Sari and Finnsheep Wool Hat

 

Sari and Merino Hat

Drying in the sun on a Hat Shapers cloche hat block (  as seen here )

 Word of warning: this was a fairly dodgy way to trim the brim - the rotary cutter could have easily slipped and it was perhaps not very accurate either since the hat I was using did have movement in it.

The flower was made from the felt cut off the brim.

Wonderful Wonderwool

Had a great time at Wonderwool last week. Here's Will having a relaxing coffee awaiting the opening of the show (apologies for the yellowness of the photos).

And shortly afterwards - already working hard!

 I found it difficult to take photos but did manage to take one of the sheep walk since luckily it was straight in front of my stand! It was very entertaining and showcased the diverse and creative goods on display at the show.

A big thank you to all the lovely people who visited my stand. Here are two talented visitors  - Jude, modelling one of her fabulous hand dyed, hand spun and hand knitted hats ( Judith Beckett ) and Lynn ( see her brilliant work here ). Or go and see them in person at Bakewell Wool Gathering!

The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show

Here's my stand at The Knitting and Stitching Show at The Olympia, London.



Had a great four days. Met lots of lovely visitors as well as meeting the very friendly and inspirational felt makers on the International Feltmakers stand. Here's Lesley (The Chair - in Pink) and Natalie (in purple). Notice their wonderful jackets.

Here's Lesley demonstrating. They were sharing skills and tips for the whole four days.

Here's some more of the fantastic felt displayed on their stand. Unfortunately Laura who makes beautiful felt pendants and exquisite hand painted silk scarves wasn't there when I took these photos but you can see her work here

At the Knitting and Stitching Shows this year there's also an excellent felt exhibition 'The Mermaid Project' by The Silk Felt Collective - Yulia Badian with Lidwina Charpentier, Roseitha Karl-Schreiner and Ariane Mariane  It's well worth seeing (it will be at Alexander Palace, Dublin and Harrogate) and the artists were there doing demonstrations and very generously sharing how they had made their individual pieces with some fantastic tips. Here's a little snippet of their wonderful work.

There was so much to see and do but since I spent the majority of my time on my stand I didn't get a chance to take any more photos.

Kool Aid Dyeing and Crochet

I've been enjoying lots of Kool Aid dyeing.

 You can get some pretty bright colours.

And more subtle ones too.

I've used this sock weight yarn to start a crochet scarf.

And this Aran weight yarn to crochet a Queen Anne's lace Scarf.

Lastly I made a little coaster inspired by a pattern I made up as a kid (probably about 35 years ago and the ends still haven't been sewn in!!)

If you haven't tried Kool Aid dyeing I'd really recommend it.