Boutique Bags!!

Lucy from "gifted" in Buckfastleigh, Devon contacted me recently to ask if she could stock my Handmade felt bags.

Needless to say I am delighted that my handbags are now available in Devon.

  Lucy is such a sweet lady, and so considerate to the artisans who's work she retails. I'm sure her little boutique shop will continue to be a huge success.

 I only wish I lived close enough to go and browse there myself.

How to knit and Felt - A simple test

I always do this quick and  simple test when I have a new yarn to work with.

It gives me a very good idea of how well a yarn will felt.

First I take a length of yarn in my hands about 2 metres is usually enough.

Next I wet the yarn in hot water and add a little soap, not dish washing liquid, just ordinary hand soap, bar or liquid is fine.

 now the interesting bit -

 I rub the yarn in my hands quite vigourosly, at first nothing happens, just wet wool feeling a bit stretchy, 

Then as if by magic it starts to change. the yarn no longer slips over itself, but feels like it is sticking. I can feel the yarn shrinking and matting together. Quite sudenly I have a piece of felt in my hands! 

Step by step guide using different yarn.
Yarn sample 1 

Firstly I'll show you what happens with mohair yarn.

 A length of yarn ready to start the test

  Mohair has a lot of whispy bits. this gives it a lot of bulk when it is dry.

This yarn felts really quickly

Once wet the mohair almost disappears, and the whispy bits felt together almost instantly.

 The finished test

After a very short time I have a dense ball of wet felt.

This yarn felted so quickly and so densely, I could tell that it would not be useful for bag making. I would need an enoromously large bag to start with and if I felted it in the washing machine the bag would felt into a solid shapeless ball.

Yarn sample 2

Tapestry wool 

This yarn is available in so many lovely colours.

 Again take a 2 metre length.

 

 Wet it in hot water with a little soap.

This yarn felts  slower than the mohair I can feel the yarn changing in my hands. The dye runs a lot with this yarn, If I use multiple colours for a project I shall have to consider how the colours will change.

The finshed test.

This yarn has felted well, the strands have almost dissapeared,and the felt feels firm which will give the bag some strength. This yarn will hand felt very well. I have used tapestry wool succesfully to make small pots and purses.

Yarn Sample 3

 Icelandic Wool

 This will knit up very quickly.

I only need a short length of this chunky yarn.

 Shortly after starting to felt the yarn.

This yarn is felting well, but not quickly. It takes more effort and feels quite dense already, i'm going to felt it for a bit longer and see what happens.

Final stage

I'm happy with this sample, the strands have matted together well,and the felt is dense and strong. Due to the time taken to achieve the felt I'm confident that a washing machine felted bag will work well.

Sample 4 

Just to show what happens if you try to felt a non wool yarn! 

lots or rubbing, 

Results in no change, just wet yarn!

I hope this tutorial is helpful to you, I always do this simple test, it saves a lot of frustraton and wasted time when I knit a sample square

Early Morning Craft Show

Happily the day dawned bright and fine on sunday.

 Packing the car at 6.30 a.m

 I know this to be true because by the time the sun was peeking over the horizon we were half way to Peterborough to take part  in the Autumn Show.

A rather bleak view at 7.30a.m

We arrived in good time to  set up the stand and still have time for a wander around before opening time. The craft fair was  in a  warm, carpeted, and very comfortable room, not at all what I was expecting when we arrived and saw the venue.

Emma helps me and stops me fretting too much!

My stall does not take long to set up, although I always fret about how to lay out the colours! I was pleased we had found room for the extra table. Although then I was fretting about having enough stock.

 All finished and ready for customers

My stand was between  the entrance to the Craft fair and the door out to the cafe, which was a mixed blessing, it gave me space for the extra table but meant folk tended to hurry past, they were probably filled with thoughts of coffee and cakes!

Visitors arrive and everything comes to life

 There were so many animals, all beautifully groomed in the hopes of winning a rosette.

I just had to follow the signs to see the Giant Vegetables!

I'm looking forward to our return in November for the Christmas show, although we'll be using our caravan for that 3 day event. And we will be arriving the day before to set up! Getting up at 5.00a.m did make it a very long day indeed.

An early start for my next Craft show.

My exhibiters pack arrived today for the East of England Autumn Show.

I had failed to notice that this event opens at 9.00am, I am used to a more leisurely 10.00 am start,however this time  we will have to leave the house at 5.30am to get there and set up the stand in time.
I am not naturally an early riser, so I shall have to plan carefully the evening before and make sure everything is ready

This news did not stop me from feeling excited though.

Whenever a show info pack arrives along with the  exhibitors passes and complimentary tickets there is often an exhibitors list which I scan to see who else is going.

Will there be anyone I know?

Usually there is at least a couple of folk I've met before so I know we shall  catch up with each others news when we take a quick break and go for a wander around the stalls.

Chatting to other crafting folk is a bonus for me at the shows, It's a chance to connect with other crafters. We exchange news about other events, amongst the inevitable laughter,  a lot of support and advice is given and received.

I'm looking forward to this show as I'm taking part in the craft show within an agricultural society show .
At the event will be farm animals of all shapes and sizes, a "scrufts" dog show and the England Giant Vegetable competition!  I'm just going to have to find a few minutes to see that!!

So now I am checking my job list - I need more business cards and I've an idea to print some bookmarks with my showdates and contact info to give to customers. I think a bookmark is always a welcome freebie!

In Fact I think I shall give away some bookmarks (and  a discount code for my shop) to the first 10 people who leave a comment!

Alpaca Wool - Will it Felt?

 And the answer is yes!

I am so delighted that Clare from JandJ Alpacas has asked me if I can make her a felt shoulder bag using  yarn from one of her Alpacas

I've never had a chance to work with this yarn before so I was very happy when a parcel arrived with ample yarn with which  to experiment before making her a bag.

Rich Brown yarn from an Alpaca

Before starting  on the shoulder bag I have to check on the "feltability" of the wool.

To do this I take a few metres of yarn and rub it in my hands with a little hand soap and hot water. The alpaca yarn felted very well indeed. 

It quickly lost it's yarn structure and became a solid ball of felt.

Alpaca yarn before and after the "feltability" test

Because the yarn felted so quickly, I now know that I will need to hand felt the finished bag,.

I'll have to watch it carefully to make sure it felts evenly and  keeps it's shape.

In the washing machine it would most likely become a solid ball of felt.

Next I'll knit a test square to check on shrinkage, and then I can start to knit.

Although I really want to get on with the bag I know that this preparation  will be worthwhile.