I Made Mushrooms

 I do love fused glass - it's one of the first things I see when I walk through my front door.

As the walls of my house fill with stuff I've made over the years...

I'm increasingly drawn to create artwork for the garden - so a fused glass mushroom workshop by The Glass Needle sounded right up my street.   Susan Petrie is the glass artist who's been creating jewellery and homeware gifts for eight years as The Glass Needle.  Prior to discovering a passion for glass art, sewing was Susan's crafting first love, hence the name of her successful one-woman business.

 

Held at H1 in Aberdeen, the same venue as the jesmonite class I attended early last year, the art-space was set up for all four participants and was bright and welcoming.  We could  admire Susan's fused glass mushroom samples in person for the first time, complete with the copper pipe stems she hand crafts.  Safety is always paramount whilst working with glass and Susan helped us navigate the tools and materials supplied in order to stay safe. 

We all practised a straight line cut before Susan demonstrated how to shape our glass into a circle.  Quite daunting.  Though I've been cutting glass regularly when I make mosaics, I tend to cut mostly straight lines then use the grinder to shape the glass into curves.  With Susan's clear explanation of curve cutting, I'll be more confident to try this in future.

In any case, I was pretty pleased with the two reasonably round circles I managed to make as the bases for my mushrooms.  

Susan then showed us how the coloured glass powders might react once fired before we approached the tantalising selection of powder pots arrayed before us.  The colour wheel also helped identify how the numbered powders might look and Susan's beautiful glass bowls served as examples of the hues we could expect for our mushrooms, post firing.

It will surprise no-one that I chose Teal and Spring Green for my first mushroom!

Powder is gently sprinkled through a tea-strainer onto the glass base then sprayed with water to intensify the colour and fix the powder in place.

These little nuggets are called glass frits and they create nubs of intense colour following a visit to the kiln.  

Veering out of my colour comfort zone for mushroom two, I combined orange and two blue powders with glass frit accents in tangerine. 

With the mushrooms completed to this stage, the workshop was over and a very pleasant couple of hours drew to a close.  It's so enriching to spend time with like minded souls learning something new.

The mushroom tops headed home with Susan for firing and shaping.  She sent me this picture of them in her kiln, all set to be fused.

A couple of days later, they were ready to collect.  I was excited to see them after the kiln had worked its magic and I was not disappointed!

It just remained to see where they should go in the garden.  I tried out a few positions.

Before settling on these pots on the approach to my front door.

To find out more about Susan's workshops, check out her Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/TheGlassNeedle.shop

Follow this link to purchase from her Folksy shop:

https://folksy.com/shops/theglassneedle

Instagram will show you more beautiful glass creations by Susan (and students like me!)

https://www.instagram.com/theglassneedleshop/?hl=en

Three Trees in a Row

 Craft workshops appear to be like buses - none for ages then three come along at once!

This is Tanya - also known in woolly circles as TJ Frog or The Button Lady - who runs a creative business focused on Dorset Buttons from her home on Skye.  We first met a few years ago at a yarn show, and we're pictured here at last August's Wool At Portsoy event.  Though I've been at gatherings where Tanya's been teaching the heritage craft of making Dorset Buttons, I've never been quick enough to secure a place.  They're so popular!  

When I learned a few months ago that Tanya was running a virtual Dorset Button Tree Brooch workshop on Zoom this spring, I signed up right away.  

A comprehensive pack of all the materials I'd need landed in my post box ahead of the class.  It included everything, right down to a sewing needle and thread!  Most of the class participants hailed from the US, but one or two other ladies from the UK had signed up too.  We were quite a jolly band as we listened along to Tanya's patient instructions and followed her fully illustrated guidebook.

Using the wool and base provided, we worked through the processes of casting, slicking, laying and rounding.  Honestly - it's a whole new language but what I'm actually doing is covering the ring and fashioning a tree shape.

Quite pleased mine looked like Tanya's one in the picture.

I opted for a mixed kit to enable me to make a spring inspired pink blossom tree as well as an autumnal one.  It was the latter I concentrated on during the class, adding lots of French knots in browns, golds and yellows then I stitched on tiny seed beads from the kit in complimentary sparkly shades.

I think my finished brooch will look great on my hand knit cardigan.

Though I've enough materials to make several more brooches, my next workshop was only three days later and I was soon immersed in felt making.  Now, if you've read my blog before, you'll know I've made felt before on several occasions - so why would I go on a wet felting course?

The most obvious answer I suppose, is to learn something new.  I've done more needle felting than felt making so I jumped at the chance to take a wet felting class with Léla of The Green Boat when I learned she was going to be hosting a workshop near me at Cookston Crafts Studio.  I probably have all the materials at home, and potentially could've spent Saturday afternoon making felt but the bottom line is, I probably wouldn't.  Enjoying a course away from the house, and the pressure of household chores, encourages creativity I believe, as well as providing the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

Or it would if I hadn't walked in and immediately discovered that my old friend, Jo, had enrolled on the same course!  So companionable.  Everything we were going to need was neatly laid out in front of us and we got to work creating a base square from carded white wool, some soap, water and a bit of elbow grease.

Encouraged to choose from the wide range of coloured wool tops and yarns available to create our designs, I (rather predictably) gravitated towards the turquoises and greens.

I love the eclectic array of materials required to make felt other than the yarn - there's net curtain to protect the loose fibres while they're still flyaway, bubble wrap to provide texture, and insulation foam to roll out the felt.  Liberal sprinklings of water from the adorable watering can, more bar soap and plenty of rubbing by hand, soon make the fibres stick together and shrink to create a tight weave fabric.  Towelling underneath absorbs excess damp and a waterproof cover beneath that protects the table!  

Léla encouraged us all to incorporate undyed natural silky fibres into our piece and I added some to my horizon.  The lustrous texture following the felting process was unexpectedly beautiful.  Always something new to learn.

What might have been a seascape turned into a landscape with a feature tree as I let myself be guided by our encouraging tutor and my chosen palette.

The joy of working alongside others at a well run workshop is that we all have the potential to create the same thing, yet we all make something very different, reflecting our own colour choices and creativity.  

The boot was on the other foot at my third workshop in a week as I was the tutor!  

Michelle from Kemnay Library asked if I'd run a short class there during the Aberdeenshire Wellbeing Festival.  I'd only an hour so opted to show the participants how to needle felt this wee cherry tree. 

I had to make a practice one beforehand to familiarise myself with what to do but was able to finish mine in 30 minutes, giving me confidence that the ladies could make theirs in an hour.

What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon  - seven participants, a table strewn with tactile textiles, welcome refreshments from the lovely library staff and plenty of chatter.  We were also treated to the delightful sound of the Spectrum Singers, performing in the library as part of the festival, as we gently overran our allotted hour.  No one seemed to mind.

Just look at the lovely trees the ladies created.  

It's a joy to be able to share my love of craft with others and I was especially impressed with this needle felted forest as most of the class had not done this before.

Whilst the proximity of these workshops is not the norm for me, it is possible that the choice of subject matter, all these trees, may have been in part governed by attending three classes in one week!

And I can thoroughly recommend TJ Frog and The Green Boat if you fancy a workshop too.

I knit a goat!

 I knit a goat recently.

I'm not kidding!  But this cute little fellow isn't just any old goat, he's a cashmere goat.  What's more, he's made of cashmere from goats raised in Scotland, from the only herd of cashmere goats in the country.  Whilst Scotland is famed for its cashmere, with mills in the Borders historically processing this luxury fibre, nowadays Asia is the primary source of these prized fleeces.  

That was until Jillian and Neil McEwan decided to raise cashmere goats on their family farm in Angus. 

"We introduced goats on the farm, specifically the South African Boer Goat and the Scottish Cashmere Goat breeds, for fibre production and their environmental benefits to our soils and nature. Goats have a low carbon footprint, produce the most luxurious Cashmere fibre and help to increase biodiversity." 

It's one thing nurturing animals to produce a beautiful coat but quite another to turn that into knitting wool or fibre to spin.   

"Every Spring, we ethically harvested our goats’ cashmere fibre, their winter undercoat, by hand combing, not shearing, to leave our goats with glossy new coats for the summer. Goats spend the summer months naturally casting their Cashmere undercoat, we are just giving them a helping hand."

Cashmere goats yield as little as 150g of raw cashmere a year, with removal of guard hairs reducing this by 50%, so there's probably only enough pure cashmere to knit a jumper for this wee fella!

To make a commercially viable yarn, the Lunan Bay cashmere is carefully blended with fleece from native Shetland sheep.  As soon as the first batch was released last autumn, I purchased a ball of the 10% Scottish Cashmere / 90% Scottish Shetland wool which arrived accompanied by this lovely note from Jillian. 

I knew I wanted to make fingerless mitts as I wear them every day in the cooler months.  Tucked into my haul from last year's Wool at Portsoy event, is a scrappy pack from hand dyer Erin at Henny Penny Makes.

Erin of Henny Penny Makes at Portsoy August 2022

I was also lucky enough to win a pattern of my choice from Sophie McKane once upon a time in a yarn related  Instagram giveaway.  Sophie's Sheep Shuffle Mitts seemed the perfect project to marry Jillian's Lunan Bay cashmere blend with Erin's colourful scrappy pack.

I knit throughout January and was delighted with the finished mitts.  I've been wearing them a lot!

But there was still a wee nugget of cashmere left....

Goat anatomy

Just enough to knit...

Fester the Goat pattern by Australian blogger Justjen

A goat!

Toys are notoriously fiddly to make, consisting of numerous pieces and endless ends.  The sewing up and stuffing can take longer than the knitting.  The eagle-eyed may have noticed I miscounted and made three ears (as well as two horns, a head, a tail, the body and an underbody) but I did achieve my aim to use every bit of the precious cashmere!

My plan was to present Jillian from Lunan Bay Farm with the tiny toy to display on her stand at the Scottish Wool Producer's Showcase, a wonderful event I attended in Perth last weekend.  The Showcase highlighted breeders, producers, smallholders and mills from all over Scotland who bring native wools and fibres to market with an emphasis on animal welfare and provenance.  Jillian gave a presentation about Lunan Bay Cashmere and I was thrilled to see my mittens appear on one of her slides!

It was only towards the end of the event that I could even approach Jillian's stall as it was so popular but I did spot a certain wee goat on display.

Lunan Bay Cashmere stand at The Scottish Wool Producers Showcase

I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Jillian and learn about her farm and her goats as well as being able to knit something I cherish with her beautiful wool.

Don't miss out on the antics of this year's kids on Facebook and Instagram

Visiting (my) Tribe

There was only thing I wanted to do to celebrate my recent milestone birthday - visit my two daughters with my husband.  Be with my tribe, in fact.  As both girls live in London, this was easy to achieve, and offered many possibilities for what we might do during this long weekend in late November 2022.

Birthday to do list: cuddle my daughter Eilidh's new puppy, eat cake and drink champagne

Since this mini-break was predominantly about me, I was also able to realise a long held desire to visit Tribe Yarns.   Accompanied by daughter, Maddy, and my husband, Geoff, we travelled from London to Richmond-Upon Thames, the home of Tribe, on the most gorgeous winter day.

Maddy and Geoff in Richmond park 

What holiday for me nowadays doesn't involve a trip to a yarn store?  Especially when the only souvenir I want is some lovely yarn to remind me of my holiday!  With birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and couldn't wait to look around.

Richmond was buzzing with only four shopping Saturdays left 'til Christmas but we dodged the crowds and walked to Tribe, a short distance from the railway station, along pretty streets lined with tempting boutiques and found the yarn shop nestled in at 17 Richmond Hill.

Curator of this cornucopia of yarn and notions is Millie Abrams, who could not have been more welcoming.  Here's what Millie says about her own shop:

We have put extra special care into selecting the fibres and materials that will give you the most intense pleasure in the priceless minutes you choose to spend with your yarn and yourself.  It's our obsession. 

Millie graciously allowed me to take these pictures during my visit.  I hardly knew where to start but urged my daughter to chose any skein that took her fancy from the rainbow wall behind us so I could make something for her.  Maddy and Geoff then left me to fondle the merchandise, whilst they sought out a suitable hostelry.

The first thing that struck me in Tribe was the wonderful array of displays : a peg board, many hangers, an armoire and bureau as well as hoops and cubbies.  So much gorgeous yarn to peruse.

Check out this marvellous printers tray, chock full of beautiful buttons.

Now - let's talk about these fluffies - adorable alpacas and the prettiest pom poms.

I had never seen so many knit and crochet samples in a yarn shop.  Shawls, scarves, blankets and garments galore - they were artistically festooned, draped and hung over every available table-top, rail and bannister.  They made me want to make EVERYTHING!

It's easy to feel like a kid in a sweetie shop when faced with such a selection of delectable yarns.  Before my visit I had a good look at the shop's website, from the comfort of home, where I could match potential purchases with patterns in my library.

I also try to buy yarn I can't find elsewhere.  Here I am, post visit, proudly cradling this scrumptious skein of cashmere/silk Artyarns Ensemble Light, bought with birthday pennies from my sister-in-law.  It's the most luxurious yarn I've ever bought.  Pure indulgence and the perfect splurge!

Also in my shopping basket was a very vibrant skein of  Tribe Vibe Merino which was Maddy's choice.  I was secretly delighted she picked this.  It's unique to Tribe as it's hand dyed in small batches by Urth Yarns exclusively for the shop.  When I asked Millie about notions, she recommended these jolly Cocoknits stitch stoppers and kindly gifted me a Tribe tote bag to keep all my goodies together.  

Back home, I was eager to cast on and held the Tribe Vibe Merino together with some fluffy Drops Air from my stash to make these fingerless mitts for Maddy.  

Mitten pattern by Tania Barley @thewoolbarrow

By February my needles were clear of other pressing projects and I was able to cast on the beautiful Artyarn.  I chose the Winter Wander Shawl by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade.  It's my fifth time making it!  If you scroll right back to the top of this post, you'll see me sporting a pink version and I'm wearing it standing beside Millie.  I always grab this shawl from my wardrobe as it's my favourite go-to neckwear.  Three of the others I've knitted were gifts.  I knew this would was the perfect partner for my precious souvenir yarn.

The pattern includes a lace section and I chose to use Drops Kidsilk in the palest cream.  The blend of mohair and silk compliments the Artyarn and is as light as a feather.

Winter Wander Shawl pattern by Helen Stewart

I selected clear beads to enhance the picot edge.  They add weight making the shawl drape beautifully - plus they look like tiny dewdrops.

A few weeks after I started knitting, the shawl was finished.  I had fun styling it with my clothes, especially these two charity shop blouses, but it'll also go well with my linen daisy dress and new flowery rain-jacket.

The weather in Aberdeenshire is currently very changeable so today I've styled my new shawl with a light top as well as my cosy jacket!

I'm thrilled with my purchases from Tribe Yarns and knitting with them has been truly pleasurable.  It warms my heart to think Maddy's mitts are also keeping one of my family tribe toasty too!

Tribe Yarns can be found at :

17 Richmond Hill, Richmond, TW10 6RE

Website : www.tribeyarns.com

Phone : 020 8940 0999

Email : connect@tribeyarns.com