Hilltop Cloud
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Online Shop
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Tussah Silk
    • Pigments
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
    • Gradient Packs
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Online Shop
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Tussah Silk
    • Pigments
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
    • Gradient Packs
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links

Spinning Wheel Speed Dating

16/9/2021

 
A couple of evenings ago I got together with members of the Hilltop Cloud community group The Fellowship of Yarn. We met via Zoom, and had a lovely time discussing all things spinning wheel. 
We discussed a huge range of wheels, some model, some antique, talked about their makers, and why certain wheels developed in the way they did. 
It was a great evening being very geeky about the tools we loved, and I had a great time. If you couldn't make it then fear not, the whole session was recorded, and you can watch it back. 
Warning, one participant does share images of her wheels which are hosted on Ravelry. If you can't access the site safely you may want to avoid the section from 54:35 to 1:01:10
We had such  good time that we're going to do it again in October, this time taking a look at e-spinners. We're still choosing a date, but if you want to make sure you know when it's happening, and vote on the time and day please come join us in The Fellowship of Yarn.

September

9/9/2021

 
Picture
After a very busy July, August has been a bit more of a sedate month. There's been chance to get out and about more, and to spend time on various hobbies and of course in the garden. There's been time in the kitchen turning garden gluts in to tasty food, and the gentle pleasures of a country garden at the height of summer. August is always marked by stunning heather, turning the hillsides these beautiful shades of purple. This photo is taken just above Aberllefenni, this was the last working slate mine in Wales south of Blaenau Ffestiniog, and there is still slate related work going on in the valley. A company is working through the vast spoil heaps turning it in to chipping and aggregate, and processing slate from other mines in to slabs and tiles. The slate on our drive came from this operation. These photos were taken just as the underground operations ceased. 

One of the purposes of the walk was to go round checking the geocache circuit we've put out going along the valley. If you're in the area, and want to go and see more of the valley and don't mind a bit of mud and rough terrain, the Miners Trail is the series you are looking for. 
Picture
Nellie remains a happy-go-lucky delight. So long as you are a human in her family... we're still working on the barking at random strangers, but we'll get there. She passed her Bronze Kennel Club Good Dog Citizen award this month, proving she can behave when she chooses to do so! There have been playdates with her friend Boudicca, which are an absolute riot, Meg is definitely an old dog at 13, and whilst she can be tempted in to playing for a short while, eventually grumpy Meg comes out and Nellie is told to get lost. 
​Most of her life is either spent digging holes or chasing anything that flies. The rest of the time is either spent being busy, or lying down. The common phrase in the house seems to have become "if you can't do it lying down it's not worth doing!"
Picture
I have very little spinning or knitting to show this month as most things are secrets for gifts, but I did get an enormous quilt finished off, this is Plaidish Scrap Quilt, but Kitchen Table Quilting, and it did indeed use up an awful lot of my scraps. 
Picture
I also finally got to go along to an in-person, indoor guild meeting for the first time since January 2020, the last meeting they held was February, but I was away teaching that weekend, and apart from some meet-ups in the park, we've been online ever since. It was lovely to see everyone again, and we enjoyed messing around with some shibori and an indigo vat which I even managed to transport home with only minor blue staining to the back of the van! This weekend we're doing some stitching on the cloth, so I will be back to show those off next month.
After a quieter August things are beginning to ramp up as we go in to the cooler months in the norther hemisphere, the shop is pretty well stocked, and I'm now back in the studio regularly. There's been a brand new fibre collection launched, and there will be plenty of other tempting things on the way soon. 
There will be spaces available in the Gradient Club in the next couple of month, the only place where I announce spaces is via the shop email newsletter, there's a link to sign up at the very bottom of this page. 
EU orders are now shipped using the IOSS system, and that seems to be going smoothly, so if you are an EU customer but have been put off by uncertainties about fees and taxes please give ordering under this new system a try. I'm absorbing the extra fees to pay for the registration and the intermediary, so you'll be paying roughly the same amount as you were in 2020 (the VAT rate used is now the one applicable to your own country, not the UK 20% rate). 

​

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    More
     BlogPosts

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Bees
    Chickens
    Countryside
    Dogs
    FO's
    KitILove
    Non Wool Club
    Rhinebeck
    Shop Talk
    Spinning
    Spinningwithapurpose
    SpoinnersAdvent
    Weaving

    RSS Feed

    follow us in feedly

Hilltop Cloud

Hilltop Cloud- Spin Different 

Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. 
Established 2011 

VAT Reg- 209 4066 19
Dugoed Bach, Mallwyd, Machynlleth,
​ Powys, SY20 9HR
Our Ethos
Eryri Ambassador 2023
Gwynedd Ambassador
Subscribe to our 
​Email Newsletter
Join the Hilltop Cloud Mighty Network