Dyeing Yarn with Madder

Things I've Been Up To

It's been a while since I posted, so here's some stuff that's happening!

Firstly, I'm going to Australia on Monday and I'll be there for 3 weeks! Very excited, but really not looking forward to 25 and 30 hour journeys. I do have a crochet project to do on the plane though, here's my progress so far:

If you like the look of this pattern, you can find it here for free on Ravelry. I'm planning on making it an adult-sized blanket rather than a baby one though.

I've also bought yet another old film camera, this was one a great find, it was £30 for the camera body plus 3 lenses, a flash thingy, a strap, some other little accessories and a big case to carry it all in. It weighs a tonne though! Here's my camera collection to date (not including digitals):

The whole front row, including that humungous lense, is what came with the new camera. It's a Praktica LTL3 if anyone has any idea what that is! I must admit I hardly know anything about cameras, but I'm learning fast with this lot. It was so difficult to decide which to take on holiday though, currently I'm going with the Canon SLR and the Praktica with one lense, along with my compact digital camera! I'm visiting a friend but she's got a job so I'll have a lot of time to spend on my own, so hopefully I can use some of that time to take amazing photos! I'm not really much of a photographer, but I really enjoy it and I generally end up with one or two nice photos, and I think it would be nice to get some blown up really big so I can frame them.

Of course I'm working hard dyeing wool whenever I can, but I want to put that all together in one post. I've got a post started on explaining how to dye with madder root, because I kept getting orange and not red and I found it a little frustrating! Now I know how to make a redder red, I'll be able to share it with you.

- Kate

My Etsy Shop is Now Active!

So far I have created listings for these cute crocheted owls, and this week I will be adding bunting, cards and owl doorstops. You can find my shop via the link on the right-hand side of this post.

- Kate

Important Updates!

I've just made a new Facebook page, go and like it if you want updates of what I'm making and selling. You can also message me on there if you want to ask any questions about using natural dyes and I'll be able get back to you more quickly than I would on here!

I've also made an Etsy account, which is not active yet but will have many of my creations available starting next week!

On Monday or Tuesday I'll be posting a pattern for this cute owl, it'll be free for a limited time only so watch this space!

(This particular owl is called Sam, and the colours are both from black bean dye).

- Kate

Line Drawings

I'm trying to get into using a sketchbook for personal use, i.e. not for some kind of assignment. Here's some drawings of string that I've, for some reason, been slightly obsessed with this week! 

- Kate

I Went on Holiday

And I had a lovely time! We booked a boat holiday on the Norfolk Broads four days before we left and managed to get it for the half the price we paid last year.

I've found that when on a boating holiday, I apparently become slightly obsessed with photographing birds...

- Kate

Shop Sign Making

In a few weeks I'll be having my first ever craft stall! I'm really looking forward to it, and will be making loads of stock starting next week. I know I'll have a fair bit of stock leftover; I have no idea if anyone will even want what I make. SO, as soon as I've done the stall, I'll be opening up an Etsy shop. 

This means I need a shop sign! So here are a few ideas I've had :) Some of them are illegible, but I'm working on it!

What do you think? Which is best? Ignore the colours for now! I really like the last one, if I could just fix it to make it more legible (Kate's Yeven Kitchen anyone?), but an Etsy sign has to be long and thin like the pink one above it, and I'm not sure how I'd squish it down.

- Kate