Yes, I am getting on with knitting doll's clothes. This is going to be a jumper for a doll with madder (colour) hair. The yarn is a natural dark grey and the edging is in multi-coloured yarn someone suggested would look fabulous on the dolly. When I have finished the doll I will post a photo of the lovely doll on my blog.
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| Fleece dyed with Dahlia flowers. I am going to needle felt this fleece to make some small hearts. The fleece was placed in a bowl of cold water with alum as a mordant. I then put in some faded dahlia flowers and left the bowl for a couple of days in the greenhouse. The sunshine and warmth did its job and this is the resulting colour. By not boiling up a pot on the stove I have saved fuel and still obtained a result. |
It was lovely to see so many exhibits at the Produce Show.
September has one more show for us to visit and enjoy, then it really is the end of summer.
This is an example of one of my dolls using commercial wool, rather than the naturally dyed yarns. There is another craft fair early on in September and I hope to take a couple with me to sell. This week-end is going to be busy as I have plenty of knitting to keep me occupied. Just as well that the weather is going to be wild and rainy in these parts!
As well as making dolls, I have been having a tidy up in my sewing room. This is just a selection of items I found and probably now need to start seriously thinking of having a de-stash sale. 
A group of us met with our pots, pans, gas stoves and dye materials to turn our fleece into a selection of beautiful colours.
The darker purple yarn here was from the same dye pot as the delicate lilac, but had been in the pot for about 2 hours longer.
We also used madder, lichen which had been steeping for 8 months (very smelly), brazilwood, heather, indigo and walnuts. This time the madder produced apricot, which was not the result we had wanted but was pretty enough.
This looks a bit ghastly but it is just a tub of sheep's fleece that I am soaking in water and some alum. On Sunday I am off to a fun dye day and hope to change this mess into nice coloured fleece. Once I have dyed the fleece I can then make some needle felted hearts. The alum acts as a mordant and ensures that the fleece takes the dye. Will look forward to showing the results.
Someone had a de-stash moment and gave me this cotton fabric. Paul has asked me to make a large bag to hold his many musical instrument stands etc., so I can add these tasks to my long list of work in progress.
For some of my dolls I use commercial yarn such as Debbie Bliss and Rowan because the colours and textures are so pleasing. Other dolls are made in natural yarns only, such as these vegetable dyed and natural wools. Lovely aren't they? This week-end I am going to a natural dyeing day at a local farm, so will be sharing more thoughts and photos as a result of our activities.
This is a small jumper I made for my knitted dolls. The yarn is Shetland DK, grey and the pattern was adapted from one I found in an old knitting book. Lots more of them to be knitted up.
This is one of my knitted dolls I am aiming to sell online. At the moment I am providing a few for Damson & Slate, the lovely shop in Narberth. Today I must finish it off and get it on the shelves of the shop! It is made with DK Shetland wool, dyed with natural plant material.
At the Show we looked at the prize winners.......
the sheep ........
the walking sticks ...... and
the geese. Then we drove home.
It's time for me to get on with the knitting as I have a number of orders for my dolls. These natural dyed yarns are Shetland DK and have been spun and hand dyed by a fellow knitter. Nevern Show is on today, so perhaps the crafting can wait until this evening.
In September I am planning to be at a craft show where I will be selling items such as vintage and recycled buttons. Since the last show I have been thinking about improving the presentation of the buttons and hope to preview some examples on the blog. In the meantime here are a few photos of buttons on the old style packaging.
We went for a walk on Amroth beach last Sunday, and crunched our way over the pebbles and dead crabs. I liked the sage green colour of this creature of the sea.
Summer lasted about 3 weeks here. Today it is cloudy but dry, so far. There are still a few blackcurrants left on the bush and so we will be having blackcurrant and raspberry pudding for tea. The blackbirds will probably help themselves to the remaining fruit.
