For years this has been the base of all things Hilltop Cloud. It started out as over-flow sleeping accommodation for friends and family when they came to visit, but gradually became taken over with pretty much everything related to running a fibre business. I started out just using the kitchen space as an ideal area to dye that wasn't used for food preparation, and then gradually all the internal fixtures and fittings were taken out, until inside it wasn't much more than a shell It wasn't new when it arrived here, replacing an even older static caravan, but over the past 5 years it's started to develop more and more leaks, that no amount of repairing ever seemed to stop in the wet Welsh winter. In the winter it's freezing cold because there's next to no insulation, in the summer it's boiling hot because the sun hits the metal roof and turns it in to an oven. So finally it's time for it to be replaced. It's taken 8 months of backwards and forwards to get planning permission, but at the end of March the old caravan will be no more (as much as possible will be re-used or recycled in someway), and I'll be getting a new wooden cabin. It's being built by a local firm (actually a local one-man business), using locally sourced materials as much as possible. It will be insulated, so I'll be able to work more efficiently, and I will be able to design how the space is arranged to exactly suit me. I'm really excited about it, and I also wanted to say thank you to all of you, because this is what buying small means. The profits from my business can in turn be spent supporting another local small business. Now this obviously means I am going to be without a dye studio for a while... if you take a look at the online shop you'll notice it's very full at the moment! I've been working towards the arrival of the planning permission and the starting of building work since January. There's lots of stock already listed, and lots that's sat waiting for photographs in the coming weeks. I will be setting up a temporary stock room, so orders will be posted exactly as normal. The Gradient Club is going to be dyed in advance for the next couple of months to make sure that goes out with no interruptions. The new stock room is a bit smaller than the current space though, so to make some room I have shuffled some items in to the Sale section. Spring seems to be arriving here, and as ever the Snowdrops are the first to really put on a display. This photo was taken up in the Dyfi forest, by a farm that has long since been stalled up by the conifer plantations. Someone must have planted snowdrops in the garden long ago, and they've now spread all around the ruined buildings. February has also bought much story weather, which has been dramatic, but thankfully not done any more damage than we often get during winter storms. Sadly the Eucalyptus and Cherry tree fell victim to Storm Franklin, but other than that everything is in one piece ( I half wondered if the week of storms at the end of the month would do the job of dismantling the caravan for me!). After the storms are over a trip to the coast to see the sea is always great fun. This was at Tywyn, and the strong winds and breaking waves produced mountains of foam that were great fun to play in. I've not got a great deal of crafting finished this month, though there is a quilt top awaiting it's backing and batting, but I have been enjoying making little things. I bought a copy of Yoko Saito's Handheld Patchwork Treasures (Blackwells link as they have UK stock, and pay their taxes, but oddly the site doesn't have a cover image, but do go and google as other sites will let you look inside to see the contents...) , and have been using up oddments to make some bags and pouches. These pieces were the offcuts from a quilted cushion cover, which in turn was made using the offcuts from a quilt. It's a little wonky, but very charming, and seems like it will be a very useful thing. One of the things I will be doing over the next couple of months is offering more online sessions, there will hopefully be another couple of live workshops, and some talks. The first of which will be on dyeing fibre using acid dyes. This will start at the very basics of creating stock solutions, but quickly move on to more technical aspects of how to put dye on to fibre and end up with a huge variety of results. It's in the form of a talk with slides and video clips, and there will be chance to ask questions at the end. I'm going to be running the talk twice (the same content on both evenings), on 14th March and 16th March, both at 7.30pm in the evening UK time. It's going to be roughly 90 minutes, and will use Zoom's automated captions. Both talks will also be recorded, and buying a ticket gets you access to that recording for 2 months.
December and then January got very busy, going on holiday in November was lovely, but then left me with lots of catching up to do to get things organised before Christmas! So far winter has felt decidedly un-wintery. It's been mild, though mercifully dry, with Wales only receiving 45% of it's average January rainfall. Given the leakiness of my dye studio roof I am not complaining too much about that, but it would be nice to get some snow! Over Christmas I sewed together the quilt top that I was working on all last year as part of a Moda Quilt-Along. I had an epic size fail on this, in that it is huge. So huge that I will be waiting to create the top-batting-backing sandwich until I can get in to the village hall with my guild meeting, as there is no floor space here large enough. I'm not at all certain about how I'm going to quilt it either. I'm choosing to blame imperial measurements for this, as the size was given in inches, and whilst I can visual 4 inches, I can't visualise 99 inches and realise that this is actually a 2.5m x 2m quilt! For now it's in time out, and I shall tackle it when I have the backing and wadding sorted. I've moved on to the next project, and have decided that I fancy doing some small things this year, so I've bought a Yoko Saito book focusing around making small bags, pouches and containers. For the first time in ages I am settling down to do some fancy patterned socks. Socks were the thing I made most when I first learned to knit. The late 2000's seemed to be filled with designers who created fancy sock pattern after fancy sock pattern, and I made so many pairs with beautiful stitch patterns. As time went on though socks because my no-thinking knitting, and I've pretty much only made plain ones for the past few years. Bring somewhat out of the loop when it comes to sock patterns, I ended up heading to the archives on Knitty, and am busy turning this yarn (Wisteria in the Eco Sock blend) in to a pair of Eternal Spring socks. These will be on display on the stand at Wonderwool Wales this spring. I'm very pleased to be going back to my local show, there have been lots of new products launched since I last sold in-person. Tickets are only available in advance, and won't be for sale on the door. This will be my only in-person show in 2022, so cross your fingers that all goes well with the covid situation and do your bit by carrying on wearing your mask no matter what the idiotic English government might be making up as they go along. Wonderwool is thankfully based in Wales, so will be held in accordance with Welsh Covid rules which have always been aimed at trying to keep us all safe and well. Nellie celebrated her first birthday last week, and finally seems to be moving out of her troublesome teenage months, and is settling down in to being a really loving and affectionate energetic dog. We took her out Mantrailing last weekend, which she thinks is great fun, and as we're moving in to spring she's booked on to more classes with our local dog school. She loves going to the training barn, and it gives us something to focus on to make sure she's as happy and well behaved as possible!
Speaking of learning, I'm offering my first open enrolment live online class at the end of this month. Focusing on silk spinning, it's aimed to get your happier at spinning silk yarns, and give you experience at using the different kinds of silk on offer. We'll also look at how silk is made, and what all the different sorts available actually are. It's being held on 2 evening sessions, on Monday 28th February and Tuesday 1st March. Each session covers something different, but you don't have to take part in both, and session 1 isn't required in order to do session 2. One of the many bright spots to come out of the past 2 years is the advancement in teaching spinning classes online, and whilst I might not be able to get hands-on to help, being able to set up a camera to really focus on my hands is a lot easier to see than being stood in a large group of people peering over each others shoulders. It also lets me teach internationally at a cost that's affordable to everyone. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. Perseus the Hero, saviour of Andomeda, is one of the most famous Greek Heroes. He was tasked to bring the head of Medusa the Gorgon as a wedding gift for King Polydectes, who was marrying Hippodameia. Secretly though the king lusted after Danaë, mother of Perseus, and this task was designed to lead to the death of Perseus, freeing Polydectes to marry Danaë.
Medusa had snakes for hair, and her gaze would turn humans to stone. Perseus was favoured b the gods, Athena gave him a bronze shield, Hephastus gave him a diamond sword, and Hades gave him a helmet of darkness that made him invisible. Aided by these Perseus was able to sneak up on Medusa whilst she slept and cut of her head, putting it in a bag to take back to Polydectes. On his return home Perseus used the head as a weapon to aid him in his journey. He asked the hospitality of Atlas, who refused. Medusa's gaze turned him in to the mountains that now bare his name. He also used the head to allow him to marry Andromeda. She was already betrothed to Phineus, brother of Cepheus (Andromeda's Uncle). Phinneus challenged Perseus at the wedding feast, throwing a spear at Perseus. In response Perseus used the head to turn Phinneus to stone. He also used the head to transform the treacherous Polydectes. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. Draco, the dragon, features in many Greek myths in various forms. In his guise as the serpent Ladon, the serpent is tasked with looking after the Golden Apples that give immortality, growing in the garden of the Hesperides. The trees were a wedding gift to Hera, wife of Zeus, but she became angry when she discovered that the Hespirdes, daughters of Atlas, were picking and eating the apples. Knowing that Ladon prized anything gold she tasked him to guard the trees.
Hera later tasked Heracles to retrieve some of the golden apples from the garden, hoping that Ladon would kill hi. Heracles however used a poisoned arrow to put Ladon to sleep, allowing Heracles to step over him, pick the apples, and escape unhurt. When Ladon awoke Hera placed him amongst the stars under the celestial apple tree of the Little Dipper, and it's golden apples, the stars Polaris and Kochab. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. Cassiopeia is the seated queen. It was her prideful boast about her beauty that so angered Poseidon and led to him creating Cetus to terrorise the oceans. On her death Zeus placed her in the heavens, maybe as a cautionary warning...
The Babylonians also identified the stars that we now call Cassiopeia, to them she was also a representation of a female form, representing Euphratean and Phoenician divinities. Back in 3,500 BCE Sumero-Akkadian cultures used this constellation to represent the Sun Goddess Kassêba. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. Aquila the Eagle is the bird of Zeus, carrying his thunderbolts which the god hurled at his enemies. However it's not just thunderbolts that the Eagle carried. Legend has it that Aquila snatched up Ganymede, the son of the King of Troy, Tros. The boy was beautiful, and are to serve as cup-bearer to the gods of Olympus.
If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. By now we're pretty familiar with Cepheus and his role in the myth of Cetus, Andromeda and Perseus. "The King" constellation is one of the hardest to see as it doesn't contain any very bright stars. Before their redeignation as Cepheus this group of stars was known as a Shepherd by early Akkadian star watchersBabylonians used part of this group to make a constellation in the shape of a Panther-griffon. This was a celestial manifestation of the Lord of the Underworld.
If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. Cygnus the swan is a constellation with truly ancient origins. Long identified as a bird, it may well be the constellation show in the Babylonian Clay tablet depicting the map of the world from around 600 BCE. The right triangular segment is labelled "Beyond the flight of birds" and this may refer to the constellation we call Cygnus as a way of orientating the map.
There are many myths linked to this constellation, we owe the name to the Romans, who adopted Greek mythology to explain the name, The Greeks had called it Ornis, meaning Bird. Cycnus, son of Poseidon, was friends with Phaethon (mortal son of Helios the Sun God). Phaethon persuaded is father to let him drive his Sun chariot across the skies. Alas, the four horses that drew the chariot were not familiar with Phaeton and they soon ran wild. Phaeton let go with the reins and the horses ran off, running wild through the heavens, and perilously close to Earth, causing the land and sky to burst in to flames. Zeus averted disaster, and sent down lightning bolts to correct the course of the chariot, but by then it was too late for Phaeton. He fell to Earth, landing in the river Eridanus. Cygnus was distraught and repeatedly tried to retrieve his friends body, Zeus was so moved by this act of devotion he transformed Cycnus in to a swan, and gave him a spot in the heavens to forever look down on the remains of his beloved Phaethon. We can still see the path of Phaethon's doomed ride, the Cygnus rift is visible across the Milky Way. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. We have already encountered Andromeda, the chained maiden. She was the one sacrificed by her father King Cepheus to the sea monster Cetus. Thankfully for Andromeda she was rescued by Perseus. The tale depicts her as being the paragon of the Greek ideals of femininity, at first being too shy to even answer Perseus, and refusing to say why she was chained to the rock. Despite her impending doom Perseus even has time to ask her parents for her hand in marriage should he slay Cetus, which he duly did.
Andromeda and Perseus do marry and have six children. The goddess Athena placed her image in the skies, where she lies next to Perseus, and only separated from Cetus by the constellation Pisces. If I have worked my magic on the website then the spare Merino & Silk fibre from each 12 Days of Christmas parcel will be going in the online shop each day. This is the same base as all the other Superfine Merino & Silk fibre that's available, so you can mix and match with any other colour that's in stock, and also benefit from the same offer of "Buy any 2 and get the 3rd half price". The whole range of fibre is available here. The fibre this year has a theme of the Stars. In the northern hemisphere, at this darkest time of the year starlight can feel magical. Humanity has always looked to the heavens, and created stories around the patterns that they can see from these glowing balls of gas so far away from our own little planet. If you fancy trying to find the stars linked to the fibre then there are some great apps that use the camera in your phone, assisted reality, and the internal compass to help you identify where to look. In the Northern skies is a charioteer with no chariot. His hands grasp the reins, but his chariot is no longer his to drive. Our charioteer appears in various different stories, the most popular identifies him as Erichthonius, King of Athens. Erichthonious was the son Hephastus, but was raised by the goddess Athena. She taught him many skills, including horsemanship. Legend goes that he was the first to harness four horses to a single chariot in imitation of the Sun's Chariot drawn by four horses. This drew the admiration of Zeus, who then placed him in the night skies.
Alternatively the charioteer is sometimes identified as Myrtilus, son of Hermes. Myrtilus was the charioteer of Oenomaus a Greek King. His chariot was destroyed in a race between the suitors of Oenomaus's daughter Hippodamia. Myrtilus was placed in the sky by his father Hermes, when he was killed Hippodamia's successful suitor Pelops. |
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Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. Established 2011 VAT Reg- 209 4066 19 Dugoed Bach, Mallwyd, Machynlleth,
Powys, SY20 9HR |