February 2012 (15)

Sunday, February 26 2012

Sunday Walks

[caption id="attachment_5104" align="aligncenter" width="622" caption="Photo - © Stevan Lockhart"][/caption][caption id="attachment_5105" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Photo - ©  Stevan Lockhart"][/caption]

Saturday, February 25 2012

Artful Craft

I don't intend opening the debate on what is art as opposed to craft, but I do know artful craft when I see it. Regular readers will know that a couple of weeks back I had a visit from Dorothy, a weaver, who had driven all the way up from southern Scotland to come and visit the Dye Shed (and to see  […]

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Tuesday, February 21 2012

Brave Lads and Lasses Update

I am thrilled to tell you that we already have enough for TWO pairs of Yellow Wellies, and are on our way to being able to afford a third pair.[caption id="attachment_5090" align="aligncenter" width="360" caption="Dirty yellow wellies, modelled by Mandy aka  […]

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Monday, February 20 2012

Making a small difference

In comparison to most businesses, Ripples Crafts is tiny.  Just a speck of dust that can only be seen under the microscope of business.  I doubt I even qualify as that current favourite with politicians, the SME (small to medium enterprise).  But I have always believed that if everyone did  […]

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Sunday, February 19 2012

Productive Weekend

Stevan and I both need socks.  And given that sock wool is something we're not short of, it is very silly that we're so short of socks.  But time to hand knit socks is rather lacking, so in an effort to make Stevan's socks respectable ones (and not the very holey ones he currently sports), I got out  […]

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Saturday, February 18 2012

Wild!

We've had a bit of weather in Assynt today.   We've not had as much snow as was forecast, but it has been wild nonetheless.We tried to go out for a walk, but we hadn't gone far when hail started pelting our faces, stinging.  Lexie turned tail and legged it back to the house, so we decided she  […]

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Friday, February 17 2012

Ups and Downs

It has been an odd week, and definitely one of ups and downs.    On occasions I was struggling in the dye shed, and at times inspiration failed me.  So I decided the only thing to do when that happens is ..... have some fun!I decided to put some yarn in the pot, pour different colours over it -  […]

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Wednesday, February 15 2012

Venomous

The word "venomous" makes me instantly think of snakes.   Growing up in Southern Africa there were some seriously venomous snakes, and ones that weren't so venomous, but it was never worth risking your identification skills!  However this Venomous is not at all mean:I love this little  […]

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Sunday, February 12 2012

Còinneach

I've been thinking for a while now about what name I can give the new silk which, I hope, will be up in the shop this evening.  It is luxurious and silky (obviously!) and lustrous.Every time I wondered about a name I kept getting an image in my head of the luxurious, silky moss that is to be found  […]

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Saturday, February 11 2012

Taking pride

What a day it has been today.  It started last year in December when I was approached by a journalist from The Herald Newspaper in Glasgow.   She had seen some photographs taken by Angela Catlin on behalf of Business Gateway, and she thought that what I was doing would fit well into an article she  […]

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Tuesday, February 7 2012

Fashionable Trends

For the last couple of years I've been fortunate enough to be invited to attend a Trends and Developments workshop, organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in conjunction with Hi-Arts and Anne Ritchie.  I'm always astounded by Anne's expansive knowledge as she progresses through her very  […]

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Sunday, February 5 2012

Sunday Walks

Today's walk was not so much a walk as a trudge, head down against the wind and the stinging rain as it pelted us all.  But there was a moment of calm just as we reached our favourite, very old, willow where I took a few pictures of the other plants taking shelter amongst its branches:It wasn't one  […]

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Saturday, February 4 2012

Quite a week!

It has been quite a week at Ripples Crafts HQ this week.  At the end of last week I received a copy of the German edition of The Knitter magazine.  They contacted me towards the end of last year to say they would be featuring Ripples Crafts in an article, and to be honest I had completely forgotten  […]

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Friday, February 3 2012

Expectant Terrier

Not expectant as in expecting little terriers:But expectant in terms of expecting her boss to feed her apple!It is not often that she sits still long enough to have a proper portrait taken of her, but you can work wonders with a bit of sweet apple.  However such hard concentration means a terrier  […]

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Thursday, February 2 2012

A chance to chat!

Earlier this week I was pleased to welcome Dorothy to the dye shed.  Dorothy and I first met at Gardening Scotland a couple of years ago.  Dorothy is a weaver, and the projects on her blog always leave me saying "ooooohhhh" and "aaaahhh" while reading.  Her work is wonderful.  I  […]

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