My holiday

Off for a week to see my girlies and who knows what else?

My ever faithful side kick Heidi will be dye studio queen while I am away.

Have fun - :-)

My baby

My baby is 18 today, I feel sad and kind of old, how did he get to be that big or old, I guess he is classed as a man now and in september he will be gone like his sisters.
I will be left with a empty nest (which isn't too bad as I am never there), mr dye studio and "the" dye studio which sucks my life away like a huge baby bird.

Fred's prom photo - 2006 - and not of the Fred I know.

He is not like other 18 year old boys/men that people talk about, he is Fred, calm, sweet natured, kind, loving and a complete cyber nerd.

The only thing he really swears about is his pc, when he is having motherboard problems, his bedroom looks like the inside of a space shuttle and he helps me when I get stuck in games on the PS 3.

3/5ths of my family - Mr dyestudio, Fred and Daisy Maisy - Jan 2008

He is nothing like either of his sisters, who are both hysterical drama queens with traumatic lives, they are both superstars in their own rights Feppy a illustrator (she would kill me if I said fine artist) and Daisy Maisy a writer, their loves and lives would make a fantastic novel hopefully Maisy will write it one day, or maybe a collaborative graphic novel.

Feppy - christmas 2007

I would write about how much I love him ( and them), but know I will cry, so won't.

The Rabbits are mocking me!

Last years pathetic attempt to keep the rabbits out of the dye garden didn't work. This year they didn't seem interested - I shouldn't say this (tempting fate) but they haven't eaten the plants. Admittedly we haven't weeded, so the beds are full of weeds, thistles and stinging nettles, which I decided were good rabbit deterants and seemed to be working.

BUT look what the little buggers have done overnight!!
Watership down is being replayed in my dye garden!

Weekly Sale 19/5/08

Weekly Sale - 19/5/08

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/weekly-sale-142-c.asp


RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its flying out of the door, so if you want a bargain.....

Yarn Snob

Have just been offered some sparkly cheap stuff for toilet dolly knitting, I am such a yarn snob that I had to say no.

I love pretty sparkly, glittery sequined shiny stuff to look at from a distance, but to touch it makes my skin crawl.

I only ever use my own yarn, as much as I lust after others, Fyberspates had a stunning colour combination at Wonderwool, I think its plum and gold. I remember dyeing a similar combination in cotton several years ago. I did a bit of stroking, before forcing myself to be strong.

So here I am a self confessed yarn snob, who luckily has the perfect job - :-)

And just to boast about how lucky I am I have added the above photo, unfortunately you can't have it as its wholesale - but then again I can't have it either and there are some stunning colours one Dazzle sock in particular - :-)

If you would rather not knit a toilet dolly.....

You can now give a donation to the Mirasol via paypal.

This is the e-mail address to send to
Mirasolproject@btopenworld.com

Weekly Sale 12/5/08

This weeks sale yarns are now uploaded.


The theme is luna, you need to be quick as we have already sold out of our Chi - :-)

The Demise of Ebay & Weekly Sale

And even more stupidly I forgot to mention we have decided to stop selling on ebay.
Today is our last day of auctions - its all a bit scary as we have sold on ebay for 6 years.

But I am so pissed off with them, they made listing more and more difficult, it was ok if you were only listing one ot two things, but when you had 20 to do.

And as for their new feedback rule - I understand their reasoning, but when I had a couple of customers from hell I couldn't warn other sellers....

And of course there are the astronomical fees!!!!!!!!

I could go on for hours, but it would get really boring.

So from now on all our on-line stock is on the website and we have devised a substitute, we will now run a weekly sale each monday, 2 colours of each type of yarn, which will be changed every monday morning

WEEKLY SALE

Angel and Cloud

Yet again I have forgotten to mention my lovely new yarn.

As a special introductory offer ANGEL is £12.50 instead of £13.99
ANGEL is quite simply the ultimate yarn, super soft, has a beautiful sheen and drapes like a dream. Angel will make stunningly beautiful shawls and scarves.
Plus for every skein of ANGEL you buy 20p will be donated to The Mirasol Project.
100 grams and about 1200 yards in total.
70% Baby Alpaca, 20% Tussah Silk and 10% top quality Cashmere

And

As a special introductory offer CLOUD is £10.50 instead of £11.99
Cloud is a lovely soft, smooth yarn which has a subtle sheen, it will make gorgeous shawls and scarves.
100 grams and about 1200 yards in total.
80% Peruvian Merino and 20% Tussah Silk.

Green Knitter

Go and look at this site

http://greenknitter.com/index.html

I am so pleased to have found it, lots of really good enviromental/ethical info.
It has made my rabbit war filled day a happy one - :-)

(I should explain the rabbits first - the little darlings not content to eat all my lovely dye plants in my fenced off from rabbits dye garden have now decided to build a bloody great burrow in the middle of it, digging up all the plants they haven't eaten - this is rabbit war!!!!!!!!!)

Toilet Dolly Charity Auction

You have seen the photo, now knit those dolly's.

Many of you have said you would love to make one, so here is your chance! We have 2 catergories - tastefull and tasteless
The Natural Dye Studio is proud to be running a Toilet Dolly Competition. All proceeds will go to The Mirasol Project Peru.
http://www.thenaturaldyestudio.com/toiletdolly.html

The Mirasol Project

The Natural Dye Studio is really proud to announce that we are now supporting the Mirasol project.
We will be donating 10p for each skein of Alpaca sold, our supplier also donates 10p per skein which means every time you buy a skein of our Alpaca yarn 20p is donated to the project.

The Mirasol Project is named after a young Quechua girl who, with her brother, tends 350 alpacas. Its aim is to fight poverty and encourage community development. As well as providing accommodation, meals and health-care, the boarding-house will be a centre where the children can develop personal, occupational and communication skills and study techniques in specialised after-school workshops. The centre will foster the principles of peace, tolerance and equality with a respect for human rights and basic freedom. As well as an awareness of other cultures, the centre will also focus on the preservation of the language, culture and tradition of the children and their families. The architectural design of the boarding-house makes use of local materials and know-how. In its physical, social and educational aspects, value is placed upon local knowledge However, in addition to preserving local traditions, the centre has a creative and innovating function in preparing its children for a changing and challenging future.

More details and photos on the website
Alpaca and Mirasol