Podcast Episode 8 – Festivals & Felts

A podcast for people who love knitting, Dorset Buttons, creativity & Scotland, especially the Highlands & Islands.

Welcome to the 8th episode of my podcast – Festivals & Felts

I’m back after a bit of a break after losing my voice & being poorly.  Thank you for all your good wishes.

And thank you for listening again or welcome if you are a first time listener.

The Weather 

The weather has been making the headlines both home & away these past couple of months and the aftermath of the Hurricanes that have swept the Caribbean and Southern Eastern States of America act as a reminder to us how devastating and destructive the weather can be.

I touch on the UK headlines . . . again.  Give us the facts, not sensationalist or disingenuous headlines about the weather!

September & October have delivered a lot of rain to our corner of Skye although we’ve still had some great autumnal colours, the odd bright day & some beautiful evening skies.

I’m now looking to buy an anemometer so I can learn a bit more about the weather in our area.

Making

No WIP update this month!

My Starting Point Shawl by JoJi using Eden Cottage Yarns Milburn 4ply is near completion & I’ve enjoyed picking it up at the end of each day.

I started the Bousta Beanie and found some Jamieson & Smith Supreme Jumper  Weight in my stash to knit it with.  I’ve just got the crown left to do.

I bought a kit this month, the fubc shawl kit by knitwear & fashion designer Susan Crawford.  I talk about the background to this having followed Susan’s story after receiving the news in the summer of 2016 that she had stage 3 breast cancer.  The kit contains 2 skeins of Lonk wool from sheep near Susan’s farm.  One skein is natural the other hand dyed & I cannot wait for this to arrive.

I took a trip to the Oslo Strikkefestival.  A chance to catch up with friends after vending at 3 shows in 5 weeks!  I chat about knit night and seeing the film Yarn.

Knit night in the public library – an incredible space for a community event.

I made some purchases that seemed to resemble the colours around Oslo.

The Folk Museum where the workshops & marketplace were held is a fascinating historic venue housing many textiles with an outdoor museum showcasing the history of Norwegian houses.

Dorset Buttons

I’ve been a vendor at three wool festivals since last episode & chat about each of them.

I start with Perth Festival of Yarn which had approximately 70 vendors with a large number of small independent Scottish businesses.  Thanks to John Glen of the Beardychiel podcast and part of the festival support team a gin reference turned up unexpectedly!!!

Eva organised a podcaster’s goody bag & my contained the following:

• Mabel McTavish Tea Cosies pattern by Janice Anderson of The Auld Woolly Alliance.
• Autumn Leaves Tammy Hat pattern by Beverly Dott of Fair City Knits which was launched at the festival.
• Pin badge from West Green Loft Yarn
• Liquorice Allsort Stitch Markers from WooSheeps
• A ball of Di Gilpin Scottish Lambswool Lalland along with 4 Gansey blanket patterns.
• A trio of mini skeins from Caledonian Dyeworks
• A mini skein from Dye Ninja.
• Skein of Scottish Alpaca DK form Lagom Felt Studio, the sponsors of the podcast lounge.

Next up was Yarndale in Yorkshire.  The Saturday was manic and so many of you stopped by to see me – thank you!  There was a great atmosphere in the auction mart and as well as nearly 200 vendors there were lots of displays which Yarndale is famous for.

My own purchases included a pattern & book by Sarah Alderson of Alder Sign Designs.

A project bag from Woolly Originals & I had to have a Yarndale Sheep Tote bag!

Lastly the Loch Ness Knit Fest in Inverness where I shared a stand with Sarah Berry of North Child.

I ran 2 workshops and these were some of the amazing Dorset Buttons made.

Photo reproduced by kind permission of Mona Eklund (c) 2017

I got to see the sample hats from the Elemental collection by Woolly Wormhead which I’d purchased when it was released – now to start knitting one of these beauties!  I also fell in love with Christel Seyfarth’s work & added her book FanoStrik – Beyond The Horizon to my collection. I also bought Kells pattern from Lucy Hague & Lithuanian Linen from Midwinter Yarns.

You will find me next at Dornie Christmas Craft Fair on 17 & 18 November.

Local Lowdown

Here I talk about a place of pilgrimage for knitters & wool lovers on Skye that has reached the end of an era – Shilasdair.

Across The Bridge

For this episode I headed up to Torridon on the mainland to visit Sheila Bates of Florrie Felts.  Sheila is a textile artist and felt maker who produces a selection of items from fleece which include scarfs, cafeteria cosies & painted pictures.  Listen in to find out more about the Florries!

Torridon Exhibition piece – Felt picture painting entitled “First Snows on Beinn Alligin.”  Photo reproduced by kind permission of Sheila Bates. 

Sheila’s stand at a recent event.  Photo reproduced by kind permission of Sheila Bates. 

Sheila’s Bramble Gin in the making!

You can find Sheila at:

• the Children 1st event at the New Drumossie Hotel in Inverness on 7 & 8 November
• followed by the Exclusively Highlands event at Eden Court, Inverness on 17, 18 & 19 November
• and lastly Drumfest at Drum Castle Aberdeenshire on 9 & 10 December 2017.

You can find out more about Sheila & Florrie Felts via her website www.florriefelts.co.uk or on Facebook @florriefelts

Music – the music is One Frog For a Prince, by Ron Patton & licensed from Melody Loops.

Bye for now.

 

 

 

 

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