12/1/08 - Annatto

Annatto soaking.
It will soak overnight and be liquidised before going into the dye vat tomorrow or monday.
It all depends on how lazy I feel in the morning - after all it is sunday tomorrow.

Dear world

Heidi has just asked me to be her bridesmaid (or rather matron of honour).
I have never been a bridesmaid or an honourable matron so am very excited and touched.
Here's to many wedding dress searches in our lunch hour (20 mins) - :-)

11/1/08 - Mordanting

10/1/08 - Wool

Have decided the next few days photo's will be of the dyeing process

So todays is wool that Val has tied ready to be mordanted - exciting isn't it - :-)

Dismal

Post christmas, early january sludge days.

One baby (& Jam) gone, one Craig gone and number 2 baby to go on saturday, will be then back to Homer, Fred and fluffy animals.
The house will be quiet, tidy and lonely.

But at least I get to get back to playing Final fantasy 10, even though Homer got a new game for his birthday (which I bought and can't remember the name) and I will have to fight him for playstation time.
The first night he played we sat up to 1.30, he killing, me knitting - happy married life!

Blogs, Photos and links

Doing some serious site promotion and am working on the website shop.
I know how nosy I am and try to limit my Ravelry/blog reading time everyday - its hard, but if I don't start looking until 6pm I normally am able to leave work at 7pm.
I am compiling a “your photo’s” page for the website shop.
Which in turn led me to think you might like to add your blogs or website links (as long as they mention the Dye studio somewhere).
Let me know if you have anything you want to show to the world and I will add you - :-)
Because afterall I am not the only one who wants to look.

The Gherkins

Due to my mother I never did get around to showing off the Gherkins, here they are in their full glory, soon to appear at a show near you - :-)

(Well only if you live near the places we are doing shows at this year)

9/1/08 - Spot the cat

8/1/08 - The funeral

Being tactlesss I did consider taking photos at the funeral, even though my Dad has obviously know me all my life and is used to me I thought it might just be too much.
It went as well as a funeral can go and struck me as an inverted wedding.
We were centre stage, all the relations and friends wanted to talk to us, but obviously all the celebration is missing, shame mum wasn't there as she always loved to entertain and be centre stage.


I did pop into work first thing as waiting for the day to start was awful, Heidi did her best to persuade me I wasn't needed and could go home to get on with the day.
So I am afraid you only get a photo of one of the dye studio shelves.......
A lovely big cone of BFL loop which will eventually become a sheep for the the woolfest and the wool marketing board's carrier bag where Heidi keeps all our wool labels.

7/1/08 - Flame

Dazzle DK - Dyed and dried over the weekend.
Wound by Val yesterday, to be listedby Heidi in the website shop today.

And here it is ..... Ruby Fire Dazzle DK

6/1/08 - Rainbow Fred

As yesterday was Fred's sheep, here is Fred with his dressing gown and no shoes..

And for once in my life I managed to dye a reasonably sucessfully rainbow, accidently of course!

You can see them wound in the shop, not 100% sure the Dazzle is a sucessful rainbow, but the alpaca/merino is.

Dazzle DK

Alpaca/Merino DK

5/1/08 - Fred's sheep

As yesterday was Feppys sheep I thought I would share Freds.
This is what my little boy bought me for christmas, as you can see they like hobnobs and the daddy sheep is fully formed - ;-)

Yesterday

I do have yesterdays photo, but stupid desk top seems to have died.
Although I can connect to the net from the laptop it doesn't seem to be talking to adobe and won't let me load photos.
Am waiting for cyber son to wake up and come and do mouth to mouth.

4/01/08 - Feppys Sheep

Feppy is in her final year of her fine art degree and these my little pony sheep were my last years christmas present.
I proudly show everyone who is interested and most people get that glazed look when I tell them my little girl made them for me last year and she is now 21!

3/01/08 - Bad Puppy

Being a typical German Shepard is a one person dog, I am his person and if I leave him at home with the babies he will find a way to escape and come and find me.

He doesn't do it everyday as we remember to keep the doors locked when he is left at home.

But today guess Fred forgot to lock the french doors and here is tiny puppy after a bit of an adventure.

I am guessing he was chasing rabbits across the fields as the mud is the wrong colour to be river or marsh mud and doesn't smell as badly.

Luckily he was so exhuasted he didn't try to lick my face and is now laying by the heater trying to dry out.

2/01/08 - Homers Birthday

Homer and Babies, the big one is missing as she had to go back to London to move in with her boyfriend and be a grown up.
Outside Cineworld in Ipswich, went to see "St Trinians", ate kebab (yuk) and then went home to watch "Last King of Scotland", again yuk, but without doubt a good film and particularly appropriate as Homer was born in Uganda at the hospital in the film.

1/01/08 - Jammy Owl

A jammy owl, Daisy's christmas present and long running joke between Dais and I, notice the owls wonky eyes, caused much amusement.

2008 New years resolution

I used to take millions of photos when my babies were little.
By the time they had reached mid teenage the photos had almost ceased to be taken.
This year my resolution is to take a photo a day, these photos will be of anything, not always people or dye studio based, but whereever my mind is wandering at that moment.
I am partly taking them as a way for my girlies to keep in touch with day to day dye studio (and home) life, it will make them both read the blog.
And partly because I like taking photos and don't take enough.
Some days I will not be able to update the blog as we will be away at shows, but will still take the photos.
And at the end of the year be left with a bizarre collection of images.

Thank you

A big thank you to all of you who have sent me messages,
its lovely to know there are so many caring people out there in cyberspace.

Heidi's Engagement!

Although we are obviously saddened by Amanda's bad news, the dye studio did also have some good news over the Christmas period.
On Christmas afternoon my partner Stuart asked me to marry him. This was entirely unexpected and was the most romantic, understated and perfect way I could have been asked. Upon unwrapping my present I found it to be a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. It is gorgeous. At the risk of sounding extremely cheesy, I wanted to share this great news with the dye studio community and thank Stuart for making this Christmas the most special and happy Christmas I have ever had.

My Mother - The end

My mother died tonight.
I am sad, but more worried about my father.
He is a very strong and independant man, but tonight will be difficult for him, when we left him he was being very english and talking about cars he would like to own.
I hope he manages to sleep.
I know you will never read this dad, but I love you.

Gherkin 3

Have become a little obsessed with bloody gherkins.

If you suspect I have gone totally mad have a look for yourself.

http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/stoppit.php

One more on the needles, then I am going to tackle the mohican again.

Now going home with maisy Mae, we need to drop by the post office to see if we can buy stamps to post our christmas cards with - as per usual totally on the ball.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all

will be back on thursday, however am taking the lap top home, so may be on-line before if my family lets me.

My beautiful baby girls

Both at home for christmas, both making a mess and a lot of noise.
Its lovely to have them here and will miss them both when they go back to their respective uni's.

Mohican

Saturdays cosy is a mohican suggested by the lovely Heidi.

Its not right and think I will make another one.

Baby Eric

We went to see the Golden Compass on thursday, I liked it, but felt there was something missing, didn't like the fact that most of it was shot in a studio. The snow scenes should have been in real snow.

Anyway ever since I read the books as they came out I have thought of Baby Eric as my daemon.

He is called Baby Eric as sometimes I wake up with him in my arms like a baby and he is big enough to be a real baby. When he is at home he is glued to me, we have long conversations and I love him.

But Baby Eric is a Norwegian Forest Cat and in the summer goes walkabout, this year he was gone for 5 months I was sure he was dead and couldn't even say his name without crying. Then one day in september I came to work and he was sitting by the gate waiting for me.

We think he spends the summer in the forest.

We did have a theory that he went to visit the travellers, but met a couple a few nights ago, they said they had never seen him.

I am certain he will go again next year and really hope that one day he will decide to stay at home, but know that day is a long time away.

Gherkin 2

I am sooooooooo pleased with this gherkin, am planning 2 more, but taller. I wonder how tall I can take it until it goes all floppy at the top.

My christmas plan is a cosy a day, which is achievable as I am so rubbish at all the household stuff, am only allowed to touch the dishwasher with supervision, I am allowed to use the washing machine, the hoover is a big mystery and as I tend to burn rather than cook (too easily distracted) dear homer prefers to do it.

Heidi, Dais and I started the dreaded stock check at last, but were soon interupted by Feppy and then a bit later by my aunt. My brain turned to mush and the stock check is finished but haven't uploaded the figures so will all be out of date by tomorrow, but only by a day so I should be able to work it out.

Tiny puppy and I are off home to knit cosies, play final fantasy, eat fish and chips and eventually pick up homer from Felixstowe from his business drinks session.

Last time I had to pick him up he had disappeared, thought he would have a stroll on the beach and didn't tell me, so I sat in my cold car waiting.

Turns out not only did he have a stroll but also a kebab and was too drunk to remember me, thank goodness he didn't decide to have a swim - the North Sea is freezing at the time of year.

daisy's note to the public

here I sit writing next to a very efficent heidi. Last time I was here she was about to leave and three months down the road the natural dye studio sapped her in like quicksand. Maybe that metaphor wasn't so relevant as quicksand leads to death, to put your nerves at rest dear readers heidi is still alive and well.

To be back home is like a sweet and distant memory. The farm still as freezing as it has always been, the people still yokels and the air as fresh as cold water. Liverpools tangy air has wafted into my nostrils again and I feel the vibe of the night life crawling in my veins. To drink and dance is to be a student. To spend and laugh is to be drunk. It all leads to one thing in this whirling pool of events and parties that is called...growing up.

I may not be coping too well to begin with but I asure myself next semester will be better. Hopefully! I would like to say it is a pleasure to work and what better place than here, if only I could work here but in liverpool while finishing my course on how to creatively write things woulod be perfect.

This blog holds no exciting or informative infomation and that is on the pure fact that I just sat at the computer and wrote what was rolling in my head, I tried to tell a wee bit of a story but ended up just rambling arse.

To just finish this rant I will say - ta ra for now and don't matress dive down stairs without the matress, (it f* hurts).

yours faithfully miss daisy mae (full of bullocks) perkins

Tit Cosy

Both girls home and think I have have gone deaf, it lovely to be a family again, but I had forgotten that we are all so big and loud.

And finished another cosy, thanks to the girls and their digital cameras I can share it with the world, it wasn't supposed to look like this, but...

Craig thinks I need to knit it a bra!

Whinge

Over the weekend I had 3 e-mails from different magazines wanting photos for articles they are writing about us.
Don't understand why I have to take the photos, stupid camera is playing up, the sky is muddy and the farm dark and damp, so any photo I did take would be of murk.
Bet Angelina Jolie doesn't have to take her own photos.....

Daisy and Craig

Some of you know them, some of you don't.

They have an on/off relationship, its on at the moment.

They spent this afternoon with me, (lucky Heidi is off shopping for a few days).

I am exhausted, my eyes hurt, my brain is numb, but its lovely to have her (and him) home for a few weeks.

And as they are uni students with vast drinking capabilities I don't think the booze is going to last until christmas.

There might be a couple of bottles of beer left for Feppy when she comes home tomorrow.

That is if we can find her, she is not answering her phone - again!!

Has obviously lost it - again!, or dropped it in a puddle - again!, or stood on it - again!.

She goes through phones as quickly as her baby sister went through her student loan.

We tried phoning her boyfriend's phone, but no reply - maybe she dropped him in a puddle too

Blog

Have had a very long lie-in,even though I was awake at 8 am suffling various animals from garden to house and back again, have lay in my bed until 10.30 reading my book - feel like a very bad layabout and am now exhausted - lie-ins aren't what they used to be.

Have been thinking about the blog, i was one of those children who wanted to write a diary and always had a new one every year, would get to the beginning of february and then forget for another year.
Blogs are different as you know other people are out there and sometimes read your ramblings, very good for an exhibitionist.
I have always meant to update every day, but doing shows and day to day business mean I forget constantly. Since I have been writing every day I have found it a lot easier to keep writing.
I don't have an exciting life but like writing waffle and its exciting to me. Next year am going to do some serious jet setting , but of course in a middle aged wool way. Off to Paris in march and a series of summer shows and then we were invited to the Dutch stitch and bitch in the autumn, as yet no date, but still exciting.
And who knows in 2009.
Homer seems to think we could do a world tour, think maybe he is living in cuckoo land.

AND DAIS IS HOME!
Feppy on tuesday I think, the house will be full and noisy again, forgot how loud Dais is!!

Moors farm christmas dinner

Its Moors Farm christmas dinner tonight, so Heidi and I are off home early to put our make-up on, hopefully we will both make it through the night.

Final Fantasy

Homer is going to play with his brother tonight, it will involve him sleeping over as he won't be in a fit state to drive. I apologise in advance to the good people of Halesworth for the pair of them behaving like drunken teenagers, even though both are well over the 40 milestone.

What it really means is Fred and I get a games night, he in his bedroom on-line playing what I have no idea and me on the sofa settling down with final fantasy 10.
I finished 12 a few weeks ago and as 13 isn't comeing out to next year have to start working my way back down the numbers.
I always refused to play 10 in the past as there is far too much video footage and not enough game play, but when you are desperate you have to make do.
10 is awful to play after 12 which was the worlds most perfect playstation game, but 10 hours in am actually beginning to enjoy it.
All this is very sad I know, but I like to give my little boy stories to tell his mates.

Ally Pally was a nightmare, as Fred and his mate were also playing 12 at the time, I had nearly caught them up - not good for their street cred, but fantastic for mine.
I knew they would be putting gaming hours in to beat me to the end, as it was they didn't and I spent Feppys 21st in Islington talking to some of her grown up-mates about the FF12 and the fact they were playing and I was miles ahead of them - even more street cred for me - :-)

Home time now - off to warm up the playstation, hopefully one of us will surface long enough to get the pizza out of the freezer - please don't tell Homer, he strongly disaproves of junk food. But he has forgotten the obsession he used to have making Lara Croft jump around and crawl down tunnels.

Todays movement

Feel like I am moving house, but all we are really doing is re-labeling boxes and moving them around the storeroom.

Have had some fab sales ideas, starting from january we will have one type of yarn on special sale offer each month, don't know how long it will last. I guess until we forget to do it or we run out of wool.
You will have to wait and see what januarys special will be - :-)


And talking about wool I have a nice new batch to dye next week, can't remember what I ordered but know its DK, could be 15 kilos, could be 20 or even 30!

Have made Heidi to promise not to let me dye so much green and blue next week, but I do get carried away by the magic indigo vat.
Todays featured movers are

Belle - BFL Chunky Slub http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/belle---blue-faced-leicester-chunky-slub-89-c.asp

MAIA Spun Silk

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/maia---spun-silk-120-c.asp

MIRAGE - Merino/Tencel DK

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/mirage-dk-119-c.asp

Oh and I almost forgot - I almost have a kitchen ceiling - yipeeeeeeee

Gushing

Have had another gushing stream of wool through the office today.

Heidi and I make a superfast listing team, maybe we should take it up proffesionally - :-)



Gushed and gone forever from ebay are..........

SAGA BFL/Merino Aran

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/saga---blue-faced-leicestermerino-91-c.asp

Mohair Loop

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/mohair-loop-87-c.asp

BFL Aran

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/blue-faced-leicester-aran-97-c.asp

Ariel Lace weight Silk Flamme

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/ariel---silk-flamme---lace-weight-84-c.asp

The 2 ebay shops seem so empty, but the new site shop looks fantastic, could spend hours looking at the pretty pictures - I am easily pleased - :-)

Off home now to see what the delightful Homer has cooked tonight, yesterdays salady type thing was guacamole which was 50% raw garlic - poor Heidi - I had to eat mints (and biscuits) all day.

And apparently I now have a kitchen ceiling, has only be missing for a couple of years, when it used to be my kitchen and not his.

Merino chunky loop & baby alapca/merino

Heidi and I have spent all day surrounded by boxes of lovely cuddly wool, at one point it was difficult to see her through the boxes in the office

Ebay has been stripped of my chunky and now most it is in the shop, I want to keep all of both of these, I love chunky best of all as its so quick to knit. The baby alapca/merino is soooooooooo soft and I just love the colours, seemed to have had a bit of a green/blue moment.

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/baby-alpacamerino-chunky-98-c.asp

I love the merino too, lovely Gina who came to the open day was knitting socks on 2 circular needles. I decided I could knit socks on 2 circulars, so saturday night I sat swearing at Homer (who by that time had serious man flu and wasn't any help) as all I seemed to come up with was needle spaghettti. But have mastered it now and knitting merino chunky socks as a tester. I accidently lost skeins of these 3, last seen close to my bag so maybe am getting the sock bug afterall..............

http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/merino-chunky-loop-121-c.asp

Luckily the rest of the stock made it to the shop, but you never know what may disappear over the weeks to come, if things get bad.

Possibly the best christmas wreath in the world

ITS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 3 days the shop is back.
Thank god!
Am not happy with ekm, when I phoned they knew who I was and obviously blamed it all on me, must be the middle aged woman syndrome again.
Talked to condescending boy who of course talked down to me.
Of course I am past my prime and usefulness to the world and being a 18 year old boy he knows so much more than I do.
Just wish they were all like my 17.5 year boy, I know I am his mummmmmmy but he doesn't treat people that way and he is such a sweetheart, according to his college lecturer is so laid back he is horizontal
Am going to set the big bad stroppy Homer on them, except he is snot boy (man flu) and is probably too weak to move, never mind fingers crossed he has cooked tea or otherwise its frozen pizza again - yummmm

And the trip to homebase was ok, maybe even good.
Homer let me buy a fluffy glitter door wreath and the best christmas cards in the world.
The glitter is pink and feathery with little sparkling lights, am going to take the camera home so I can put a photo on the blog - :-)
The cards will have to wait until we have sent them, but as a clue they are the least christmasy christmas thing I have ever seen - if you have been to homebase you may have seen them and thought why?
Think they were made especially for me and are very very special.

Forgot

So stroppy about the shop I forgot about the open day.

Had a great time, lots of lovely visitors and I did some dyeing, glad I put my wellies on.
We had a wool sale and will move some of it to our new shop when the bloody thing is working again.
Homer and Heidi did tea making, entertaining and till management, I did queen of the dye room.

Will probably have another one in the summer between shows and advertise properly.

Now off to increase my ebay fees and then a lovely trip to homebase - I hate shopping but homer is insistent, not sure what he thinks we are buying, but to keep him happy I have to look at drill bits!

Website shop - so angry!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are trying to get to the website shop don't bother until tomorrow.
Lovely ekm service providers failed to tell me their domain name was going to be disabled.
I didn't know until some of my sock girls e-mailed me.
After a long of stroppy e-mails managed to get the stupid boy in customer services to tell me the problem.
So now have a new domain name which will go live tonight or tomorrow.
You would not believe how angry I am!!!!!!!!
I am not really an angry leave that to Homer, who gets hysterical about breadcrumbs on the work surface, you would think after 23 years he would have got used to my mess and mess of our 3 grown up kids. And they are messy!
Feppy has always had a snail trail of paint and glue following her, even managed to get tea on the landing ceiling and covered the lounge carpet in wax - I have never asked how she did it as I really don't want to know...

Any way EKM is going to get "old cow from hell" on the phone tomorrow morning.
And a huge Thank You to my yahoo group for telling me about the problem, without them I would never have known - I am so grateful.
The new domain name is http://www.dyestudiowoolshop.co.uk/
and if it isn't live by tomorrow morning I will have an extra angry in my arsenal

Open Day

Open day today, trying to make up my mind whether I should have advertised anywhere else except for the site.
Haven't done as the building isn't big enough for 100's, but maybe Phil, Heidi and I will have to eat all the cake...................

Not so lyrical

The cow girls came in from the field last week, its nice having them to talk to over the winter, even though they do make a lot of noise.

I was going to put a photo on the blog as they are so pretty, BUT they got moved back to the field this morning, was obviously a quick visit, I guess they will be back later to have their babies or if there is a threat of snow, so the only evidence I have of them being there is this lovely photo.

Not very impressive I know! But typifies the joy of winter on a farm and the pleasure of rural living - :-)

Although I did take this last week and being a photoshop whizz managed to paste all the photos together. Its the view from the back of the farm (the horizon is the beach).

Bags for life

Being hugely enviromentally friendly (and finding a pile of calico bags during the storeroom tidy) we have decided to dye some bags for Life.

I'd forgotten how frustrating dyeing fabric was, looks fantastic as it comes out of the dyebath, but after it has been through the washing machine, dried and ironed it looses a lot of its phazz azz, also turns out the nicely dyed piece of cotton is in fact very blotchy.

Will see how the bags sell at the open day, before I decided to do more.

Queenies idiot socks

(Heidi says I need some kind of punctuation in the name, can't remember what now, will try and remember to ask her tomorrow)

I promised my idiot socks to so many people at I Knits and have made about 4 pairs, but am so crap at pattern writing,

BUT today the pattern is finally written - yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

and ready to roll, however I spent this afternoon laying on the floor trying to photograph Heidi's feet!

I haven't got the photo right yet, am trying to persuade her that they need to be taken outside, lovely in a cold muddy farmyard....

In response to last weeks down

Am feeling very happy that so many lovely people enjoy my wool.
I know this is going to sound really sad or even a bit pervy, but I love my wool.
I do all the washing after I have dyed it just because I like to handle it, so next time you get coloured hands you know who to blame!

Especially pleased with dear hang-over DH's comments about how much he enjoys housework!
Have it in writing now and next time I get moaned at for being a messy will quote at him - Incidently he is a lot better chef/cook than I am, makes to die for Thai - :-)

So thank you, thank you, thank you - :-)

Mysterious Heidi

If you are curious about Heidi,
here she is http://www.thenaturaldyestudio.com/aboutus.html
Along with the rest of us, will update my photo soon I promise.
Am allergic to something and now have a beetroot face instead of a purple one.

Scarily obbsesseddddd

Ok - so I have built my new website shop
http://www.ekmpowershop4.com/ekmps/shops/dyestudio/index.asp

and have updated, re-vamped the website.

Spent hours on the photos playing on photoshop, trying to get them perfect.

(Which is another long obsessive distraction.)

And now I am so obsessed I can't leave the bloody site stats thingie alone.

I must check them about 20 times a day, keep poking and tweeking.

Am getting to the stage where I have to hide my addiction from Heidi and lie

"no not checking the webstats again, just looking at ravelry" - which is another thing that can suck your life dry.

What would I have done with my life if I didn't have the internet??

(oh and please go and look at my shop,

and photos

and if you must!, buy some of my lovely wool,

because I need new stats to look at)

Scanner hair

For Jen - the best I can do...



Heidi was a bit cautious of me appearing on the blog in full technicolour, said she was worried about the paparazzi flocking to the farm.
So for you Jen - I have scanned my head.
And tomorrow maybe I can persuade Heidi that we will probably be safe if I put my photo on the blog.
Then of course it has to be a bright sunny day to get the full ultra violet effect.

Purple hair

I have done some chemical dyeing today or maybe I should say staining.
I now have purple hair, I don't think it looks purple as its rather dark, but Heidi says under the light it is ultra violet.
Trouble is my face and hands are purple too and I was wearing gloves - am such a messy!
Not sure if it makes me look like a sad middle aged woman trying to be trendy or not.
Will get some photos over the weekend, when my face is clean.

Down & very bitchy

Feeling a bit down, have just been reading a forum where several members where
A- complaining about how expensive my yarn is
and
B - complaining that hand-dyers don't dye their own yarn as it is all done in factories.

Wish I was a member of the forum where I could tell them that.......
A- MY YARN IS EXPENSIVE BECAUSE I ONLY BUY THE BEST QUALITY WHICH IS EXPENSIVE AND IT COSTS A LOT MORE TO DYE WITH PLANTS THAN NOT, SOME OF MY DYES COST £6 FOR 25GMS AND A DYEBATH NEEDS 100GMS.
and
B - I DO ALL MY DYEING AND ITS NOT DYED IN A FACTORY (UNLESS YOU COUNT THE FARM AS A FACTORY).

I would also tell them if you want to spend less money, go ahead and buy cheap nasty yarn that A- the only animals it has seen are the ones the lorry passed on the way from factory to yarn seller.
and
B - not only is it synthetic but also a potential pollutant due to the various stages it goes through been made.

GRRRRRRRR

Waxing lyrical

I have heard and read about Suffolk skies, the fact that they are so big and empty, but have never really noticed them much.
But this morning after shouting at the huge flock of geese that flew past my bedroom window (I am not a moring person and to be fair they were making a horrible noise) I watched the sunrise over the sea and it struck me as to how empty the landscape is.
My house backs onto the salt marshes and about half a mile across the marshes is the North Sea.
The marshes are flat and green or grey on a rainy day, its all so flat I can't actually see the sea, only the houses on the beach that mark the waters edge.
Thinking about walking on the marshes the sky is huge, almost comes right down to your feet, so maybe I do notice the sky after all.

Mean Moan

This afternoon while standing at my 3 sinks for hours washing 5 kilos of wool I started thinking about a couple of people who have known better than me in the last few weeks.....

One who lived in London all her life insisted we were driving from Suffolk to London the wrong way, and I when started to argue back she stated that I was being bloody minded and didn't know what I was talking about.
To the lady if she ever finds my blog and moaning I would like to say
"I was born in Ipswich, have lived in Suffolk all my life and no one I know (neither freind nor family) thinks the way to Ipswich is up the M11"

The other who visited the farm told me I didn't know how to use certain dyes properly and then looked down her nose when I said I refused to use extracts as they are a waste of time and an wasteful process. She then said I was a purist and should move with the times, this from a woman who was at least 25 years older than me!
I am not an expert but I dye almost every day of my life, I know within reason which dyes will do what, and how, and when. They all have their characters and even if I am still dyeing at 100 I will still not be an expert as I will be learning new things about them every day.

Just imagine how much I have to moan about when I have 15 kilos of wool to wash - which I expect will be tomorrow - poor Heidi!

2 New Cosies - pre-pattern

Yipeeeeeeeee

Have finally worked out how to edit the blog.

After 2 million years as a cyber queen you think it would be easy, but when faced with html my brain goes la la la la la, now blogger has a nice easy blog editing thingie special for html ignorants like me - :-)

And 2 more cosies

Test knitted, photographed, now all I need is a bit of pattern editing and they will be in the Tea cosy shop.

Lotus

Jingle Bells

Finally....................

Finally the cold has arrived, am now officially a snot queen.
Have been trying to trendy up the website all day, after all we are very trendy down here in our muddy field and crocs wellies, now I can't remember which page I have done or even what I have done
So am going home early because my brain is full of snot.
Am going to drink single malt (its in the rules if you have a cold) and play the PS3 either until my hands fall off or DH comes home and moans a lot

2 new cosies

Until I can write the perfect cosy pattern there is no hope for these to become patterns.
I have to learn how to do counting and other simple maths!

Snake
Bizarre flowers

Tea Cosy photos

I have a dilema with te cosy photos, some of my lovely haybales have composted them selves, others have been moved. They look like a big sludgy strawy mess.

So where to the the photos?

Decided on the woodpile under the conifer that was massacred by eastern electricity this spring.

Think it works, what do you think?

Important people

My in-box is full of e-mail from important people..
4 magazines, 1 big foreign show organiser, 1 UK show organiser etc etc
Does that make me an important person too?
Plus all the normal "I don't know how to answer" mails, the ones that make me scream and run around the office, half the time I don't understand the question let alone be able to come up with a coherant answer.
I like to think of them as "Daisy questions", she has been harassing her bank for several months trying to get some money transfered, I am not sure what she was asking, but now the bank have kindly suggested she finds a new bank - poor Dais........

i Knits Stitch & Bitch - afterwards

Had a amazing day - A big thank you to Craig and Gerard for letting us be there.
Again it was great to meet you all and lots of familiar faces.
It was a tea cosy day and to every one I promised new cosies too, like a good ex-brownie I promise to do my best to get them in the shop this week.
(Of course that is unless we have another flood scare!)
Very, very tired.
Off to visit my darling mother and then will settle down with final fantasy 12 and a bottle of wine. (football permitting)

Environmental statement

I have at last got round to putting ours on-line.
http://www.thenaturaldyestudio.com/enviroment.html
It sounds so pompous and grown up.
But the entire statement is totally true, maybe I am pompous and grown up after all?

i Knits Stitch & Bitch

We are off (again), only seems like yesterday we came back from Ally Pally.
Saturday at i Knits Stitch & Bitch day, hopefully will see lots of lovely customers - :-)
Finished the dyeing on sunday, poor Val had about 30 kilos to wind this week, think she broke down yesterday with the cobweb (which she hates), had a anti cobweb block.
Hope she can manage to finish it..................

Knitting group on tuesday night was empty, just Heidi and I and off course lots of chocolate biscuits, which we are struggling NOT to eat, of course failing dismally.
Not sure what to do about knitting group, there is no point if no one comes.
Will leave it up on the site and remove the page next month, as the last date is december.
I suppose its because we are so far away from the real world, that no-one wants to brave the cold or forest.

Concentrating on cosies for i Knits, hope they don't dissapoint, maybe will try and get Pomme Too cosy pattern written. Have to finish the cosy first.
Heidi says I am obsessed with it, trying to get the pom poms in the right place, they have been on, off, on off all week......

Tea Cosy Shop

Have just spent the last few days (weeks) building a dedicated tea cosy shop.
I am not sure if its a good idea, do people want tea cosy shops?
Made a lovely new banner to go in the shop, am very pleased with myself, had a long hard fight with photoshop (again!) still can't do layers, but am becoming really clever at avoiding them.

So here is the url
http://www.ekmpowershop4.com/ekmps/shops/dyestudio/index.asp

Its not very full, but at present its all I have to offer the world, maybe if we don't sell all the cosy kits at i Knits thingie at the weekend we will have more.

Off to look at clothes and cheer myself up.

Possible cold

Think I may have a possible cold, either that or it is cold, feel like I am breathing underwater.
DH says its because I am always wet due to being a messy while dyeing.
BUT I HAVE BRIGHT PINK CROCS WELLIES
A total fashion statement for the under 10's.
My wellies should stop me getting colds!

Back now....

But not for long, next years diary is very full
A show in Paris, Wonderwool, the Woolfest, Fibrefest and then back to Ally Pally next year with a bigger stand and more tea cosies...
Guess I don't get a dyeing rest afterall!

It was fantastic to meet so many of you, I really enjoy the shows, means I get to leave the farm and talk to real life people rather than the wool.

Tea cosies were such a huge hit I am opening a shop attached to the website, can't wait to unveil some of the new designs, now have huge list of test knitting volunters which is fantastic as am designing like mad

The showroom looks like a tip, some of the remaining stock still hasn't been unpacked.
Need to get back to the chaos - where do I start?
Maybe I could make my life easier and find a nice job where weekends and holidays happen or maybe I should carry on doing what I love and forget that I work a 12 hour 7 day week.