www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/fashion/article4364206.ece Bobbly pullovers occur with poor quality yarn when short fibres work their way to the surface during wear due to to friction. Anna Murphy’s recent article didn’t mention this so I emailed her and she sent this reply On 27 Feb 2015, at 09:14, Anna Murphy <anna.murphy@thetimes.co.uk> wrote: Dear Pam Austin,Thank you for your […]
Art Yarn: What is it? is a question I’m often asked, followed by ‘What do you do with it? Over the next few months I hope to answer these questions in a practical way at my Tuesday Workshops. We know art yarn when we see it, but to define art yarn we need an understanding of what we […]
Woolly socks day this coming Saturday at Loddington LE7 9XE. Wear your woolly socks and join the photoshoot, bring your knitting, spinning, weaving or craft and treat yourself to some quality time with like minded people – and join the sock parade! You don’t have to be an expert – most people are just learning and you […]
This handspun Shetland Hap was spotted at a reception in Hackney today…
Helping and inspiring others is how see my role as a teacher and share my passion for spinning and woolly things. But….I don’t feel inspired at the moment so have cancelled Barnsdale on 3rd Feb and Spinning School on 10th Feb. My mother died last night – she was 87 and worn out, and it comes […]
A Spinning Shop – Uppingham High Street is my long term plan. And I’ve taken the first step – shop window with Ashford Joy and drop spindles, fabulous hand prepared fleece from fleecybusiness, one of my Shetland Hap shawls and big blending board from Golden Fleece carders. Hopefully this will inspire people – the display […]
Pam feels like hiding away at the moment while her mother who is 87 slowly departs from this life.
Knitters loom samples are like a magnet – the colours and textures mingling into scrumptious bags, table runners, scarves and cushions – you can never resist looking at them. These are by Frances Francis; I took the picture when her son Michael came to collect them from my studio. Frances was due to help at […]
Sorry, please don’t set out for woolly day – there is not much snow but it is like glass underfoot and more showers are forecast for today. There have been no gritters on the B669 outside our house and don’t expect there will have been any anywhere else either as today is not a ‘working […]
It is snowing here and very slippery outside – woolly day may have to be cancelled tomorrow – phone 01858 535466 to check. I will post at 7 am in the morning. Pam
Christmas socks – my three youngest grandchildren loved theirs – ‘take our picture in front of the fire Granny’ they said. We had a roaring fire when they visited yesterday they were all cold when they arrived – I didn’t manage to get much of the fire into the photo. They taught me how to zoom in […]
Shetland Hap shawl by Erica, Spinning School’s Knitting Advisor. It is in lace weight Shetland from Pat Rampton’s flock at New Barn Farm and currently being blocked in my studio. I have knitted nine haps so far – but none a good as this one. It is so lovely, fine and stretching beautifully. I used […]
The Churro fleece is certified and on its way – it needed to be treated with fungicidal and antibacterial wash and is now packed and in transit. Judith collected it on Thursday and was a bit shocked to see the volume of what she was expected to carry. However, Gillian vacuum packed it down to […]
A hat dyed with madder by Judy Hardman is just one of the lovely things you can see and do with Judy at my next SpinningSchool day on 13th January – fingers crossed for fair weather. She will teach us how to use a selection of natural dyes featured in her new book ‘Natural Dyes’ […]
Hat in art yarn is called ‘Ladies of the Night’ after a painting about such ladies in Berlin. I liked the colours and simply picked fibres to match. It is in blue and blue/green merino with some grey silk subs and red news. I tried to use similar proportions of colour and found it interesting […]
Churro fleeced washed and ready to go. Gillian has been busy – the fleece is all washed, dried and ready to be collected by Judith (who is on holiday is Arizona) on Thursday this week. It is going to be vacuum packed for the flight: ‘I have thoroughly washed and rinsed the light red fleece, […]
Churro fleece is on its way from the Navajo reservation thanks to my friend in Phoenix! It was quite an adventure – she’s braver than me – I would not have the guts to set out on a journey like that. What an incredible person – we have been friends since 1984 – she emigrated […]
Off to Navajo country. Gillian loaded her four dogs into her pick-up truck early in the morning and headed off to Winslow to meet Carol who will be bringing the Churro fleece – she took these fantastic pictures on the way
Long draw spinning – the world has another long draw spinner, who has taken my Beginners offer. She has had two lessons – the first got off to a bad start: I had agreed to pick per up at Market Harborough Railway station – she was coming from Leicester which is a 15 minute journey. Unfortunately she […]
Churro Fleece lady speaks to Gillian: “ Hi Pam, OK, I talked with Carole this am for 40 mins, a very interesting lady! She runs a non profit project to help the Navajo sell their fleece at a sustainable price, because they used to shear and then just leave it to rot because they couldn’t find a market […]