Heal Yourself with Wool

So, with my Heal Yourself with Wool event just days away I thought I would write a little bit more about what the event is all about. 

So here are some FAQ's...

Do I need to know how to knit/crochet etc?

No! The crafts we are trying are easily accessible regardless of whether you have ever done any sort of knitting, crochet etc. I provide all the materials and equipment we will need.  I intend it to be a fun morning exploring the possibilities of how fabulous and great playing with wool is :-)

What will we be doing?

We will be fluffing, stroking, teasing locks of wool. Combining colour and texture. Manipulating and exploring the possibilities of the fibres, felted or spun.

How do you Heal Yourself with Wool? 

Regardless of what creative activity you do its making a point of stopping, taking a bit of timeout and have a little think and reflect.   When my children were growing up having a sit down and a knit was life saving (ok bit dramatic but it's a great eay to sit through CBeebies). 

Working with wool is such a soothing activity in itself. The grown up's equivalent of that special blankie or sheety.  Wool has got me through Counselling and Teacher training, not to mention one or two other of life challenges....and the by product is some lovely unique garments!

I will also like to spend some time talking about how Mindful Crafting is an actual thing, and pretty good for you too.

If there is anything else anyone would like to know please drop me a line here or on Facebook or email on woollycraftwonders@gmail.com .

Event details here here.

I really must go now and do some soothing stuff with fluff as I've done a mountain of washing up...it's my reward.

TTFN x :-)

The Pinny

Anyone that gets to see me in the Real Life world will know that I'm always wearing a pinny.

The pinny is my uniform for life. Putting it on signals to my brain that we're about to get busy and Do Stuff (I have just donned a pinny as a precursor to making pastry). My dear ol' Nana Bates always wore an 'overall', maybe it comes from her?  but I just find them useful in so many ways.

At work I find the large front pocket particularly useful. Holding anything  (and everything) from coffee cups and cameras, to batman figures and special bits of 'look at this Miss' and 'will you keep this Miss'.

Pocket treasures.

On getting home the school pinny comes off and is replaced by the boat pinny.  A wearable tea towel for wiping hands and protecting them from hot pots.

At home the pinny will shield my clothes from random escaped fibres (only to later be released into dinner if I forgot to swap pinny's).  

And in same way putting it on means busy time, taking it off means I'm done for the day 😌

I buy mine from Made in Bradford. I love the bold and bright prints. A bit like a fashion statement.

Some women like handbags...or shoes...I like pinnies 😊

New job...new pinny.

Coming up...the fluffy batts are all spun but just need a soak and hopefully a Finished Item....

...oh and of course more on the Woollycraft Workshop Heal Yourself with Wool event.

Happy crafting :-)

TTFN x

Fluffy Batts

I've been determined to make wool for a good couple of weeks.  It's a bit of a lengthy process, so as a fishermen waits patiently for a bite, I have been waiting for a window of opportunity. Friday afternoon was it!!

I finished the day job (1-1 TA in a small village school) just after lunch, picked up dinner supplies and headed straight home to an empty boat.

To assuage the guilt I'd feel at being so self indulgent  (making wool is very indulgent for me) I did a worthy job of giving the fire and chimney and good clear out (we can't deny the Autumn chills any longer)...

And so to the wool...the first job is carding.  This is a bit of an antisocial activity if you live in a small space with other people. You take up room and table space in the centre of boat making it difficult for people to get past. The teeth of the carder make a grating noise which may irritate people who might be trying to listen to ambient music, just a couple of examples....(hense the guilt factor mentioned above)

As I wasn't sure how much time I'd before it all needed to be stashed away somewhere I took photos to help me remember how to make each batt and thought I would share them here.  As it was due to excitement (of wool creation) and it being a Friday afternoon I did need to refer back to the photo's regularly).

I started with this...
I didn't notice until the last batt that I had forgotten to even put the lid on the sugar tin!

  

  

Once through the carder

Twice through the carder

The final batt.

As it was I got all three batts completed and my carder stashed away before family members returned.

I'm itching to start spinning it but really I should make a start on dinner. That's enough indulgence for one day...even if it is a Friday :-)

Oooppss.....I should do a reminder...

If you like the look of this then sign up to my first Heal Yourself with Wool workshop on the 30th September. It promises to be a wonderful fluffy morning in the beautifully restored Westwood Parish Rooms. Email, text, call etc if you're interested.

TTFN x

What I'm Doing Now (with wool)

So what is happening in the woolly world of Woollycrafting (I hear you cry)...

Well today, being a lazy Sunday, I thought I'd do a quick Work in Progress update.

I started the day with a bit of wool stash sorting...by making lots of mini squares...because you never know when you might need a small mountain of mini granny squares!

Someone is gonna need to do a lot of weaving in ends
....wonder if I can employ a child?!

This was just to keep me busy as progress on my latest poncho has ground to a halt. ..I need some more of the grey alpaca to join the squares. It's spun but needs to be washed and dried first. 

I have a sad tale to tell about the alpaca...in a fit of over enthusiastic clearing I have binned the bag of fleece....

*sharp intake of breath*

Yesterday was a a sad sad day.  

I have enough to finish the poncho but it's still a horrible thought of those lovely soft fibres languishing in a bin. 

I cycled down to have a poke around with a stick but to no avail. 

The bins were too full and smelly...

can we just have a little moment to mourn the loss... 😢

I've sort of given up with this for the moment. I just don't know what it's meant to be...and I'm not really liking the colours..

 

..so that's going to make it's way to the bottom of a pile somewhere and forgotten about for a while.

Other exciting (and when I say exciting I really mean nerve wracking) developments are..

the first (of many I hope) Woollycraft Workshop has been booked for Saturday 30th September in the Westwood Parish Rooms. Drop me a line by any number of ways to book a place (email, text, Instragram, carrier pigeon etc etc).  Whilst I'm really looking forward to getting together with people to preach on the wonderful therapeutic and healing properties of wool I do find the self promotion a bit daunting (all helpful feedback and handy tips gratefully received).

So...that's a quick download of what's happening with wool aboard NB Mercy...

And all the while I'm noticing the gradual changes in light and colour all around me...and thoughts of hibernation are starting to form...

XxX

Taking Decisive Action...

For some reason my brain has always worked to the rhythm of the academic year. So as we slide into September with a squeak from a new pair of shoes thoughts are turning to the year ahead.

This is the very last day (of what actually turned out to be) an extended summer holiday as tomorrow I start a new chapter in a new school.  Today is a day of preparation, tidying up, sorting out, shoe polishing etc etc. So to get myself into the right mind state I 'Took Decisive Action'.  I started the day with a Single Handed Boat Move!

One of the jobs on the To-Do list since we returned from holiday has been to turn Mercy round. This involves travelling about a quarter of a mile up the canal towards Bath until I get to a big wide bit (a winding hole), shoving the nose of the boat into the bank and then chugging away for a good ten minutes as the back end slowly winds its way round so we a facing the other way, followed by a potter back to the mooring.  Up until now I've never attempted it alone. The driving and the turning aren't necessarily tricky but I like the security of having someone to help with the stopping and tying up, and also to help share the shame if it all goes wrong!!

Photo creds to my lovely friend Sam who caught a similar manoeuvre earlier in the year.
I didn't have a photographer with me today!

On completion of my successful mission (phew....breathe a sigh of relief 😌) I did another quick mental run through of the Risk Assessment.  The worst that could happen (and that's always a good place to start from) would be falling off the boat!! So far this hasn't happened and is not that likely...certainly not enough of a risk to Not Do a Thing.  The rest of the potential hazards and problems of a singled handed boat turn...getting stuck, crashing, NOT being able to moor up and having to wait for kind strangers to rescue me from the other side of the bank, stuck in the brambles,with things being knocked off my roof....well the VERY worst outcome of such eventuality would be EMBARRASSMENT!

The wobbly leg, cold chill and sweats of pure Embarrassment 😕

So...as it is the season to Get on with Stuff, I risked the Embarrassment of not being able to handle my big boat and just got on with it. It went swimmingly, I didn't fall off and I didn't get stuck and I am left with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and achievement, as well as knowing that's one job done before its back to work.

Sadly I've spent far too much time waffling, looking for photo's, uploading and waiting for our slow and temperamental Internet to keep up so I REALLY must get on with a bit of rewarding craft.

Coming up...some actual wool work...hopefully... and project Woollycraft gets some serious thinking time...

Note to self...Arrange some interesting inspirational chats with my fellow healers, teachers and lovers of wool.

TTFN x x x