Yesterday morning, it was off to nearby Chesters, for the Woolgathering, a meeting of crafty folk organised by local textile artist Lindsay Roberts ,seen here at her spinning wheel. There were ten of us there and we spent the day knitting, sewing, giving and geting advice and just generally immersing ourselves in crafts ... a pleasant way to spend a Sunday which was wet, windy and miserable!
Lindsay also dyes yarn. I knitted these socks from a skein of her lovely sock yarn which I bought last summer. In fact it is altogether a talented family ... husband Hugh is an artist and their chocolate labrador, Ash, has her own blog - who says chocolate labs are dim!
I bought this yarn last week. If you haven't yet seen it, it is 75% bamboo and 25% nylon. It has a lovely soft silky feel, but you have to be careful not to split the stitches. I love yarns like this, when you don't know how they will turn out. I haven't knitted enough of the first sock yet to show you, but it's looking good.
I also took along my most recent books to share. (Two of them were bought before Christmas and the other two with a book token I got for Christmas, so I haven't broken my New Year's resolution - yet!) I enjoyed Stephanie Pearl- McPhee's book, Free Range Knitter. There is one part where she is talking about recognising fellow knitters, which reminded me of an incident from some years ago when I was living in Falkirk. I was walking up the High Street one day, minding my own business, when I saw a woman walking towards me. She changed direction and it was obvious that she was going to talk to me, which was puzzling, as I didn't know her. However, as she didn't look like a crazed axe murderer, I stopped when she spoke. She said she had been at Purely Patchwork in Linlithgow (hmm, I wonder what they sell) and the staff had told her there was also a fabric shop in Falkirk, so could I give her directions. I told her where the shop was and we went our separate ways ..... but then I thought ... out of all the people on the High Street, why did she approach me? I wasn't wearing patchwork clothing or have needles and pins about my person. Did she somehow know I was a quilter, or did I just look like a kind and helpful person?
ps - I just have the button to sew on my aran cardi, so you'll see it next time.