Hello there, thanks for stopping by. I have some good news for you - I think I have found my long-lost mojo. Over the past months, I have really struggled to focus on any kind of crafting project. Apart from my Midnight Companion granny square blanket and a couple of pairs of socks, I've not done much at all and my finished projects page on Ravelry looks rather paltry. So what's happened? Let me take you back a couple of weeks when my fellow Stylecraft Blogstar Kathryn, aka Crafternoon Treats, came to stay for the weekend. I really enjoyed showing Kathryn around my part of Norfolk and we packed a lot in to a short space of time.
We went for a walk around the bluebell woods at the local National Trust property, Blickling Hall. The woods are really spectacular at this time of the year - a mass of blue.
I also took Kathryn to the nearby village of Worstead; the village has a huge tradition of weaving and it's where Worsted cloth got its name. We followed the Worstead heritage trail around the village and saw a number of buildings that had been important in days gone by. There was even a weaving loom in the church that belongs to the local weaving and spinning guild.
We had a lot of fun over the weekend - including a Blogstars gingerbread man Bake Off challenge!
A trip up to the north Norfolk coast had to be fitted in too, so we went to Wells-next-the-Sea and walked along the beach and back through the pinewoods, stopping off for tea and cake as you do!
Kathryn told me a lot about her venture into yarn dyeing. She has her own Etsy shop that you can find here and then yarn is all 100% British wool, ethically produced and fully traceable from named farms. She also makes whimsical stitch markers and sent me a set. I treated myself to a skein of her yarn too. I loved the colours in this skein - Iris. Everything comes beautifully packaged with a Yorkshire Gold teabag and a free stitch marker.
Kathryn also brought her spinning wheel with her and so we spent Saturday evening spinning while chatting. I hadn't done any spinning since last summer's Tour de Fleece, but I rummaged and pulled out a braid of fibre from Picperfic's Fluff-n-Stuff, one of my favourite fibre dyers and got started. I chose a braid of Blue Faced Leicester and nylon with the plan of spinning for socks. I N-plyed the singles to keep the colours together and hopefully have some stripes! I had forgotten just how relaxing spinning is. Once I'd started spinning, I couldn't stop! It's magical how fibre can be turned into yarn - an age-old craft that's no more complicated today than in the past.
I wound my yarn into a satisfyingly fat yarn cake and cast on for a pair of socks. I just want to keep knitting so I can wear them!
So it's all thanks to Kathryn that I've got some of my mojo back. It feels good to be knitting again. Hopefully I'll have a finished sock by the next time I blog! Don't forget there's still time to enter my May Pay it Forward giveaway here too. Have a good week. xxx
10 comments:
I'm so glad that your mojo has returned. So many lovely things in this post - beautiful bluebells, a gorgeous church and some fantastic looking socks. The only thing missing was darling Flo. Have a wonderful week. xx
Yay! you found your mojo again- that is happy news. Thank you for the lovely pictures of your weekend spent with a friend. Can't wait to see the finished socks made from this wonderful wool you spun.
Your yarn is so pretty I can't wait to see the finished socks! Maybe it is time to give my own spinning wheel a bit of attention, it has been a while since it had any love. 😃
Oh my, these photos are so lovely, and now I want to visit these places immediately!
It sounds like the perfect kind of visit, with a friend who is a great kind of guest to have whether or not your mojo arrives with her. Your handspun yarn is just beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharing all of this!
Yey!! Your yarn is gorgeous, love the colours! Also loving all your photos too. Good luck with your socks.
Woohoo! That's great! I love that pretty yarn you've spun for your socks. Look forward to seeing the finished pair! x
Such pretty spring time colours how could you resist getting started. So glad you are back to knitting, it's essential and those socks will be finished in no time given the weather forecast is rain rain and more rain this week.
Wow! Your spinning is fantastic.
Can't wait to see you wearing those socks when we meet up ;)
Hi,
So good to hear you are feeling positive crafts are such a help and a great distraction my sanity has been saved several times.
Wells Next the Sea is such a lovely place the beach is hard to beat even Barcelona's beach is not a patch on it.
I love the look of the spinning that looks great would love to try that too.
Hope you have good weekend we are going to Wells for our early morning walk and I get to crochet on the journey while my husband drives what could be better ?
Best wishes
Jane
Hi.
For all those who want to join you and re-find their Mojo, how about coming along to the Blossom and Yarn festival 2017 and finding inspiration in the knitting and crafting that will transform the 6 village churches in South Norfolk.
Six exciting tableaux at each of the churches capturing 'the Creation' of this wonderful world as we see it. Life sized knitted animals, birds, flowers, fishes and even a coral reef, supplemented with flowers and greenery to capture the imagination and transport you to different continents.
Look at we're doing on facebook or our website www.blossomandyarn.co.uk
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