What Katie Did

Alston Craft Fair

I have been making and packing and sorting and pricing for what seems like weeks now and today I will be driving instead - to Alston to set up for the three day Christmas Craft Fair
The shed looks like a warehouse. I will try to take some good pictures to share with you after the weekend.

In the meantime, I have been coming to terms with a change in identity. Anyone who is interested has usually discovered what Chinese Year they were born in and will tell you they are an Ox or a Tiger or whatever. Well I found out that I was born in the year of the Monkey many years ago. I was OK with that - rather liked the image. So reading a bit more about this the other day I discovered that the New Year falls a few days after my birthday so I was really born in the Year before the Monkey. I am coming to terms with being a ............. Sheep.
now if you're still reading, I also thought myself to be a Fire Monkey. No. I am a Wood Sheep.
Hooray.
But anything is better than being born in the year that is about to start in 2008....... the Year of the (sorry Mum) RAT!!!!!

right - enough of that - off to pack the car

Felt magic

Many months ago, my dear friend Holly asked me if I would teach a felt making workshop in November. This was about August and it seemed like a million years in the future so I agreed without thinking too much. And now it is in the past, and I can't work out where the intervening time went?
Yesterday was a wet murky day, just right for spending among like minded people in a lovely place with COLOUR!

Everyone got the hang of the magical process of turning that wonderful soft stuff into a variety of felted item. We were making necklaces and other nice things to wear so there was lots of rolling going on.

 

When you give people the same materials and instructions, I love watching what they do. Combinations of colour that I would never think of, but that work so well.

The bottom left is the row of felted soaps drying

Mind your fingers! Sally gets down to some needle felting here. Matt made his without realising it matched his clothes!

Here is Lara, Lisa and Holly's lunch
and here is mine

and here are a load of happy people wearing damp necklaces and bracelets!

Morsbags

The last day of sewing at Annie's house where the final sweatshop saw another day of activity. Sue felt compelled to draw many graphs to illustrate progress

the bottom axis reads 'Everyone (speed x mania)' and it did get a bit manic as we sewed towards the final 180 bags!

Anne the bag lady with all her homework!

ironing on the labels - peeling the backing was tricky!

Sue wasn't really idle and bag availability did soar towards the end of the day.

So now they are done and I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect of giving them away soon and reducing the numbers of plastic bags out there in Hexham.

and what if the handles don't match - do we care? no.
I'll tell you when the distribution date is when it is confirmed and so anyone living near Waitrose in Hexham can come and get one!

Weekly Roundup

The benefit of having your camera in your pocket all the time is that the odd and unusual gets captured as does the lovely and the funny.
So in no particular order....

The wind in my part of the world is Westerly. House builders have known this for long enough and here is the east and west side of the same house - a cottage about three miles from here

east facing

west facing..... not so stupid eh? Keeping the storms and rain out, it looks like its turned its back on the prevailing winds.

Here is another Morsbag sweatshop - only one more of these now and we'll have LOTS of bags to give away! Morsbags have been nominated for a green award - go and vote for them if you feel inclined.
Pauline has these guys for neighbours

Oscar and Oliver, Mr. B was somewhere else. I wonder why they don't cut their fringes when they shear them?

Now - what else? Last night I went out with my dear friends Elaine and Kathleen. It was their first visit to Wagamamas and Kathleen seemed to be having some difficulty with the concept! We decided that eating like this is a good way to lose weight.

Now - the sheepdog Davey - who we are considering as a worthy father to any puppies Poppy might have - neither of them know this yet, but I am sure they will both be thrilled, especially Davey. Here he is in action outside my shed window.

To round off this random post here is evidence that the Craft Gene is dominant in my darling daughter

the note with this says

'Mother, I was boiling some onions for Nigel's recipe and dyed some wool in the water. It looks like this. Love xx

And that's that for this week, except maybe to leave you with this from Julie - one of my knitting pals.... EXTERMINKIT!