When we first moved to the Ariége in France we were lucky enough to have as our neighbour Madame G. Approaching her ninetieth year she wasn't too happy at first to receive these strangers as neighbours but we were nearly as wise as she was and knew that if we wanted to know and grow in this totally new area we simply needed to ask Madame G how she did it. Different climate, soil and even weeds would have floored us without her deep knowledge and aid. We lived happily together for nearly 10 more years before she parted ...

I sincerely hope this finds you all well and that the last few months have been manageable and will continue to be so.

Summer Treats

Greening the Elizabethan Range , as if it wasn't green enough! We are offering, while stocks last, an extra skein of green for free with the Elizabethan Range.

Also, Adriaan has 'organised' a little giveaway of 2 packs of 6 different colours of the crewel / lace-weight wool for you. You can read all about it and how to enter on the blog.

New Sweater Kit

While you are on the blog have a look at ...

English at the bottom!

Ce n'est pas très souvent qu'Adriaan fait une erreur. Cette semaine, il en a fait un petit. Ils disent que le signe d'un artisan qualifié est qu'ils peuvent s'adapter à n'importe quel revers du processus.

Voici donc la solution d'Adriaan. Nous allons donner le problème.

Ce qui s'est passé, c'est que des écheveaux de 25 m ont été enroulés sur la machine à bobiner avec un diamètre trop large, ils sont donc trop gros !!

Adriaan les a divisés en deux groupes et nous vous les proposerons. Laissez ...

The stunning Lady and the Unicorn tapestries at the Musee de Cluny in Paris were created in about 1500 using wool and natural dyes such as madder, woad and weld. They are believed to represent the five senses. Each one features a lady and her maidservant, a unicorn, a lion and numerous small birds and animals, as well as trees and plants. The background colour is red, dyed with madder, which has not noticeably faded in all the five hundred varied years since the tapestries were woven. This is a remarkable testament to the durability of natural dyes. Sections of ...

A 4 day workshop in the foothills of the Pyrenees.

En français ci-dessous.

A totally hands-on , even up to your elbows, plant dyeing workshop.

What will you be dyeing?

Mostly wool, either our French sourced Poll Dorset or the fine merino Lace-weight. But also this year a piece of antique linen for making a tote bag or cushion, French and very local of course.

With what will you dye it?

We will first be using the dye stuffs that have been tried and tested over the centuries, that is madder, weld and woad or indigo.

Then in our 'what happens ...

We wish a colourful, peaceful and healthy 2020 to all our dear customers.

A big thank you for supporting our little artisan business, it is greatly appreciated especially as we are not always so hot on social media.

There are few shades of the Merinos d'Arles at a lower price to help you kick off to a warm natural New Year.

Here is a brief whizz through some of the things we will be making and doing in 2020.

Punchneedle We have sold punch-needle kits for quite a few years now, ever since we teamed up with the talented ...

Back in the old days (whenever and wherever they were) Michaelmas was one of the big land festivals when people would gather together to exchange goods in preparation for the winter and also find new work as at the end of the busy summer season, itinerant land workers sought shelter for the winter. Both men and women looked ahead to hard winter times lightened for both by the thought that when the cold work was done they could draw around the fire and spin or knit and listen to the old tales that thrilled their hearts and guided them to ...

New fermentation dyed yarn up on web-site. These limited editions are fermented itogether with madder root and weld and then later dipped in the indigo vat. Because of the method involved there are only 12 hanks in this latest Merinos d'Arles edition, which because of its earthy and fiery tones we have named Lava. You will find it at the bottom of the Batches and Bundles page

An increasing number of people are using our naturally dyed wools for punchneedling (is there a verb - 'to punchneedle' I wonder?) In particular the fine crewel wool lends itself to punchneedling, having ...

Yes, you heard right, we are having a SPRING SALE, we thought it might cheer everyone up in this eternal wet spring we are having! There is no code needed instead I am reducing all the prices of all kinds of wool across the web-site by 15%

This will include the 3 kits that use the main embroidery range, the main range itself and its Elizabethan sister. And of course the individual skeins and hanks of:-

• The lace-weight/crewel range

• The Merinos d'Arles wool range

• Bundles and Batches

• The Poll Dorset organic wool range

• All of the knitting and ...

Free tickets for 'Pour l'Amour du Fil - Nantes - April 24-27

Billets gratuits pour Pour l'Amour du Fil - Nantes - 24-27 avril

Oui, c’est encore cette période préférée de l’année, un mélange de printemps, de Pâques et de l’exposition Pour L'Amour du Fil à Nantes. Où nous serons cette année encore une fois avec notre stand. Stand 22 rangée E

Nous avons des billets gratuits à vous offrir pour ce passionnant salon du textile dans la belle ville de Nantes.

Sensiblement organisé pour couvrir 4 jours du mercredi au samedi, nous rentrons donc tous à la ...