Finding Inspiration :: UK Indie Dyers ::

When I was searching through etsy last week to hunt out some gifts for the yarn lover in your life, I couldn't help but find a huge cache of gorgeous hand dyed yarns from UK etsy sellers. So many I felt that they deserved their own gift guide. I can't imagine any knitter or crocheter could think of a better gift than skien of delicious hand dyed yarn!

Here are just a few of my favourites, again this is pretty much a guide to what I would like for Christmas!

1. Fruit Salad (Aran weight, 50% silk, 50% merino) by Six Skiens
2. Nightcrawler (4ply, 100% merino) by Third Vault Yarns
3. Ghost (DK, 100% merino) by Yan Tan Tethera Yarns
4. Yorkshire Rose Smoothie  by Wharfdale Woolworks
5. Rumble (4ply, 100% merino) by Moonlight Yarns
6. Pastel Rainbow Set (sock weight, 100% merino) by Hand-Dyed by Kate
7. Oh Clouds (sock weight, 75% merino, 25% nylon) by Burrow and Soar
8. Scoobies (DK 100% Blue Faced Leicester) by Felt Fusion
9. High Twist (4ply 80% merino, 20% nylon) by I Love Pink Geraniums 

For more inspiration for gifts from UK etsy sellers take a look at my pinterest board. and the Etsy gift guide series

Finding Inspiration :: Gifts for Yarn Lovers ::

As Christmas begins to near, I've started to think of gift buying and thought I would revive my gift guide series from last year, featuring gift ideas from UK etsy sellers. There are so many fabulously talented UK based sellers on etsy that there is a lot to showcase.

Today I'm looking for gifts for the yarn lovers in your life, basically this is a list of all the things I would like for Christmas!

1. Personalised Yarn Ball Keychain from Doodle Pop Designs
2. Wool Knitting Earrings from Max's World
3. Knitting Mug from Kelly Connor Designs
4. Knitting Needle Ring from Yellow Bear Wares
5. Wool Yarn Bowl from Little Wren Pottery
6. Silver Bird Pin from Ross and Ross

For more ideas for gifts from UK etsy sellers you can take a look at my pinterest board.

Dressing Babies in Merino Wool ::

It's probably no secret that I love wool. I use it a lot in my work and also my personal knitting and crochet. But probably my favourite wool both to work with and wear is merino. It's just so soft and warm and wears beautifully. It also has a host of other qualities that make it perfect for babies.

• Merino is one of the softest wool types available due to it's short, thin staples, making it less tickly than other yarns and meaning it can happily be worn next to the skin.

• Because of these smaller fibres it's warm even when you're using finer weight yarn. Which makes it great for babies who don't really want to be in big bulky sweaters.

• It's great at regulating body temperature. Perfect for babies as it keeps you warm without overheating.

• It draws water away from the body, so if your little one was to get sweaty, the yarn would pull it away, meaning they can avoid being damp and getting cold as a result of that.

• Merino wool also holds a lot of water and can do so whilst still keeping your baby warm. This would also make its great yarn for making nappy soakers.

• In my experience it also washes well, especially the superwash varieties. Though I would rather handwash handknits (partly I think I just enjoy the process) so I don't have much experience with knits in the machine I have occasionally thrown a handknit merino sweater in the wash and they've come out unscathed.

My favourite cardi I knit for Effie using merino.

I could go on about the wonders of merino all day (but don't worry I won't) I really feel that dressing babies in natural  fibres is the way to go. Their little bodies are so precious they should be bundled up in the finest temperature regulating fabrics. If you're knitting for babies then you are in luck because you can buy all manner of gorgeous merino yarns (a cashmere, merino blend is probably my favourite) in all yarn weights and gorgeous colours imaginable and across a wide range of price points. However you need so little yarn for a baby project you might as well splash out!

If you're not a knitter or crocheter, then you can find a wonderful variety of gorgeous baby clothes made from merino wool. Delicate Dream, do a range of simple, unisex baby essentials made from merino. We were sent this lovely snuggly cardi and trouser outfit from them to review and we love it. We've been using it as Effie's outside clothing, perfect for popping on over her existing outfit to keep her warm and snug in the pushchair without getting too hot if we're in and out of shops or if she's bundled up next to me in the sling. I love babies dressed in all the colours but there's also something especially darling about a perfect little baby dressed all in white.

You can shop the Delicate Dream unisex merino collection here.

**we were kindly sent these items to review but all thoughts are our own.

Sling Cowl :: A Crochet Pattern ::

One thing I definitely don't really need is more neckwear. I have a bit of scarf/shawl problem, I just love knitting/crocheting these garments and I do put them all to good use. However I've discovered since the temperature dropped, that scarves and baby slings do not make for great companions. I'm always worried about the tails getting in Effie's face and they just don't sit quite right with the sling in place.

When we pulled all the knitwear out of storage last week, I noticed the snood I knit for Johnny a couple of years ago and realised that was exactly what I needed. Something that fits perfectly around my neck, without any ends to get in the way and sits high enough to be well out of Effie's face. As knitting isn't really working for me at the moment, for whatever reasons, I decided to crochet my version.
I thought I'd share this simple little pattern with you here. It's quick, easy, unisex and would make a great Christmas gift too.

Dyeing Yarn ::

On Sunday we celebrated the birth of Bex (of By the Yard and Ampersand Commodities), by attending a wonderfully scrumptious BBQ at her house.

On Sunday morning, feeling like a crap friend for leaving it to the last minute, I turned to Milo in desperation and asked 'what shall we get Bex for her birthday?'.  His initial response was, you could give her some of you 'knitting balls' (meaning of course yarn), 'I have nothing nice or special enough for that' I replied.  'I know,' Milo responded calmly, 'just dye her some'.  This was probably the best idea he's ever had, in my eyes anyways, it was perfect and thoughtful and particularly so because it was all his idea.

I hunted out a skein of bare yarn I had stashed away, my collection of Kool Aid packets, Milo choose the colours, we covered everything in newspaper, hopped into our aprons and got dyeing.

Milo choose green, blue and purple, I mixed the colours up in jars and, after soaking the yarn for a bit, I let Milo just go for it with paint brushes and dye.  It was so much fun, Milo loved it, even though it took a lot longer than either of us imagined it would.  All the time talking about how much Bex would like it and discussing all the different things she could knit with it.  I was so touched by his thoughtfulness and reminded that this is exactly the reason I love making things for others, you can't help but think about them during the time spent working on the project destined for their possession.

The result was a little psychedelic, but fortunately Bex seemed to like it.  The beautifully sunny day we were lucky enough to have on Sunday meant that it was mostly dry by the time we came to leave, nothing a little blast with the hairdryer couldn't fix anyway.

The whole experience reminded me too how much I like dyeing yarn and how I said to myself at the beginning of the year, I was going to learn properly and invest in some proper dyes, so if anyone has any suggestions for this I would love to hear them.

yet another blanket ::

as I mentioned on Monday, despite already having 3 crochet blankets in progress at the moment, I decided to take on yet another!

Hexagons this time, as requested by the mr.

I'm afraid I don't have a pattern link for this, as I sort of made it up myself from a photo provided to me by said mr.

I'm using a variety of acrylic yarns I already had, in some fantastically bright colours!

I initially thought I'd run this alongside my leap year blanket, doing a square for each everyday, but to be honest, I'm starting to think that the leap year blanket is going to be huge! As much I love the idea of a huge granny blanket, I expect realistically I only really have room for one of these in my life, so I'm thinking the hexagon will be more ideally suited as a lap blanket or maybe a single blanket for the boy's bedroom. This is assuming of course it doesn't just find it's way to the pile of incomplete projects!