Sale of the century?

I'm thinking of getting rid of some of the ever increasing stash of raw materials that are crammed into my workroom. I have loads of alapca (white & caramel coloured) and several kilos of poll dorset wool from our own flock which was sent off to the Natural Fibre Co to be processed last year. It's a really interesting wool which (in my opinion) lends itself to socks etc. It's incredibly light once spun and has a springy feel to it. I really like it as a wool/yarn but don't have enough hours in the day to do justice to it. It's a lovely creamy white but obviously can be dyed. Whaddya think girls? Do you think I should sell some?

I'm at a real crossroads with it all to be honest. Going to the quilt show in Birmingham last year started it all off. I've always been drawn to textiles but never thought it was something I was good enough to do. Doing the textiles A level opened my eyes to new techniques and ideas and I rapidly realised why I make such a fuss about fine arts etc. I had the same feelings when I started the A Level Textiles that I had when I did the advanced GNVQ in art & design 12 years ago. I get absolutely swamped by ideas, colours, textures, techniques...... And when I say swamped I really mean swamped. It's totally overwhelming. It wakes me up at night and takes up my every waking thought. It is incredibly uncomfortable and I don't like it. I could feel my own discomfort when I was ranting last Summer. I kept wondering if the lady was protesting a little too much :D
It's as if my heart is with the crafts side but my head is drawn to the arts side. Luckily I feel that we're at a stage, as a culture, where Crafts are the new black - lol - there's certainly some schemes being set up to bridge the divide. I'm a member of a couple of them so here's hoping I can find my niche this year. Failing that I'll just ask if I can move in with Jan Beaney or Cas Holmes

So, it looks like this has been an entry entirely devoted to navel gazing - apologies for that. I'd like to say normal service will be resumed soon but I'm not sure I'd be being completely truthful ;)

Hello girls!!

Just a little wave to the girls from the henhouse - hope you're enjoying the blog :)

I thought I'd show you the hat I made for myself, yes myself. I had loads of little blobs of handspun that all looked ncie together but weren't really big enough to do something with. I was admiring the wondrous hats on Wooly Wormheads blog and thought' Gosh darn it, I'm gonna make me a hat!' So I did. I made the mistake of trying it on when it was wet (duh!) so it's a little too big right now but I like it. (apols for the fuzzy photos)

It's from the Rollin' Beret pattern and it was fab to knit. Quick and easy enough for my addled brain. I would do it on a circular needle next time as I only had short dpn's and it kept falling off the pins. I meesed up a bit on the decreases (brain fog kicked in) so if you're looking Ruth don't look too hard at the back :D

TTFN

No excuses - not a one

Sorry :(

No excuses - just sheer tiredness, christmasness and a strange mental block about blogging. I think it happened at the same time last year as well, must be a recognised syndrome - lol. I'll try to rectify matters but I fear that the situation will be the same as my huge laundry pile in the utility room (which Champagne Bohemian was utterly charming about!) I promise it'll get done but it never does. So, forgive me (or not) and I'll try to post something readable within the next couple of days.
Hope you all had a good Christmas and wishing you a happy 2007 :)