And here's Autumn!

Can't believe it's September already! I guess it's because we've all been waiting for summer to arrive that the year has flown by - or maybe it's because we have so much happening!
July and August are usually our quiet time - after all, not many people are interested in wool in the summer. But then, maybe the lack of summer has been in our favour. Today though - in fact much of the past week - has been glorious! That sort of weather that has warmth in the sun but a refreshing cool edge to the air. The sedums in my garden have been absolutely smothered by our bees and the most butterflies I've seen all summer. Tomorrow is honey extracting day from our two hives - watch this space! In the meantime:

You can now find Llynfi hats and mitts and skinny hand dyed scarves in the shop at The National Woollen Museum of Wales at Drefach Felindre ( http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/wool/ ). Well worth a visit if you're over in that part of the country.

More of our collection is available to see and try and order at The Black Sheep shop in Tregaron, Ceredigion. Tregaron is a tiny town at the foot of the Cambrian Mountains and has a long history of textile production; it once was a centre of stocking knitting and several local mills produced woollen cloth and blankets from Cambrian wool. There is also an excellent pub just round the corner from the shop..... http://ytalbot.com/

15th - 16th September sees as at Hay Fayre at The Globe in Hay on Wye, then at the end of the month it's all stops out for Llandovery Sheep Festival. We'll be sharing the space with our friends at Ystrad Farm and you'll also be able to find out about our joint Organic Welsh Wool Cloth project.
http://www.ystradorganics.co.uk/
http://www.hayfayre.org/
http://www.llandoverysheepfestival.co.uk/

Jubilee Weekend

Wonderwool was wonderful; lots of people came despite the very cold weather - never been that cold at Wonderwool before and we've been going since it started. We had a lovely response to all our work and to the Organic Welsh Wool Fabric project that had just kicked off in conjunction with Ystrad Farm. More about this in a seperate post. For now, here's what we have planned for the long Bank Holiday weekend:

2nd & 3rd June you can find us at BWA Design, playing shop in the front room. It's in Castle Lane in Hay on Wye and that's the first weekend of Hay Festival. Castle Lane is just off the market place and there'll be signs out. At the SAME time:

We'll be opening up our little studio in Talgarth - 8 miles or so out of Hay, towards Brecon. We'll be taking it in turns at shop and studio. On the Saturday and Monday, Emily will be in the studio doing some screen printing, sewing, new design work, and on the Sunday and Tuesday I'll be playing on my knitting machines (never get enough time just to play around with ideas so Open Studio is ideal!)

There's a poster here: http://www.llynfitextiles.co.uk/ or email us: info@llynfitextiles.co.uk for more details.

Come and See Us!

This coming weekend - 28h/29th April - it's Wonderwool Wales at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells. We'll be sharing a stand as usual with Ystrad Farm and this year it's no. F2, titled 'Organic Textiles Wales'. We'll have our wool knitwear and flannel clothing with some new designs, and Ystrad will have beautiful Wensleydale curls and yarns, and also 'Best Welsh' - greys and cream yarns and carded fleece from Hill Radnor crosses.
Also - there'll be information about a new joint project: Welsh Organic Wool Fabric.

Looking ahead, at the start of June for the long Bank Holiday, we'll be working flat out with Open Studio and a Pop-Up Shop. The Open Studio will be part of the Crickhowell Art Trail. We'll be working on our dressmaking and knitting machines on alternate days, and doing a bit of screen printing with our natural dyes.
At the same time, we'll be opening up 'shop' in Hay on Wye in the front room of WBA Design, The Byway,  Castle Lane in Hay. It's also the first weekend of Hay Festival, which is celebrating 25 years this year. (I remember when it hadn't long started, and was held in the school grounds.....my tenuous connection: being one of the Brecon Cathedral ringers for Peter Florence's wedding)

Even further ahead: there'll be Llandovery Sheep Festival, The Globe's Hay Fayre, Cardiff Fashion Week (!), Made by Hand at Tredegar House, Pop Up at Talgarth Mill.....a busy autumn. More about that lot nearer the time.

http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/

http://www.crickhowellinfo.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/FashionWeekCardiff

http://www.madebyhand-wales.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Llandovery-Sheep-Festival/157056637684802

Coming up...

Tomorrow evening sees us showing some of our collection in the Hay on Wye fashion show at The Swan. This is a fund raising event for the old Butter Market in Hay, and features outfits from the lovely independent clothes shops in the town. 7pm start, £10 entry.

In two weeks time we'll be off down to the Wiltshire/Hampshire border for Compton Marbling's Autumn Fair. 18th - 19th Nov. We went for the first time last year - which was when the snow started - and had a lovely two days. (note to self: get some better tyres put on the car...just in case) http://www.comptonmarbling.co.uk

Two weeks after that, it's the first weekend in December, already! 3rd - 4th Dec, 10.30am - 4.30pm, we'll be setting up shop at Talgarth Mill; we'll have clothing and accessories, organic wool and throws, displays about wool and natural dyeing and hope to get some knitting activities going as well! On the Sunday it's also the Talgarth Christmas Fair, organised by Talgarth Markets Group, and of course, the lovely Mill cafe - The Baker's Table - will be open.

The following Friday, (9th) it's down to Crickhowell for the Art Alive! Winter Gathering, 3pm - 9pm. There'll be refreshments (and mulled wine and live music in the evening) and a small, but select, range of art and craft delights on sale.   www.llynfitextiles.co.uk

News for the Autumn

Yesterday we were at the Centre for Alternative Technology Summer Fair - many thanks to all of you who visited the stand we had in collaboration with Ystrad Organics.

 We were really encouraged by the response to our plans to start running workshops on knit design - we're hoping to hold these at the newly restored and working Talgarth Mill (some of you may have seen it on BBC's Village SOS programme). The Mill is such a wonderful example of a community regeneration project, using local produce for the stunning cafe, and local wheat for grinding into flour. Anyway - we anticipate that a Saturday workshop will be around £40 plus lunch (we have to work that out with the cafe girls), and if wanted, we could also have a group tour of the mill.

The workshop will be starting at the beginning from taking accurate measurements through to why you should learn to love tension swatches and drawing up a basic block and schematic to use for your very own knitting pattern. If you would like further info or would like to be kept in touch about workshops, email sue@llynfitextiles.co.uk

Also coming up: The Big Skill at Penpont House, Sennybridge, Powys. This a new Craft Festival with a difference. Taking the idea of a music festival - you can come and camp - with lots of exhibitors and craftspeople willing to share their skills, instead of sharing the music. It's all about getting visitors to have a go.

You can pick and choose what to try your hand at from pole lathe turning to pottery. Woolcrafts feature of course, and we'll be running an all-day 'knit clinic' to try and help you with your knitty problems and queries! We'll also be holding an informal chat about natural dyeing, so if you've ever wanted to have a go at this but not quite known where to start, come along and join in. Or, if you are already a dyer - come and share your knowledge with others.
more info here: http://thebigskill.com/

And then! At the end of September it'll be time for the Llandovery Sheep Festival...http://www.llandoverysheepfestival.co.uk/index.html See you there too!

Next Event....

Next week sees the 2nd Glanusk International Horse Trials and Country Fair at the glorious Glanusk Estate, nr Crickhowell here in Powys. It starts on Wednesday and runs for four days, so we're hoping for a bit of summer weather (even though we're selling wool) 'cos there's nothing like a bit of sunshine to cheer everyone up. For more info. see the website:

http://www.glanuskeventing.com/

We're working hard to make sure we have examples of all our designs in each size, ready for trying on and ordering. It's a big stand so there'll be plenty of space for a 'fitting room'. Making pieces to order means we only make what's required - saving time and wasted materials, so there's no 'fast fashion' here! We should also have some samples for Autumn designs - colour grown cotton for shirts and more local Wensleydale yarn for knitwear (yes, we know Wensleydale is in Yorkshire so not local to Powys - but we mean the flock of  the Wensleydale breed of sheep kept by our friend in Carmarthenshire!)

Busy, Busy!

Well - here we are, a month on - no, more! - and rapidly speeding to our very first 'Open Studio' event this coming weekend. We've had a bit of a sort out, a good reason to find time to clear out all the bits and pieces that accumulate over time - the things that 'might be useful', or 'could be re-used' but deep down you know you never will use them.
Getting some examples of designs made up has been another challenge. We make to order, but, of course, need to have a range on show for those of you who may want to try on. An order from a new boutique in Helsinki came as a pleasant surprise, and the opportunity to send items down to the Old Truman Brewery in London as part of Nokia's E7 launch couldn't be missed, but all will be ready for the weekend.
On Monday we had two photographers come along, which caused some confusion as we were only expecting one! Fortunately, they didn't arrive at the same time.....However, here's the result of one :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelwoodward/5752135553/in/set-72157626790561562/

Some we like, some we not so sure about! The Bearded Dragon is called Elvis; he belongs to another family member but lives in the entrance hall to the building we're in. The photographer was very taken with him.....and he co-ordinates with Emily rather well!

The Open Studio Weekend is organised by Crickhowell Tourist Information and there's lots of info here:

http://www.crickhowellinfo.org.uk/tourism/attractions/galleries/

Wonderwool photos

Just in case you didn't make it to the show, here are a few photos of our stand, including some of Ystrad Organics' beautiful wensleydale yarn, carded bundles and sweetie bags of glossy curls...

Natural and Organic Awards

We were delighted to have had our knitwear chosen as one of the three finalists for the Soil Association/Natural and Organic Awards Best Organic Textile. The winner was Organics for Kids who make a very lovely range of babywear.

Wonderwool Wales

A quick posting just to say a big thankyou to the organisers of Wonderwool and all those who made it such a great weekend! We really enjoyed it, the sun made everyone happy and now we're ready for a day off (we wish!). A big thankyou too, to all those who visited our stand and left us feeling very much encouraged and inspired!
Having decided last Autumn to concentrate on clothing (our first love), and not continue with selling yarns etc., we weren't sure about exhibiting at Wonderwool - but you all proved us wrong in our doubting.

See you next year when, hopefully, we'll have a bigger stand.......and a proper mirror! In the meantime, don't forget our Open Studio event over the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Show dates 2011

Spring:

9th - 10th April
Wonderwool Wales, Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys

We'll be sharing a stand with Ystrad Traditional Organics under the heading 'Organic Textiles Wales'. Llynfi clothes will be available, as well as a selection of horn and bone buttons, and some baskets of 'ends of runs' of naturally dyed organic wool yarns. Ystrad will have available natural and naturally dyed organic Wensleydale from the farm's flock - fleece, curls, carded and yarn. Also some rather lovely certified organic woven throws.

28th - 30th May
Studio Open Weekend, Talgarth, Brecon, Powys

We'll be holding open days as part of the Crickhowell Arts Trail around the Black Mountains. This is also the first weekend of Hay Literary Festival, so if you're going to the Festival come and visit Talgarth too - we're only 6 or so miles down the road.
The restored Talgarth Mill should be open by then too. This has been a major community undertaking, winning funding from the Lottery Save our Villages project. For more info see the Mill's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FelinTalgarthMill

Fairs and Exhibitions, Design and Development

We have just got back from a lovely two days exhibiting at the Compton Marbling Autumn Fair, in Wiltshire. It was extremely cold, in a barn by an open door! But such a great atmosphere - created by both fellow stallholders and the visitors, who braved snow and ice to get there down country lanes. Many thanks to all! Driving home to West Wales, the temperature dropped to -13 C. Glad to have had a modern vehicle with a good heater.

One of the best things about such events is the feedback on our clothes and seeing them on a range of different people. Standard sizes are just an average and, of course, no-one is an average. When designing a piece we have to decide on the ease, line, style and figure type of the possible wearer. And the more people who try on a finished item, the clearer some decisions and directions become. Making an item in every variation to suit everyone is impossible unless we went down the made to measure route, but constructive comments and detailing issues are noted and taken into account for future developments and evolvement of a design.

We now have one more event in 2010 - at Penpont House , and then we'll be planning for 2011. Already in the pipeline is Wonderwool at Builth Wells in April, and we are considering the International Horse Trials at Glanusk at the end of June. If anyone has any ideas of a good event that they would like to see us at, let us know!

Show Dates

Our next event will be Ludlow Green Fair on August Bank Holiday Sunday. We had a great time last year - the market place is choc full of stalls selling everything from veggie seeds to excellent coffee, t-shirts to recycled clothing, cycling to looking after churchyards - all with fair-trade and / or organic credentials. For more info see


http://www.greenfestival.co.uk

Then in September, 17th - 19th, it's the Big Skill at the Penpont Estate, nr Brecon. It's the first year for this and it's going to be held over 3 days, with camping, music, comedy and a whole range of rural skills talks and workshops, plus exhibits by rural businesses. As well as our show stand with a selection of Llynfi knit and sewn clothing and accessories, we're going to be taking along one or two of our Angora rabbits, and will be holding a 'show and tell' about keeping them and using their lovely soft wool. The Penpont Estate is a lovely place down by the River Usk. Find out more:

http://www.workingruralwales.org/

and have a peep at the Penpont website too:

http://www.penpont.com/

So. Here we are in 2010 and it's nearly a whole year since posting anything on this blog! Not that we haven't been busy - quite the contrary. And there is a Facebook page for Llynfi - Llynfi Textiles - that has photos and news on it too.

The madder experiments were really interesting and I have a beautiful range of real reds, russets, chestnut browns and pinks to draw on. Will post photos on here just as soon as there's a chance!

Meantime - last weekend was Wonderwool Wales and we exhibited with our friend Juliet Morris, who farms at Ystrad in Carmarthenshire. She produces lovely wool from her flock of white and rare black Wensleydales, and Hill Radnors. It was fun weekend and to cap it all we got awarded '2nd' rosette for our stand. Which was especially lovely as we didn't know there was any judging going on. Here it is:

Madder Project

We love Madder. It has an ancient history, and the colour red itself has many associations in so many cultures. It takes time and patience to produce good reds however, and is one of the more expensive dyes.
As part of the 'Real Colour Show' exhibition that we are taking part in, in October, we are working on a Madder project. We hope to try various old recipes, cold dyeing, controlled heat, experiment with mordanting and seeing what effects, if any, our three water sources have on the colour. We are not scientists however so this is a craft experiment, with controls as good as we can make them!
Our three water sources are the tap water here in our Talgarth studio, spring water from our land 3 miles down the road, and water from our watermill in Ceredigion. The latter will be water that leaches from the mill pond and filters a short way through the ground. We know that we can get great reds from our Talgarth tap water; the soil at the mill verges on acid so that may be interesting, and I don't know what to expect from the spring water.
Heat affects madder a great deal. Above about 60 C the reds start to turn brown, so we shall try 60, 80, and 100 C, and maybe slightly above 100C. The cold dyeing will also involve time - leaving 7 skeins to soak and removing them 0ne by one at intervals.
There's a huge amount one could do, but this has to be fitted in with all the other things there are to do round here - including keeping customers happy! - so we shall confine ourselves to using our Madder extract for the most part. If there's time, we'll try using some Madder roots, too. Experimenting like this also takes up rather a large amount of material.......

See our 'shop' on Coriandr (yes - coriandr with no 'e'

We've discovered a British alternative to 'Etsy' for selling handmade lovelies and should have our things for sale - in UK pounds! - by the weekend. Marvellous! There will be a link through to the shop on the Wardrobe page, so keep your eyes open......

Spring Already!

I can't believe how quickly the time goes - I think it's a feature of growing older.
December disappeared as usual in a rush of orders for Christmas, not to mention our own family preparations; January is a month for reflection and planning, and February onwards has been busy producing stock for shows and shops, coming up with new designs and planning for an exhibition in the Autumn.

Some shows we will be at:
16th - 17th May: (Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, Powys). Green Horizons - an event at the Smallholder Show showcasing sustainability. http://www.rwas.co.uk/en/garden-festival/

21st - 31st May: Look out for a collection of our clothing at 'The Great English Outdoors' in Hay during the Hay Festival. www.greatenglish.co.uk/

30th August: Ludlow Green Fair www.ludlow21.org.uk

14th - 15th November: Weald and Downland Museum Christmas Fair, Singleton, West Sussex www.wealddown.co.uk/

(1st weekend in December, tbc) Castle Green Christmas Fair, Hereford

The exhibition in October is 'The Real Colour Show' at the Minerva Arts Centre, Llanidloes, Powys. It is being masterminded by Jim and Di Gaffney of Textile Techniques and will be all about colour from natural dyes, including talks, demonstrations and workshops. www.textiletechniques.co.uk/shows.asp