Tag: news

New Yarn Bases!

June 11, 2021

Hi there! How are you doing? I hope that, like me, you’re beginning to feel like the end is in sight and some sort of normality is slowly returning to the world. Between getting my first dose of vaccination this weekend, and some yarn festivals tentatively planning to go ahead in the autumn , I’m definitely feeling my spirits start to lift.

All of which has helped kickstart my creativity, and I’m very excited to share my new yarn bases with you!

Recycled Cotton

First up is this fabulous, 100% recycled cotton. It is great for a wide range of projects, from cushion covers and scrubbies, to clothes and accessories. The yarn is very similar in looks and feel to yarns such as DROPS bomull-lin (which is a linen/cotton blend). It doesn’t have the smooth, shiny look of new cotton. This gives it a gorgeous matt texture and stops it from being a slippery yarn to work with. It is an aran or worsted weight yarn so works up quite quickly, making it ideal for quick projects.
See the whole collection here.

DK weight Tencel

The yarn Gods have finally listened to my plea to create a heavier weight Tencel yarn, and here it is in all its lustrous glory! As fabulously soft, shiny and drapey as the 4 ply version, these 100g skeins are DK (double knit) weight, and measure 225m each. This yarn is perfect for all your summery knits, from tank tops and tees to lightweight jumpers and shawls. But don’t discount it for cooler weather knits too, Tencel has excellent thermoregulation properties, keeping you cosy in winter as well as cool in summer.

For this first batch I have 80 skeins available, in 36 gorgeous dye lots. Whilst some of the lots are large enough for sweater quantities, most only have 2 skeins, so if you would like help putting together your ideal palette for your project then please just ask!

You can get yours here.

Oh, and there’s one more new yarn base still to come, but I’m not finished dyeing it all yet! It’s a fabulous aran weight Pima cotton, which I will share with you when it is available in the shop.

WoolNEss 2019

May 15, 2019

Next up in this summer’s yarn festival schedule for me is the inaugural WoolNEss festival in Newcastle! (does this count as me going international…?)

I’m very excited to be a part of this new event, which aims to promote the benefits of crafting for mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. How lovely is that?!

The event will take place from the 2nd to the 4th of August (the marketplace will be open on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th) at the Life Science Centre, which is conveniently located right next to Newcastle central station.

I’m very excited to be a part of this new event, and being in a different region hopefully it will mean I can get to meet some more of you in real life! You can read more about the event and buy your tickets for it here.

Aberdeen Yarn Fest

May 14, 2019

Oops, I see it’s been a while since I updated things on here. Sorry everyone! So now get ready for a bunch of information coming your way about upcoming events and exciting new products:

First up I’m delighted to (re)announce (for those who follow me on social media you will already know this) that I will once again be attending the Aberdeen Yarn Fest this year. It is to be held in the Doubletree by Hilton Aberdeen Treetops hotel on Sunday 9th of June, and looks set to be an amazing event!

I will have a whole array of gorgeous things to bring to the festival, including lots and lots of spinning fibre (braids and batts!), hand spun yarn, both my recycled and regular cotton yarns, and also some all new Tencel, and Banana yarns too! (More on those to follow)

You can read more about the event and get your tickets here. You will find me at stand 10!

Will I see you there?

It’s Christmas in July!

July 25, 2018

I’ll be honest, I do love Christmas but I genuinely thought “Christmas in July” was just something the Girl Scouts made up when I was doing Camp America some years ago! But it appears it also exists in Etsy-land so I’m quite happy to embrace the Christmas spirit, despite the warm weather, and use today to launch my very exciting new advent calendars!



Yarn lovers advent calendar!

The ideal way for all true yarn lovers to count down to Christmas! Containing 24 days of individually wrapped and numbered, botanically dyed skeins, plus optional extras, this is a gift to make this festive season extra special, either for yourself or for your favourite yarn addict!

This is available with several different options, depending on how much yarn you want (either 10g or 20g per day), which fibre(s) you would like (organic cotton, linen, hemp and tencel), and whether you’ve got space in your project bag for just a few more helpful extras!

The boxes are now available to pre-order. All orders must be placed by the end of September (but the sooner the better as numbers are limited!), and the boxes will ship at the beginning of November.

Spinners don’t despair: I’ve got you covered too!

These boxes will also contain 24 days of individually wrapped fibre-y treats, made up of 22 x 25g of botanically dyed fibre braids (2 of each of rose, seacell, mint, bamboo, tencel, soybean, carbonised bamboo, ramie, hemp, banana, and flax), 25g of mixed fibre rolags, and a 25g mixed fibre batt.

As with the yarn advent calendar, this is also a pre-order and numbers are limited. These too need to be ordered by the end of September and will be shipped at the beginning of November in time for the festive season.

Get yours here!

Happy “Christmas in July”!

Flora Fibres 2nd birthday and new pattern release!

May 14, 2018

Woo hoo! Happy (business) birthday to me 😀

As I did last year with the Snakes and Ladders Shawl, I have created a new pattern to release today in celebration of another year in this business which I love! This year the pattern is very special to me, as the inspiration for it came from a very dear old lady, my grandad’s cousin Pat, who we recently lost at the grand old age of 102 years. She was always full of life, and had many an adventure in her time as a mission doctor in Africa (she wasn’t a missionary she’d like me to add, she always made a point of telling people she was far too naughty for that!). The inspiration for this shawl came from a gorgeous shawl pin she kindly left me, which I felt deserved to be worn with something as colourful and full of life as she was, and also my hands down, favourite memory of her:

The event took place a very long time ago when I was just a wee girl, and we were at my grandma’s house for the family Christmas dinner. Now my grandma was good at many things, but cooking was not one of them. I’m sure she started boiling those vegetables some time around the beginning of December to get them quite so soft and tasteless! And she was not the sort of grandma who would accept you not eating the food put in front of you. So my wee brother and I were making our best attempt at eating them, when Pat clearly decided she’d had enough of them too. She whipped a tube of Smarties out of her handbag, popped them open, scattered them across the table, and gleefully announced “oh children, you don’t want to eat that! Let’s eat Smarties instead!”

So in her honour let me present to you my celebration of life, love and family: the Smarties for Dinner shawl!

It is an asymmetric triangle shawl, knitted from side to side with yarn over increases. It uses several techniques including colour changes to create the rainbows at either end, some 2 stranded colour work to create the rows of colourful “Smarties”, and two decorative lace panels, one which represents the plates and napkins on the Christmas table, and the other the love and admiration for an incredible lady.

 

 

A delightful pop of colour to liven up any outfit and to remind us all to live life to the fullest.

It is knitted using Scheepjes Catona cotton yarn, and you can see the full requirements and purchase the pattern from my Ravelry store here:

 

Perth Festival of Yarn!

July 8, 2017

Ooh I’m so very excited to share this big news with you all! You may have already seen this on Instagram or Facebook but for anyone who missed the announcement: I’m going to be a vendor at the Perth Festival of Yarn! (I should maybe add that it’s Perth, Scotland 😉 )

What makes it especially exciting is that Eva, the organiser, reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in attending as they had one of the other vendors drop out. Apart from this being a huge honour to have been asked, I’m also so happy to see that they are going out of their way to make it as diverse and inclusive as possible by inviting someone who doesn’t sell wool. Much as I have enjoyed other events I’ve been to, it’s been more for meeting people and looking at patterns and accessories. The thought of being a part of a yarn festival that also caters to those who choose not to use wool is very appealing!

This will be my first in person event where I’ll be selling my yarn, and I do so hope to meet some of you there! Are you planning on attending? Let me know! And do stop by and say hi on the day!

Exciting news!

May 7, 2017

I’m very excited to share my big news with you all!

I’ve​ taken the plunge and changed my business insurance, so as of today (Sunday 7th of May) I am now able to sell to anywhere in the world, including the USA and Canada! 

(Come on, the photo is clearly the Stars and Stripes! 😂)

So now everyone can enjoy my yarns and accessories. Yay!

And to celebrate there will be a shop update later today. You can browse the shop here!

Happy shopping, everyone! 🇨🇦🇺🇸