....back from the Sea

My soul is full of longing for the secrets of the sea,
and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Quotes

10 days flew by and I'm home again from a lovely holiday with good friends in Plettenberg Bay. We spent some time in the Tsitsikamma forest and Nature Reserve.

There is an amazing tree in the Plaatbos Nature reserve that is a magical part of this enchanted forest, tall and strong with a kindly face it silently watches all who pass.

There are Rain Spiders who spin leaves into their huge webs that hang from the branches, the spider clinging to the underside protectively waiting for the young to hatch

 

...and how beautiful is the ocean at the Storms River mouth, it inspired the colours for the ColourSpun Cotton Club

 

 

 

Have a Happy Day :)




Me Jane???!

Just so that no one is confused, I did start out writing this blog about the time I spend in my studio. I spent a great deal of time in my studio, worked very hard  and got through an extraordinary amount of work last year so I decided to take a little break and and spend a couple of weeks away - relaxing and proof reading the English copy of my book.  Well, to my horror (and then delight :) ) I forgot my mobile and specs at home so all I can do is relax, or so I thought.

On Wednesday we went on a leisurely tractor tour through the Tsitsikamma forest down to the old Storms river bridge and had a lovely lunch.

One of my friends wanted to do the canopy tour but didn't want to go on her own, so I agreed to go too. I don't quite know what I was expecting, but it was definitely something much lower and slower!

There were 8 of us in our group, plus 2 guides and a photographer, we got all kitted up and were taken to the "launch pad".  Two of the guides went ahead and then we were off - one at a time to the first platform up in the tree tops, I was already wondering what I had gotten myself into. When we were all perched on this little wooden ledge way up there, the one guide very proudly told us that none of the platforms are bolted or nailed on. They are all carefully tied on so as not to damage any tree! I suddenly discovered that I'm not as environmentally friendly as I thought I was as I wished for huge steel bolts screwed into the wood.

Then we were off again, flying through the trees. It was very scary and very exciting, 30m up in the canopy and I think I could possibly be talked into doing it again.

What an exhilarating experience - a huge amount of frightening fun! :)

Beautiful Cape Town

We live in a beautiful country and one of my favourite cities is Cape Town. Today my special cousin, who is lucky enough to live there, sent me this amazing link - Cape Town - fullmoonhike - don't forget to drag your mouse up and down and side to side to get the full picture.

Yarn Clubs

At the dyeing workshop we had last week, the ladies attending convinced me to start yarn clubs. I have decided to start with 3 different ones.

The ColourSpun Mohair Club
This club will offer 150 -200g of different types and weights of mohair - fine, DK, brushed, loopy etc. (not necessarily all at the same time) and will always include an extra special yarn. All will be hand dyed in colours inspired by nature.

The ColourSpun Cotton Club
This club will offer 150 - 200g of different weights of 100% cotton yarn, from fine to chunky.(not necessarily at the same time) It will also always include an extra special yarn. All will be hand dyed in colours inspired by nature.

The ColourSpun Bits & Bobs Club
Suitable for freeform and modular knitting projects, this club will offer 150 - 200g of a lucky dip mixture of different ColourSpun Natural Designer Yarn, including Merino wool, mohair, cotton and art yarns. All will be hand dyed and some may be hand spun.

Each club will deliver 4 times a year and is limited to 20 spots and then a waiting list will be set up.
The cost of the club yarn will be discounted by 20% off the normal retail price.

The details of the each club will be posted on the ColourSpun Group on Ravelry . The first offering will be the ColourSpun Mohair Club at the beginning of February, followed by the ColourSpun Cotton Club at the end of February and the ColourSpun Bits & Bobs Club at the beginning of March.

Hope you'll join in the fun

25 Day Challenge

Everyday, my youngest son's girlfriend forwards me the "Thought for Today" from innerSpace. I love receiving them, they are always positive and often thought provoking. Today she sent me the link to their 25 Day Challenge - .pause .think .act  and we are both taking up the challenge :)

 

Day 1's challenge is "No Worries"  That's easy for me, I've never been a worrier, believing that no amount of worry ever fixed anything. Do what you can to fix a problem and get help when you can't. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's challenge.

Tunisian Crochet Rug

Everyone who attended Carle's dyeing workshop on Saturday wanted the instructions for my tunisian crochet rug so I thought it would be nice to share them here.

Tunisian Crochet Knee Rug

This quick and easy knee rug is worked in basic Tunisian stitch using an assortment of yarn. Change colour on each cast on and cast off row and leave a tail to form a fringe. I used an assortment of  wool, mohair and novelty yarns. If you would like a bigger or smaller version of this rug, just adjust the number of stitches and rows to suit.

You will need:
1x 10mm Tunisian hook
An assortment of yarn – about 550g available from ColourSpun natural Designer Yarn

Instructions
Start with a crochet foundation chain of 100 + 1 – 101 chain using ColourSpun Kid Mohair DK
Row 1:

Cast on row: Insert hook into the second chain from the hook, *wrap the yarn (from back to front) over the hook and pull through leaving the new loop on the hook; insert the hook into the next chain* repeat from *to* to end

Cast off row: wrap the yarn over the hook and pull through the first loop on the hook;* wrap the yarn over the hook and pull through the first 2 loops on the hook* repeat from *to* until there is only one loop left on the hook.

Row 2:

Cast on row: Insert the hook into the second vertical bar of the previous row, *wrap the yarn over the hook and pull the loop through leaving the new loop on the hook; insert the hook into the next vertical bar* repeat from *to* to end

Cast off row: wrap the yarn over the hook and pull through the first loop on the hook;* wrap the yarn over the hook and pull through the first 2 loops on the hook* repeat from *to* until there is only one loop left on the hook.

Repeat row 2, 95 times then work a row of single crochet using ColourSpun Kid Mohair DK.

Trim the fringing.

Natural Suburbia: Giveaway from ColourSpun

My friend, Linda, has a wonderful blog - Natural Suburbia, which is filled with lots of beautiful and interesting things. This week she has a giveaway of ColourSpun yarn - dyed by moi.

If you feel like a treat pop in there for a visit.

Natural Suburbia: Giveaway from ColourSpun: "Please welcome Dana from ColourSpun... Natural Suburbia: Tell us a little about how ColourSpun began and how long you have been dyeing ..."