May 25, 2011
Final move..
It seems sensible to call my blog Wild Fire Fibres, since pretty much all I blog about is related to the shop! So I have moved, but I promise not to do it again – you can find me at http://wildfirefibres.wordpress.com. See you over there!
April 18, 2011
Wonderwool 2011
….was great!!
Here are some photos:
I was pretty pleased with the whole shelving/handspun display thing!
This was the stall of my esteemed friend,Roseland Bags:
Outside the venue (Royal Welsh Showground):
Along the row that we were on, and my neighbours on the other side, the Rainbow Rooms, who were lovely and had such a pretty stall!
I just about got my Indian Willow shawl finished before I went. It’s done in my new Titus 4ply sock yarn (70% superwash merino, 30% mulberry silk).
I’m so pleased with how it knitted up!
Finally, I’ve just updated my website with yarns, and Maya Chunky is discontinued, so is on sale at half price (£6.00). You can find it at http://www.wildfirefibres.co.uk/Shop .
March 14, 2011
PCY Trunk Show
Wednesday was the Wild Fire Fibres trunk show at Purl City Yarns.
I only have this photo I’m afraid – there was quite a bit more than this!
BobbinsMag (or RubbishKnitter) got caught with two skeins of handspun shetland! Who’d have thought!
We had a really nice walk in the woods on Saturday…
I’m knitting my February Lady Sweater in Drops Alaska (purple, obviously).. and since this photo I’ve gone past the armholes and am nearly down to my waist – yippee! I can’t wait to wear it, so although I’m trying to knit my display stuff for Wonderwool, I keep doing rows here and there on this. I totally love it!
So my display knitting right now is my Indian Willow, which I’m using the all-new Titus 4ply for (it’s still merino/silk but is a new base, and way nicer – in fact it’s amazing). I’m using 3mm needles, since my tension for lace is a little on the loose side, and I don’t want it to be open and airy.
Here’s one of several new colourways (there’s always new ones popping up, since many of them are experiments that go right). This is Caledonian Pinewood (on Pegasus Lace), and I’ve just dyed 5 skeins of Titus 4ply in a colour which I’ve named Persia, too.
I couldn’t help stashing 5 skeins of Titus 4ply in Purple Lotus – I want to design a lovely summery lace cardi when I get time, and these are perfect for that.
How cool is this – our boss went to the Wollmeise shop and brought us back some yarn – eek! I never thought I’d own Wollmeise – I never get to the website to catch yarn before it’s sold. Anyway these two skeins are Lavendel, which is almost ultraviolet, it’s ridiculously rich and bright.
And this is Neptun, which is a gorgeous teal. I don’t know yet what I’ll do with any of them, other than carry them round in my bag with me (geek alert).
Finally, my Willow shawl pattern is now available for download purchase on Ravelry.
Finally finally, if you have noticed the poor quality of my photos, it’s because my DSLR got stolen, and I’m working with my ancient (but reliable!) little compact camera. So if you see a Canon EOS450D being sold for a suspiciously low price…. please let me know!
March 4, 2011
Returning
…After a rather long time away.
In the meantime lots has happened. I’m not going to try and go over it all, but suffice to say I now work full time at Purl City Yarns in Manchester:
I have a trunk show there on Wednesday the 9th of March, 5-8pm in the Lounge upstairs. So I’ve been doing loads of dyeing and spinning, including my Star-Spangled Handspun:
I’ve no idea how many yards are in it, but since it was the most annoying (but worthwhile) ply job ever, I am keeping it. It has a LOT of tiny pink star and purple heart sequins threaded on.
This week possibly the most exciting thing ever happened to me. We were out photographing Cara’s Shalom, and bumped into….
EDDIE IZZARD!!!!! Well ok, we knew he was coming, and knitted him a sparkly purple scarf, and gave it to him, and he was awesomely nice and gracious, and shook our hands and chatted to us. ARGH!!
We walked very calmly round the corner out of sight, then went a bit mental.
Anyway, we’re having an Araucania Ranco Multy knitalong at Purl City Yarns, and each doing a different project in it. First past the finish post was Charlotte, with her Forest Canopy.
(Photographed on the shuttered doorstep of Port Street Beer House!)
Cara is knitting a pair of fingerless mitts.
Audrey is knitting a pair of Jaywalkers.
And I’m knitting… a stealth project which only a few people have seen (and should keep quiet about it, please!)
I’ve taught a weekend of spinning in Blackpool, and started teaching a series of spinning classes at PCY last Sunday too – both with great success so far. Wild Fire Fibres is expanding, and things are very, very exciting!
I will have a stand at Wonderwool Wales this year, and don’t have a stand at Woolfest, but will be helping out on two stands which will both have some of my yarn on… how exciting! (Plus I get to be a customer – eek!)
December 6, 2010
Snow & Ice
Have you had lots? It’s still white here in Manchester, but very, very icy. In fact I’ve just been at the Doctor’s and they haven’t gritted in front of the surgery so it’s like an ice rink up to the front door, which is pretty bad for a health centre that receives a lot of elderly people.
Anyway, I did loads of spinning the other week. Here’s a skein of chunky Falkland merino:
And another – these are going to go together, hopefully in a fairisle tea cosy, if all goes to plan!
I also spun this sparkly Bluefaced Leicester sock yarn, from Felt Studio UK of course! (there’s about 300yds)
In the middle of Manchester we now have the Christmas markets, which are fabulous as always. You can get a hog roast, crepes, waffles, roasted chestnuts, mulled wine, and loads and loads of lovely gifts and handy things.
I’ve also been working at Purl City Yarns, as well as trying to get a spinning group up and running on a Sunday. It is as cosy as it looks:
I have done some more corespinning recently too. These are batts from FeltStudioUK, and because there’s about 170g, there’s a good 200-250yds, which means you get a really decent sized project.
I love the texture of corespinning so much..
I also dyed and spun this Falkland, in Autumn Leaves, which will shortly be available for sale at Wild Fire Fibres - it’s 303yds/100g, and approx. DK weight.
At the beginning of November I made a garter yoke sweater with Noro Silk Garden. It was top down, raglan, all in one piece (arms were picked up and worked downwards) and used 8.5 balls of yarn. I did it long to cover my bum when I sit down, and used garter stitch (aka ‘gutter’ stitch!) for the cuffs and hem, as I just didn’t fancy a rib. I have worn this sweater literally every day since finishing it (since it’s the only one I have!)! The other day I washed it using Eucalan for the first time. I was really impressed – my sweater is now really soft!! Although you can’t tell, there is waist shaping, for a perfect fit 
After that I decided I’d best finish my Atlantic Honeysuckle cardi. I love this cardi, though the pattern appears to have been written by a dressmaker, not a knitter. I worked it in the round, knitted on the border (credit to Fleegle for the beautiful pattern), left the armhole stitches live, worked the arms in the round, bottom-up, with short row sleeve caps, and grafted them into place.
As you can see from the smug, cheesy grin, I am proud as anything!
I have also been working on Christmas hearts, which are going to be a published pattern, as soon as I get my bum in gear and type it up!
We put the Christmas tree up on Sunday!
I had a wonderful surprise the other day – my UK Swaps parcel came!
Included are fibre, Manos Lace, a wee crocheted mushroom, DPN project holders (awesome!), a sheepy mug, and a pack of decaf Yorkshire tea! Wooooohoo! Thankyou Aimee!
Finally, I’ve been doing some dyeing this week, namely Hathor Lace. There are two skeins each of Snow & Ice (below), Cerise pink, Scarlet red, Teal and Turquoise (the latter two aren’t yet dry).
Ciao for now!
November 12, 2010
12.11.2010
*Gasp* another blog update! Well it’s been busy…
I’ve joined Twitter (I finally caved in!) – I’m… WildFireFibres on there (of course!).
Anyway here’s my latest sparkly superwash BFL handspun from FeltStudioUK. I named it ‘Regal’ because of being sparkly purple, plum and gold. I enjoyed documenting its progress.
Here’s the singles on the bobbin…
It was quite fine – 30wpi, as you can see here…
So I navajo plied it, and here it is on the niddy noddy…
And then finished, with 12wpi, 100g and 236yds – it’s now joined the handspun poo-pile on my desk.
I’ve dyed thirty more skeins for Purl City Yarns, my LYS. Here’s the sock yarn, Tempo 4 ply:
There are two kilos of Hercules DK as well, but I’m in the middle of reskeining them.
While I had the dye pots out, I dyed three 100g braids of Falkland fibre in (top to bottom) Frosty Morning, Storm, and Autumn Leaves (can you tell I’m inspired by the time of year!) I can’t wait to spin them up, but I did accidentally buy a batt and a braid from FeltStudioUK the other night too (oops). So loads of spinning to do!
Finally, last night I blocked the body of my Atlantic Honeysuckle.
As you can see, I didn’t do the recommended border – this one is (in my opinion) way, way nicer – thanks Fleegle! So I’m halfway through the first sleeve now, and I’m not increasing from 59 to about 80-something sts – I’m increasing to only 64sts. I don’t want batwings! Anyway when I eventually finish and have it photographed I will go through the whole thing plus edits.
I’ve posted my application for my first proofreading job, so I’m off to have my hair trimmed to celebrate! (Fingers crossed I get it – I’ll be gutted if I don’t)
November 10, 2010
Winter on its way
…it must be, because we made this the other weekend:
He went mouldy and smelly quite quickly though!
My bonsai seems happy about the change in weather:
And this little fella spent a day faffing about on the dining room window last week – I’m not normally sympathetic with wasps but his furry little head meant I just had to get my camera and macro lens out.
The Ashford Joy (still nameless) is providing immense joy and spinning pleasure, last week in the form of this baby alpaca from Felt Studio UK on etsy. It’s 100g/146yds/8wpi.
On Monday we went to see WWE’s Monday Night Raw at the MEN arena. I know it looks miles away but we could see the ring really well – we were much closer than this photo suggests. We had a fabulous time and the atmosphere was great! My two favourite wrestlers were there; Randy Orton and John Cena (I promise you they look much nicer in real life), so my voice went a bit hoarse by the end of the night!
So.. knitting.. my Atlantic Honeysuckle has just about taken over my life since September. I must be a slow knitter.. the border took a while though.
I’m now on the sleeves.. although I’m knitting them bottom up I’m making some serious adjustments – I will note all my changes when I finish it and blog about it though.
Those metal DPNs were no use – they kept sliding out, so I ended up buying some Pony bamboo ones instead.
I have also cast on some purl-less, toe up Monkeys for OH, using the Regia ‘hand dye’ effect yarn (which is so not hand dyed looking). It feels a bit weird – almost squeaky. I like the colours and the thread wrapped around (since it’s a singles yarn), but not particularly the feel. I’ve been knitting them in front of him and he hasn’t noticed – how handy is that?!
And I’ve got impatient (with it being cold now), and cast on my sweater – it’s a top down raglan in Noro Silk Garden (which I swapped for 400g of handspun baby alpaca). I think the garter neck might not lie flat so I may have to do a wee border afterwards – we’ll see. I just hope I have enough yarn. According to Laura Chau’s top down cardi pattern, you need about 1000 yards for a 46″ cardi – I’m about 43″ and have 990yds…. !
This popped through my letter box this week:
Yarn Maker is excellent – I’d highly recommend it! It takes me much longer to read it than any other mag (well apart from the National Geographic).
I’ve also just started reading this:
I actually thought it was a novel, but it turns out it’s non-fiction, and very carefully researched – it’s not particularly depressing, as I thought it could be. It’s basically about how two men fight a duel over a rich heiress, and the one that loses is dying, so she grants his dying wish and marries him, expecting him to be dead within three days. However, he makes a miraculous recovery and turns out to be a terribly hubby – I’ve not got that far yet though so we’ll see what happens.
That reminds me – did you watch Downton? I enjoyed it SO much! Can’t wait for the next series, I just love all the characters in it.
So finally, I’ve been doing tonnes of dyeing, and tomorrow I’m doing the final (for now) kilo of yarn for Purl City, as well as dyeing 300g of Falkland fibre:
That’s all for now – must eat dinner and possibly watch the finals of Gordon Ramsay’s Best Restaurant. I love winter TV – I’m currently watching Lip Service, Desperate Housewives and Kirsty’s Homemade Home – way more than I usually watch!
October 22, 2010
Socks
I can’t believe it’s so long since I last updated, and I definitely can’t remember what I last wrote about!
You may have seen these, I’m not sure. It’s the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn, and it could be my very tight gauge, but they haven’t washed as softly as the Kureyon sock yarn. Nevertheless they are a wonderfully warm pair of socks!
The pattern is my ‘No Heel Holes’ one on Ravelry.
I also finished these socks after months of them hanging around on the needles like delinquents.
Now they’re finished I love them! They’re my old Tikal yarn, which is a lovely blend of cotton and tencel, and the pattern is my Daydreamer Socks one, again on Ravelry (and my new website now).
I have two new yarns – this one’s Merlin 4 ply: Baby alpaca, merino and nylon AND machine washable (not that I will!).
And Merlin Aran – same fibres. Both yarns are super-smooshy, and I absolutely love them!
Of course these and much more are available on the new website: www.Wildfirefibres.co.uk Which still ships internationally!
I’ve been super busy teaching lots of workshops, so over the next couple of weeks I have loads of yarn to dye for Purl City Yarns (Manchester’s new LYS), and lots of designs to catch up on, as well as finishing my Honeysuckle Jacket (I’m on the border just now).
Must dash!
September 25, 2010
Socks n spinning
Well things as usual are so hectic round here.
I taught a lace workshop last weekend, which was a resounding success:
Everybody finished up with a piece of lace and lots of ideas and inspiration.
I started these socks back in April, I think. I did them toe up, so that I could have them matching (it’s Noro Silk Garden Sock), however I got to the final 3″ or so of the 2nd sock and the colours went different. As it was summer (kind of) then, I abandoned them in disgust.
However, last weekend I fished them out and finished them, and thank goodness I did because yesterday it very suddenly turned cold (and today is even colder). Because I did them on 2.5mm needles, the fabric is really thick and warm, so these are now my warmest socks!
Remember this?
Well the sleeves didn’t fit, so I felted it. It only went in on the ‘wool’ wash, but felted anyway, and now it fits perfectly, plus is ridiculously warm! It’s actually so warm I’ve not been able to wear it until today. So I don’t need to put the heating on this afternoon – how great is that!
The only thing is, that the now lack of stretch in the ribbing, and the fact that it flares out slightly, means that it doesn’t stay on my shoulders quite as well.
I have also been busy spinning. This is BFL/Silk from FeltStudioUK, in natural oatmeal, dark blue, and purple. It was so easy to spin, and this is a two ply, with 112g/118yds/10-11wpi.
As you can see, I had fun spinning it!
I’ve done a lot of dyeing recently, and these are my favourite two skeins of recent laceweight.
Oh finally, coming on the 1st of October – the new Wild Fire Fibres webshop!! It’ll be at http://Wildfirefibres.co.uk (or .com) and I’ll still be accepting paypal and shipping internationally. There are new things there too, but you’ll have to wait and see!
September 14, 2010
Handspun Shoulder Warmer
So much has happened in a week!
Firstly, my Grandma is loads better – thankyou for all the best wishes!
I was in Blackpool last week, so I have some photos of Paula’s fabulous Gansey workshop:
Here are some of the Ganseys on the table:
We went along the illuminations – I can see I’m going to end up going several times this year (again). As a kid I used to go several times a year as well with various relatives and organisations (Brownies, etc), and usually fell asleep!
I saw this beautiful snail shell too – there were a few of them on this wall:
We went to Scotland for the weekend…
We camped here:
And miraculously didn’t get wet! I wore two alpaca hats – my Snuggly hat, with my Thorpe on top! I also wore both my Endpaper mitts, with my handspun Warmest Mitts over the top, and two pairs of handknit socks – with all that lot, I was toasty!
While I was in Blackpool I finished my Handspun Shoulder Warmer.
Pattern: Top Down Shoulder Warmer by Laura Chau
Yarn: my handspun Falkland from FeltStudioUK
Needles: 5mm and 5.5mm circulars
Size: 43″ bust
Edits: My tension was different, so although I knitted a larger size, it came out 10% smaller, which is a great fit. Secondly, I worked the sleeves in the round, and full length, with 7 rows of garter stitch for the cuffs.
Verdict: Although the sleeves are way too big at the top (I had to decrease on every row for several inches), I adore this shrug, and have worn it loads already since finishing it! It’s really warm!
So having finished that, I immediately cast on for my Honeysuckle Cardigan, which for some reason, although a circle, is knit straight then sewn up – what the hell is that about? And why would you knit the sleeves and border seperately then sew them on?? Ludicrous. So I’m knitting it in the round, the sleeves will be picked up and knit top-down, and the border is going to be knitted on – plus I don’t like the set border so am going to change it.
For now though, I’m about 1/3 through the main body, so have a lot of knitting to do!
