Product/Craft of the Month... August 2010!

I have some new Merino twice blends for you at http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/userimages/Blends--Limited-Editions(1832320).htm. Do check them out... this one is called Summer Holiday!

Lleyns is a beautiful fibre just begging to be spun or felted into a harder wearing item. Not unalike Welsh Mountain wool, Lleyns is a short to medium length fibre, but has a more white appearance. This makes the wool wonderful to dye.

Hand dyed with Acid dyes this new range of batts is really eye catching and wonderful to work with.

Sapphires is a beautiful mix of pinks and blues, that merge into the most wonderful purple... Shetland is a wonderful fibre to felt or spin with so do give some a try today!

Yes that's right, I'm now stocking spinning wheels! I have an extensive range from Ashfords for you to choose from at competitive prices.

I have tried to list all of the information I think you will need when making your order, but if you think of something I have missed, let me know and I'll be glad to help.

Shortly I wil also be stocking a much wider range of spares/parts in-house, but in the meantime if you need something let me know and I will get a price and delivery estimate for you.

In the meantime feast your eyes on those wheels!

View the Ashford range here...  

 It's always difficult to know where to start with a new embellishing or creative embroidery project... so why not try a special collage pack. Full of colour and texture these fibre, fabric and yarn packs make ideal starting points!

Ryeland is wonderful for needle felting... Colour Carnival is back in stock!

Yes more in stock of these today... perfect for needlefelting!

I have lots of different colours, enough to cover all projects.

Beautiful fleeces are arriving from this years clip all the time and today is no different!

Wensleydale in natural white and black are now in, as well as some rather adorable Shearling! I will also be stocking some mid grey as soon as I can catch the light to photograph it (although I'd love to keep it all for me!)

Fibre preparation is so key to our fibre arts, that drum carders are becoming a pretty essential bit of kit these days... especially with the rise of the art yarn. So I've decided to team up with Ashford's to bring you what I regard as the very best machines.

In the range are;

Ashford 72ppi Drum Carder - for fine fibres

Ashford 36ppi Drum Carder - for heavier/thicker/just washed fleeces

and finally the Ashford Wild Drum Carder, perfect for creating your art yarn batts!

Today's listings are all wool based, using some fantastic fleeces.

I have a good stash prepared here... just waiting for the light to be good enough to photograph! So many more to follow...

Hand dyed and ready to use in your felt making, doll making, or embellishing... you could also core spin the ends of the curls into your yarn, or make a full boucle!

New colours to follow shortly.

I have updated some new stock on the existing Prefelt range, but will have a few new shades to follow shortly!

Don't forget these are great for needle felting, wet felting and machine embellishing.

I have just updated the stock with a new delivery... there's more to follow in the next few weeks, including some new shades!

View Hand Dyed Shetland here...

   More stock has arrived of this wonderful hand knitting yarn. Don't forget you can felt this further if you want to, or use strands of it in felting and embellishing... the colour variation mackes it a wonderful textural feature!

I know, I know, three months is a long time to wait for everything, but I promise it will be worth it! I have lots of new and exciting products for the shop and thought I'd give you a little taster of what will be coming your way very soon...

• New Zealand Corriedale - 3 new shades.
• Shetland - several new hand dyed shades.
• Batts - I'm carding as we speak to create a whole feast of limited Editions, using not only Merino bases, but Shetland, Blue Faced Leicester and Gotland too. Llyens is another possibility I am looking into!
• Blends - after Woolfest I will repeat some of the best selling lines and include some extras to wet our thirst for fibery goodness!
• Blend shade packs - I've not done these before, but for those who want tasters of my blends, keep an eye out for these!
• Sampling packs - very small tasters of fibres from my range, great for students, tutors and those wanting to experiment with something new.
• Knitting Needles - Bamboo knitting needles perfect for hand spun yarns.
• Yarns - I'm looking at several natural fibre yarns, from Shetland to Merino... could be great for felting too!
• Ashford Spinning Wheels and Drum Carders - These will be ordered in on demand and will ship direct to you from Ashfords, neatly packed and ready to go!

Phew! I'd better get my skates on!!

Sara x

 Silk Noil

 Noils are the waste product of combing silk tops and are sometimes termed as ‘raw’ fibre, because of their pulp-like appearance. Noils are perfect for papermaking, and blending into rolags for spinning, or layers of detail for felt making.

 Check out my ‘How to Make’ website for Mariana’s tutorial on How to use Silk Fibres in Felt making.

Press here for my full range of Silk Noil 25g shade packs.

I have new batts and blends in stock for you this week.

I have created a new range of Shetland Batts, which I'm testing with these wonderful Limited Editions. Each batt is just over 30g and uses the finest quality of my hand dyed Shetland tops to blend a wonderful sense of colour. I have also used lots of sparkles, knops and noils to add texture and depth to your work.

Shetland makes a wonderful yarn and a warming felt... so do give them a try... I can always make more!

You can find my new Limited Edition Batt page here...

Our 'CLUB' Competition winning blend is now in stock in the store... Pansy sold very well at Wonderwool, so I thought it only right that you get a chance to have some for yourself too!

Pansy is made from my Merino 64s range and is a joyful spring shade.

It's been a very busy week since I last updated the shop and so I thought I ought to let you know what's new!

Ryeland Hand Dyed Fleece.

Ryeland is a wonderful fleece for hand spinning and needle felting... I even think it could make the most wonderful wet felted slippers too! It has a light and crimped feel to it, making it easy to mould in felt, or draw from for spinning. Ryeland is a rare breed here in Britain, so I'm doing my bit to help champion it's wonderful qualities. Do give it a try!

I'm limited on colour, but hope to grow this range over time.

Other new stock includes:

Ashford 72pt Curved Handle Carders  - back in stock.

Ashford 3 Needle Holder Felting Handle  - new item in the web shop and great for storing your needles too!

Turkish Drop Spindle Kit by Ashford - new item in the web shop and a wonderful move on from the standard spindles sold in the Level 1 kit.

Schoppel Wolle Reggae Ombre  - new colour Higgledy Piggledy is now in stock!

Schoppel Wolle Zauberball Sock Yarn  - new colour Cranberries is now in stock!

Needle Felting Kits  - I have a small but growning range of kits that I have added today. These are designed to introduce you to the craft.

More Shetland Hand Painted Tops back in stock, some Felting Yarn and Sock Yarn by Schoppel Wolle, in some amazing colours and finally Teeswater and Gotland fleece.

Sock Yarn

I have selected these yarns for knitting socks. They are light, soft and full of colour!

Schoppel Wolle Zauberball 100g – TROPICAL FISH

Designed by Schoppel Wolle, this beautiful soft and airy single ply yarn feels like a hand spun lace weight yarn. The colours are chosen specifically to make the most wonderful self patterning stripe and every pair unique!.

Composition: 75% virgin Wool, 25% Nylon

Weight/Length: 100g/420m 1 ball makes 1 large pair of Men’s socks. (Estimate 450g for Ladies medium jumper)

Needle size: 2-3mm or US 0-2

Tension: 10 x 10cm, or 4 x 4 inches: 30 stitches, 42 rows.

Care instructions: 40 degrees with mild detergent do not spin, tumble dry and do not iron.