Crafty Cocktail

Emily's the knitter, Clare's the spinner, and we both like cocktails!

Monday 2 October 2017

New location for this blog!

Thursday 16 February 2017

A post from Norway

This is going to be just writing as I can't seem to add pics from my iPad today.

This finds me sitting in a bar in Norway surrounded by my lovely C, Mum, and my bro his wife and two kids, fire blazing, people milling around because unusually its warm and the snow is melting! We've had a lovely time the last few days skiing, and have loved the views and the place we're staying.

Mum is knitting a scarf with the pattern from Aberlady (from the Alice Starmore book) out of Triskelion Lleu in Aqua; everyone is together and pottering, and I am reading the TinCanKnits blog on A Year Of Making by Emily Wessell. Makes me want to do that!

So - in this my 50th birthday year I shall try to record making something every day!

Today - relationship with my nepheew, and a little bit of sock knitting!

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Triskelion British Yarn club - 1st delivery!



So arrival of mystery package - I realise it says Triskelion on it - hurray! It must be the first yarn from the club. I tear the package open to find - a yarn named Afron Hafren (or the River Severn).  A meaningful name for me - grew up in Bristol (near the Severn estuary) and holidays in Powys all my life near Pumlumon (Plynlimon in English) where the Severn has it's source. 

As you see it's a beautiful gleaming tonally dyed green/blue, 235m in 100g British Wensleydale. Probably a bit greener than this suggests, it's hand is drapey but with some tooth. Can't wait to knit with it!



Sunday 3 April 2016

finished in the lull no 1 - Viajante

This used a wonderful yarn from Yarn Pony (Mica who now makes festivals in Edinburgh instead) bought at Kathy's Knits. I live this scarf/shawl/cowl, it would be my desert island knitted thing if I could only take one.  Particularly good partnered, as here, by gin and Shakespeare in Stratford!





Knit Nottingham Opens new shop - newsflash!

Eleanor has moved her shop - it's now much bigger and even more fabulous! I was lucky enough to go to a pre-opening party on Thursday 31st March - it looks fabulous! So many people helped, but mainly this comes out of Eleanor's fertile imagination and HARD WORK for the last 5 years. I am well impressed. 

New address is  9, Trinity Walk,  NG1 2AN


http://www.knitnottingham.co.uk

Eleanor's Vlog!!!

Saturday 2 April 2016

5 years later...

...and I've decided to get back on here. We'll see how it goes!

I think it was 2011 when I last posted, so I have lived a fair bit since then, also knitted quite a lot, worked more than I intended and now started a little desultory sewing (thanks to Liz). 

I think it would help me to post a bit about my general making of stuff - perhaps there might be more finishing? I don't in fact ever feel guilty about having lots of things on the go at any time, or things around for years - this is something i do for fun, not work. However, sometime is don't finish things I'd like to be wearing! 

I'd like somewhere to talk about things I see and love too - and I shall start there, having just come back from a wonderful holiday in Norway, where I was particularly smitten by the RĂ„dhus in Oslo. 

So - some pictures:






Friday 29 July 2011

Batts and Fibre

So last weekend we had a family outing to Fibre East - Shelley, Emily and me went early and did a Batt course with Jill, then Sue, Pat, Nanny, her friend and Alice all joined us to wander around, watch sheep being sheared and buy stuff!
The batt workshop was great, getting ideas about colour, blending fibres, making batts on a theme and accidentally putting a deposit on a drum carder!?
Then we wandered around and bought lots of fibre, most of it for me to spin for Emily, but some from picperfic for me to spin for me!
Here are some pictures of the batts and the finished sample skeins - I guess my first art yarn!
Bad Day on the Motorway (complete with cars!)
bad day on the motorway 2bad day on the motorwaybad day on the motorway 4bad day on the motorway 3
Walk in the woods - think winter time
walk in the woods 5walk in the woods progresswalk in the woods  2walk in the woods 4
Then some lovely dyed fibre from Picperic - whose stuff I used for GTs shawl during the spintelligence course;
Twinkle - 70% superwash merino and 30% trilobal nylon - for Emily, two skeins
twinkle picperfic 2twinkle picperfic
Susie - 75% organic merino, 25% mulberry silk - 3 skeins, probably for me
susie picperfic

I will do another post soon to show all the natural, undyed stuff we also bought, including some fleece that needs washing and scouring - looks like I am getting a stash fit for a busy winter!