Lilys House

getting a bit of air

Boxing Day.......

 

 

 

 

 

See you in the New Year :)

happy solstice

a Druid ceremony taking place, with many onlookers

 Lily, at the stones - bro, little nephew and Lilys back

 mistletoe as a blessing

 

  cleansing cleansing and charging crystals 

 

a wonderful experience for them - to be inside the circle and able to touch the stones

 

Photos courtesy of my Mum and Lily.  I didn't go as I thought it would be a bit much for Maddie - I mean me, running after Maddie.  Little nephew (and mustn't fail to mention my sisters intrepid two) managed exceedingly well considering the early start but with all the people and Maddies strong willed nature (ie, delighting in running away through crowds, refusal to stay still for more than 2 seconds and general non compliance ;), I decided  to give it a miss this year.  Still I woke up and thought of them all there in this special place and was a tad envious.  We are so blessed to have such a rich and ancient heritage, makes me tingly to think about it.

All returned feeing alive and uplifted, ready to dive head first into this wonderful season.

With that, I think I'll sign off for a short while and wish you and yours a very, very peaceful and happy holiday.

xx

wisp

Scarf for Ally is the pattern .

 A lovely quick knit in Kidsilk Haze (well, it would have been quick if I'd taken it out of the knitting basket a bit more regularly....).  Nice,easy to follow lace, resulting in a whisper light but warm scarf.

 

******** 

  I'm sitting here shattered after hitting the town for a last few stocking fillers.  It was bedlam and I hated it.  Maddie running all over the place and people everywhere.  Phew, glad to be back home.  Just got tonight to work then have Friday and the weekend off, hooray!  Time to chill then, hopefully.  I've given up on the house.  As fast as I tidy, it never seems to do more than take the edge off.  I'm not so bothered this year as we are going to my brothers for Christmas.  I will be working Christmas Eve (and hoping for a quiet night ;) and can then enjoy the day with family.

Hope you all have a lovely, peaceful weekend. See you next week.

some good, some bad

firstly the good...

BFL laceweight 

  superwash merino

Bluefaced Leicester and kid mohair

 

 some of the dyed up goodness.

Yes, my shipment of acid dyes and fibre/yarn tryouts arrived.  I had a lot of fun experimenting with the different blends.  There's some merino/tencel and merino/bamboo top also, which were my greeny colours.  Fascinating to see how they all dyed up.  The pink is a silk and Bluefaced Leicester blend which has a gorgeous sheen to it.  I couldn't resist it and it's now spun up and drying in the airing cupboard as we speak.  Maddie may get a pretty scarf for Christmas if I get my act together, or maybe her birthday in February is more realistic !

You probably wonder where I'm going with all this wool dyeing stuff.  Wellll, I've had this little idea for quite a long time now.  In the new year/early spring, I'm going to open an Etsy store stocked with a range of hand dyed fibres and yarn. The whole process of hand dying satisfies my creative desires in a way that no other craft has.  I've dabbled in sewing and various other things, and whilst enjoyable, I always felt that the 'real thing' was still lurking around the corner. You may remember that I have played about with dyeing before and always got a thrill from it.  It never occurred to me that I could do it on a slightly larger scale and spread the love ! Doing the spinning class seemed to be the thing that opened my eyes to the world of colourful rovings and yarns - and the possibilities that abound with hand dyeing.

So, any spinners and knitters out there, tell me your thoughts.  I'd like to be able to offer different weights of yarn and a selection of rovings, that's the plan.  Any advice ?

 ****Oh, I nearly forgot the BAD !****

I fell over and smashed my camera lens right after I'd taken these pictures. Ouch - in more ways than one.  More money to repair than replace of course.  Luckily I have the 55 - 200mm, so I can still take piccies, but I do prefer the broken one :(

Yet another thing to deal with post Christmas. I'm just thinking about how much fibre I could buy with the money.  At least it wasn't my arm or leg, I suppose. I feel all beaten up from the fall, these old bones can't cope with a shock like that anymore !

crunch

  was the delightful sound we made as we walked today.  Far better than the sound of sucking mud that seems to have accompanied us lately - it's been truly filthy weather.

 

one bonus is that the dogs stay clean(ish).

  

I'm a woman of few words this morning, having had very little sleep.  Two call outs in the freezing fog and I'm a complete zombie.

More pics instead..

it was all very beautiful and my camera and I had to be dragged away from the icy sparkles everywhere...

 

 

Righto, I need coffee and a snuggle with the girlie, who's been patiently waiting for her toast. More to report on the wool dyeing front soon, as I spent Sunday like a mad scientist, steaming, bubbling and painting. I'm eagerly awaiting the results as we speak.  FUN ! Of course, if they're rubbish, you won't be seeing them.....;)

Keep warm till then !

twinkly

With all the lights half price in Sainsbury's, I wasn't going to fight it. 

You can never have too many white Christmas lights in my opinion (all year round).

I finally got the curtains up in this room.  Very special curtains that have been with me for as long as I can remember.  We had them in our house in Cornwall when I was very little and for some reason they remind me of Christmas and feeling cozy. I must have had them up in every house I've lived in (a lot !).

 

 

It's actually nice enough to sit in here, now I've cleared a pile of junk away .  I may have to sit and knit this afternoon and soak up the ambience. What a thought.

  

Nothing like fairy lights and nostalgia to warm the soul.