Not really here

Hi,
Some sort of virus got me this week and laid me low, away from computer screens and the bright lights of work it gave me chance to sit and think. I've sketched out an idea for one of my old style felted dolls, I've not made anything with the embellisher for years.

My plan is to have a play on Sunday and see where it leads me.

Meanwhile housework calls and a bit of music practice which is much needed for body and soul.

Nottingham Light Night

Today I have been having a turnout of stuff (again) this time it was clothes, 4 bags full for the charity shop, two bags of utter rubbish and a determination not to buy any new clothes this year!!

I need to go through my book collection soon, as I have probably several hundred mainly about textiles/craft/design etc. Not really sure how to sell any that are really interesting, any ideas??

Anyway, I didn't get round to posting photos from Nottingham Light night so here are one or two.

as usual, the ukulele club got in on the act as well :-)

Well, back to work, we have bags of campsite guides etc from the show yesterday to go through :-)

have a great weekend x

I walked my little legs off!,

We have just got back from the camping, caravan and motohome show at the NEC. We have climbed in and out of camper vans all day, checked out the layouts, sleeping arrangements,  beds that go up and down and chairs that swivel round. A great day out in spite of the fact that we can't  afford the fancy price tags.

Maybe at some point in the future.? Although this was an interesting conversion :-)

Crafting with young people

Just over a year ago I started working with young people who attend a youth group local to where I work, mainly I do some random craft work or play favourite games such as hedgehogs where you have balance wooden hedgehogs on top of each other until they fall down.

I though I'd share one or two of the items that have been made recently.

Felt pumpkins for Halloween 

Group jigsaw colouring, just get everyone to colour a piece with random colours. 

Scary monsters

Worry dolls

And puppets 

If anyone has any ideas to add to my list, I would appreciate it :-) we have touched on knitting, spinning,making felt brooches/key rings, bobbin lace, simple books over the last few months.

Inkle loom

It's a bit damp and grey here but I've had coffee, tidied the kitchen and got the washing machine on so I have a few mins to blog before tackling the next room.

I've not been spinning much for various reasons but I rediscovered the inkle loom and have been playing around with it for that last 9 months or so. I originally bought my first loom 3/4 years ago and like any serial fibre nut, played with it constantly for a few months then got distracted back into spinning.

I made myself a banjo strap a year or so ago and have recently been making ukulele straps, slowly perfecting the leather ends that have proved a little bit awkward

The original banjo strap, I then made a narrower strap to test out on my mandolin

then I started to play :-) 

 

please excuse the mess , I have tried to tidy up since !!

 

The project on the go at the moment involves using hand spun sari yarn that I spun at a demo a couple of years ago and has just been sitting around since. Exactly what this will become I'm not sure but the texture is interesting :-)

Well, its time to tackle the bathroom, wish me luck, speak soon, Sue x

Phew !!

So people still read blogs, thank goodness for that, I didn't really want to be talking to myself for the next few months!

So, a quick recap on some of the stuff from last year, since I am still unable to travel by bike we packed up the car in September and headed back to our bolt hole...the Isle of Skye to try and unwind a bit. We always joke that one year we will stay up there and each time its more of a wrench to come back.

We had booked a cottage, made the journey in around 10/11 hours arriving in time to sit and stare at across the bay and let the island work its magic.

You can't lose with a view like this from the front door.

perfect for watching the cruise ship/yacht come in.

we spent our time revisiting familiar haunts, catching up with people we know and chilling as much as possible.

I took the opportunity to drop in and spend some time with the local spinners group where I was made very welcome and I will be heading back in a few months for another session with them.

Portree harbour looking very pretty with its boats and painted buildings

We left with some regrets, a very nice new jacket from Skye Batiks and headed down the coast to visit some of my family.

more next time...

Does anyone still read blogs?

Hi, seems ages since I  was here but 2014 turned out to be a bad year on most fronts and I ended up just sort of hibernating.

Now I'm just wondering if people still blog, still read them, is anyone reading this??

Well I suppose I'm about to find out.....?

As this is a quick post using the app on my tablet, I'm going to try and post a picture of my latest attempts at inkle weaving and will be back soon with some photos from out last trip to Scotland .

just dropping by to say what a beautiful sunset we have tonight !!

Uke Fest GB

Its taken a week but I think that we have now recovered from the Ukulele Festival of Great Britain which was held at the usual venue in Cheltenham.

There was plenty of beer, lots of ukes, 

 Some amazing artists

 a big busk with several hundred players

 and an open mic stage which proved to be too small for this group of uke lovers

I managed to make new friends and weave a mandolin strap during the weekend

I even managed to find a video on you-tube......look out for the lady holding the drop spindle in the opening scenes !
This is the third time that we have been to this festival and this was the best one so far!!

Prickles

Hi,
 On Sunday I dropped into town on my way to the windmill and came across this cute little creature raising money for the Hedgehog Rescue, Appleby, Nr Scunthorpe (uk) who posed for me in return for a donation :-)

I had agreed to drop in on the Woolly Outlaws who were giving a spinning demo up at the windmill and give them some support. As usual coffee and cake were in evidence as were the cd drop spindle used for teaching.

As you can see, people were being quite productive, I did a little spinning on my drop spindle then headed off to catch up on the gossip with the miller who was busy keeping an eye on the machinery inside the mill.

This time he was looking a little floury as apposed to previous photos where he was simply looking wet!!

This sign caught my attention on the way to the carpark !

I hope you all had a good weekend, speak soon xx