Things have been overshadowed by the death of my brother-in-law after a short illness. Sadly he had undiagnosed lung cancer and by the time he got any treatment, there was nothing anyone could do. RIP Michael.
Although we have mainly been occupied with organising the funeral and now clearing his house, I have been to a couple of my usual Farmer's markets (Harpenden and St Albans) and have dyed the first instalment on my yarn club. I'm trying a different approach this year and, instead of doing a selection of colours, I'm dyeing five toning shades, so that they can be used in a project together. The first instalment was blues, and there's a spare set for sale in the shop - picture here:
I also attended a workshop last weekend on victorian style knitted lace run by the Knitting and Crochet Guild - it was so interesting to learn a new skill. I had seen in books how very fine steel needles were used and it took some getting used to - my hands ached after the session, as the needles (1.25mm) were so much thinner than those I'm used to! However, the lace you can make is lovely - crochet cotton is used for yarn - and makes beautiful edgings and trimmings as well as small gift items.
I'm starting a new market next weekend at Ware, run by Artisans of Ware www.artisansof.co.uk and am looking forward to it. It's indoors and a late morning start, which is a bonus!
