We are living in strange times. Thank God the weather has been glorious for weeks. Thank God! The garden here is separate from the cottage, past the little row of cottages and up a path bisecting a neighbour’s garden. Sometimes this is a disadvantage, not being able to just pop outside the back door can…
Zokin are traditional Japanese dust rags which are hand stitched from leftover or re-purposed cotton cloth. They stem from a time in Japan when textiles were expensive, precious and scarce. Garments and bed coverings were patched and patched and patched again – becoming Boro textiles – antique examples of which are highly sort after today. …
Beeswax Wraps are the way to go – it’s time to banish cling film and other single use plastics from your kitchen. There was a bundle of vintage cotton scraps lurking around – just waiting for their time. The prints are lovely, fine cotton lawn, not enough for a large project and the pieces too…
Spindle spinning is fascinating, Using a wheel may be much faster when comes to actually producing yarn. But using a spindle is a great way to start. It’s portable. And it’s cheap. It can be so cheap! It’s basically just a stick with a weight attached. This was an exercise in 2 things Make a…
Spinster is a problematic word. The first meaning to brings to mind today is old maid. Not a description any woman aspires to. So having knitted and crocheted for years perhaps it’s no wonder that it took so long to get involved in spinning. It is, after all, at the start of the process of producing yarn.…
This will be the year of the spinning wheel. Here’s how it’s come about…. Just before Christmas there was a spinning wheel at the local auction. It appeared to be in good condition, if a little dusty. The fact that 2 bobbins were tied onto the frame with string (plus the one with a little…
Bagels are delicious and not as hard to make as you might think. Bread making has been going on around here for a few years now, not a single loaf comes from the shops. Plain everyday loaves are baked regularly and but every now and then it’s good to ring the changes and a challenge…
Using a drop spindle to turn fibre into yarn is the most ancient form of spinning. What began as pulling, twisting and winding stuff around a stick evolved, adding a weight (in the form of a whorl) and a hook or notch greatly increased efficiency in yarn production up until the invention of the spinning…
Eccles cakes aren’t really cakes, they are small currant filled pastries naked after Eccles, the town in Greater Manchester. Like all regional dishes their origins are unknown but were sold commercially in the town as Eccles cakes from the end of the 18th century. They are sweet and comforting, perfect for fresher autumnal days and…
A Shepherd’s Hut is a wonderful thing. “The image as a whole was that of a small Noah’s Ark…the hut stood on little wheels about a foot from the ground.” Thomas Hardy, ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’. Once a place of work, a mobile refuge, somewhere to bunk down and store your tools. Nowadays it’s more…