• Home
  • About
  • Meet the Team
  • Bibelot Box
  • Get Involved
  • Contact
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
Previous Post
Next Post
May 13
in Craft, Guests 0 comments

Lessons from Audrey Hatch

Recently I gave up my real job.  I have two young monkeys at a new school with no after school/breakfast club facilities, and Mr.Collins and I haven’t actually spent any time off together since the big one started in a vain attempt to manage the school holidays.  I’ve just had my first book of crochet patterns published and the second is on its way, so I’ve given up the real job, can manage the monkeys, and in the wonderful world of dreams, all income can now come from crochet.

 

 

 

Two months in, a new collection was coming together, conversations have started with the publisher about another project, the purse strings are drawn verrrrrry tight, and I found myself becoming a little unstructured and erratic.  In fact I found myself pulling over in a layby and spending 15 minutes digging croissant crumbs from the back of the car in an attempt to lure the local crows from the trees to become my friends and bring me presents.  This is when I realised that I needed to pull myself together, get some direction and find some human contact.

The next day I was browsing ads in a local yarn shop and saw ‘spinning wheel for sale’.  Having nothing better to do than befriend crows I figured it would be a good way to justify spending money we haven’t got (“I can spin all the wool to make all the clothes we’ll ever need! Perhaps I could get a goat, steal it’s fleece and learn to weave trousers!” etc) and add a new string to my craft bow.  How little did I know…

 

 

The owner of the spinning wheel is an Audrey Hatch.  She’s in her 80’s, twinkly eyed and full to bursting with a lifetime of the most extraordinary craft knowledge you can imagine.  She took one look at me tentatively poking a spoke and said “you’re going to need lessons”.  I’ve been going to see her once a week ever since and it’s amazing.  Her home is filled with handspun yarns made from the usual sheep’s fleece to cotton wool and nettles, dyed with everything from Dahlias and to copper pipes.  She can spin, sew, knit, crochet, weave, needle point, rug make, you name it, she’s a craft-witch full of archaic and magical knowledge.  And she’s offered to share it with me, just for the love of it.

 

 

We’ve made my first, completely unusable, ball of unplied yarn and next week we’re doing 2 ply and dying with some dead flowers, I am ridiculously excited.  So next time you see an ad for something obscure that takes your fancy, even if it seems frivolous, take it.  You never know what journey it might take you on, and you might even find your own craft-witch.

 

 

Coreopsis Yellow Recipe

Now Audrey doesn’t believe in being too precise, she thinks it takes the fun and magic out of things. So this is what we used to make ‘yellow’.

With a mordant (the thing that makes the colour stick):

1lb wool

4oz alum

1oz cream of tartar

Large pot cold water

 

 

Method

Soak your fleece/yarn in mordant over night.

If you can’t get hold of alum you can always add in a handful of sorrel leaves when you get to the dying part, this may change the colour but will act as a mordant.

To dye 2 skeins of yarn:

Handful of dried coreopsis flowers

Large pan of boiling water

¼ tsp of bicarbonate of soda

Boil flowers for roughly half an hour, drop the skeins in and keep the heat at a simmer for 45 minutes.

 

 

Emma Friedlander-Collins

SteelandStitch.blogspot.co.uk

 

Buy Emma’s fantastic book ‘Crochet Dress-Up’ here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:
2889
3

  • Cane Handled Bag Tutorial – Kate Marsden
    I spotted these cute cane handles in my local wool shop a couple of weeks ago Read more
    in Craft, Creative, Guests, Learn 2 comments
    1
  • 40 Little Ways To Look After Yourself
    Go to your physical happy place.
    Read more
    in Lists, Positivity, Treat Yourself 0 comments
    2
  • Oh! You Pretty Things
    Each peach pear… pineapple! We've come over all fruity this Spring, so we've Read more
    in Fashion, Oh! You Pretty Things, Shop 0 comments
    2

Leave a Comment! Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Categories
  • Art
  • Beauty
  • Bibelot Jukebox
  • Birds
  • Competition
  • Craft
  • Creative
  • Drink
  • Eat
  • Ethical
  • Events
  • Fashion
  • Food
  • Guests
  • Illustration
  • Inside The Artists Studio
  • Instagrammer of the week
  • Interview
  • Learn
  • Listen
  • Lists
  • Make
  • Music
  • Oh! You Pretty Things
  • Pets
  • Positivity
  • Read
  • Reviews
  • Shop
  • Silver Screen Suppers
  • Story
  • Travel
  • Treat Yourself
  • Uncategorized
  • Vintage
  • Watch
Recent Posts
  • Silver Screen Suppers – David Niven’s Christmas Rice Pudding
  • Aww Sam – Holiday Light Pillows – Tutorial
  • Jonna Saarinen’s Gingerbread Biscuits – Recipe
  • Nicky Grace – Interview
  • Malin Koort – Interview
What is Bibelot?
Bibelot is about more than craft projects; it represents an imaginative and sustainable way of life. Readers will feel stimulated, uplifted and motivated. Bibelot will begin its life as a blog, an online hub bringing artistic, original and innovative people together. It’s a space for sharing ideas, learning and sparking inspiration!
Tags
60s 70s Book Books Children's Books Chloe Owens Christmas Clare Albans Competition Craft Book Creative Spaces Cruelty Free Decorate DIY Embroidery Exhibition Fabric Fiction Floral Flowers Flying Eye Books Giveaway Handmade Hello Hooray Illustration Interior Design Jeremy Fox Learn Music Nobrow On Vegetables Paper pattern Photography Playlist Quote recipe Recipe Book Retro Sew Sewing Tutorial Vegan vegetarian Vintage
Copyright © 2015 Bibelot. All Rights Reserved.
astropay astropay kart astropay al ucuz astropaysakaryada kız yurduastropay kartastropay alsakaryada kız yurdusakarya kız yurtları