Lilys House

yarny fun

I have a new wheel, a gorgeous Ashford Country Spinner.  I’ve been quietly practicing art yarn techniques for a while now and despite having the jumbo flyer on my Traditional, there has been much frustration trying to get the bulkier yarns and puffs onto the bobbin. I spent a lot of time winding the yarn on by hand but boy, was that slow work. Art yarns are time consuming anyway, without adding to it.

I did a bit of research and took the plunge. His bobbin can hold a whopping 1kg of yarn (this wheel is definitely a boy, nothing delicate about him!) and the hooks are humungous, allowing even snaggy, puffy bits onto the bobbin with ease.

 

These remind me of humbug sweets.

 

 

At the moment my dry workroom seems to be strung with my trials and errors.

 

 

 

I’ve been into batt making recently and have done a couple of core spun yarns that have turned out really well (typically, I have no pics of them). I find core spinning so satisfying and love the end result.

I may well get some hand spun in the shop soon as I'm getting a bit overrun!

spring walk

what a glorious weekend!

We all took a walk out in the sun, away from the chores and comparative gloom of the house.

 

It really was beautiful, even Harry pranced about like a puppy

and the girls put blossom in their hair and put their sisterly bickering aside

The tide was out and the dogs had a lot of fun frolicking in the mud (!). This is looking down the Teign estuary towards Teignmouth and the open sea.

On the return loop we were right at the side of the racecourse and managed to catch the second race of the day

We had to cover Wilfs eyes with  a coat so he wouldn't bark :)

Hope you had a great weekend too!

a new sheep to the fold

Oh yes, witness the birth of a new spinner!

Lily has found the spindle :) 

Unravel was lovely.  It was our first time and we had such a giggle meeting up with fellow dyers and customers old and new.  Surrounded by serious enablers, Lily was encouraged all the way.  At the first peep of interest, I was off buying spindles and thrusting wool into her eager hands.

Our lovely neighbours, the boys from Easyknits, were on hand to get her started and help wind off the first spinnings, and even kindly donated the next ‘bag o fibre’!

Unravel was also where I trialled my new yarn tree, made by my very clever Dad. It looked absolutely lovely and did the job a treat – thanks Dad!

There’s been a lot more going on around here as always,   Behind the scenes there are studio and dye room moves, playing with art yarn making, oogling new spinning wheels to make such yarn and the general lift and new ideas that Springtime brings!

I’ll leave this as a short check in but promise to take the camera out with me this week to capture some of it.  Till then x

busy, busy…..

as usual, excuses, excuses! Really though, it’s been a little manic around here, self imposed of course….

I have been spending a lot of time at the studio, up to my elbows in wet, colourful wool.  I’ve been dyeing up a couple of wholesale orders and still have another one to go – a new and delectable yarn base for Loop! Can’t wait to get going on that.  I’m going to try and get as much done as possible this week.

Balancing home and business is harder than I imagined.  I LOVE what I do but sometimes I wish there were two of me. I’m not moaning, honest.  I thrive on being busy and a certain amount of stress keeps me motivated and alive. There is a tipping  point however ;)  An unexpected and expensive dye disaster shoved me over that edge last week and really threw me (what, me, make a mistake? How incredibly stupid, went the inner dialogue, leading to extreme self doubt and general bad feeling). Caused by tiredness no doubt.

 

On a more positive note – my little Maddie turns six next Monday and the weekend (and the actual day) will be taken up with family gatherings and a girly party.  I’m looking forward to doing some birthday cake baking.  It’s also half term, which is usually a bit more chilled out. 

I’m also preparing for unravel, a wonderful festival of knitting taking place at the end of next week. Lily is accompanying me on the trip – she is becoming my regular show helper! Really looking forward to that and just being somewhere different for a couple of days.

Overshadowing all this is the looming gall bladder surgery, which I expect will be in March, although I’m still waiting for a date. All the pre op stuff has been done and I was told that there is not a very long wait.  It’s not easy to plan ahead at this stage, which is why I’m getting a bit anxious about fulfilling orders before I have to take a bit of time off.

So there it is, a short catch up. I’m a bit stressed, a bit tired, a bit unable to slow down, which is entirely my own fault. The fact that I’m sitting here on the very edge of my chair with clenched fists, is probably a sign that I need  to sort something out, whatever that may be!

And you know what, I’ve just made a snap decision to stay home today, clear my hideously messy desk (there is so much truth in the mind reflecting the state of your desk), remove about a thousand skeins of yarn and 3 huge bags of dyed fibre from the living room where I was sorting them out, photograph some yarn, update the shop and catch up with myself.

And then, when I get back to it tomorrow, it will be with a happy heart and renewed energy.

Feel better already.

winter beach

sometimes, what’s needed is a couple of hours in the fresh air, cold or not.

I’m afraid I succumbed to a nasty virus/flu/bug/whatever for the second time recently. Totally vile and totally ruined a solo few days away with my friend.

The girls have been similarly ill on and off too.  We’ve been curled up in the house for a lot of the time and nice though that is, I just had this overwhelming need to get us all out. My declaration was met with varying levels of enthusiasm – from squeals of excitement from Maddie, to groans and shuffling from a very teenage Lily!

 

 

The beach was all ours and the tide going out (misjudged that many a time).

Despite it having been so cold, it was sheltered and mild.

As so often happens when we ‘pop out 'for a quick blast, we stayed for a couple of hours…..

 

just playing in the surf, rock climbing and generally breathing in the goodness.

 

tired but satisfied and feeling very wholesome, we headed home via my Grandparents for a warming cup of tea, cake and chat

 

our quick jaunt took us in to the late afternoon..

  

the nicest, most chilled day I’ve had in a long time

There’s a lot to be said for stepping back a bit and taking time to fully relax.  I spend so much time on the computer, on my phone (the iphone – what a blessing and a curse!) and imposing lists and deadlines on myself.  Even checking emails last thing at night in bed (gah!) and wonder why I can’t sleep.

It’s going to change, before I go mad.  And if it takes an extra day to get things done, then so be it.  It’s not the end of the world.

i’m in love

with Annie Sloan chalk paint.  Oh My.

Thankyou Nicky of The Vintage Magpie (who just happens to be my neighbour, so I could pop over to hers for a quick sneak peek) for putting me on to this amaaaazing stuff!

Seriously, if you want to paint some furniture, this is the stuff.  We are talking No Prep.  That’s right, just whack it on – that’s my kind of paint.  I tell you, nothing is safe around here.

this is ‘Country Grey’, a sort of putty colour…..

one end of the kitchen was always so gloomy with a lot of dark wood.

I was very hesitant about painting it as it seemed a shame to , well, cover the wood, but I’m so glad I did….

it’s transformed the room.  It’s never going to be a light space but it’s much less like a cavern now.

 

even the badly stripped rocking chair got the treatment!

preparing

Lily and I went to the studio today to do a little clearing and sweeping in preparation for my next run of dyeing.

I’ve been snowed out of work due to it’s rural location, which was more than a little frustrating, especially as one customer’s yarn was trapped up there all over Christmas, luckily she was very understanding as she was in exactly the same situation in Germany.

Not having my camera with me, I utilised my phone and the wonderful Hipstamatic.   I’ve had this app for a while now and it’s totally addictive, so if you see a weird shot here and there in any subsequent posts you’ll know what I’ve been playing with.

I work in a small space.  A really small space.  Which means i have to be reasonably organised. I’m trying very hard to be organised and to declutter.

 

trouble is, yarn and fibre and dye and buckets and vats and spin dryers and drainers take up a lot of room……..

and it’s a messy job, as this little corner of my workspace shows

looks better in black and white, doesn’t it? ;)

still, it’s got to be pretty and my shelves have lots of lovely thing to look at – cards from friends and the children, a vintage knitting needle box and bobbins, old baskets, drawings of the dogs and a beautiful ceramic dish that holds my tape measures!

this cupboard hides a lot of my undyed stock and is next on the list for a sort out. I’m usually surprised by what I find at the bottom of it.  ‘OOh, I forgot I had that angora/silk fibre’ is a common utterance!

I have some wholesale dyeing to do for the lovely loop and then I’m going to bust out the fibre (I’ve missed it lately) and some more variegated  and semisolid Buffy.

Anyway , I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my work, albeit with funny photos!

May I take this opportunity to thank all of my customers past and present, and all the readers of this blog, for your encouragement and kind feedback. Lets roll on into the New Year, positive and strong. Best of luck to us all ! 

december snapshots

It’s been a lovely month of snowy mornings, a rare occurrence here in Devon but becoming less so it seems!  That first day was magical and the girls rushed out in their nightclothes to  sample the cold, only to come back in to find that the last day of school had been cancelled :)

 

The run up to Christmas was a little more chaotic than usual with lots of pressie buying and wrapping left to the last minute, still, a bit of pressure never hurt, right?

some gift knitting was completed, Multnomah, as mentioned in the last post.

  

now dyed a sort of sagey green.  I think I preferred the natural but the colour was a request and the recipient very happy, which is what counts.

then of course, we move on to Christmas itself.  We were away this year staying with family and we all had a lovely relaxing break, (well, it was for us – not sure about our poor hosts ;)

new toys were played with and introduced to old timers……

and knitting carried on as usual in the background, the comforting feel of needles and yarn accompanying me wherever I found myself.

On a side note, I actually managed to clear a very hip bar/club once, after I got a sock in progress out to show some friends (non knitters, not such a good idea). No place is too cool to knit in, I say!

 

And on that note and with this very apt last picture, I wish you all a most wonderful , happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year! x

multnomah

I really needed to get Mamas multnomah finished this morning so I could take it to the craft fair tomorrow and show off the beauty that is Pearl.

I just love it when you have to knit ;)

nearly there….

and she’s done……

with just a couple of yards left out of two skeins. 

I think she’ll be pleased with it – fuzzy, warm and super soft, if it wasn’t for my Grandmother I’d be tempted to keep it.  As it is I can’t think of anyone more deserving of a snuggly hand knit.

I’ve nothing else on the needles (ok, there are the things that I’m ignoring in various bags – mainly lace with mistakes I can’t face ripping out) but I’m probably going to start some sort of gloves, maybe with cables. Something quick and gratifying.

Right, I’m off to oil my spinning wheel ready for tomorrow’s outing!

Have a lovely weekend x

first time out in a while

I’ve been stuck in the house for a few days with the perennial bad back and have been missing out on the morning walk (not so bad as it’s very cold out there).  Still, I happen to love this weather despite the cold morning toes!   Two layers of socks and insulated boots couldn’t keep them warm today.

I headed out with my camera hoping for some super shots of the thick frost and was only half rewarded.  It was much colder yesterday, with the fields pure white with frost all day.  Today however was not quite so severe, still frosty but not quite as intense..

 

Hope it’s nice and toasty where you are!

P.S  If any locals are reading this, come and see me at the craft fair at Hannah's at Seale Hayne on Saturday 11th, 11am to 5pm).  I’ll have a stall of yarny goodness amongst all the lovely crafty (and foodie) goings on.  I’ll even be spinning – it remains to be seen how successful that will be ;)