Getting ready to make my upcycled clothes

It looked like it would be a really sunny day today, so I washed all the woolly jumpers ready for making my recreated coats and hoodies for wonder wool.

Christmas Cooking

I thought I'd better get started with Christmas preparations, as it's easy miss the fun things before Christmas when I'm madly trying to make stock for Christmas fairs. After finishing my diy for the day I thought I'd make some mincemeat. I followed a recipe from Marguerite Pattern, she's my favourite cookery writer.

The recipe is from 

4oz (100g) shredded suet 

4oz (100g) grated cooking Apple

1lb  (500g) mixed dried fruit (I used sultanas, currants, and raisins)

4oz (100g) Demerara sugars

4oz (100g) chopped dried apricots (the recipe said almonds but I don't like them)

4oz (100g) glacé cherries (should have been mixed peel, I don't like that either)

Zest and juice of a large lemon

1teaspoon mixed spice

Half a teaspoon nutmeg

Half a teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons of brandy (only just had enough)

Mix all the ingredients together and put in clean dry jam jars. I filled four Bon Maman jars.

I didn't wash the fruit but if you do, the fruit must be left to dry for 24 hours. It's important to use the full amount of fat, sugar, and brandy or it won't keep. 

I'll have to leave the mincemeat in the cupboard for a few weeks before it's ready to make mince pies.

Phillippa x

Kirkbymoorside Christmas Market

It was a late night last night finishing things for the market today. We had a really good day, the reindeer were lovely and I bought some giant pine cones to put in my flower arrangement I'll be doing at the next WI meeting. We had a blue tarpaulin over our market stall and its given the photos a blue tint!

Next weekend it's a Christmas fair at Newton on Rawcliffe village hall in Sunday 12-4.

Christmas Shopping

Staithes Arts and Crafts centre is open at the weekends for a few more weeks. Enjoy Christmas shopping for handmade gifts x

Leeds industrial museum Armley Mills

At the beginning of October I was invited to attend the Armley Mills wool festival. We had a really interesting day. I really really like industrial heritage and it was fantastic to see the spinning mule working and look around the new tailoring gallery. The displays about the tailoring industry in Leeds are very good with sample books you can look through, examples of suits, and the story of how the industry grew and declined. I think every other suit in Britain was at one time made in Leeds! There is a cinema and the history of the optics industry in Leeds. I listened to an interesting talk on modern knitting techniques and wondered round outside looking at the trains, tractors, industrial tools and fulling mill. I didn't see anybody else when I was wondering round the outside exhibits and parts of the outside of the mill do include huge pieces of rusting machinery awaiting renovation. It is well worth a visit if you like industrial heritage or wool. I'm looking forward to going back next year.

Wharfe Wool Fair

Saturday was the first Wharfe Wool Fair I was really lookng forward to it. Otley is only an hour and a half away from home and Otley is a lovely market town. On Friday I decided a mock up of the stall would be a good idea as I only had one table! 

Here it is on the kitchen table.

We had a nice drive over and found the Old Court fairly easily, it didn't take long to set up.

The stall almost the same as the mock up.

There wasn't room for two of us on the stall so my Mother had a walk round Otley and came back a lunchtime so I could eat my lunch. I was hoping to leave Mother stall minding to walk into town in the afternoon but it was so busy I never made it! It was great to see new and old customers, from whom I had a telling off about not getting enough of my dyed fibres on my website! They're right and I will. It was a really well organised event and I apprieciate the support my business has from my customers. Thankyou.

Phillippa

Wonder Wool Wales

I think it was our fifth year at Wonder Wool Wales, time passes so fast, which was the last weekend in April. The show was much bigger this year with another hall of stalls so there was an even better range of woolly items on offer.
We had an awlful journey down with heavy traffic and heavy rain the landy leaked and we both got wet feet around Birmingham! It was too late when we arrived to set up so we just unloaded and set up on Saturday morning. I wasn't convinced there was enough time but did it in an hour and a half plenty of time for the cooked breakfast at 8.30!

It was a really good show for me, fantastic to meet old and new customers and put faces to names from internet orders. Thankyou for visiting my stall and supporting my business its really good to hear your comments on my work.
Phillippa