Hello autumn! And say hello to my new handspun freeform crochet hats!

Hello! It's time for my quarterly blog post! ;P

I know the rest of the world has been struggling with a heat wave, but not so in the UK, so despite the fact that it is only late August, I'm already completely in autumn mode and have started wearing more layers of scarves and other woolens...

This year I am really and truly excited, because after years of planning and quietly crafting, I am finally able to present a brand new item in my little etsy shop! Over the coming weeks there will be plenty of hats presenting themselves. They stem from my desire to create something beautiful out of some of my handspun yarns, which were just too labour intensive or to small to make it into the shop as yarns... Many of these hats feature some of my favourite ever yarns and lots of different art yarns with beads and other trinkets!

All of them are handmade by me using the finest yarns. To give more choice there will be two lines:
1 - the all handspun, lots of art yarns, way over the top hat designs
2 - slightly simpler designs reminiscent of 1920s cloche designs featuring handspun yarns as well as Noro Kochoran, a commercially spun high end colour transitioning yarn with lots of snuggly angora combined with wool and silk. (See the sneak peek below)

Both are intended to be showstoppers and true works of wearable art! It helps that they're also so cosy and warm - I know I'll be wearing mine all winter. :)

Anyway, they'll be coming soon, so keep an eye out for them!

Wasn't it only just Christmas??

After a rather busy Christmas, New Year and birthday, things are slowly getting back to normal and I myself am getting back into my more normal crafting routines. Around christmas, every minute was spent creating some pretty (at least I think so) gifts and I continued obsessing about my beekeeper's quilt, which is still going well, albeit a little slower.

This is quite an old picture now, but still one of my favourite quilt in progress ones. :)

It was our first christmas at our place and it turned out we really hadn't bought quite that many lovely glass baubles over the years as I thought - so off to do some crafting! I grabbed some old linen and lovely cotton nottingham lace as well as some old lace bits and one of my favourite supplies, mother of pearl buttons.... and started stitching away. They turned out rather lovely and I might make it a little tradition to add one or two every year from now on. :)

The last picture shows our tree last christmas, not the best of pictures, but as always, a lovely nordman fir with real candles and glass baubles. :)

My handspun shrug and shop update!

I've finished my shrug and am actually very happy with how it turned out! The pictures are a little awful, hence just a Ravelry link to the project here, hopefully I'll get a better picture soon. :)

My SAL yarn is also finished, I am hoping to wash it today so pictures should be coming soon.

A shop update is also under way, as I've finally gotten around to weighing and measuring a whole bunch of yarns!

Little preview:

Sweet scarf creation using one of my yarns

The very talented Amber of Raimbowtree has created this scarf using a handspun and hand dyed golden Tussah silk yarn of mine as well as yarns by two other etsy artists. It's a nice and chunky scarf and is for sale here.

I actually own a Raimbowtree headband myself - I just love her colourful and flowery designs!

First art exhibition!!

I don't really know where to start, so let's just say I am sooooooo incredibly excited about having my work exhibited in the gorgeous Hotel Hadley Studios in North Carolina! :)

The exhibition features a whole variety of fibre artists and is called 'Gay for eagles'. It explores themes of gender, sexuality, war and peace.

If you are in the area at all, it will be open from the 15th of April to the 14th of May and you should definitely stop by!

The picture shows a close-up of one of my contributions; I created several pieces of embroidery featuring art yarns I spun specifically for this exhibition.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the amazing Drucilla Pettibone for organising this!

A stunning creation in Tussah silk

This was a very special yarn, consisting of mainly naturally golden Tussah silk blended with some soy silk to add even more of a golden sheen. It was then spun up with lots of beads to look extra glamourous. The yarn was bought, but sent on to another knitter, Cricket's creations to create the fabulous scarf you can see below.

Creations from my yarns!

I've been meaning to show off a few of the gorgeous creations some of my very creative customers have made from my yarns for some time now, so here it goes.... :D


A fellow UK Etsy seller, Sarah from SLC SLC has created several scarves using my yarns and they have since been visiting craft fairs with her, where she also sells really gorgeous hand printed and sewn clothing designs.

If you feel so inclined, you can even purchase this scarf, made from my banana fiesta yarn here. The main ingredient is organic falkland wool.












The second scarf has been knitted from one of my yarns naturally dyed with redwood. The scarf has a lovely texture and a sweet little flounce. :)
It is available for purchase here. Btw, the hand printed scarf next to it is also one of Sarah's creations. :)