(For info – parts of this podcast were recorded at different times – tired Louise starts this podcast and a less tired Louise, of the recent past, recorded the wool exploration! Apologies in advance for the varying energy!)
| WoolNEss
I recorded the first part of this after WoolNEss and a lovely weekend in Newcastle indulging in wool and general woolbeing. Thanks very much to the organisers Lucy, Hollie and Ally for creating a lovely event. I had a love local wool showcase and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to so many of you there and getting to grips with wool and your woolly questions.
You wouldn’t be blamed if you had been thinking that blog posts were a thing of the past around here. My apologies! Every time I sit down to write a post (not a podcast post, but a good old fashioned blog post) I have the best intentions to get more posts out, but real life catches up and takes me away from the computer.
In our lives online we often think of others being at the other end of the internet, attached to a device and ready to comment, post or “talk”. We’ve become attuned to thinking that the internet and social media means “fast” and that as quickly as we can type something, a response should also be generated. I’ve heard so often of designers in UK getting repeat social media posts, DMs and emails about a perceived issue with a pattern, over a very short period of time- often from people in countries on a different time zone than the UK, demanding a response. I do often think that the internet and social media is a monster of our own design! It makes us a little (or a lot) less polite sometimes, and it can make us forget that when we are awake there are people on the otherside of the world who are asleep!
YET, interacting online has such overwhelming positives too – simply making connections is amazing. However there is also the ability to have meaningful conversations on a really wide platform, like the conversations on inclusion, diversity, equity and of white privilege, discrimination and prejudice. Social media is not always the best place to mediate or moderate, but, nevertheless, it is a medium of communication that can be life-altering, not only to post, but to read and absorb. (“Can’t stop the signal, Mal”)
No matter how much it looks like we are living our lives online, that is just not always the case. I’ve been trying to detox from my devices a little. This is mostly because my phone isn’t working, but also I feel anxious about having so much of my life in one little rectangular box – not just social media, but email, calendars, messaging and every kind of push notifications! I turned off a lot of notifications for apps and things many years ago. I don’t like DMing and I even stopped looking at emails on the weekends. But it creeps in again slowly, doesn’t it? I’m trying a little harder at the moment . I’ve set daily reminders for social media (no more than an hour each day) and I’ve decided to not have my phone on when at work , apart from breaks. I want to be able to make my time online- and thus offline – a little more meaningful. Wellbeing is important for everyone, where you can find it.
Loadsa swatches
Would it be any surprise that I get some well being from wool? I’ve been preparing for an event and have been elbow deep in wool, getting all my swatches prepared for a wee Love Local Wool area.
I’m going to be in Newcastle, at woolNEss festival on Sunday, 4th August. The festival is going to be held at the Life Science Centre, (near the train station for any day trippers!) and it will be a woolly haven which celebrates the benefits that making can have on our mental and physical wellbeing. Wool and wellness are two things I feel rather strongly about and I know many of you do too
On Sunday 4th August, from 11am-3pm, you will find me in the reception area of the Bio-medicine West area of the centre. This is the area where the workshops and pop-up events are going on and the area is the social setting for the weekend. Lots of places to sit, make, chat and come and squeesh some wool!
I am bringing a Love Local Wool showcase of British wool and fibre swatches. If you have ever thought British wool was just a generic term for a nondescript yarn or fabric (well, I know that’s not you, regular reader!) come along and see how unique different breed wool and yarn can be!
I will be bringing a few examples from Wool Exploration, of our group findings on breed wool. I’ll also be bringing a wool tasting session, where you can look at wool from fleece to (small) finished object and see how much the breed wool can change.
Come and chat! Come and squish wool! Come along with any questions about breed wool, participating in Wool Exploration or buying local wool ! I am in no way an expert. I’ve only learned about local wool from becoming passionate about using it and supporting small wool businesses. What I have learned most of all is that you have to get your hands on it – not simply in a ball or skein – but in all of its stages.
Already an advocate for local wool? Come and chat, bring your local wooly hand-made items to show off. Let’s all fly the flag for wool from our neck of the woods -wherever that may be!
I am really looking forward to seeing you, if you’re going there.
In other general wool-being news, I’ve been thinking a lot about the podcast and website. I’ve finally started putting the wheels in motion for a wee change that I’ve been meditating on for a while. It shouldn’t change how you read or consume material but I think, or hope, it speaks wider about local wool, the work of people within the wool world and also the work that I do. Cos, although I always say that I love making the podcast, it is also work.
More on that another day! Right now I’m off to sit with the podcat, who is a little sleepy, but doing well, after her dentistry yesterday (thanks for the love and wishes, she got them all). I’m going to knit on my Norfolk Horn Polygon and when I finish that I’m gonna pick up my Tin Can Knits Posy Shawl, which I’m making in Wensleydale Longwool 4ply, in Semerwater. It’s currently raining here, so it may just be a netflix and chill kind of day.
Whatever you are up to, I hope you have a weekend of woolbeing!
Welcome to an episode of the podcast that has a little different flavour this month!
↓Listen to the podcast↓
You can also listen on iTunes, or via your preferred podcast app!
Last year I let two of my worlds collide a little. Very rarely do I talk about my work on this podcast. However when one works with special collections material and finds a bundle of letters about a craft you had never heard of…well, one simply must share that on a wider level!
The bundle of letters were found in an archive box, in The School of Scottish Studies Archive (SSSA) They were marked “SWRI LETTERS – CLEEKIT GLOVES” and contained 15 letters from members of the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute (SWRI) to the editor of Scottish Home and Country Magazine. They are in response to an article, from January 1959, seeking information on this craft. Read More
You can also listen on iTunes, the podcast app, or search your favourite podcatcher, if you prefer!
| Hellos & Good Intentions Q2
A quick gander amongst the Ravelry group and looking at what folks are making, or planning to make this quarter in the Good Intentions thread! There is a lot of making good on intentions in that thread!
| Cast on / Cast off
I finished my second Felix sweater by Amy Christoffers/ Savoury Knitting for my sister’s birthday. No image of the second, but here’s my first! Many times over, with lovely pals, at EYF2019. It was also made in Iona Wool.
I have a bit of a rant about the visual inaccessibility of the patterns and layout in Laine magazine. I had got this magazine specifically for the Poet sweater, by Sari Nordlund. I got the yarn that I wanted to use – Bealach Astair from Uist Wool – however the pattern was not laid out well in the magazine. As well as the page being grey/beige, the magazine editors had decided to edit the chart so that it was for all sizes. This included colouring cells for different sizes, in low contrasr shades, and making recognisable symbols stand for something else in those squares.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxp-sHQJVV1/
Laine did respond that they were working on these issues for future magazines, which is something, but I really don’t think aesthetic should take priority over a good layout, sensible keys and a visually accessible pattern! The fact that Laine doesn’t have a digital copy is also problematic for many users.
Anyhow, the fantastic Sari Nordlund gets a big ten for having a beautifully laid out single pattern, and if you are also interested in making this beautiful sweater, I recommend you save some bucks and save your eyesight by getting the pattern via her on Ravelry!
I also mentioned the Elibelinde sweater pattern from Pom Pom Quarterly, Autumn 2017. I will be looking at this pattern, by Ellinor Siljeström, for a future make!
I also mention the Untangling Knots annual outfit-along, which kicks off on 1st June. This year the emphasis on the knit and sewing-along is on WIPs and the scope is broad, so check out the blog post and see if you can join in. I have the yarn for the Salal cardigan ready to go, and I have matching wool tweed for a skirt, so I may join in!
| Life of a Wensleydale Cardigan…so far
If you a regular listener of this podcast you will have heard me talk about my Wensleydale Lush cardigan, and you may have also seen me wear it…a lot. I would say that it is my most worn piece of knitwear. By ‘worn’ I mean that I wear it a lot, but I would also say that it has really “worn in” – you can’t really have one without the other, but I don’t mean worn out, I mean that it has continued to look and feel great.
I’ve long used this cardigan as an example to those who think that Wensleydale is not soft against the skin – of course we know that everyone feels different wool in different ways, but I’ve always been keen to show that just cos a yarn has a halo doesn’t mean it is going to be too crisp to wear. The micron range of Wensleydale sheep is 30-36, so it is in the range where fibres are less bendy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that its a yarn we should discount out of hand.
This is my description of knitting with this wool for the first time and how I found it as I worked my Lush
The wool has a slight crisp feel to the initial touch, but is quite soft to work and – contrary to some reviews – it is not an abrasive yarn. Some people who do not do well wearing wool next to their skin may want to avoid, but as I said on the podcast – wool isn’t made of nettles – you may have an aversion or wool allergy but if you can why not give different breed yarns a try, you might be surprised!
I love how it is knitting up. I also really like that slight woolly halo on the yarn. I think this is going to make a very snuggly garment! I had heard someone comment that they thought their Wensleydale wool felted as they knit with it. I am not sure if this is down to the kind of twist or ply of their particular yarn, but I couldn’t spit-splice this yarn for love nor money! I know all wool does felt, but I have had no trouble with this particular brand. I will let you know how the FO washes.
(August 2014)
Well, listen in as I chat about how it looks today and check out my images below. While there is certainly a little thinning of the halo in the underarm area, and light feathering in places that see a lot of friction – bottom hem and top of button band – it is looking really great five years on!
Lush PodKAL cast on
Up close Lush
August 2014
#LushPodKAL
#LushPodKAL (nearly) FOs on parade, Yarndale 2014
Lapsang (and lush) December 2014
October 2014
Lush on the couch with Karie Bookish at EYF 2015
Karie and I have a blether
Karie and Louise in cardi swap shocker! August 2015
{c} Jeni Reid EYF 2016
EYF 2018
Worn at Fine Fettle Fibres in May 18
hells yeah this cardi wears well!
close up of the inside bottom hem May 2019
flattening and felting at the underarm seam
The back of the Lush,
Evidence of the underarm area beginning to thin/lack of halo there at all
lace still looks great!
| Wensleydale Wool Exploration
We have Rosehip71; PracticalCat; EricaEckles; BeckiP; DrSazMac; DryGardening; Dreynold1 and WoollyElly testing Wensleydale this episode ! My thanks to them and to everyone who talked about this wool in the KnitBritish ravelry group.
Listen in for the full reviews and find out how Wensleydale wool explorers found this lovely longwool, but here are a few things that everyone found – Wensleydale has an amazing lustre and halo but it tends towards light and “ticklesome” and is likened to an aura! Worsted spinning benefits the long locks of Wensleydale most, but some found where the yarn was too loosely spun it was quick to feather up, and where it was too tightly spun it made it very in-elastic. Wensleydale a great yarn to show us that from fleece to spun yarn, a single breed wool is different every time!
WoollyElly’s handspun, hand-dyed swatch
Dry Gardening’s unblocked swatch
Rosehip71’s Age of Brass and Steam
Post blocking drape dry gardening
Erickaeckles first wash block wear
Dreynold1’s florida Wensleydale singles
ErickaEckles swatch after 3rd wash and wear
Drygardening’s unblocked swatch
Practical Cat’s swatch
Dreynold1’s handspun UK wensleydale
Thanks for listening!
The next wool exploration will be Castlemilk Moorit and I hope you can join in with that!
The podcast will be back in June and I look forward to sitting down with you all then!
Back again, my friends! This time I am a little weary (drunken revellers had stopped me from recordings earlier, so I retreated to a different room eventually) and admit to being a little creatively stuck. Is it the post-EYF comedown *still*? Maybe its the weather? But I’m making myself podcast today cos I’ve definitely had less creative energy of late, but half the battle is doing something! This is something and I hope its marginally better than nothing at all!
↓Listen to the podcast↓
You can also listen on iTunes, the podcast app, or search your favourite podcatcher, if you prefer!
Cartref Yarn is a collaboration between Zoe Carter, of Pins and Needle Podcast, and Jennie Powell from Owl About Yarn! The yarn is a blend of Welsh Mule and BFL and it is grown, spun and dyed in Wales. Their business came from them asking where was all the yarn from Welsh sheep and they have only gone and made a blooming properly lovely DK. It is available in 8 dyed shades and a natural one. The yarn is 3 plied, rounded and bouncy and I imagine all the things in it. Particularly items that have a bit of texture, I reckon.Read More
(image: copyright Uist Wool (…and while wool is in the title of the podcast, this shawl is made from a delicious blend!)
Welcome to this episode of the podcast, which comes to you after a very woolly time indeed for me! This episode is just a long chat about my visit to West Yorkshire Spinners and Edinburgh Yarn Festival.
There is very little in the way of show notes – Just some pictures and links (when I get around to uploading them) – there is also very little editing here, so plenty of uhms and ahhs. This episode is just a general wittering about how much my heart is wrapped up in woolness this month.
There is mention of Buggers, Arses, Shit, Piss, Tits and BOOBS in this episode, so you’ve had your warning, if you needed it.
Listen by clicking below (I’ve had a few probs with the embedded player since wordpress changed a few things, so this opens in a new link)
A visit to the mill in Keighey, West Yorkshire. This was my prize for being in the online innovator category in the KnitNow Awards. Thanks to everyone involved in this day – it was such amazing fun and it was somewhere I have been really keen to visit. Special thanks again to all those who voted for me! Read More
Hi there! It was brought to my attention today that some of you who get a wee email when there is a new KB post, did not get an email for episode 114.
I am really sorry about that. It should be fixed now. I know lots of you only listen via the website, so I thought I would send you a quick post, with a link to that post.
Today I’m going to talk about advocating for wool, woolly biz and knitty woolly people. I also have a review of Turned Studio.
Listen below
You can listen via iTunes, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Show notes
| Advocating for wool
As long promised, this is part of my talk, that I did for the NANSWool conference, back in September (see episode 110).
The part of my talk I really wanted to bring you is about being an advocate, but I thought this was a really good opportunity to also introduce myself to new listeners and reintroduce the concept of what KnitBritish is for me (foremost) and why sharing #LoveLocalWool with listeners is important.
The yarn that sparked KnitBritish was from Uradale
I also talk about the importance of learning together and what can be achieved through that – such as our KALs and, of course, the important fieldwork we are doing with #WoolExploration and how this shared love of local also sees us taking part in wider conversations about wool. Larger campaigns for wool focus on global fashion, flooring and upholstery and seem to only pay lip service to the incredible work happening on the grassroots level.The rest of my talk was dedicated to showing how small wool businesses (can) so artfully and impact-fully tell their own stories. Read More
However as there are ongoing issues with Ravelry I wanted to pop up with an alert that there are numerous links to Ravelry on this site and if you are affected by the visually inaccessible new Ravelry I don’t want you to click on links. For more info please see my post on the front page of the website.
Thanks for stopping by the WoolWork website
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