Workshops and Courses for 2010

Here is a list of the workshops and courses I will be tutoring in 2010:

Saturday 15 May - Creative Spinning - Abergele Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers.

Sunday 17 to Friday 21 May - Beginners Spinning - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Monday 7 to Friday 22 June - Natural Dyeing - Standlow Farm - for Skylark Holidays.

Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 June - Creative Spinning - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Saturday 3 to Sunday 4 July - Start to Weave with a Rigid Heddle Loom - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Tuesday 13 to Wednesday 14 - Introduction to Dyeing - Standlow Farm - for Skylark Holidays.

Sunday 25 to Friday 30 July - Learn to Weave with 4 shafts - Venue to be confirmed - for Skylark Holidays.

Sunday 26 September to Friday 1 October - Introduction to Weave Design - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Sunday 3 to Friday 8 October - Creative Dyeing - Standlow Farm - for Skylark Holidays.

Saturday 16 October - Colour Blending in Spinning - Bradford Guild.

Saturday 23 to Sunday 24 October - Rigid Heddle follow on course - Flitwick - Ravelry Weaving Group.Saturday 30 to Sunday 31 October - Make the most of your Rigid Heddle Loom - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Saturday 6 to Sunday 7 November - Introduction to Spinning - New Bath Hotel - for Skylark Holidays.

Saturday 20 November to Sunday 21 November - Creative Spinning - York and District Guild.

Saturday 27 November - Colour and Weave - Hallamshire Guild.Colour [ Color]-And-Weave Design Book: A Practical Reference Book

Pure Tinctoria Website

Hi All

I just wanted to update you about the Pure Tinctoria website, which is undergoing changes.  The company, Startershop, I have my e-commerce website with has decided they don't want to manage e-commerce sites anymore, so I am having to look for a new website and host.

I thought I'd found one as good as Startershop, but sadly  they have let me down, in fact, on more than one occasion.  What should have taken less than a week is still ongoing and therefore I am still with the old site, but having taken our an advert in a couple of magazines, to promote my new domain name, some new or potential customers will find that they can't access the new site, which appears as under construction and it feeds them to the wrong old site!

Please bear with me, I'm finding it very, very stressful, but will full fill all orders as speedily as usual.  If you hear of anyone who has tried to access either site and not succeeded, please direct them to my email address or telephone number and I will deal with their order that way in my usual efficient manner!

I hope to get a new site up and running before Wonderwool Wales, but am holding my breathe!

Best wishes

Alison

More Places to buy Pure Tinctoria Extracts

You can buy Pure Tinctoria Dyes from the following places:

Eco-Haberdashery Shop

Unit 1.10 OXO Tower Wharf, facing the river.

Opening hours: 12pm-6pm, Tues-Sat.

http://www.anniesherburne.co.uk/shop.html

Jane Deane

Duchy Square Centre For Creativity

Tavistock Road

Princetown

Devon

PL20 6QF

Tel: 01822 612338

Email: jane@janedeane.co.uk

http://www.janedeane.co.uk/puretinctoria.html

We will be having a stockist in the Netherlands soon, so watch this space!

Shetland Tops in Natural Dyes

Well I've spun up one of the Shetland tops I dyed at the demo on Saturday. (Tops 6)

I spun it on Monday and have been knitting a lovely spiral scarf that I was shown in The Hague.

This is the pattern:
Cast on 20 stitches
K one row
*Slip the 1st st, K 8, Yfwd, sl 1 P wise, Turn
P to end (10 st)
Sl 1st st, K 6, Yfwd, sl 1 P wise, Turn
P to end (8st)
Sl 1st st, K 4, yfwd, sl 1 P wise, Turn
P to end (6 st)
Sl 1st st, K 4, (pick up loop under next st and k together with that st, K 1) repeat once, Pick up next loop and k with st. P to end
Repeat from * until desired length is achieved, cast off and secure ends.

It's a really easy and can be knitted in any yarn with any needles! Thanks to Dineke of De Spinners who showed me how!

Pure Tinctoria Workshop

I had a great time on Saturday at my local guild of weavers, spinners and dyers, in Derbyshire. I ran a natural dye extracts workshop with my Pure Tinctoria Dyes. Each participant dyed three small hanks with one of the dyes, then modified them with iron water, copper water, citric acid and washing soda. They all went home with 70 colour swatches!

See them on the right.

The only colour we didn't have was blue. I use a fermentation vat for indigo, which takes about 48 hours to work and it doesn't travel too well. As you can see the range of colours is fantastic, I just have to add the indigo range to the swatches, so watch this space for the results!