December

So far I'm managing to stock pretty well to my resolution of rounding up all the things that have been happening in the valley over the past month. Maybe this is the secret to New Years Resolutions, don't make them at New Year. 
Of course this post is a bit later than usual, but that's because I took my holiday for the year up on the Northumbrian Coast. It was beautiful, and windy, and just what was needed. As usual I'll be working pretty much up until Christmas, and then taking some time off over Christmas New Year to spend time with family, do lots of cooking, and mess around with some non-Hilltop Cloud projects. 

As we're talking about Christmas, here are the dates by which you need to place your orders-

Wed 5th Dec; Cyprus, Malta, Asia, Far East, Eastern Europe, Caribbean, Central and South America
Sun 9th Dec; Greece, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand
Wed 12th Dec; Canada, Czech Rep, Italy, Poland, USA, Finland, Sweden
Sun 16th Dec; Rest of Europe, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, UK

Parcels will be going out as normal throughout the holiday period, on Monday and Thursday mornings, and I plan on sending both clubs out before Christmas. 

I've also made a start on dyeing the special fibre I posted about last month, and even managed to twist John's arm in to supplying me with a further 10kg.  The first batch went up in the shop with the latest update, and I will be dyeing small batches for every update until I run out of base.  This fibre is special, because every step of the way is done with such care and attention. First the flocks that supply the fibre are specially selected, the fleeces are first graded by the sorted at the south Molton Wool Marketing Board Depot. It then goes through a secondary grading process to remove a further 20% of any kemp and coarse fibres, or ones with too short a staple. It's then scoured, and finally combed by the team at John Arbon textiles, and combined with 20% Mulberry Silk. At the moment it's the most expensive base that I stock, but with good reason, you can't produce a base like this cheaply.

This is also the month we said good-bye to Otis, my trusty ex-BT van has carried me around the country to shows and workshops for the past 5 years, but he was getting older, and with my decision to do fewer shows I no longer needed such a large vehicle.  Our space at Wonderwool Wales has already been confirmed, and will be the only show in 2019 where I will be taking a full stock of fibres. Wonderwool is by far the most shopper-friendly of all the shows, with wide aisles, generous stand sizes, and a level floor. If you've never come then it's well worth the trip.