etsy sunday: yarn holiday

We’re more than a week into the Ravelympics and while the finish line is in sight, I can’t seem to keep away from other projects. This is a little frustrating, as usually I work better to deadlines other people set for me. But for some reason instead of picking up the stitches for a high-neck collar on my Lace Panel Cardi, I seem  to be succumbing to the lure of yarnie potential.

There is a LOT of yarn on Etsy. There’s a lot of hand-dyed yarn. There’s a lot of fibre to make hand-spun yarn. There’s a lot of hand-spun, hand-dyed yarn. And it’s all just waiting to be cast on into hand-dyed, hand-spun WIPs and housed in hand-made project bags.

If you’re in Europe, it can feel like all of this hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-made loveliness is very far away. I listen to a bunch of knitting podcasts and some of my favourite segments include a perusal of Etsy’s finest; however, rarely does the branch extend our way. Well, just this week Chrissy the Great of The Manic Purl Podcast featured Lime Green Jelly, a UK-based indie fibre dyer whose sense of colour is inspiring. This got me thinking. What other indie dyers are there, buried in the wilds Etsy yet closer to home than you might think?

It turns out a trek across yarnie Europe is just as filled with a richness of colourways and exotic fibre blends as you could hope for. We’re hoping to do a European holiday this year, but until then I rather think a yarn holiday is the way forward.

We begin our journey in Cork, Ireland, with Sour Cherry, a rich and divine pure cashmere yarn from Hedgehog Fibres.

Next we head to Bury, England to sniff about these gorgeous superwash merino Pinks from Black Cat Fibres.

Onward to Turku, Finland, where we find Sandman, a dreamy superwash wool and silk blend from Lai-la-lai Yarnz.

Back in Preston, England, Unite marks an awesome 6-month yarn club from Wild Fire Fibres.

Returning to Finland, Uhtu is a pristine laceweight sourced from the endangered Finnish landrace sheep by Utuna: the Finnish Heritage Yarns.

Bouncing back to Derbyshire, England, there’s Avocado, another heritage yarn, this time in %100 British Blue-faced Leicester,  from Amy’s Rainbow.

One last, quick jaunt to Finland and you can find Markkalanka, a lush cashmere and merino blend — and one of only TWO yarns left — from Marrkas. (I really hope Marrkas starts dyeing up a bit more, because these colourways make my heart ache.)

In a surprise twist, next we swing over to Marathon, Greece, where the Aegean Sea shimmers its way through Separations, a superwash wool/nylon blend from My Name Is Yarn.

Skipping over the Med and up the Atlantic a bit, the sea theme continues in Truro, Cornwall, with the greens and blues of Groover, in a gorgeous blend of merino, bamboo and silk, from Six Skeins.

A quick dip into East Sussex, UK, reveals Doublewaters, a beautiful %100 merino sock yarn from Gemini Knits, who I’ve bought from before and LOVE.

And finally, travelling up the River Ribble, we head back to Preston, UK, where finish with Wild Plum, a steadfast, reliable superwash in jaw-dropping purples, from Creative Deva.

Interestingly, a lot of these yarnies are from the UK or Finland, but there are heaps of them out there — you just have to get off the beaten path to find them. Also, in this post I’ve only chosen the yarnie hand-dyers. Hand-spinners, and fibre dyers, on the other hand, seem far more widespread. I might just look at them next week, but looking at all this yarn is dangerous.

If I do finish the Ravelympics, you can bet what my medal’s going to be.

If you have other European yarnie Etsy sellers — or if you ARE a European yarnie Etsy seller — let me know! If a European tour is a bit far off, at least I can have a visit via yarn.

etsy sunday: the perfect sunday breakfast

Breakfast, particularly on a Sunday is serious business. The perfect Sunday breakfast is long and slow, served up on several plates that will turn into a gradually mounting pile of spent crockery by the sink.

While rather lazy, Sunday breakfast is strangely full of activity, laughter and occasionally debates on the merits of jam v. marmalade. Personally, I rather think jams and marmalade alike ought to be served in small glass dishes, especially ones that suggest the fruity origins of the condiment to remind you that at heart they are very good for you.

If not jams and marmalade, then certainly poached pears and lightly toasted walnuts, which are practically a necessity when serving up French toast or a stack of pancakes (I’m thinking flapjacks, but that word suggests something quite different here in the UK). French toast and pancake batter needs to be as light and airy as possible. A vintage hand beater is not only perfect for the job, but also infinitely more satisfying.

A hand beater is a useful thing to have around. It’s great for whipping up a batch of breakfast muffins, too. Muffins on a Sunday must be served up piping hot in a basket, preferably wrapped in hand-printed napkins.

But no matter how many muffins or pancakes you opt for, they would be nothing without a pot of steaming coffee. Ah, coffee, the morning must. I had my first morning cup in weeks this morning, made from perfectly roasted beans, which produced a thick milky haze on the surface. We have a small collection of coffee apparatus, but when Sunday breakfasting with friends, a large communal pot constantly on the go is vital.

Equally important, then, is the array of mugs. It’s important to have extras on hand, in case there are suddenly more bodies in search of caffeination than initially expected.

If you’re really organised you’ll not only have extra plates and mugs, but a bunch of trays to carry out the feast on. A selection of gorgeous trays may take up a lot of space, but they’re such a useful commodity to have. This way, no matter whether it’s breakfast muffins or great mounds of French toast or an impressive array of hash browns, Puttanesca Scramble and Swiss chard frittata, Sunday breakfast will be presented as beautifully as it will taste.

Of course, if the thought of breakfasting at home is too much after a heavy night before, a Full English at your local caf is probably the way to go.