Confessions.

I did no work last week. Well, I did on Friday. Catching up on a whole week's work in a day is not recommended but I did it! And...

I finished the dress!!!! Lots of you have seen it on facebook (130 likes and counting!). Here it is:

 

PHWOOOOOOAR!

I realised when I took it off her that I'd put it on her back to front so there were literally no boobs to fill it out. Suffice to say it look quite a bit different on my body. I'll see if I can get boyf to take a photo on Sunday.  (I did - they're later on...)

I've had lots of questions about it and I think most are answered in the last post but I'll sum up here and then I want to talk about how I sort colours. With lots of photos. 

1). Can I make one? 

YES! Please do. I will write a rough pattern/recipe/guide at some point but it's really very simple and I talked a bit about it in the last post starting in the second paragraph after the first close up-y photo. 

2). Can I make a pregnancy version?

YES! Please do. Do that same stuff as before but do lots of increasing where you need it. Vezza has taught me that all pregnant ladies carry weight in different ways so you might need to do lots of increasing at the front or half and half at the front and back (I sincerely doubt you'd need to do more at the back than the front for pregnancy. Please consult midwife if this is the case). Photos when you've done please?

3). Where did you get your yarn?

Again, all in the last post. People give me stuff to pass on to various charities/good causes. I rootle through (if they've specifically told me I can) and snaffle any mohair and Noro ( < 3 ). I've got a bit more picky over the years but I've been stashing mohair fairly seriously for about five years and I have quite a collection. :)

3a). Can I recommend a yarn from the shop?

Difficult. I think part of the reason that this works is the fuzzy mohair allows the colours to blend a little easier. I used a 6mm hook so my natural reaction is the Cygnet Chunky perhaps mixed with the Cygnet Grousemoor Chunky to get a bigger colour range. But then I think about the stiffness and my heart leaps for joy at the Cygnet Superwash DK. What I wouldn't give to have a colour progression dress in that. Next project? Well, I've started two already today so maybe I'll finish some first.

4). Will you be able to cope with the mohair?

No idea. Literally. I was born in 1988 (it makes me sick that there are contestants on X Factor born in 1996. Seriously?!) so I missed that whole shebang. But. But. But. When I first started knitting I was slightly sensitive to wool - just a bit itchy, not scaly or weeping (hurl) - and when I got to be a knitter I decided that I'd just have to cope and now I can wear anything. I'm not suggesting that everybody can do this btw, there are many genuine allergies and there are also many people who don't like wool enough to work through the pain/irritation and I am not judging. It was good for me though. I'm assuming that there were people who could work through the mohair in the 80's so I'm going to be one of those people in the 2010's. Hard-headed? Me?!? Did I tell you about the time I taught myself to literally love brussels sprouts? MMMMMMMM. Christmas dinner. 

5). Tell me more about the colours.

Oh, if you insist. :)

So. Take this pile of nothing:

 

Take one of each and put it in a pile. Preferably on an atrocious floor: 

Start splitting the colours into colour groups/light and dark: 

It only has to be very rough for my kind of progression... Pick where you want to start and then start placing:

 

 Wow! What an atrocious photo! But you get the idea. I started at black, grey/blue was the obvious next choice because it's dark. The Riot, with it's teal/green stripe led nicely into green - dark blue-y green first, then lighter and yellower until the limey colour which sits quite nicely with the gold. Obviously, the lemon comes next and then I consciously thought of the next colour, the pink. I had in my head those Fruit Salad sweets:

Which, for me, is just the most delicious combo of colours. I could have gone to creams which would have led nicely into whites, blues, purples, pinks then reds for my money. But I didn't, I wanted Fruit Salads. So, back to the photo: 

 

Yellows to pinks to reds. Yeah? The row underneath is what I couldn't fit in. And sometimes you just can't fit things in and sometimes, just sometimes, you need to fit a colour in (if you've fallen in love for example) so shove it somewhere. Either where it'll stand out (put the blue in with the pink for example) or the place where it'll least stick out, like so: 

That's what I ended up with. Notice that I moved the grey and black around. Black to purple is a bit of a jump but in the general fracas that a progression in these colours would be, it'll all work out. :)

I kind of feel like this is a bit of a non-post because it comes so naturally to me. I struggle more when I only have a few more colours because if you're working with more than say, seven colours then you do have some leeway. Things settle themselves down when put next to other colours which means that you can add in some neons or ridiculous colours.

**Interrupting - that reminds me: LOOK WHAT I JUST PUT ON ORDER!

 IT'S NEON SOCK YARN. NEON SOCK YARN. Neon sock yarn. NEON SOCK YARN!!!

Interruption over.**

I think I promised somewhere upstream that I'd show you the photos of my wearing the dress. Bear in mind that we'd been to the orchestra so naturally I was drunk and boyf isn't a natural photographer and I'm not a natural model... 

 

 I'm really super pleased with it! I didn't need the belt with it but somehow, with the red shoes, I felt it toned down the outfit a bit and in my head fluff = inches but actually, it's pretty form fitting with my drastic decreases:

So I think I'll wear it without in the future.

I was also dead worried that it would be too hot and too itchy. I think the too hot think makes sweatiness which is what makes the itchiness. But, it wasn't too hot and therefore it wasn't too itchy! In fact, I was a perfect temperature all night. I didn't wear anything underneath it apart from bra and leggings which come up pretty high. Maybe I just have a high level of unitchiness or maybe it's the combo between the fairly expensive stuff (some of it was lambswool and angora rather than mohair...) being near the top and I made sure that the really horrid stuff (the lemon-y yellow if you must know) was well in the legging area. The fluff did get everywhere, boyf wore black trousers and a dark purple shirt and looked like a right tit but I looked brill so that doesn't matter does it? :)

Also! I got a compliment in the loo. Which makes it all worthwhile.

It's in the wash now. And it doesn't dry quick  - I thought it might seeing as it's pretty loosely knit but nah, two days it took. So the next time I'll wear it will be knit club next Tuesday because the girls kept telling me it was 'interesting colours'. Which means terrible colours. Feel free to abuse them. I do.

So, I've managed to get two whole posts about a project that took literally two days and involves nothing from the shop. You wouldn't want a lyso who wasn't dead excited about this sort of thing though would you? I think that's why we won the best yarn shop in the Midlands (and, as I keep saying, the Midlands is the best place in the UK and the UK is the best place in the world and the world is the best place in the universe and obviously, a yarn shop is the best shop ever and therefore we are the. best. shop. in. the. universe. Logic? I gots it.).

I'm off to cash up and get home. I have a commission to finish this week. Or else. It's been going on for a long time. If you've been into the shop recently you know what it is. Fml.

Love. xxx

Catchup Catchup

Today I have caught up with something that I've been meaning to catch up on since before the birthday party!

I have got a load of patterns on the internet! It's taken all day! All day! Not every sentence has to end with an explanation mark!

Not every pattern is on there to be fair because in the time between us getting the patterns and me getting them on here we've sold out of some of them so I've made sure to only put the ones that we actually have in the shop on there and please be aware that the Ultimate Super Chunky and the Country Tweed are both running loooooow. We will get them both in but bear with me. The Amy Singer thing, paying off the credit card and the bus for Yarndale has left our cashflow in a bit of a state. Slowly clawing our way back to something more comfortable though (and you can help by buying... ;) ).

Anyway. Click here to get to all the new patterns. Appreciate the beauty - there are some stunners.

And have you noticed that the website has been looking a lot like this for a lot longer than it should?

 

Not anymore!!!!

And I've taken all the Vote For Us buttons off and Amy Singer buttons off.

I was about to do that on the blog too but then I bloody ruined the internet didn't I!? So I'm half way through writing all the good stuff I've done and I'm going to go and be superwoman again. Rest assured I've actually done some work today and tomorrow I might do even more! Imagine!

Love Eleanor. xxxxx

Mohair: A Love Story.

So, you know how every blog post from the last like two months has basically been me having a heart attack or reviewing the last three days and then saying I've got to get off quick because I've got more stuff to have a heart attack about. Well. Not today! Today is a day for me. I have stuff to do, sure:

• Photocopying and scanning a few bits for accounts. 
• Writing a blog post for an exciting new website - I'm going to be a regular. 
• Chasing up a payment and working out how I'm going to do the next bit of work for a customer.
• Putting some patterns on the internet (that I promised you months ago...). 
• Sorting out some internet orders and changing the status to 'delivered' on some workshops that have passed. 
• Changing the window (but I've forgotten the all important certificate that will be the star of the show...). 

And a few bits that I'm sure I'm missing. But right now I want to talk about being a local celebrity and pillar of the community and all round good egg which is why I get FREE TICKETS to things. Mwahahahaha! Although, I haven't actually got them in my greasy mitts and until that time I am technically ticketless until proven ticketful.

I'm going to see the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Concert Hall on Sunday and I'm most excited!

 

What a man! What hair! 

We've got the poster in our shop and I always take posters for things like that because it fills up the space that would otherwise be taken by inappropriate acts (although I'm often saying 'nah' to posters with naked female wrestlers... Really? You think this is the shop for you?). Occasionally they give me free things.

I went last year to one of these things, on my own, and really enjoyed it! It was the first classical concert that I'd chosen to go to and I felt kind of posh apart from I had loads of bags for the internet orders and getting there on time after closing the shop meant I was sweaty and horrid. Everybody else was dressed up and less stressed. Also, I didn't realise how quiet it would be so the sock project I took to work on was too loud which meant I actually had to sit still and listen to something for once... This time I'm taking the boyf and it's after a lesson so I'll be finished by four and I'll be crocheting  - no clacketty clacks for me!

So, yesterday, when I'd confirmed with the nice man about the tickets I decided I needed a new dress. What I absolutely don't need is a new bloody project but we don't need to talk about that do we... I've more than likely talked to you about this if you've ever been in the shop because I'm finally working on my MOHAIR DRESS!

I've been collecting bits of mohair from friends' and customers' destashes for a looooooong time. I tend to think that it's not a good yarn for teach knitting or crochet with and it's not good for the average charity knit so I don't feel too bad about yoinking little bits (also, mostly, people tell me that I'm to look through to find stuff for myself first and then do what I will with the rest). I've amassed a collection that looks like somebody barfed the 80's in my stash and over the last three years or so I've occasionally got it all out to stroke and love. King Cole have a bloody marvelous book that has a mohair dress in it:

 

Available at the Best Yarn Shop in the Midlands. Ha. 

I fell in love with that dress at first sight but the size falls a good 10 inches too small for me and whilst I could sort it pretty easily sometimes I just don't have the drive. (I hope you're listening King Cole, and all other yarn manufacturers, sometimes fat people don't have the drive (or knowledge) to rework patterns so they give up with that pattern and get their stuff elsewhere. Whilst you're listening to that, have a think about how much more yarn I have to buy to cover my fat bum. Fat Fact.). So, I fell in love with the dress - the sleeves, the skirt, the mohair, the stiffness, the pose of the model and I knew I had to have it. But natch, I don't want such a boring colour and to be honest the only colour I have enough of is this:

and it's totes not my thing... 

But. Colour progression and stripes are my thing! So I got together all of my mohair, discarded (for a future project) the blacks, blues, minty greens and bluey-purples and made a little progression on my floor.

Looking at that and wishing that I had some sort of photographic sensibilities like Attic 24. Nah. Not me. Shove it all down, get a photo, get crocheting. That's my motto!

The colours are slightly 'off'. Which I did a little bit on purpose - one of my first memories of Dee is her telling me that the shelves don't have to be perfectly colour-ordered because something that looks wrong will draw the eye to it - I'm using that to my advantage at the bust/waist (boom!) and because there were some colours that just didn't work but I couldn't not have them because I luuuuuuuurve them (looking at you bright sunshine orange and grassy-forest green) and it's already a bit mental being a mohair dress on a fat girl with 15 or so colours so what the heck? :)

I decided on crochet because it's quick, less maths-y and I had the right size hook rather than needles to hand (I'm sure I've told you before how lazy I am...). I started with a chain that I thought was about right, did a row of dc's and then joined in the round hoping that the little bit of work would prevent a twist. It didn't. That's life. Then I did a bit of increasing and then I changed to a bigger hook which means that there's a slight bagginess to the top bit but it's okay because I have boobs.

I've added a bit of waist shaping this time because I want the skirt to be a-line and I think that'll give it the best chance of showcasing that and also because mohair, chunky-ish stuff isn't a thick-waisted girl's natural homeland so shaping will be my ally. After I've got past my waist I'll do some increasing, probably four stitches per round (but not lined up because I do want this to be mindless) and see where that gets me...

I'm doing the sleeves at the same time because I've only got little bits of some of the colours and I want the sleeves to roughly match the dress. So I do a bit of the body, making sure I still have some of all of the colours then I do one sleeve and then the other. The beauty of the mohair and crochet is that there's only one loop to lose and because it's mohair it's pretty much impossible to lose the loop. So I just leave the loops a-hanging and pick them up when I want.

I promise I will talk more about how to make this sweater - perhaps even write some sort of pattern - because it's ridiculously easy, it came out of my head and this is the third time that I've done it and if this works then I think I've hit some sort of jackpot for a sweater that only takes a few days and literally no brain cells. I suspect it may suit my body shape and not a great many other people's because it always ends up with a wide neck and the increasing is quite severe so you do need a good rack but it's a beaut and I don't want to keep it to myself.


So, I'm going to catch up with the Ottomans and do some of the dress, then do the first two bullet points, then a bit more dress, then a few bullet points etc. etc. What a day! What a relief! What a bloody lovely life!

Love Eleanor. xx


One last bit of mohair porn:

Phwoooooooooar! Look at that fuzz! :)

Knitting And Stitching and WINNING!

[Written yesterday but my computer went wappy...]

So I'm sat in bed. It's my day off. I've got to get up and do something but this first proper day off for weeks so this is like heaven on earth. I'll do something useful and then watch lots of Iplayer stuff without feeling guilty. :)

In case you didn't know - we're officially the best yarn shop in the Midlands. THANKS! It's all down to you lot voting for us in Let's Knit and Let's Get Crafting and we're mighty pleased and proud. They invited us down to London to collect our certificate and enjoy free entry into the Knitting and Stitching Show. I wasn't going to go because it was too much money and too much stress and I don't really like London but lovely Lynsey persuaded me that it was cheap (£10 each way), lovely Jazz helped me work out the underground and buses and lovely Verity escorted me. Good customers!

We got on the train at half past 11. Gossip, gossip, gossip, some spinning and some crochet:

We got into St. Pancras at about half one I think. The times are melding into one. 

St Pancras is amazing isn't it?! I felt like a right tourist and Verity kept laughing at me. She's much more worldly wise but I've never been to London without a grownup. Ha. Maybe this makes me a proper adult now?

 

Verity was impressed by some of the artwork:

(She actually said that this statue of a woman checking her phone whilst giving a man a hug was a metaphor for modern life. Deep.)

And the best bit was all the bloody pianos all over the place! Literally just hanging around waiting for people to play. Is that weird or is it just me!??!

We caught the underground successfully: 

We caught the bus successfully (no picture of that. Until later. Because apparently I've never seen a bus before...). We got off at the slightly wrong stop and caught a buggy that was for disabled people... Nice man. 

Outside of the main entrance was this lovely cab. LOOK! 

I heard the lady speak to somebody and apparently it's about getting kids to knit, which is not really my thing folks but a noble idea. And a bloody wonderful cab!!! 

Inside was pretty overwhelming so we ate some cake. Natch. 

And then we went shopping. I bought some fibre, a Tunisian crochet hook, some little £1 skeins of silk and two balls of the most delicious sparkly but subtle stuff for Vezza's baby. Verity bought this: 

I upset a lady that Vezza was buying from by being shocked at the price of some of their needles. Honestly, a fair few of my customers have trouble with paying £6.50 for needles and she was selling some for nigh on £30! Seriously, what on earth were they made from? Ogre bones. I don't believe that's necessary at all, imho... 

And then we went in to the awards bit. I think we were both most excited about this bit but if I'm honest it was a little underwhelming... We each got a glass of sparkly wine and a goody bag which was brill. I got the certificate, had my photo taken and a little interview and then we sort of stood around being a bit awkward. Everybody else seemed to know eachother and there were celebrities there like the bloke from Iknit: 

And Debbie Bliss. Although, I don't think that was the lady I thought it was. I really liked the look of these two ladies: 

But I'd have felt a right tit going up to speak to them. They looked as awkward as we did though. Ha. 

Me and Vezza had a rootle through the goodie bags: 

And made our excuses to leave. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm mega grateful to receive the award and be given the chance to travel to London to collect it but I hate feeling like an outsider (not that anybody was horrid, they just knew each other). It's most of the reason that I don't do law and it's the entire reason why our shop's like it is. Maybe next year will be better? If we win of course... Ha. 

So, by this time we were majorly tired so we collected our many, many bags together: 

And headed back to the bus: 

Appreciating Alexandra Palace on the way. Beautiful place. 

We'd gone for the cheapest tickets we could so we had a good few hours to wait for the train and we'd already decided to have some dinner. We had a look at a few menus, serious London prices. How much do these bankers earn!? We settled on Carluccio's which, being the pleb that I am, is probably at the upper end of what I'd like to spend on a meal out and it was delicious. I had pasta, Vezza had chicken and it was all finished up with this: 

Which came from this: 

And ended up like this: 

Seriously the best thing that's ever happened to me. I would have licked my bowl were we not in London...

 By this time we were suuuuuuuuper tired and St Pancras is bloody cold. We were both relieved to get on the train and be heading home. I'd brought five projects with me and at that point had worked on precisely two. So I decided to give some time to the linen that I bought at Yarndale and I'm pretty happy with the consequences even if it's really bloody hard to take a photo on a moving train... 

And that was our day out in London. I am most excited to be going back to the shop tomorrow. I have shop stuff to do like changing a window, getting some patterns on the internet, speaking to my customers and appreciating the Mansfield Road drunks. It's going to be brill.

Thanks again for voting for us it's bee amazeballs!

Love Eleanor. xxxxx

P.s. I haven't done any of that stuff but the shop is fuller than it was an is an acceptable state of untidy in a way that it hasn't been for weeks. So glad to be back. :)

The Week that Amy Came to Stay. :)

WHAT A WEEK! WHAT A BLOODY WEEK! It's been the best ever! :)

I can't quite get over this week. It's been full of cold, stress, laughter, food, booze, spinning and quite a lot of knitting. I'll start from the beginning. This will almost certainly be a long one so settle in folks.

30th of May 2013.  That's when I first introduced you to the idea. We got a MASSIVE response - tweets, facebooks, comments, phone calls, e-mails. Loads! So we knew we had to do it. As always, the stress went up and down - finding and booking a place was a bit bad but we ended up with the Belgrave Rooms and I was impressed with them. Once we found the place and booked Amy, the stress levels went down and then...

Promotion. That was difficult for me. If you've ever been to the shop you'll know I'm not much of a salesperson. I hate to force people into things but I knew this would be amazing for loads of my customers. We did lots on facebook and here and June got busy on Ravelry but we also sent out press releases to the knitting and crochet magazines, the local press and the national press (the FT didn't get back to us...). I rang and e-mailed people directly. The lovely folk at Creative Nottingham featured us. It was all a bit of a whirlwind!

Then we went to Yarndale, which was a stress in itself and I caught a horrendous cold. I kinda knew it was coming but being in the vicinity of that many people for that length of time meant that it was inevitable. By the time Amy came on Wednesday I thought I might be dying. I went for lunch with the fella which was nice and calm and then he dropped me off at the train station where I found out that I could actually go down onto the platform. I think I thought I was going to meet her at the main entrance. But then of course there isn't much of a main entrance anyway. Luckily, she'd forwarded the exact times that she was going to be in which meant that I knew she was coming on the Skegness train - no way I would have worked that out (me and June have decided that my geographical knowledge extends to Wollaton and old lady seaside towns < 3). So I got down onto the platform, worried myself to death when loads of people got off the train that I thought it was and then breathed a sigh of relief when Amy ambled off last. Two massive suitcases and a stinking cold. She told me she didn't want to speak to much and I worried that she hated me (a constant internal monologue). We took a taxi to the hotel and then I left her to it.

In the morning she was teaching Making the Next Monkey about how to present your work for publication as a knitting designer. We'd arranged to meet at the hotel lobby between 9 and 9.15 (I didn't want to get specific with the state of my buses). I got there around 5 past 9 and waited around. At 25 past I started to worry. Got them to ring Amy's room but the phone was off the hook (found out later that it was actually broken) and that caused a minor heart attack. I went out for a cigarette and the lovely bloke on reception came out to tell me that she'd left her keys in the drawer which meant that she was somewhere. in. Nottingham. Without me. I tried to ring June, she wasn't answering. I manically text Verity, she was answering. I ran (and much as my wheezy, yucky chest would allow) to the Belgrave Rooms. Told the two students who were there that we'd lost Amy. Sat down and nearly cried. Then one of those students calmly told me that she was already in there. I nearly died. So I went into the teaching room and Amy was like 'well, I've been texting you all morning'. Uhhhhhh. I genuinely thought that I might have been texting her back without knowing. That's how stresssed, ill and drugged up I was. Turns out - one number wrong and you can be texting a random student who has a friend called Amy whose plan for the day pretty much matches exactly with yours. HA!

June was doing the lesson so I headed off back to the shop. Sat down and watched the Great British Bake Off. Honestly, I couldn't think of anything else to do.

Verity was the first student I talked to about the lesson and she loved it! She told me about everything that she learned and how useful it was and, most importantly I think, what a confidence boost it was to have somebody with influence and interest look at and appreciate your work. Verity was also mighty impressed with the standard of work from the other students. We're a talented bunch aren't we!? :) Feedback from other attendees was similar and that made me relax. Phew!

Then we had the Evening With Amy Event. By this time we'd sorted out phone numbers and we'd text to arrange a time and place. She didn't let me down. In fact, all along, whilst I was flapping, stressing and generally heart-attacking Amy was just calmly trundling along, unflappable and with a smile on her face. Love her!

Loved her especially when she did a little dance to promote the Tuscany Lace Shawl Workshop. :)

The microphone/speakers were broken - Amy fixed that. There were lots of us there, in good spirits and the lecture was fascinating! If only I hadn't forgotten my glasses so I could see all of the little details. Amy says this is the first time she's done the talk with booze - that's the Knit Nottingham way! We were shy with our questions at the end, I kept thinking of stuff to say and then other people would say it or they'd ask something else and I'd forget (brain like a sieve...).

We went to the pub round the corner afterwards and had a reet good booze up. That's when I properly relaxed I think. :)

 There were more of us too but my photo taking memory is apparently also like a sieve so I'm relying on the lovely Steph. She took photos of me too but literally the best one was this... 

 

Donna looks brill ey... me? Not so much. Ha. 

On the Friday we had the Tuscany Lace. Amy persuaded me to go on it and I'm glad that she did. It was fascinating and the pattern is just begging for some intarsia. Begging. And I have just the colours. One day.

After that lesson, I told Amy that I'd take her to The Bead Shop. She makes the most lovely peyote stitch bracelets and I got one!!!

 

Aren't the colours delicious!? It's barely been off my wrist since. I didn't get her a gift... I should have done should I?! I'm a terrible host. But, I have agreed to knit her something, I'll talk about that in a bit. 

So we trundled down to the shop, stopped by Peckish on the way who do the MOST DELICIOUS SANDWICHES EVER, and mooched around looking at the pretty beads. I hope she was impressed. I think she was anyway. :) We ate lunch on the square, bought £16 worth of (not so delicious) fudge between us: 

Oohd and ahhd at the Doctor Who stuff in Lakeland: 

Had tea at Lee Rosy's:

And all the while I was thinking 'oh god. I'm having tea with Amy Singer'. She sorted my phone out and now it runs a lot smoother but I can't get to grips with texting so much, instead of 'and' I keep typing 'abduction' and 'important' for 'I'm'... We walked through Viccy Centre and up to the shop and she said we won the award for the smallest shop. :) I bloody knew it!

She took some photos. I took some photos. She bought wool. Patons 100% Cotton DK if you must know and a crochet hook. The pattern is Rippling Along and I must do it for myself. Must! She caught a taxi and we all headed home (after I had a dead good chat with my childhood best friend who now lives in Inverness).

In the evening I found out that Fibre Flurry was cancelled and I knew that Amy was supposed to be teaching there and I didn't know what to do. She found out on her own though and we texted a bit frantically but I was told in no uncertain terms not to take on other people's stress.

On the Saturday it was the Plug+Play Texture Design Shawl and I had the best time ever. The whole idea was to get people to start designing. It was a really simple technique, and a really relaxing day. Sometimes it's nice to sit and do something all day with no distractions. I've got in my head a design for the best shawl ever! It's got cables and colour and texture. Boom! I was dead excited to see what other people were thinking of too. Again, some brilliantly talented customers - dead proud!

And the final day was what I was really looking forward too - the Silk Spindling. I was all set up and ready to learn on that day and it was bloody FAB!

We watched a lot of videos at the start about how silk is made. Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating. But it's a bit disgusting. Amy gave us a little package of heaven including a single silk cocoon, like this:

Click here for the link.

THEY BLOODY RATTLE! THERE ARE DEAD THINGS IN THERE! HURL!

We started off by drafting the silk hankies which was a fascinating but slightly boring process. Amy had dyed them herself and they were beautiful, pastel shades of blues, greens and pinks. 

 

And then we actually got some spinning done! It was brill! But weird to not draft at the same time as it was already done for us. 

Then we ended the lesson with playing with the Tussah Silk from Sweet Georgia. Mine was the best ever!!!

LOOK AT THAT!

And then we went to the pub. Of course. Where we had lots of booze: 

 

Dead yummy food: 

And some spinning with a celeb. :)

Imagine that!!!!! 

And that, as they say is that.

There's definitely more to tell you because I've got photos that I haven't shared but I've got a list of things to do as long as my arm and I literally started this at half past ten and it's now half past three and I haven't done anything else. So I'm going to head off and come back tomorrow and wrap some bits up. Then on Thursday, I'm London bound!!!

Just in case anybody near Oxford is reading here but hasn't heard, Amy's filled her time that would have been filled by Fibre Flurry by putting on some workshops with the lovely Purlescence. Click here to book. They really are worth every penny!!!!!

So, I must thank Amy (and I will get back to her text when this is posted) from the bottom of my heart for being unflappable and positive and making our first major event just perfect. It wouldn't have been the same with any other tutor and we're immensely pleased that it was you. THANK YOU!!!!!! And I can't wait to work on your Beatnik - send it quick!!!

And thanks to all of our marvelous customers who supported this little venture and us in general. We'll do it again some time? Gimme at least a year to get over it all.

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxx

Directions!

Amy Is Upon Us!

At this moment in time she'll be catching the train down from Yorkshire and arriving in Nottingham at around 6pm. I'm going to meet her and transport her to the lovely hotel that I've booked and then leave her to settle into her surroundings. Tomorrow the lessons begin!

I wanted to write a blog post about how to get to where the lessons are. We've booked the lovely Belgrave Rooms on Goldsmith Street, it's proper posh!

The way to get there is pretty simple. You know the Royal Centre? Previously (before the trams I think) known as the Theatre Royal which is a much nicer name, yes?

 

Right on Upper Parliament Street. 

Well, if you can get there, to the left of it is the tram tracks, you need to follow them out of town. You'll pass Spanky Van Dykes: 

 

And then the Rescue Rooms: 

Which looks a bit nicer than this in real life.... 

And then you reach the Masonic Hall which looks like this: 

Stunning yes? And now we're getting closer because the Belgrave Rooms is just around the corner from this and I'll be decorating where you need to be with lovely hand knitted bunting from Steph of Nettynot!

Basically it's right in the centre of Nottingham, a few minutes walk from the Royal Centre and if you get lost, give the shop a ring on (0115) 947 4239 and whoever's in will be able to direct you. 

Apart from that, there are a few spaces left on everything so take a look here: 

Knit Nottingham's Events

And see what takes your fancy! Tickets can be collected on the door.

I'm off to do some proper stressing now. Wish me luck. 

Love Eleanor. xxxxxxxxx