Mid Season Report

It is now July, where has the time gone?! The studio is almost half way through its season of being open and it has been extremely busy. The studio opened a week later than normal as we made a trip to Edinburgh for the Woolly Good Gathering, where some yarn may have been purchased!

I invested in a catering oven to make the whole dyeing process a bit more efficient, between that and the spin dryer yarn production is a lot more streamlined and it takes less time to prepare a batch of yarn.

Taking dyed yarn out of the oven

I entertained a tour group from North America at the end of April, demonstrating the process from fleece to finished yarn. I think they enjoyed themselves , it certainly didn’t put them off buying yarn! The group were on a knitting tour of Scotland, taking in Edinburgh, Dundee, Pitlochry, Inverness and Fort William where they enjoyed learning tapestry weaving, whisky tasting, Nessie hunting and needle felting, as well as the obligatory yarn shopping! Thank you Shaina Bilow for bringing them to visit me. (@shaina.bilow)

Even the busiest yarn dyer needs a break so in May we had a short break in Edinburgh where we explored Morningside, Marchmont, Stockbridge and the Dean Village, the latter two being where I grew up. We then went to see Moulin Rouge the musical which was spectacular!

The set for Moulin Rouge the Musical

Back in the studio I was getting customers from all over the world, including two groups from Norway, who were on tours of Perthshire gardens and wanted to visit a yarn store. Even though it was a day that the studio wasn't officially open, of course I was going to open for them! If you are wanting to visit outwith normal opening hours I may still be able to accommodate you - just get in touch before you want to visit to check if I'm available.

Back to yarny business, at the beginning of June Karelia House, a fabric shop near Kenmore holds a two day ‘Garden Party’ and invite local crafters to go along with their crafts and I was able to go along and be part of a local community event.

The Pitlochry Market and Aberfeldy Arts and Craft Fair are continuing on a monthly basis, although the Birks Cinema, where the Aberfeldy Arts and Craft Fair is held is closed during July and August for renovations and once completed will provide more space for craftspeople to exhibit. I look forward to seeing the new, enlarged, space.

The Birks Cinema, location of the Aberfeldy Arts and Craft Fairs

At the beginning of June we had a trip to Glasgow to see Bonnie Raitt in concert, she has still got it at age seventy four. That was the first of three concerts in June, all in Glasgow, the others were  Melissa Etheridge and Brandi Carlile. They were all excellent gigs, Melissa Etheridge on her own just with guitar, and Brandi Carlile with a seven piece band. Each gig was different but the audience reaction to Brandi was amazing. We are looking forward to a few nights in Edinburgh for some festival shows in August and then after the studio is closed for winter a trip to Newcastle is planned to see Amy MacDonald live.

Brandi Carlile and band in Glasgow

I have a small quantity of a new yarn base, 50% baby camel and 50% silk to try out with my dyeing. It’s a three ply yarn and is 533m in each 100g skein, enough for a decent size scarf or shawl. The first trial dyeing suggests muted colours compared to the Blue faced Leicester and Bamboo yarn. I'm aiming to get pictures of these up on the website soon, so check back later to see if I've managed.

As I write this we are experiencing the third ‘heatwave’ of the year as my temperature scarf will testify. 26 degrees!! This is Scotland, we urnae used tae this!!

Until next time I will wish you well and happy crafting.

David

Moulin Yarns