November

October also became known as the month with the cold... It circulated the whole household, in fact Mum is still suffering. My fibre was at Bakewell Wool Gathering, but I was away at Lakes & Lancs Guild teaching. If you're in that area and aren't a guild member, then I can thoroughly recommend going along to a meeting to see what being a guild member is all about. 
I also squeezed a couple of shop updates in, and have finally been able to get to grips with a sewing machine and some fabric I bought on my holiday in America last year. 

I spent yesterday at Westhope College learning how to take patterns from existing garments without unpicking them... now I just need to get my sewing skills up to scratch so I can replicate a couple of my favourite garments!

We had some lovely warm summer days which have really helped to set the bees up for winter. They were buzzing all over the Mahonia bushes while I was at work in the dye studio, which is such a cheery sight.

My aunty was here for 2 weeks as well so we took her on a day out to see the Welsh Quilt Centre in Lampeter. sadly this is closing on November 17th, but if you can manage to get over before then I can really recommend it. I'm just sad that this piece of Welsh history is going to be lost from public display. My Aunty used to work in the garment factories in Stoke on Trent when she was younger, and while she was staying with us we showed her this BBC programme which features modern women going and working in a clothing factory through various decades.

The final part of the month has been focussed on getting the final details arranged for the 12 Days of Christmas parcels.  The first batch are now ready, and will be going on sale soon. I'll be making the announcement on my email newsletter, so if you're not already subscribed then head over here.  Once the first batch has sold I will be making up a second smaller batch, so keep your eyes peeled!

So what will November be bringing...
I've already got the first part of a shop update dyed, so it won't be too much longer until there's some fresh fibre in the shop. Next weekend is also my guild Open Day.  If you're in the area then there's lots to see and do, it's free entry, and there will be quite a few stands selling goodies, I'll have fibre at reduced prices as I sell off all my show stock at the end of the year.  I'm also doing a bit more teaching at Pembrokeshire Guild, and then I get to go on holiday at the end of the month.  If you're in a guild and considering making a booking I'd urge you to get in touch sooner rather than later. My diary in 2019 is now full, and I only have a  few vacancies left in 2020. 
I also have a very special parcel that is waiting for me... 10kg of double sorted John Arbon BFL & Silk. I couldn't get any of this fibre last year, so am really pleased to have some available this year. I'm currently weighing up the possibilities of how to dye it...