Tag Archives: British Wool

New Year, New Yarns

Now that we’re into February, the winter dyeing break is over and it’s time to look ahead to new plans and developments for 2016.

New Yarns – Gradients and Stripes

I have two new lines in development for launch this Spring. The first is a very special gradient yarn, using Shetland yarn processed by the Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall.  I’ll share more about this yarn later in the month and it’ll be launching during the first week in March. Here’s a sneak preview of one of the colourways:

Yellow

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The second new line I’ll be introducing is the result of a happy accident, so to speak.  When I was ordering fresh undyed yarn from the wholesaler, my usual 100g skeins of BFL HT sock yarn were out of stock, but he did have the same yarn in 50g skeins.  I decided to order the 50g skeins anyway thinking they’d be perfect to dye up in a range of nice bright colours to then mix and match together for stripy projects!

So, keep an eye out, probably in April, for bright, bold combinations just begging to be knitted up into stripy socks, stripy hats, stripy gloves, stripy…you get the idea! I already have a sample pair of stripy socks on the needles in sky blue and raspberry.

It’s show time!

It’s also coming up to show time.  In May there’s Wharfe Wool Fair, previously held in Otley the fair is moving to Ilkley this year to a bigger venue with a car park just across the road and with good public transport links. We’ll have both new yarn lines on show for the first time, as well as the usual favourites.
Wharfe Wool Fair – 7 May 2016, 10am-4pm, Clarke Foley Centre, Ilkley, LS29 9DZ

Next up is Leeds Wool Festival to be held at Armley Mills Industrial Museum.  Some parts of the Museum were quite badly affected by the Boxing Day floods, but clean up is well under the way and the Museum should be open again soon.
Leeds Wool Festival – 6 June 2016, 10am-5pm, Armley Mills Industrial Museum, Leeds, LS12 2QF

And, of course, there’s Yarndale in Skipton in September. The application has been submitted and fingers are crossed until we hear back in mid-April.

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In the meantime

Until you can see us out in the wild, the Sylvan Tiger Yarn Etsy shop is stocked up with plenty of British yarn, all dyed by me, by hand, with natural dyes.

Yarndale 2015

Sylvan Tiger Yarn stall at Yarndale 2015

Sylvan Tiger Yarn stall at Yarndale 2015

Last weekend was the third Yarndale wool festival in Skipton, and the second time I’ve had a stall.  It was a fantastic, if very busy, weekend.  I only managed to take a few quick camera phone pictures of my own stall. This year the new banner was hoisted for the first time and attracted lots of oohs and aahs from visitors.  All needle felted by hand, no fingers were harmed in the process of making the banner!

The lace weight side of the stall

The lace weight side of the stall

The beautiful Bonny by Tin Can Knits was on duty at the entrance to the stall, enticing the customers in!  Saturday was an incredibly busy day, with lots of dedicated knitters and industry people visiting.  I only got to leave the stall for quick loo breaks and a bite to eat for lunch.  It was lovely to meet so many customers in person for the first time, especially Marie.  The very lovely Karie Westermann stopped by and Amanda Collins aka OwlPrintPanda was a veritable whirlwind through the stall!

4ply, DK and aran

4ply, DK and aran

I launched two new bases at the show this year, Pip DK (100% British BFL) pictured above on the top shelf at the right hand side and Sethera Aran (100% British BFL), bottom shelf on the right. These pictures are before the yarn was ravished by the hoards of yarn fans, hungry for a squish of lovely yarns!

Fibre and the sample washing line

Fibre and the sample washing line

The washing line of samples received lots of lovely comments from customers to the stall, especially the Anisoptera shawl, on the right above, from the Dragonfly collection by Gwen Wagner-Adair.  Speaking of samples and finished items, it was lovely to stand at the entrance to the stall watching the crowds going past and spotting all the wonderful hand knitted garments being proudly worn by the visitors.

Sunday was a little quieter and I managed to get away from the stall for a little while to have a look around and make some modest purchases for myself.  Though I didn’t manage to take any photos from elsewhere around the show, have a look on Twitter for #yarndale to get a flavour of the event.

Thanks to all the organisers and volunteers for another fantastic show, looking forward to next year already!  (After a bit of rest and putting up of the feet for a while!!)  The Etsy shop is back open again now and I’ll be restocking slowly over the next few weeks.