep as soon as the coach pulled off, which was no surprise to Romain as she knows me by now!

That's me for now, I'm off to cast on a shawl........

Clicky Needles.

Sewing

Hello folks.

This week has been lovely, the sun has shone, I've gardened a little, read a book in the sun a little and sewed a little.

I have spent long, long hours on Pinterest looking at bags and sewing projects I might be able to tackle.  I popped into Stroud and the local sewing shop, Sew and So to pick up some zips.  A zip is quite an undertaking for me, it's over 30 years since I put a zip in anything.

I started with a simple make up bag.  There are hundreds of tutorials on line, I used this one from Melly Sews principally.  

I popped in a label.  I really like the blue/beige combination.

 Top stitching, not too bad?

 You can see I had a fight with the zip end.  I'm not too happy with how that turned out...

 ..but in my defence this Cath Kidston one I was given as a present isn't that much better.

 Deciding I hadn't done too badly, did I try another just to hone my skills and new things I had learnt?  Not I did not.  I went straight for a credit card holder.   This time the pattern was from Craft Passion.

I read, and re-read the instructions.   There was a lot of shouting at my machine, "COME ON!" and one or two other things I won't repeat.  Two bits of fabric got binned and I started anew.  One zip was discarded and a longer one used. 

Basically both sides of the zip have the fabric sewn to it and then they are turned through to the right side.  Working on the wrong side and turning it through is sometimes too much for my brain.   Getting the zip around the corner smoothly was pesky, but after a lot of perseverance ~ it was a lot believe me ~ I had something passable.

I used the leftovers of the tea-towel fabric from my Tea-Towel Tote.  There is an internal divider giving three pockets, two for credit cards maybe and a bigger pocket in the middle for some coins.

The original zip I had was too short ~ well that and I sewed the ends to the fabric instead of turning them out of the way, so after I had clipped the corners and turned it through it just didn't work, hence the reason two fabric pieces got binned ~ I used a longer one and shortened it.  I'm a bit worried that this one will just fall apart with use, should I have encased the end and the new sewn stop ~ is that the right word? ~ in the fabric rather than having it on show?  I don't know, please tell me what I should have done. 

Anyhoo, on the whole I'm pleased.

I've learnt loads of things about zips, some I had forgotten and some new stuff.  Working in reverse is taxing for me but I'm hoping I'll get better.  I also worked out that it is easier to have a handy pot next to you for all the threads and bit of fabric instead of dropping them all on the floor to pick up later.

I'm actually quite enjoying this sewing malarkey, I might do more.

Well that's me for now, back to school tomorrow which will be hard after two weeks off!  

See you soon.................Clicky Needles.

Scarecrows

Hi all.

Every Easter, Chalford, a local village has a scarecrow trail.  People make scarecrows and put them in their gardens and lots of others come to visit.  The maps cost £3.00 and there is a quiz to complete as well.  Mr Clicky and me have done it in years gone by with the children, but now Miss Clicky is at her boyfriend's and Master Clicky is still in bed.  We took the dog instead.

We started at the top of the hill and came across Olaf 

and someone from Minecraft.

Chalford clings to the side of the Golden Valley, there are lots of little pathways in between the houses.

I loved this Toy Story collection.

Look at Bulleye's feet! made from plant pots.  The locals must spend lots of time making the scarecrows.

Oooooh! Aliens.

Mr and Mrs Potato Head.

We carried on, looking down on roofs below us.

In the valley bottom we came across three crows.

 Gru and some Minions. 

The fisherman was fishing in the (to be restored) Stroudwater canal.  I don't think he was catching much.

One of the locks which will be restored.  As you can see there's not much water in it but one day....

From the bottom you can see where we're going to walk back up soon.

I liked the simplicity of this little girl.

Harry Potter on his broomstick.

And a lady having rest from gardening.

We need a rest as we walked back up little pathways with lots of steps.  The dog was worn out and slept for the afternoon.   I really enjoy the trail, we don't do it every year, but I am amazed at the inginuity of people.

Right now the sun is shining brightly and is set to stay for the week. 

Happy Days.

See you soon.......Clicky Needles.