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Kate Harvie’s Harvest Festival Vest

I met Kate Harvie, a knitting designer, while running #WoolHour over on Twitter (yes, I still refuse to call it X!). Kate was inspired by my Leaf Litter colourway on the DK 40% Bluefaced Leicester, 40% Shetland, 20% Alpaca base and says: “When I first saw this beautiful autumnal yarn I imagined a tank top with large, soft cables. Here it is. The cables remind me of the bread plaits we used to make for Harvest Festival when I was… Read More »Kate Harvie’s Harvest Festival Vest

Putting Plans Into Action

You may remember that last year I was looking at changing the way I run Bluebell Yarns a little. I did a bit of a trial run with my Autumn Leaves collection, and now I’m ready to put the plan into action. What’s Changing? I will have a core range of colourways available on all my yarn bases. These will sometimes be dyed to order, although I aim to keep the most popular colours in stock as much as possible.… Read More »Putting Plans Into Action

Looking back and looking forward

Happy New Year! Looking back at 2023 I can’t believe how quickly 2023 sped by. I filled it with all sorts of yarn and non-yarn related things. I exhibited at multiple yarn shows, ran yarn clubs, released some fun new yarn and began to change how Bluebell Yarns works to make it work better for me. I also joined a local concert band and did lots of events with them, continued conducting a small community orchestra, and even did some… Read More »Looking back and looking forward

Bluebell Walk

For the past couple of years I’ve not been able to get out for a walk in our local Bluebell woods. Timings just didn’t work and before I knew it, the flowers were past their best and I was too late. This year I prioritised, and me and my husband took a short trip to see what we could find. We were not disappointed!

Favourite Process: March Meet The Maker Day 21

March Meet The Maker Day 21: Favourite Process I skipped a few days thanks to Fibre Quest, but you can see all of them apart from Friday’s on Instagram. My favourite part of dyeing yarn is when you take a yarn that is seemingly one colour (in this case yellow and blue) and coat it in a different one (in this case pink). It changes it entirely and you can never be 100% sure what you’re going to end up… Read More »Favourite Process: March Meet The Maker Day 21

Highs and Lows: March Meet The Maker Day 16

March Meet The Maker Day 16: Highs and Lows The highs and lows of running a business can be pretty extreme. Here’s a list of some of them. The Highs The Lows I can be flexible with my working hours at short notice. I can go to lunch with my husband, or meet my friends for coffee. It’s difficult to take real extended time off. The longer the break, the more sales I could lose. Working from home means no… Read More »Highs and Lows: March Meet The Maker Day 16

Big or Small: March Meet The Maker Day 14

March Meet The Maker Day 14: Big or Small I don’t often make mini-skeins unless they’re for something in particular. They’re small, fiddly and time consuming and it only makes sense to dye fairly large batches at once else they’re not at all cost effective. I’ve decided to give mini-skeins a go. I’ve found a slightly easier way to make them, so it’s worth a try! The trouble is that most of the yarn bases I use aren’t available already… Read More »Big or Small: March Meet The Maker Day 14

Planning: March Meet The Maker Day 13

March Meet The Maker Day 13: Planning It’s taken me years to find a way of planning that works for me. I’ve tried all sorts of methods, notebooks and apps. I’ve finally settled on my version of a Bullet Journal for planning the day to day, plus extra notebook for less structured Bluebell Yarns planning. My BuJo is in a @ScribblesThatMatter B5 notebook, and my yarn planning is in a B5 recycled notebook I picked up a while ago. It’s… Read More »Planning: March Meet The Maker Day 13

Recharge: March Meet The Maker Day 10

March Meet The Maker Day 10: Recharge When you run a small business, downtime is important! There are several things I enjoy when I’m not working. Long Walks As I’ve previously mentioned, I enjoy walking. I’m lucky enough that I can walk to, along, and back home from my local river in about an hour. It’s perfect for a morning walk, or when you just need to get out and have a break. Break for Lunch My husband has his… Read More »Recharge: March Meet The Maker Day 10

Trial and Error: March Meet The Maker Day 9

March Meet The Maker Day 9: Trial And Error I thought today would be a good time to talk about my evolving setup at yarn shows. It’s one of those things that, no matter how much you plan, you can’t see how it will look until you’re in the space and have everything organised. Therefore every show has a bit of trial and error involved. Wonderwool Wales, April 2019 Wonderwool Wales was the first time I exhibited at a yarn… Read More »Trial and Error: March Meet The Maker Day 9