Winter Warmers

Textile Therapy

Wool Gathering coming up on Sunday 3rd - It's going to be a lovely gathering as there are old faces and new coming along for the day to spin and stitch and knit and sew. Everyone's welcome.

Well we've had more snow and ice and wind and rain. The occasional dry hour or two but nothing that makes you feel like staying out there for long. Ash is oblivious to any weather except sleet so she certainly sees no reason for curtailed exercise. However, the arrival of a new puppy at the end of February will soon sort her exercise requirements..... retribution time!
Sadly for my ever-expanding waistline, winter weather plus a new big kitchen equals an excuse to bake and yup, here are the tamarillos again! Two of them were combined with apple and dates into mini muffins. There were lots more muffins but they were less photogenic...
The shop has been updated with the completed baby socks and my kantha bags so do drop by for a closer look sometime. Here's a heffalump one gracing one of my treasures - the little rush seated Arts and Crafts type chair with the wavy back which was my great aunt's.

New Year New Directions

Happy 2008!

At last we are back online - only been three weeks but it felt worse. Spent part of yesterday bringing the Border Tart into 2008 though I realise I have not photographed my finished kantha bags so that I can get them into the shop too.

My little still life on the windowsill has gourds grown by Tricia plus tamarillos she brought for me - grown in Berwickshire by Lady Swinton, no less, mother of actress Tilda Swinton. (Many years ago I remember Tilda's brother coming round to play with my little brother and my mother making biscuits for them - they ate them ALL so she made more for him to take home ---aaahhh!) . In the big glass jar is a wonderful temari ball made by the talented PG. They are all resting on a handwoven striped mat which I picked up at the flea/antiques fair held in Kelso last weekend

The next WOOLGATHERING is on February 3rd - The theme is NEW so any yarn/tip/stitch/ project that's new to you, bring it along and spread the word! I am sure we should manage to rustle up a bit to swap/sell/share too - I have had another clear out so I can promise a weird collection of bits that you really NEED!

Details - Sunday 3rd February at Southdean Village Hall in Chesters

from 10.30am to 3.30pm - coffee and cake always on the go

but bring your lunch and £5 towards the cost of the hall hire

I have been working on a few things for the house - mainly pillows/cushions as our lovely new kitchen table is built for giants.... each chair needs a cushion or two. We have a rather eclectic collection now, created from scraps and saved bits and pieces. Two of the cushions are from dishtowels too pretty to use for that purpose, one is from a pair of Hugh' cast off combat trousers...you get the idea. The lovely cockerel dishtowel was a present from a kind friend this Christmas. The ones below that are for the living room - the right hand one is made from bits of blanket, felted stripey socks which bit the dust and a couple of pieces of samples that I wove at college a hundred years ago. The left one is from the wee fabric remnants that I bought at Hinnigan's in Selkirk in December. The tamarillos make another guest appearance...

Sock knitting in progress but this is the best I can manage - strictly two needles and titchy size only. I made five pairs and sold them in little boxes at the Christmas Fayre. I still had a few ends of balls left, thanks to Janice, so I've been knitting and TV viewing or, better still, listening to some of the books on CD which Hugh gave me. Imagine, in this stylish tin there are 45 CDs, covering 10 classics. So far I have listened to the six which make up Pride and Prejudice but there's everything from Great Expectations to Middlemarch and Frankenstein to look forward to. I mean, yeah, I'd love to read them for myself but realistically having a good actor read them to me means I can be doing something and 'reading'.

Winter Chills

Hugh and I have both succumbed to colds which is lousy timing with so much to do. At least we should be clear of them by Christmas, though. Lots of work has been going on in the kitchen next door - as in ripping the old one out and fitting a new one - mainly done by Hugh with the aid of the plumber and the electrician (who just happens to have a lovely chocolate lab called Muddy and to have a penchant for Hugh's paintings....say no more). A new kitchen SO POSH, by the way, it has an extra sink for handwashing so we can keep the Environmental Health officer happy and be allowed to sell food we cook in there. My tablet and preserves plus Hugh's bread will become legitimate once the EHO says OK and once we have done our Food Hygiene courses. Flipping bureaucratic nonsense but rules is rules, I guess. Meantime, we need to move next door for good in the coming week so we can spruce this house up for some visitors arriving at the weekend.

Looking forward to a festive rest - after the Christmas Eve carol service at our wee kirk then mince pies and mulled wine at the hall, of course. Well, you would expect nothing less of village life by now!

Other stuff? Well, I braved the frosty garden to take pics of the fancified waistcoat, then decided that the indoor pics were better. Herewith the back and a detail from one of the fronts - the colours in it are truer. And I have been washing and preparing and spinning fleece for a commission which ought to be done by Christmas. One of those jobs that I regretted taking on the minute I'd said it - wet fleece - winter - coughs and sneezes - ho hum, soon be done.

The Festive Fayre is next...

I'm stitching and baking in readiness for the Festive Fayre we are holding at Southdean Village Hall on Saturday (24th November) . There will be stalls with jewellery and cards and hand drawn prints as well as The Border Tart, and Linda's famous (in these parts) mulled wine, and Reindeer Hoopla, plus a bran tub for the younger visitors, Christmas trees and wee wooden deer, handmade wreaths, no doubt a raffle and probably a bottle stall and all this excitement washed down with coffee and shortbread (oh, and more mulled wine...) - what better way to spend a late November afternoon?

All things bright and beautiful

Hello! I am just back from a lovely day at the Federation Show where lots of wonderful women (and a few discerning men) came and bought up the supplies I had taken along. So there are thousands more beads in the Borders, heaps of Christmas card making kits, reels of cotton and metallic threads, fibres for spinning and felting, all getting tucked into stashes! The array of talent at the Show was amazing - you would not believe how many skilled crafters and bakers and knitters and stitchers there are out there, mainly hiding their lights under bushels (or whatever!).

Back in breezy Chesters, the shop is restocked with shiny new things for Christmas and beyond. Do have a look and let me know what you think. Postage is free anywhere on orders under £10.00 from now on, and there are lucky bags of goodies on offer too.

Bargain Basement Productions Present...

Rainbow's End

Been gazing rather wistfully at the talents of others online tonight - always a sucker for signs, I am pleased to have found the Keep Calm Gallery, where you can purchase the above, among other delights.

And wonder knitter Maureen has been busy stocking up for the Christmas rush at Monkey & Sofia - these penguins and crocs are lovely but check out the kangaroo and giraffe too!

Dottie is a limited edition print from Thing of Beauty - an online shop whose home is also in the Scottish Borders.

This wonderful painting which I covet is from the talented artist Sue Hoppe, also known as Arty Farty

Woolly Thoughts

Creativity presently extends to moving furniture round and winding myself up to make some curtains, though there have been forays into jelly making with this year's feeble apple crop, and seeing how much brandy one mixing bowl of mincemeat can absorb...

The spinning wheel was dusted off for the Crafternoon Tea and is back in easy reach - so why have I not sat down at it since? I think I need to schedule in a whole day of 'making things'. With that in mind, I am pleased to say there is another Woolgathering on the way - I reckon 28th October is near enough the actual date to give it a Halloween theme, and Anne has suggested we bring UFOs along. Of course that presents another dilemma - do I take the unfinished kantha work, the unfinished baby sock or the wheel with the beautiful dyed tops I bought at Woolfest?

The invitations have gone out to all previous participants but if you want to know more and would like to come along just shout - I can guarantee that the only level of skill to be publicly judged at such an event is your capacity for coffee and cake.

Woolly Wallpaper and more

Isn't this a delicious image? You need to check out the lovely work of Mrs Hello Yarn. She even offers this and other yarn shots for you to use as wallpaper - check out the skulls! And her Blog is full of great knits and useful information too. Oh, and while I am at it - do you know about Marilyn at the Toy Workshop? Another great site, with delightful free downloads, wonderful for kids of all ages....
My life is destructive rather than creative again at the moment - barrowfuls of prunings in the garden, stripping glue off a laminate floor, pulling off wallpaper, so I may just shout about others' blogs for a while. Have had a plea from 'tricia at Teddies for Tragedies, though - 500 teddies are going off to Roumania but they don't have anywhere near enough bags for them - have a look at the site if you can and stitch a few simple bags.

Jute, Jam and Journeying

Been off in the glorious Perthshire countryside for a week with Hugh. We stayed in the little village of Kirkmichael which allowed us to explore in lots of different directions. Most days we clocked up a good few miles walking, split into two or maybe three outings. The village is situated on The Cateran Trail - a 64 mile circular walking route 'in the footsteps of the marauding clans and cattle thieves of the Highlands' and all the footpath signs have dinky little red hearts on them - not quite the image you associate with marauding cattle thieves but easy to spot!

On Wednesday we drove to Dundee where we played tourist. Dundee is of course known for jute, jam and jounalism. Jam because the countryside surrounding Dundee is gently sloping quality growing ground for soft fruit. There are acres of poly tunnels and fleece-protected strawberries and raspberries everywhere you look. Journalism - Dundee is home to D C Thomson, publishers since 1905, with over 200 million newspapers and magazines each year. Jute is your lesson for today.

First we explored Her Majesty's Frigate Unicorn, built in the Royal Naval Dockyard at Chatham in 1824. Although she did not put to sea in wartime, she was in constant service in the Royal Navy till 1968. It was fascinating exploring below deck, and deeper and deeper below water level to where a poor ship's carpenter would have had to run round a tiny gantry over the open hold, plugging holes in the hull whenever cannonballs found their target. And what about the fact that traditionally the deck where the officers had their qaurters was painted red so that the blood did not show up so much as the wounded were laid out?

Then we visited Verdant Works .

Verdant Works was built in 1833 for a merchant and flax spinner. By 1864 it had 70 power looms and 500 people were employed there. In 1991 the Dundee Heritage Trust purchased the derelict site and set about restoring the jute mill as a working museum. Jute is obtained from two varieties of plant native to Bangladesh (Bengal as was). In 1820 the first twenty bales of jute were unloaded at Dundee docks. The city was already an important weaving and whaling centre. So the local workforce could weave and they had access to whale oil which was needed to soften the raw jute fibre and make it workable. The enterprising merchant community was quick to see the possibilities. During the 19th and early 20th centuries jute was indispensable - its uses included sacking, ropes, boot linings, aprons, carpets, tents, roofing felts, sand bags, sailcloth, scrims, tapestries, horse covers, cattle bedding, electric cables and even parachutes. It was cheap, durable and very versatile. Between 1841 and 1901 the population of the city tripled. By then 50,000 people were employed in the mills and Dundee was the jute capital of the world. Most of the workers were women and children (cheaper to employ), working conditions were appalling and accidents common. The workers lived in overcrowded squalor and the mill owners got richer and richer (sound familiar?) However, the Jute Barons did spend some of their riches on parks and libraries, swimming pools and theatres and dance halls, so that the workers' brief leisure time was varied and enjoyable.

The death knell of the industry was the growing competition from India itself. The Indian jute industry was established by Dundee's own engineers and mill managers who were lured out by higher wages and a better standard of living. Dundee held its own through two world wars but the advent of polypropylene finally killed off the Scottish jute business.

OK, history lesson over (cribbed from the guide book, I admit). Hugh and I paid our money and took the tour - first into the accounts department and the manager's office, then a little history section and straight into see the process for ourselves. Batching and softening, carding, drawing, roving, spinning, spool winding, beaming, weaving and finishing. Wonderful words, I love 'em, they remind me of my time at textile college (any fellow students reading this, do not snort with derision, it's unbecoming...) We had a real live guide all to ourselves who explained the process and ran each of the machines in turn, and gave me wee samples to take away and cherish. The final pics here show two from a series of lovely little models illustrating the uses of jute.

Fancy that!

I've been having fun, and blunting sewing machine needles, making these new cards which are heading for the shop. They are paper based with ribbons and silks and yarns and a few glitzy bits and are suitable for all sorts of people and occasions, in my humble opinion!

New kids on the block

Some of these new faces have arrived in the shop - Floyd and Maximilian and Horace. The next step is to introduce some new items in the stationery department but first I have to continue with re-decorating and more scheming and planning on the house front.

While clearing out the endless stuff of generations of family I came across a book I made for a major wedding anniversary for my parents - I've scanned a couple of the pages for you to see my designs. Must try the plum butter this year.

After the Show was over...

The entire hall committee collapsed in an exhausted heap!

The local show nearly didn't happen at all - Foot and Mouth saw to that - but the trusty few worked long and hard to make it a good day, albeit on a reduced scale. There were scarcely any raindrops, youngsters were seen to have a good time, there were no serious tears, much cake was consumed (and even more tea), books and bric a brac were snapped up, home grown produce and baked goods were purchased, the bran tub proved a hit with the tiddly children, the correct weight of the fruitcake was guessed (4lb 1oz) and the doll's name was guessed too (Hannah) though not by any of the pink-clad young girls and others who laboured hard over their choices and opted for names like Milly or Molly or Polly or Lolly. My cheese scones won a first prize (am I proud? - you bet!) and Hugh won us a great big box of fruit in the raffle. And we had the ice cream van lady there again - summer summed up!

Yarn Ahoy!

At last the Tart's Shop has a yarnstore - check it out and see what you think. My most recent creations are these scrumptious sock yarns which are all natural dyed and you'll find some of them in the shop. I have shut the door to Granny's Attic for the moment while I play with yarn making. I'm scheduling in some more spinning in September when we will be in a cottage in Perthshire for a week. I said I would take my wheel so Hugh is threatening to take his guitar.....
Another treat arrived through the mail for me - handmade teabags from the herbs in Tara's own garden - how posh is that?! Together with a delicious bag of lemon geranium scented sugar which I am going to convert into shortbread very soon. Wonderful treats all the way from the US of A - thank you TLC!

Hidden Treasures!

Blimey, a fortnight since my last post. Some of it spent with Hugh's lovely aunt - we had a ball, went to the seaside and had chips, went round Floors Castle and tested the tearoom, went out for dinner one night (notice a theme here?) and walked and drove through the glorious Borders countryside. Since then, more sorting of stuff, working in the garden and making another rag doll because, yes folks, it's local show time again very soon!

The old photographs have been dragged down from the attic next door for good. The one above shows how we spent our summers when I was a child, fishing for lobsters off Ardnamurchan Point. Here's a family friend, me, little brother and Dad with an impressive haul - the latter three all in sweaters knit by Mum, of course!
And this must be The Lost Children - Big brother and me at seven and two years old in Granny's garden- well, that's what it said on the back of the photograph but I can't say I remember looking that clean and tidy.

Today a delicious parcel arrived from a Secret Fairy, aka Kajsa, full of fancy teas strung up like bunting, embroidered cloths with ladybirds and bees, handcoloured cards and envelopes, lavender, cedar chips and a wonderful ball of coloured wool tops all ready for spinning. A real treat - and Ash thought so too, as you can see...

Confidence Boost Day!

Today is a good day.

One : We collected Hugh's aunt from the station last night and plan lots of touristy things every day of her stay - we started off by having lunch at the great little Turkish cafe in Hawick (yes, really!) and showing off our exhibition where Peggy decided she needed to buy one of Hugh's paintings.

Two: Cue trumpets - The Border Tart makes it into print in BBC Homes & Antiques this month.

Three: The Craftsman has been re-launched as Craft & Design Magazine, issued bi-monthly and I was interviewed for a forthcoming issue today by the lovely Hazel Reid who is an embroiderer and journalist and hen keeper!

Natural Dyeing

At last, a wee report on the joys of natural dyeing the easy way!

A small but dedicated band of coffee drinkers/cake testers met to explore the dyes sold by Alison at Pure Tinctoria.

I had followed her suggestions and pre-mordanted all our yarns with alum. We then dyed five different 'straight' shades before modifying them with various substances - like water with rusty iron in it, water with copper piping in it and citric acid.

Although some of the pure shades had seemed a bit over- bright (could have been my measuring of dye powder...) the modifiers soon softened them down and we ended up with some lovely colours. Everyone went home with twenty different shades to make a shade card and enough of a couple of their chosen shades to knit a small project with.

Meanwhile tomorrow we are off to Woolfest - I missed last year's and am really looking forward to a textile extravaganza - who cares if it is STILL raining...

Sad Stuff

As Ash has reported on her blog, no posts for a while till we are sorted out again.

xx L

Dyeing Day

I have been busily preparing for a natural dyeing workshop I am holding on Sunday. We will use five different dyes from Pure Tinctoria and then modify some of the dyed wool yarns to produce related shades. If all goes to plan we'll each have a record sheet with twenty different shades on it, and know how we got them! Each participant will also choose a hank of dyed yarn to take home that is big enough to make something with. We are mainly using Blue Faced Leicester yarn but there will be a few others in there for comparison too. Hopefully, then, I can show off after next Sunday and post the samples here.

So far I have printed out the record sheets (and managed to list a dye we are not even going to use) and to mordant all the yarns with alum (including one batch which I stupidly threw some old yellow wool into - the yellow ran all through the virginal white which rendered it useless for producing accurate samples from). I eventually got it all done and dried on the washing line...then counted it out only to find I was one set of yarns short for what we need. Bad Day at Black Rock.

Meanwhile I have been working on exhibition stuff. The image is one of a series of ten linked small canvases of leaf shapes combining acrylics with stitchery on silk.

Just for fun

As a change from running stitch on the kantha work I got my felt out for a play. These new wee flower badges are going on the Border Tart in the next few days. Each flower has a butterfly or a rabbit or even a hen and chicks in the middle. Badge fastenings on the backs.

As it is a rainy day here so no garden work, I have been dyeing some cottons ready for more kantha work (definitely hooked now). Also decided to add prints of Hugh's work to the Tart's Titchy Etsy shop so that needs attention too now. Probably need a lie down to think about all this.....

All creative types - please check out Urban Cowboy which Arty Farty has just posted about