Happy Solstice,we have fire

Happy Solstice everyone:) As it is Solstice it seemed appropriate to show my newest shawl which is finally finished.
I dyed the yarn to represent the colours in a fire and also to represent the fire that is Solstice. The time when the world holds it's breath for a second then turns towards the dark half of the year.


As always I haven't blocked it, no space large enough to do so. I estimate it would stretch at least another foot in length and probably 2 foot wide if you wanted it to.

I edged it with a mixture of faceted czech glass beads that reflect all the colours of the rainbow amidst the red and a plain deep red glass bead.

I didn't want anything too large, just something to say this is the edge of the furnace.
I really enjoyed making this one, probably because of planning the colours, dyeing the yarn then making up. Only thing I didn't do was spin it:) The yarn has a golden thread through it which adds to the colour changes. It was given to me by a lovely online friend:)
Before I did the beading this morning I thought of what I wanted from my next shawl. I envisaged woodlands, mysterious woodlands with shadows in the green.
I had some fabulous kid mohair on a cone so using Mr Mog's new improved double swift I wound 4 x 50gm approx skeins.

This is what I ended up with. It will be interesting to see how it knits up.
Hope you have a great solstice celebration be it summer as we have or winter solstice for those further afield.

Hares and other things

Some more pictures for you today. It has been a weird week so far. We lost our mobile phone the other day while out and it was much more of a pain than I expected. I don't use it lots but I do need it, not just for the calling people but losing it meant I didn't have the mobile numbers I needed while out. Anyway some very kind person handed it in at the ranger hut where we had been so that restored my faith a lot. Laal Bear had texted me and the ranger heard it as the phone had then been handed in. He rang her and she told him who the phone belonged to. Thanks LB:)
The walk brought some brilliant pictures and these are just a few of them.
As you can see the sun was shining for us.
Lush displays of wild flowers fill my heart with joy.
This is a really useful herb, comfrey. When I was little my nan made me drink comfrey water for my joint problems and she also used to wrap the leaves around my joints. Its old country name is knitbone. It tasted like cabbage water as I now remember and wasn't nice, but then my grandparents tried all the remedies they knew to try and keep me out of hospital. Sadly it failed but not for want of trying.
There were also furry creatures crawling along the paths.
From there we went to babysit our grandchildren and look what we saw going down my daughters lane.
I was so thrilled to actually get pictures of the hare, I love them they are such magnificent creatures.
The pictures will enlarge if you click on them.
I've been knitting on the fire shawl, pictures maybe this weekend we will see how it goes.

It is definitely a fire shawl

Definitely a fire shawl don't you think? This picture shows what i hope will be the progression of colour. I spit joined 2 x 25gm skeins in each ball you see.Only just cast on but I can feel the energies in this yarn.
I am loving the colour progression already.
The sparkle in the yarn just adds more fire depth for me.

Undine shawl

edited to add more pictures


The undine shawl is finished and I am so pleased with it. I haven't blocked it because I don't think there is enough floor space to stretch it to its full potential. I think anyone doing so would add at least a foot each way on to it. As it is you can get an idea of the size of it.

I've added tiny seashells, a few bells and rainbow fluorite gemstones to the border. I wanted it to make a sound as you moved to reflect the sound of the sea.

The 2 bits of different pattern are for seaweed:)
You can't really see the border but it is there. The true colour has more turquoise and greens in it.
This shawl for me was all about water and the moon. The colours changing as the sea changes . Firstly when the sun shines or it is stormy but also as the depth changes you see different reflections.
Undine because I could imaging a sea goddess or mermaid making herself a shawl from the seaweed and other flotsam and jetsam she found as she swam through the deeps.
I am selling it for just the cost of the materials, it was an exercise in putting form to my imagination so wasn't made for me.
Was it for you?

The reason for the orange fingers

As the yarn is all dyed, rinsed and dried I thought you might like to see the finished colours. I am so thrilled with how it has dyed
I wanted vibrant fire colours for a fire shawl and I think I've succeeded


The yarn was given to me by a fellow raveller fibreclaireUK and it has a glittery thread throughout it.

The colours I used were Crimson, scarlet, orange red, brilliant orange, buttercup yellow and aztec gold.
All procion dyes and all splashed on liberally with no plan in mind. I did 2 x 25gm skeins at once so I had a rough idea that 2 would be same each time.
Steamed for 40 minutes, left too cool then rinsed.

Can't wait to start knitting this up:))

Elsewhere jacket is finished

My hippy Elsewhere jacket is finished. I love it, I love the colour that Laal Bear dyed for me and I'm going to make another.


You will notice that the picked up borders are wavy, that is because I haven't blocked it yet. I am not very good at picking up stitches and I think I've gone a bit overboard doing so:) However I love the effect and I'm contemplating making one with a ruffly border next. I want to do shades or fire, reds oranges and golds.
Not sure if I'll dye yarn before hand or paint the finished garment. Watch this space.
I have been dyeing some glittery mohair to make a fire shawl. Can you tell that the gloves had a hole in them?

The beauty continues and fibrefest question

More pictures for your enjoyment from the nature reserve, plus a lovely bouncy kid goat from our trip to Cumbria.
the flowers are looking so lush after the rain, it seems to have perked them up no end.

so many different colours all against this fabulous green backdrop.
We call these fox and hounds , not sure why though?
I love the way the light reflects amongst these trees.
How is that for a meadow?

Mr Mog captured this butterfly perfectly , don't you agree?

Then we have what is known as a thrushes anvil, as you can see a perfect way for the birds to extract snails from their shells.
This little boy is just weeks old and this was our first time visiting him, he is just known as Imp at the moment. Isn't he a sweetie?
We also took this on out way through Greystoke, I love the effect.
I am hoping to visit fibrefest at towards the end of August and it is on at Coldharbour Mill in Devon. Does anyone know of cheap accommodation in the area please? I am unable to camp sadly so that isn't an option

A walk among flowers, picture heavy

This post is very picture heavy and shows some of the many pictures we took this morning. I'll not do much writing but let the pictures speak for themselves.
Notice the rune Gyfu in the sky as we started our meander

If you click on this picture you can get a better view of the damselfly.


This has to be one of my favourite pictures taken by Mr Mog, you can't see what is reflecting where
Not sure what this was? Wonder if it would spin?
I associate cobwebs full of dew with autumn
orchids abound here
Click on this and see the wonderful stripey insect, is it a bee or hover fly?



A secret path, who knows where you will end up?
signs of autumn?


There were many butterflies and moths there
elderflower wine anyone?

We were also lucky and saw 2 hares, alas too speedy for taking pictures.
lots of these little chaps about

See the bee on the notice board?

Another butterfly if you click to enlarge



This was the first time we had visited but it won't be our last. All the time we were there we had the place to ourselves.