...........Wonderwool Wales 20131!

Last weekend we ventured over the border into the Welsh town of Builth Wells for two reasons. Firstly we wanted to test out our campervan Ratty before our big road trip to the Scottish Highlands at the end of May. Secondly it was our annual jaunt, together with my Mum and my Sister Sandra, to Wonderwool Wales. It was our fourth time back this year.  

Toby and Tom about to go off on their hill walk.

Ratty in our little campsite.

On the Saturday morning Tom walked me to the Royal Welsh Showground to meet my Mum and Sandra and we had a bit of a stroll through Builth Wells town centre. I had to take a snap of this mural on the side of a shop. Love the sleeping welsh dragon!

Now on to all the fun of the fair. Wonderwool wales is all inside and it three large barns full of stalls and exhibits on everything to do with, obviously, wool. 

Knitted display. Love the knitted deckchair and little birds on the table.

Knitted flowers from the same display.

Amazing needle felted Viking!

Felted dress.

Amazing felt products made by my felt artist idol Jenny Pepper. Stunning creations!

Loved this idea! Cute little handknitted jumpers make up their  company sign.

This was a great stall selling Scottish Tweed in stunning colours.

A good time was had by all and as usual I bought too much but it's so hard when you're lost in the haze of all that lanolin. 

One of the best things about Wonderwool is finding new things. These are my new discoveries for 2013. I've never seen Seaweed Tops and this Ramie is made from stinging nettles. Perfect for feltmaking.

 

I'm not a big knitter, basically only being able to manage scarves and squares, so my sister convinced me that if I can do simple knit and purl stitches then I can knit a hat. I found this perfect vintage hat pattern and like the fact it comes with three different hat styles. I also fell in love with these pencils made from tree branches.

  

Australian Felt Magazine

One of my favourite purchases was this tapestry loom kit in it's own cotton tote bag. 

  

It comes complete with handmade frame, made from hardwood, together with two shuttles, the warp and instructions. Can't wait to have a play! Might have to use the Welsh countryside as inspiration for a nice hilly scene to practice with.

These oak leaf vintage buttons and wooden crochet hooks soon followed suit into my shopping bags.

It was a tiring but fun filled day and it was lovely to get back to Ratty and have time to enjoy this stunning view out of the boot before the sun disappeared. 

Definitely same time, same place next year!

..........Vintage Cycling!

There's a new exciting club in Worcester called the WVCC (Worcester Vintage Cycling Club). It's been set up in association with Barbourne Bicycles and The Worcester Flea/WAVE to allow people with a love for vintage cycling and vintage attire to meet up and ride around enjoying the beautiful sights of Worcester.

It's free to join as a member so if you are interested please email them at info@theworcesterflea.co.uk. The first meet up is this Sunday 5th May at Gheluvelt Park at 12 noon. The only rules are you need a vintage bike and a vintage outfit and you're good to go! For more details check out their Facebook page at WVCC. 

Unfortunately I'm unable to attend the Inaugural Jolly Jaunt but as it's being organised by my good friends I wanted to give it a big shout out. I am a huge lover of vintage cycles, owning a few myself which I ride quite regularly when the weather gets a bit warmer.

My big love is for vintage 20" shopper bicycles and I've been lucky enough, through my vintage business, to have owned quite a few over the past few years. At the moment I have two trusty steeds, one of which is this blue beauty below aka Anna Bella. 

Anna Bella is a folding 20" shopper bike dating approximately from the late 1970s. We did buy her to sell on but I used her once to take to Belgium on a camping holiday because she folds so can fit in the boot of the car easily. After using her for a few days I was hooked and, as often happens, I had to keep her. I did have a small incident involving a pedestrian's backpack strap whilst cycling in Bruges one evening but after a few days I regained my confidence and got back on the saddle. I even treated myself to some removeable rear panniers for her so I have somewhere to put my shopping.   

 

Trusty steeds parked by our tent in Bruges.

My most faithful ride has been my lovely Betty. Betty is a white Raleigh Shopper complete with fitted white metal front basket and white wicker rear basket. Betty was my main transport to and from the shop during the summer and everyone loved her, some even tried to buy her! Unfortunately she doesn't fold for ease of transport but it does make the ride a bit more stable. I am particularly fond of Betty's co-ordinating white wall tyres.

My most recent two wheel pride and joy is my beautiful Raleigh City. It doesn't have a name as yet but I'm sure a suitable one will come to me at some point. The City is a 26" ladies bike with a fixed white metal rear basket. I use this bike when doing longer journeys, such as going into town, because having the larger wheels makes it less effort to cycle.

As I have a bit of a habit of collecting things I don't necessarily need this brings me to the final bicycle in my fleet. My 24" Raleigh Honey is my project bike. At the moment she is hiding underneath the wisteria in my garden but I have great plans to do her up and make her ship shape. All she needs is some new tyres, a new seat and some fiddly bits with the brakes and handlebars. One day she will be restored to her former glory.

Also on Sunday 5th May is the 1940s themed Worcester VE Flea! Checkout the blog for further details.

There will be bunting and some 40s tunes to jig along to, as well as all the usual fab stalls filled with old and interesting items! 

Why not get into the spirit of the VE Day celebrations and slip into something a little bit 40s to join in the fun!

..........Wooliness!

Hi!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Been a busy bee getting my hands dirty with sanding, filling and painting in my new lounge. When I've had a spare few seconds I've been busy getting excited for going off in our first camping trip of 2013. 

We're off to sunny (hopefully) Builth Wells so that I can wallow in my love for all things wooly at Wonderwool Wales. It's a festival to celebrate artisans in the UK who use wool and natural fibres in their work. Although I love it because they always have tons of lovely hand dyed wool and felt fibres for sale together with new techniques and inspiring artwork. 

It will also be a momentous occasion as it will be our first ever camping trip in our little campervan, aka Ratty. I'm excited and a little bit nervous as it's going to be a bit different to our past more luxurious camping trips in our old caravan Bertie. There's slightly less space in Ratty but I'm looking forward to getting out into the great outdoors again, even if I will spend most of the time hugging a hot water bottle. 

I'm quite a crafter in my spare time and am a bit of a terror when it comes to learning a craft and sticking with it. I am interested in so many things that I can't settle on one technique. So to carry on this trend my latest fad is loom knitting. As I love knitted things so much I've always been trying to teach myself how to knit and managed quite well to learn the basics. However I never  really got to grips with counting stitches etc. I then discovered knitting looms in my local wool shop and thought I'd give it a go. I much prefer the weaving method used in this way of knitting. I'm attempting to make a scarf so I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. 

Progress so far.

My wool basket.

I'm going to try and avoid picking up a new fad at Wonderwool but I can't promise anything!

.........Goodies!

Recently we've been doing a lot of work to our house as we have big plans this year to remodel our downstairs. Therefore I've been curbing my spending but obviously I can't stop completely when beauties like these catch my eye.

First off is this cute and very well detailed feather brooch. It's quite a big brooch which I wouldn't normally go for but it is so well made and so realistic I had to have it.

In my spare time I help out on an ad hoc basis at a local Auction room. In the days of having the shop it was great as I managed to pick up bargains whilst making some pocket money on the side. Now we no longer have the shop I have to be more selective in my bidding but managed to get a couple of gems. 

Firstly I managed to pick up this beautiful vintage vanity case complete with a 1960s British Airways cabin bagagge tag. I technically didn't buy it at auction as it was donated to me by one of my fellow auction porters who knows of my obsession with old things. It was her mothers and she took it with her all over the world. 

The inside is in lovely condition with great detailing on the mirror and I love the Pixie original label.

Spookily it matches perfectly with a little suitcase I already have which sits on top of the wardrobe in my bedroom.

Next up was my favourite purchase of the day. This old children's weaving loom was hiding in a plain nondescript cardboard box which was part of a bigger box full of stained old curtain pelmets. Thankfully noone was interested in it so I got it for a bargain price of £5. 

The loom came with the original colourful box lid together with a part finished woven piece made from pale blue and yellow wool. 

It also came with some pattern sheets and a little booklet full of ideas and patterns.

I'm very into weaving at the moment so this was a star buy for me. I haven't yet decided if I have the heart to remove the already started piece so might have to try my best to finish it off first.

Bye for now!