Frome Shopping with Love

Yesterday DH and I decided to spend the afternoon in Frome, it was just a last minute whim and I am so pleased we decided to do it.

It has been a long time since we wandered around Frome and I am pleased some things haven't changed, as much had since our last visit.

We took a lovely walk up Catherine Hill. This used to have an excellent junk shop full of magazines from the 30s, 40s & 50s and lots of other lovely memorabilia but it has now closed. Generally Catherine Hill has become a great shopping street with boutiques, antique shops and a yarn shop.

I have known about Woolly Notions for a while but only visited it once, ages ago. It has recently changed hands and is run by Marmalade Yarns. I had a lovely time admiring the granny blankets and yarns; they are stockists of Rowan and Debbie Bliss but do carry other brands and talking to one of the owners.
I just love their open sign.

I found these two lovely yarns by Adriafil: Fusione and Fruttamix. They are both 100% cotton, multistranded, soft and affordable. I have been crocheting wash cloths with Fusione and they look very nice.


Marmalade Yarns have plans to hold workshops and start a club. I plan to visit again.

Also on Catherine Hill is Millie Moon, I didn't get a chance to investigate further than the window display as otherwise DH might have thought the only reason I asked to go to Frome was to enhance my stash. However, I hope to visit in the not too distant future.

We had such fun wanding up and down the hill, looking at the beautiful streets.

Of course, no visit to Frome is complete without a visit to Raves from the Grave and the Wholefood Shop on Cheap Street, where I purchased several types of tofu.

Cheap Street also has a great greengrocers and I purchased these

Broad Beans

Asparagus

Morels

I am so naughty.

I will blog about the rest of our day soon.

Wonderwool Delights

The drive to Wonderwool is like a perfectly crafted sock. With clear roads that are twisty enough to keep you interested but not so complex they taken your full concentration it reminded me of knitting a simple patterned sock. Even the stretch of motorway could represent that small point when you wonder if you will ever finish it.

Anyway, we made great time through the lush scenery of Monmouth and the Brecon Beacons and arrived at our final destination about 10:30, just before the car park started becoming busy.

We proceeded to spend the morning looking at the lovely stalls and, I tried to cover both halls before purchasing anything. I was doing so well and then we went on to Fybrespates' stand. I already knew I was in trouble, based on Jeni's last blog post. Well, it was too difficult to resist and I purchased a beautiful batt containing merino, silk, mohair and sparkles. The colours reminded me of a landscape just as the starts setting. I am looking forward to spinning this as it will be my first batt and seems really airy.

I also purchased this lovely scrumptious roving. Aren't the colours great! I just love the amount of white left in it and hope I can do it justice. At the moment I plan to spin it as a single which should accentuate the splodges of colour although I am finding it difficult to image the finished yarn. (Sorry about the blur but the fibre is shy.)


Also in the hand dyed goodies range is this citrus roving from Kraftykoala. It is a merino/bamboo mix and I love the different way both fibres have taken up the dye. Also, it is not a colour I would normally buy but I am definately falling for coral colours. Maybe this has something to do with summer?


Seen, admired but not purchased from was Spindle Frog, Artistis Palette and several other indie dyers. Unfortunately, with limited funds I had to pass up the tempations on offer from a wide range of stalls. I was specifically looking for spinning goodness so tried to stay away from the temptations of pre-spun yarn. However, a certain special something from The Natural Dye Studio was purchased by Elizabeth and I.

As if the above was not enough to keep a girl happy, I also managed to get the following:

100g of BFL fleece, scoured but still recognisable.
A big bag of Alpaca in oatmeal, caramel and chocolate.
A Manx fleece.
100g grey Gotland top (my cat loved this, she smelt it and then rubbed her cheek against it - and I though it was only me!)


The later came from Hedgehog Equipment who also allowed us to try their range of Majacraft spinning wheels. It was the first time Elizabeth had used a spinning wheel and declared it was more fun than a drop spindle. Soon my conversion will be complete and I will have enabled my Enabler!

I will say that the BFL, Alpaca, Gotland and Manx is due to be shared with my friend Jess as she could not make it to Wonderwool this year.

I made two other purchases. The first was planned (sort of) and comprises of an Earthues five day starter kit from Debbie at DT Crafts. Why Earthues? During our lovely conversation Debbie mentioned that the outcome with natural dyes is less predictable. This statement finally made my mind up for me. More and more, society seems to relish uniformity and the idea of working with something that is quirky really appeals. I'll just have to see how I get on.

My final purchase of the day was not in my plans but I have wanted one for ages. Yes, it is the regulation Patons & Baldwins beehive woolholder and it is scrummy.

I shall post about other things that caught my eye later.

What a Week End

What a week that was. It is now Friday night and I can't believe how quickly this last week has passed by.

As you know, I went to the Stitch & Craft show at Olympia and had a great day with Simply Knitting and the team from Future Publishing. It was fun discussing knitting with people and giving them help and ideas. I totally love spending time with yarn and there is always something that encourages people to share and talk. It seems to be a good introducer.

My toe up socks caused quite a stir with several people and indeed the Fybrespates Echo Self Striping yarn was much admired as well. The colour is Kermit, I am knitting a plain sock so the stripes can shine through.


I also took time to meet Kerrie and Alex of KAL and was lucky enough to see a proof of their new magazine, Inside Crochet.

Other things that caught my interest (and I managed to take photos of) are:


These adorable little houses by The Nutmeg Company. I love the idea of making little villages in cross stitch.


I just totally love these tatoo tapestries by Emily Peacock. The colours are lush, the traditional tatoo style, and the fact they are created in yarn just make me smile.

I was also able to purchase a copy of A Stitch in Time by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford, who kindly signed my copy. This book is lush and it was a complete pleasure to view all the samples and see them being warn. How could I resist, virtually everything is made in 4ply and I do seem to like working in thin yarn!

Of course, there was a purchase of yarn and (don't faint), it is DK in baby blue. I won't bore you with a picture but it does have angora in it.

Saturday was spent at the Natural History Museum. If you haven't been I so recommend it. The building itself it awesome. A cathedral to creationism and science designed by Alfred Waterhouse the building itself is worth a visit.


We had a great time visiting the Darwin Exhibition and wandering around the galleries.


That evening, we had a lovely dinner at Nineteen in Stretham. The food was delicious and the service very good. The wine flowed well and the rest of the evening finished in merriment and a bit too much alcohol. This lead to a lovely lazy Sunday, chilling with friends. Of course, we had to do a tourist shop at Fortnum & Mason.

Of course, I haven't left cholera behind and we had to have a drink at the John Snow pub, which is where the Broad Street pump was located.

What a Wonderful World

I have had a great Easter weekend. I was lucky as I was whisked off to Oxford by Iain. A weekend away in a rented apartment and tickets to see Eels on Sunday … I am a very lucky gal.

Anyway, Oxford is a beautiful city with lots to explore; streets full of character, iconic buildings, beautiful parks and riverside walks. We spent a lovely time roaming and we even visited the Bodleian Library which is fascinating. Iain discovered that it was usual for students to stand during lectures; something he thought might be of benefit today. If you love old books or even just the smell of old books, I thoroughly recommend a visit. I am not sure how anyone graduates from Oxford, I personally would spend my time going … ohhhh, look at THAT, its lovely!

The star of the weekend was attending Eel’s concert at New Theatre, see some pics here. I think E might collect rugs; they sure make the stage look homely. The evening started with a viewing of Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lines the documentary made by the BBC looking at E and his father, Hugh Everett III, a famous quantum physicist. The remainder of the evening was spent listening to music and excerpts from E’s book Things the Grandchildren Should Know. I am pleased to report I now own a purple t-shirt and our CD collection has grown (again!).

I did manage to fit in some knitting and Plums & Custard are growing, albeit slowly. Unfortunately, I just had to purchase some Rowan Kid Silk Haze to knit a beret … damn the cold weather and latest issue of Let’s Knit magazine.