Edinburgh Yarn Festival 2015

I'm very lucky to be writing this from my bed with a lovely cup of green tea with lemon and I've just polished off 2 crumpets with jam - yum!

I've had a particularly busy weekend which has been so much fun. Yesterday, as it was Mother's Day, I invited my Mum and our friend Janice round for a vegan afternoon tea. I baked tomato and Rosemary scones (which were just divine) along with other goodies. It was a lovely afternoon.

Anyway, I really want to tell you about Saturday and my trip to Edinburgh Yarn Festival.  

Back in January, I just had a look at train prices and discovered I could travel for £11 each way. Of course, I had to book them at that price and it was a great excuse to meet up with my friend Jo (aka Shinybees) as she now lives way up north in Elgin. My friends, Michelle and Debbie, on hearing the bargain price, decided to come to and so the adventure began.

Our train left Wigan at 7:38am so Mr Bunny dropped us off at Starbucks so we could fuel our journey.  

Here we are waiting at the station with rather excited faces fuelled by caffeine!

The train journey was lovely with beautiful views, lots of crochet and chatter about our day ahead. 

It only takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there so we arrived around 10:15, jumped in a taxi and headed to The Corn Exchange.

Lots of yarn addicts where waiting enthusiastically outside. We joined the queue. It moved quickly. We chatted to the security guard about his need for a woolly head. We got inside. We got our wrist bands. We put our coats in the cloakroom. 

First stop, find Jo, hug, catch up and give her her birthday present, my goddaughters and my nephews (I'm a fake northern Aunty!!!) She was in the podcaster lounge along with Louise from Caithness Craft Collective. We entered the free raffle - and Michelle won a prize! 

Then to do what we came for - shop - Wow! What a gorgeous array of stalls. There was just about everything you could want or need and, as ever, I was completely overwhelmed! Gorgeous hand dyed yarns, fibres, buttons, sheep themed goodies, felted items, books, patterns, project bags, stitch markers,. Phew! We walked around, browsing each stall, making mental notes, fondling yarn and getting generally excited.

The first highlight for me was The Crochet Project. Kat Goldin and Joanne Scrace doing it for the crocheters - because crochet is cool! I bought a copy of their new shawl book, The Shawl Project,  which has 6 beautiful shawl patterns in and a section on how to design your own shawls. I had a fan girl moment with Kat Goldin - awesome crochet designer and author of Slugs in the Regfridgerator blog. Michelle also purchased the book and we are planning what to crochet first. (Reviews to come later)

It was great to finally meet Eden Cottage Yarns. Such beautiful colours and fibres. I completely forgot to go back for some DK yarn in bright pink and green - thank goodness for Internet shopping!!!

I bought a scrumptious skein from Easyknits - I love their colours. I picked something I liked but wouldn't normally go for. I even had it wound at The Teapot Trust stand so it's ready to use.

I also purchased this gorgeous yarn cake to but I can't remember the name of the stall.

Aileen Clark Crafts was there with her beautiful felt items. I couldn't resist these gorgeous felt sheep earrings.

I also bought buttons and a shawl pin, a yarn hair clip and a project bag and 5 mini skeins of yarn - I just couldn't resist the cuteness! 

We had also booked onto a crochet bird brooch workshop with Carol Meldrum. This was lots of fun and I learnt how to make linked stitches - I will be using this lots!

The venue was amazing - plenty of seating for eating your lunch, no queueing for toilets, great food and a bar (we may have partaked of a glass of vino!) Everyone was super friendly and it was great to meet Instagram and Ravelry friends. 

The journey home was easy, with lots of admiring of our purchases. 

On Sunday morning, I wished I was going again - my purse certainly wasnt! 

Maybe next year I'll stay for the weekend! 

Free Your Skeins

I was very honoured to be asked to contribute a pattern pick to Free Your Skeins this week!

Free Your Skeins is the wonderful idea of the ladies behind The Golden Skein Yarn Club. Every day, a different pattern is shared that uses just 1 skein of yarn, inspiring us to set this skeins of yarn free that on,y get sniffed and stroked every so often and then returned to the stash box. Tuesday's are crochet pattern days and I picked the beautiful Consider Owls fingerless mitts. You can read all about them here - https://thegoldenskein.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/freeyourskeins2015-day-34-consider-owls-by-tanja-osswald/

Holiday Time

I've just returned from a wonderful relaxing holiday in Scotland. It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries and work on some crochet and knitting for me! 

We had initially booked 3 nights in our favourite little cottage in Minto but then added a fourth night on followed by a very last minute addition of a first night at the Days Inn at Annandale Water. This hotel was a very pleasant surprise - budget so a pretty basic room but it had a balcony over looking the beautiful hills and lake complete with ducks and geese. I enjoyed my morning cup of tea whilst reading on the balcony (wrapped up in my slipper socks and dressing gown) but it was all very pleasant and civilised! 

The one thing I love about Granary Cottage is the hospitality of our lovely hosts Sheila and Kevan. Every time we've been, we've been greated by a vase of wild flowers and some home baked goodies. This year it was spiced fruit cake and it was delicious!

We spent a lot of time chilling out in the cottage, enjoying the beautiful view, reading and crafting. I managed to finish crocheting a shawl (it still needs beads adding so I'll post pictures when it's done) and started my Craftsy class on freeform crochet. It was great to have time for me crafting!

On Wednesday I headed over to The Border Tart (Lindsay) for a spinning lesson. She is a fabulous teacher and I loved every minute of it - so much so I've already acquired a wheel! I managed to spin and ply some yarn which has 'lots of character!!!' 

After my spinning lesson, I headed into Hawick where I enjoyed my lunch in a quirky cafe called The Damascus Drum which also doubled as a second hand book shop before popping over to The Textile Towerhouse to view the felt exhibition which was a delight to see and featured a few pieces by one of my favourite felt artists, Moy Mackay.

On the way home, we took a detour to visit Knit.Spin.Cakes new yarn shop, Harbour Yarns in Seaham, where I purchased some West Yorkshires Spinners Aire Valley DK. I have a project planned for this so you'll just gave to wait and see what it becomes. It's a gorgeous yarn shop, in a beautiful location with a great range of yarns. Definitley worth a visit! 

Yarnbombing

I just love yarnbombing! It is a great way to bring joy, colour and of course yarn to the wider World and, quite frankly, is cool.

As I've been browsing Pinterest (I spend way too much time on there) I've found lots of images of yarnbombing and have narrowed them down to my 5 favourites.

One of the most infamous Guerilla Knitting groups is Knit the City. Their yarn bombed phone box is awesome.

During the 2012 Olympic Games, a mystery knitter produced this fantastic yarnbombing in Saltburn-by-the-Sea. 

These pretty flowers attached to fencing really brighten up the area.

What can I say about these yarn bombed steps in Finland? The cathedral steps where covered in 7800 crocheted blankets which where then donated to shelters. 

And finally, I couldn't resist this Tardis post! 

WHY YARNBOMBING?

There is a reason I've become slightly obsessed with yarnbombing. I've been asked to organise some for the upcoming Christmas Artisan Market taking place in Wigan in December. Of course, I jumped at the chance when asked and have already started to get community groups involved as I'd like it to be a real 'people's art' installation. Being a practical crafter, I couldn't just yarnbomb then take it down so I've been in touch with local homeless charity, The Brick, and all large pieces will be washed and turned into blankets and scarves while garlands and decorations will be used to decorate the room where the Christmas meal is served. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP?

I'm looking for lots of help to not only make the yarnbombing eye catching and a real spectacle but also to ensure that there are plenty if pieces to donate to The Brick at the end of it all.  

I need:

Garlands off pom poms, stars and other Christmas themed items approximately 1m long

Large rectangles measuring approximately 1m x 50cm and 1m x 30cm

Any other festive items to attach to the top of bollards and hang from trees.

Donations can be sent to myself - email me at thegingerbreadbunny@hotmail.co.uk for my postal address.

5KCBWDAY5 - Something a Bit Different

It's that time of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week again - time to produce a post a little bit differently to what I would normally do.  Last year I made a Vlog (Video Blog) which you can check out here.  This year I'm going for a post that is mainly photographs.

On Wednesday I took photographs of my day to share with you all.  I've included a short caption with each so that you know what it is of and how it relates to my day.

A Day in the Life of Me

Starting the day tutoring (and eating my breakfast!) 

A quick stop on the way home for supplies.

Beans on toast for dinner.

Time for a spot of fabric and yarn dyeing

Uneven dyeing some vegetable threads for my felt course

Drying on the line - you'll have to wait and see what they are for.

The Peace Silk really absorbed the colour.

Time for a bit of crochet - working on a mesh shopping bag in cotton .....

.....and a cup of green tea to go with it.

Stopping to see the cows on my way to tutoring in the afternoon.

Look at the pretty flowers.

Doing a bit of spelling.  Some interesting words with the 'ee' sound.

Time to relax with a spot of knitting.

Finally, time to make my list for tomorrow in my Bullet Journal before going to sleep.

5KCBWDAY1 A Day in The Life

The 5th Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week begins today!  I can't believe I nearly missed it but luckily, I spotted a few posts on Twitter this morning.  It is a week of blogging from knitters and crocheters and a chance for bloggers to explore different ways of blogging.  I've read all the post themes and can promise that this years themes are as fantastic as ever!  If you want to join in the take a peek at the wonderful Eskimimi Makes blog or, if you just want to read the posts, search for the post tags below!

5KCBWDAY1 - A Day In The Life

Describe a day in the life of a project that you have made, or are in the process of making.

I am Sarah's current WIP (work in progress), the Big Shrug by Debbie Bliss (isn't she just the most awesome designer?).  I'm being knitted, yes you heard me correctly, in yarn the colour of boiled sweets; there's pink, blue, green, yellow, orange and purple in me and I am just the prettiest and funkiest shrug you have ever seen.  The fabulous guys at Sirdar made me - thanks boys ;-)  

Here I am when I was just a tiny knitling.  You can see what I'm going to be when I grow up!

 

 

My knitting needles where a bit shocked when Sarah picked them up to cast me on.  They'd been sitting on top of the shelf for so long that they had nearly forgotten how to knit but luckily, there was just enough memory left in them to get started and now they know just what they're doing.

Aren't I pretty?  I'm just the most delicious colours.

Since being cast on a few weeks ago, I have been lovingly worked on nearly every day and now measure nearly 30cm (haven't I grown so quickly!)  
Hopefully, she will keep up the regular knitting with me and I won't just get cast to one side like some of her other projects (I've heard the PHD pile whispering - there's a very unhappy Lego blanket plotting terrible things in there).

Haven't I grown so much since I was cast on?

Whilst I have the chance, I'd just like to make a plea to Sarah - please, please, please can I have a pretty project bag to live in?  At the moment I'm just shoved in a basket and I'm concerned that my pretty stitches are going to get damaged.  Things are  always getting spilt around here and I do not want to go the same way as the white cotton notebook cover that got Iron Bru spilt on it - RIP little white cover.  Also, I've seen the way the black bunny hops around chewing paper and dragging things around.  I don't want that to happen to me, I'm so pretty.

Look at how she keeps me?  I deserve a project bag - maybe I'll start a petition?

I've loved talking to you all and, once I'm finished and off the needles, I'll pop back on to chat to you all again - I might even give you a twirl so you can admire my pretty colours and stitches!   


Speak soon!

Lots of love

The Boiled Sweet Shrug xxx

Yarndale 2013

Just over a week ago, me and Mr Bunny headed over the Pennines to the beautiful market town of Skipton for a new yarn festival - Yarndale.
The festival took place over 2 days and we attended on the Sunday. A few friends of mine went on the Saturday which was super busy. The Sunday was much quieter and pleasant (although when we left it was starting to get busier).
There was a great range of stalls, from yarn, notions and buttons to handmade items such as felt bags and delicate shawls.
The whole venue had been decorated beautifully with various knitted and crocheted delights such as bunting and flowers.  I loved the crocheted houses in the knit and natter area, which was a snug place to sit and have a little rest from shopping. If you check out the Attic 24 blog, you can see photos of the amazing yarnbombing which took place in Skipton (we didn't get chance to see this).
Needless to say, I did purchase a few goodies! A bought a gorgeous handmade project bag from Daisy Bun Boo Designs made from beautiful bunny print fabric, some.angora yarn from Bigwigs Angora  and a small skien of Blue Faced Leicester yarn from Laal Bear amongst other things (take a peek at the photo below to see some of the other goodies I bought!)

I met the lovely Knit.Spin.Cake on Daisy Bun Boo Designs  with her equally lovely mum as well as some alpacas and angora bunnies.
I would have liked to have seen more animals and I know, that for some people, parking was an issue. But, for a festival in it's first year, I felt it was well organised, in a brilliant location and offered lots of goodies for lovers of all things woolly. I`ll definitely be back next year!

Happy 'belated' Christmas Everyone!

It has been quite some time since I last posted - you'll be pleased to know that one of my New Year's Resolutions is to make my blogging more regular but I'll save that for a future post!

Christmas has been and gone and I hope yours was filled with crafty gifts, fun and love.  I had a lovely Christmas spent with Mr Bunny and Grandma Bunny (my Mum - she considers herself the creatures Grandma!!).  I received some lovely handmade goodies including a hand made Gingerbread Bunny as a Secret Santa gift and some crochet mitts and bracelet from my mum.  Mr Bunny bought me Kirsties Vintage Home (yay) and some pink sparkly yarn, a needle case and a whole box of goddies from Felted Fancies Supplies full of ribbon and buttons. 

I handmade a few goodies this year, although not as many as last year.  Inspired by Attic 24 and Julia Crossland, I crocheted a mini wreath for my aunty to go in her new house.  I loved making it and the colours look so cool with all the 'bits'. I'm planning on making one for my house to that can stay up all year round. 

Crochet Wreath

I knitted - yes knitted - a scarf for my goddaughter in some amazing pom-pom yarn I found and felted a knitting needle roll for my best friend, Shinybees. 

'Baaaa'

Who doesn't want a scarf covered in pom poms??

I made fruit and nut cupcakes for my brother and sister in-laws, decorated with marzipan, icing and some little sugar decorations.  They were a great gift to make and looked really cool all boxed up and wrapped with ribbon.

No event is complete without cake

I also gifted quite a few crafty supplies to inspire and get more people crafting - yarn and knitting needles for my mum and wooden spoon people kits for the children.

All in all, my Christmas has been lovely and crafty.  How crafty was yours? What was your favourite gift?

What happened to summer?

Well, summer has disappeared - did it ever really arrive? Despite the odd sunny day, it has pretty much rained and been miserable and now it is pretty chilly to! For some this is bad news but for us knitters and crocheters it means we can finally get on with cowls, scarfs, jumpers and cardigans in smooshy yarns without worrying about overheating (like that was ever a problem!)

I have a queue as long as my arm of items I want to make and I still have my Pax shawl and Fresh Stitches Dragon to finish before I even start something else! I have yarn and patterns ready to go once they are finished - my stash is pretty large at the moment and keeps getting larger!

Now that autumn has arrived, I also have the start of my City and Guilds felting course this weekend (squeal!) and I have enrolled on a 6 week dressmaking course at night school starting in September. Add to this lots if making to sell at a belly dance event and I'm a pretty busy person - will I find time to make for me?

So, eventhough summer has gone, autumn is the season of the knitter and crocheter and it is time to dig deep in your stash and get working on that sweater that's been in your Ravelry queue for ages!

(below is a picture to remind you of the summer - it was taken on my birthday way back in June when it was warm enough to eat ice-cream)

Off the Needles - Doggy Blanket

This is the first in what is going to be a long line of posts about items, of many different crafty natures, that I have finished.  I have borrowed the Knitmore Girls term 'off the needles' as I think it is fab!  I am aware that as late I have not been too 'on the ball' about updating my blog and so here I am remedying that.


The first item I want to share is my most recent completed project - the doggy blanket for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.  I have been knitting this as park of the KAL hosted by Plutoniummuffin.  I finished it last week and hopefully it has arrived or will do in the next few days.  The pattern was very easy to follow and I just love the little raised paw prints you get - so cute.

This is the first 'non-scarf' project I have made and I really enjoyed the knitting part.  Sewing 25 squares together and weaving in the ends - not so much but I kept going because it was for the doggys!

If you want to know more about the blanket and how you can knit your own blanket for BDCH click here for the blogpost!

Doggy Blankets

On Sunday I answered a plea.  A plea for help.  A plea for support.  This plea came from the lovely Plutoniummuffin who wanted kind knitters to join her in knitting blankets for the abandoned and mis-treated dogs rescued by Battersea Cats and Dogs Home in London.  This was a plea that, as an animal lover and supporter of animal rescue charities, I had to answer.

Some of the dogs who arrive at BCDH find kennel life stressful, may be ill or need an operation and are taken in by foster carers whilst they recover. The blanket is part of a 'doggy bag' which they take to their foster home to comfort them and then, when they are rehomed, they take this with them to ease the transition - what an amazing idea. 

I have been meaning to do for a while, and I downloaded the pattern a few months ago, but never got round to starting it.  This was the kick up the bum I needed to get it done and so I replied and joined the Knit A-Long (KAL).

Plutoniummuffin was very excited and you can see her reaction here on her blog. 

I chose my yarn, DK acrylic, in purple, lilac, royal blue, turquoise and yellow and retrieved my funky purple 4mm needles and started knitting those squares. 

The pattern, written by the wonderful Deadly Knitshade of 'The Scarf of Doom' fame, is entertaining (as always) and very easy to follow.  I have completed 5 squares so far in royal blue and I love the patterns for the paw prints - so cute! 

There is still time to join the KAL and to show your support for the dogs at Battersea Cats and Dogs Home (they are always wanting blankets so even if you can't join us now, you could add it to your queue for a future date!)  Links to the pattern, Plutoniummuffin and the Ravelry group are below.  What are you waiting for?  Get knitting!

Plutoniummuffin Blog,
@plutoniummuffinTwitter
Battersea Cats and Dogs Home
Blanket pattern on BCDH website
Blanket Pattern on Ravelry
Ravelry Knit A-Long Group

Scarfgate, the Scarf of Doom and a knitting revolution.

Bagpuss and his Scarf of Doom

As you are probably already aware, I love making.  I enjoy a whole array of crafts from crochet to art journaling, sewing and knitting.  Most of these, if not all, are self taught from books, the internet and the wonderful world of You Tube.  This is the beauty of craft - you can have a go and teach yourself.  Workshops can be really expensive and, quite often, not in the area you live meaning that attending these have to be chosen very carefully.  Sometimes this means you might not quite get the technique quite the way the book or video intended or you adapt patterns and substitue yarn and materials to suit yourself.  But really, does it matter? 

Apparently so, as I found out last week.  A few weeks ago Deadly Knitshade, guerilla knitter, yarnbomber and all round fabulous creative gal, appeared on BBC News early one Saturday morning to talk about knitting, it's rise in popularity and the relaxing, de-stressing benefits of taking up such a craft.  Sporting a stripey scarf (and Cooey the Pigeon), she sat knitting a stipey scarf, henceforth to be known as the Scarf of Doom, on massive needles in very cool bright colours whilst talking and being filmed and being watched by millions of viewers across the World (no pressure there then).  I have watched the video of this (check it out here) and was pretty impressed - what a great way to promote knitting to a wider audience and show how it is for everyone, not just knitting ninja nannas! 

But all was not well in the knitting world.  Some people did not approve of her appearance and weren't afraid to share their views with the wider World. Imagine my shock when on the Facebook page of a well known local yarn store to me, appeared the video followed by lots of derogatory comments about Deadly Knitshade's tension, technique, choice of yarn, choice of needles, choice of pattern!  Some of these comments where rather nasty and very personal and, as I follow Deadly Knitshade on Twitter, she began to post links to other Facebook pages of well know yarn brands where other people had also posted nasty comments about her appearance and, in some cases, the owners of the pages had added comments to.  Since Scarfgate began, these posts have been removed although I've yet to see them post a public appology on their own page - we still saw it and we haven't forgotten it.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are patterns that I have seen that I don't particularly like or I would never make but, someone designed it and someone somewhere will be making it because they like it.  That doesn't mean I need to publicly comment on it, does it?  But it seems that as this event had taken place on live television, anyone could say what they liked regardless of the feelings of the person that made it.  I wasn't aware that, as crafters, we were being 'watched' and 'judged' by the knitting/crochet/sewing police?! That someone, somewhere was making notes on what I was making, in what yarn and using which techniques - and they better not be as my needles may well be sharper than theres!  (If you haven't already gathered, I am just a teensy bit angry)

Being the tough cookie that she is, Deadly Knitshade has not sat in the corner and wept, she has started a revolution of the knitting kind!  I sent my tweet of support to her when Scarfgate kicked off, as did many of my fellow good natured knitters and crafters.  Last week, she released the free pattern of the Scarf of Doom (as seen on BBC News) so that we could join in the knitting revolution ~ I recommend downloading the pattern from Ravelry here as just reading it is thought provoking and entertaining.  The purpose of knitting the Scarf of Doom is to show your support for Deadly Knitshade and to show that you believe that we, as knitters and crafters, are free to make whatever we want using whatever materials we want and whatever techniques we choose. 

Last night I knitted my very own Scarf of Doom using acrylic yarn from my stash in the brightest colours I could find using 9mm needless.  I ran out of white yarn so I cast off, added some tassles and decided that it would be perfect for Bagpuss (my car cat!)  Bagpuss is overjoyed to receive this beautiful, creative, handmade gift and will be wearing it with pride as he sits on the parcel shelf of my car, showing everyone that we support freedom for knitters and crafters everywhere. 



Bagpuss supporting the knitting revolution

So, what are you waiting for?  Get to Ravelry, get the pattern downloaded and show you support for the freedom of knitters everywhere.  Join the knitting revolution!  Power to the purly people!

You can follow Deadly Knitshade on Facebook, Twitter and through the Stitch London group on Ravelry. 
 

The Wonder of Wool @ Rheged

Some time late last year, I was on one of my many visits to the beautiful Lake District and once again visited Rheged at Penrith. Rheged is a wonderful place with shops, cafes, a 3D cinema and a gallery.  It regularly holds exhibitions and other exciting events, including vintage and craft fairs, and is well worth a visit.  On my visit I saw a poster for an exhibition, Wonder of Wool and the art of knit and stitch, and made a mental note to return to see it!

So, today was that day!  Teamed with an overnight stay in a country inn last night (and a few cheeky drinks), me and Mr Bunny ventured up the M6 to Rheged to visit this exhibition - and we were not disappointed.

The exhibition is located on the fourth floor in The Gallery and 'manned' by helpful, friendly and informative staff.  As well as paying the £2.50 entrance fee (well worth it in my opinion) I also purchased a small catalogue for £1.50 which contains information about the various exhibits and their artists.  This has been personally hand bound in Herdwick wool by Marion Woolcott (founder member of The Woolclip) and there are only 500 of them (I have number 81!)

The exhibition was wonderful and I really enjoyed wandering around, at my own leisurley pace, taking in all the pieces, reading my booklet and generally enjoying myself.  The pieces are varied and, like all art, some I liked more than others! There are exhibits to look at, some to listen to and a few interactive areas.  There is also a small shop selling handmade items, books, yarn and kits. 

Rather than discussing every single piece with you, I will share my best bits and Mr Bunny's best bits!

My Best Bits!
I found every piece interesting in it's own way.  I particularly liked the knitted BMW engine, a collaboration between the artist Amy Twigger Holroyd, BMW apprentices and pupils at Coleshill Primary School.  It was very detailed and made fromn some rather pretty sparkly wool!  There was also a piece that was made from pieces of knitting patchworked together which I really liked (although I can't remember the artist's name).  I am really inspired by this to make a knitted or crocheted patchwork item from all the left over bits of yarn I have!

Mr Bunny's Best Bits!
Now then, at this point it is important to tell you that Mr Bunny has very little interest in textile art.  He is supportive of my interest and often accompanies me to such events as this one with very little fuss (although I have to pay!)  He enjoyed the exhibition and really liked Freddie Robins' Knitted Homes of Crime, knitted houses of the homes of female criminals, Max Alexander's knitted animations and the Flock.  He has instructed me to download templates as he now wants to make some pom-pom sheep to contribute to the Flock (check out the project here) - I am sure there is a future blog post here!

If you, like me, are interested in textile art, be it knitting, crochet, felting and stitching, then a visit to WOW is a must.  The exhibition runs until the 15th April 2012 and, if you check out the website here, there are other events, including drop in workshops, running alongside it.