Beaker Button Blog

Some of you will know that I've always wanted my own sheep, which I can produce a yarn from to sell in the shop. Unfortunately I'm mildly allergic to lanolin, which makes owning sheep tricky as you can imagine. However, I had to great fortune to get to know Elizabeth of Warrenfield Farm, which is just down the road from Beaker Button, in the Clatfords. Elizabeth has a delightful flock of Hampshire Down sheep and I've been using her fleece for years to teach spinning with. It's soft, springy and wonderful to work with. This year we've gone into partnership to produce Beaker Button Warrenfield Sock yarn. It's going to be a soft and springy sock yarn in 100g skeins spun at the Natural Fibre Co. in Launceston. Cornwall. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the factory on Monday when we delivered the fleece so I thought I'd share some of the photos with you. For those of you who are wondering part 2 is going to be all about dyeing the skeins when they'r...

Short Round and I spent the last two days at my Dad's, having a well earned break.  I thought this week I'd share some of the photos I've taken.  They're in chronological order so you'll get a sense of our holiday without me waffling on too much.  I did buy some beautiful embroidery books, which I'm going to have a good look through tonight.  I'll post about them next week I think, unless something more exciting comes up between now and next Monday. This weeks square is D.  You'll find the chart below and detailed instructions on this post here    Short Round and my rock balancing (mine's on the left) Dad building his stack   Fossil hunting Wallflowers Driftwood and worm tracks (I always come back with something) Nap time at Maiden Castle Bums   so cute! Duchess Dorchester's Roman Town House Spring (and they smelt like it too) Mosaic.  I want to stitch this. Hypercaust ...

It was my Mum's birthday today, so yesterday Short Round, Mum and I headed to Baiter Point in Poole for a picnic and a wander on the beach.  We're borrowing a friend's dog at the moment so she came too.  The sea and sky were very stormy so I managed to take some nice shots of the sea, and birds and shells.  I'd like to turn the shell photo into a felt picture. This is also the last post for our mini KAL, with instructions on how to put it together.  You've probably guessed from the post title that it's a mobile.   You will need two metal hangers, 75cm ribbon and duct tape .  The pattern and instructions are below.  If you'd like a PDF of the whole pattern including instructions for the mobile it's on Ravelry here Sleepy Sheep www.beakerbutton.co.uk   ©Jen Best 2015        I used Petlake Alpaca double knit for sleepy’s body and 3.5mm straight needles.  I used blac...

I had my first long walk of the year yesterday.  I'm just starting the Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers Certificate of Achievement in Spinning and I needed to take photos of the woods in winter.  I have to create designer yarns and my theme for them is Fruits of the Forest.  I'm taking inspiration from the woods during the changing seasons.  I keep my horse Archie at Vernham Dean with my best friends horses and she suggested a 6ish mile route to a hillfort called Fosbury, which would take in gorgeous scenery, forest and hills, and some road work.  I invited my Dad and my uncle Simon, who are both avid walkers.  The day before was beautiful, sunny and clear.  Yesterday was dank, misty and cold.  Typical, although usually when my Dad and I try to go for a walk it decides to howl a gale and rain cats, dogs, livestock... We had a fantastic walk despite or perhaps due to the weather.  It stayed relatively dry, and the views were moody and atmo...