Category Archives: travelling

faces and places: melanie hodgson

Part of a series introducing some of the places and people we’ve come across since moving to Scotland. Some you may already know but, more often than not, they will be new to you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

Mel, Flamborough Head

Mel and I met through a few years ago through a lovely Melbourne friend who kept insisting that we’d get along beautifully because of our mutual appreciation for woolly wools. Turns out we have a lot of other things in common but fibre is definitely at the core of our friendship!

Mel is a Yorkshire lass who has recently moved back there after nine hot summers in Australia and she is as happy as can be to be back in her homeland! I think what I appreciate most about Mel is her commitment to integrity. She really gives herself 100% to whatever she is doing, whether that is baking sourdough, growing food plants, caring for her patients at work or working with fibre and yarn: it’s all or nothing and she gives her whole heart. I’ve been very fortunate to be on the receiving end of her care, both in helping me get my bearings and in finding wonderful, interesting people and movements happening here in the UK and I will be forever grateful for her care and support.

Not only does Mel knit very lovely things for herself, her loved ones and her home, she also prepares and spins her own fibre and yarn… Being a Yorkshire girl at heart, she has a strong affinity for local sheep breeds and has sourced fibre from all kinds of British and/ or rare and conservation breeds, like Masham, Swaledale and Whitefaced Woodland and, by blending fibres and colours to create tops, she spins the most lovely, heathered, tweedy yarns.

She combs or cards fibres….

Combed Jacob fibre

Whitefaced Woodland and coloured merino

… and spins them into heavenly yarn…

Bluefaced Leicester, with the most incredible lustre and definition

Squishy Shetland

Pure, spindle-spun angora yarn in all its fuzzy glory

Odds and ends of singles plied into a beautiful, random yarn

… which she then knits into beautiful, sturdy, cosy knits that are all about enveloping and making one feel loved and held, the way Mel herself does.

Gradient-spun socks from Bluefaced Leicester fibre, dyed by the Thylacine, Tasmania

Detail from Mel’s Follow Your Arrow in North Ronaldsay 4ply

Compared to Mel, I’m not much of a spinner, but I think that common grounding helps us really get each other and the way we see and feel fibre! We certainly agree that fibre dyed in the fleece and then blended before spinning results in the most beautiful yarns and hope to one day collaborate in making yarn…

In the meantime, we’ve got Shetland Wool Week to look forward to, plus some dyeing with the avocado skins that Mel’s been stashing in her freezer for months (did I mention her dedication?!) and plenty of other adventure planned. I can’t wait!

(I wish I had more photos of her finished knits but my camera lens broke while I was visiting and photographing her work and so these are all I have for you- but do go and find Mel and her knits on Ravelry and at recipeforayarn)

faces and places: (london and) yorkshire

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One of a series of posts introducing some of the places and people we’ve come across since moving to Scotland. Some you may already know but, more often than not, they will be new to you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

I was lucky enough to make a trip down into England last week to catch up with two great friends last week… I first flew to London to spend a brief but very lovely twenty-four hours with Felicia, of which I have no photos at all to show you- but there was lots of walking, talking and hatching plans, as well as dinner with old and new friends! Felicia is full of excitement and enthusiasm about life and so the time we shared was a real treat for me- although I’m getting to know some great women here, I spend quite a lot of time working at home and so I treasure time spent with people I can talk to about my crappy day or ideas I have and who I know will both listen and be honest in their response- that kind of friendship takes time! Thank you Fel!

I then headed up to Yorkshire to spend a few days with local lass, Mel, who I’d met in Melbourne during the nine years she spent living there with her family. She escaped the Australian heat last year and has now happily resettled in Yorkshire, albeit with perennial itchy feet- but more on that in a coming post! First stop was baa ram ewe, a yarn shop I’ve heard about for years, mostly for Titus, their beautiful 4ply yarn made from a classic Yorkshire blend of Wensleydale/ Bluefaced Leicester/ alpaca yarn that is soon to be joined by their new Dovestone DK (with Yorkshire breed Masham in place of alpaca). It was lovely to see and feel Titus in the flesh and especially in their sweet in-house kits:

Ella Austin’s Dashing Dachshund

Little Fella, inspired by the work of L.S.Lowry

These women know their yarn and their community well. Their range is almost entirely British in origin and covers all the bases from rustic (the first shop I’ve seen to carry both Jamieson and J&S!) to luxury (Toft, Rowan), as well as patterns and books from independent and more well-known local designers. It was a real pleasure to spend an hour or two there, chatting about yarns and the industry, and it made me hanker a little for my time at Sunspun!

New Lanark Chunky

Jamieson’s Aran Heather in Broch- I’ll definitely be bringing some of this home from Shetland!

After a day pottering about Mel’s house (seeing more of her heavenly handspun yarns, trying gooseberry cake and samphire for the first time and just hanging out and knitting), we left early in the morning for Edinburgh. I’d mentioned a while ago that I was reading up on British fisherman’s knits for a new class and Mel very enthusiastically and generously said that we must drive back to Scotland via Flamborough on the Yorkshire coast, a place known for both its incredible natural beauty and its fisherman’s ganseys…

We didn’t have long there but we soaked up so much beauty. This is a place for wandering the beaches in bare feet and lying amongst the grasses and watching the seabirds wheeling and the clouds floating by… if there are any.

Flamborough Heads

Blowhole

Flamborough Heads

Flamborough Head

Flamborough Heads

Sea pinks (Armeria maritima)

A species of Chamomile?

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Unfortunately my camera lens broke on the trip so I have virtually no photos of the small gansey museum and shop that we visited but it was a joy to visit and to see some old and new ganseys- such exquisite work and some myths dispelled and others affirmed so well worth a visit if you’re in the area…

Flamborough Gansey

We then zipped up the coast, stopping at the lovely fishing village of Whitby for the best fish and chips I’ve had in years (not sure about the mushy peas though…) and a quick peek at the magnificent cathedral and jet jewellery, before heading on to Edinburgh. It was a magical day and end to the trip!

Thank you both so much both, Felicia and Mel- I’m lucky to have such lovely friends!

edinyarnfest

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Ah, what a weekend! Such a lovely whirlwind and I’m still recovering… I don’t have enough words (or photos) to describe it but highlights included:

1. Setting up for and getting through my first ever show (please excuse the dodgy photos!)…

Stall with the sign that my lovely friend Ella made for me before we headed overseas

Naturally-dyed yarns to show people what they can learn in my dyeing workshops

Colourwork cowls

Colourwork cowl

Because of the light and my dodgy camera skills, I didn’t manage to get any good photos of the pouches that I made for knitters tool or small projects. Here are a few that I took beforehand instead!

Tool pouches made from worn-out Harris tweed jackets

Pouches made from worn-out Harris tweed jackets

2. Meeting many, many folk of varying fibre persuasion, from newbie spinner and knitting-trip-to-Nepal-organizer to university lecturer to some of my biggest knit crushes… heavenly! But again, sorry but no photos- no time and social inhibitions! Thanks so much to all who made me feel welcome in this new home of mine- it was lovely to see the same, familiar faces over the weekend as we are getting so used to not knowing anyone in Glasgow ; )

3. Finding myself in a room of 200+ knitters and feeling like I was part of that scene in Roald Dahl’s The Witches- you know the one where the protagonist gets trapped with a huge roomful of witches who, once the doors are shut, all sigh with relief and pull off their wigs and give in to their inner witch nature? I’ve been around a lot of knitters in my time but this was something else!

4. Listening to some wonderful sheep and other knit recordings, care of Felix of Knitsonik– she’s wonderful!

6. Hearing people talk so lovingly about their products, animals, area of expertise or community. So much love in the building.

5. Having a couple of very quick wanders around the marketplace to enjoy other stallholders wares. I especially enjoyed visiting Helene Magnusson and Susan Crawford and talking to other newbies doing it for the first time…

Helene Magnusson’s beautiful colourwork mitten

Wonderful colourwork from Susan Crawford

Exquisite Steiner dolls and kits from new Edinburgh maker, Stoffoli

5. And, finally, picking out a few treasures for me! There were so many yarns that I would have loved to try, from local dyer Lilith of Old Maiden Aunt to Baaramewe’s Titus to the Finnish strong yarn Ohut Pirkkalanka… but I have my limits! Here’s my haul:

Hebridean/ Shetland from Ripples Craft

Acadia, given to me by the very lovely TFC owner Daphne to try running through the machine

Brooks Blend from my yarn crush John Arbon textiles: Polwarth, Alpaca and Zwartbles!

Brooks Blend DK from my yarn crush John Arbon textiles: Polwarth, Alpaca and Zwartbles!

And some heavenly oatmeal laceweight North Ronaldsay, from those seaweed-eating sheep!

And some heavenly oatmeal laceweight from those seaweed-eating North Ronaldsay sheep!

All in all, a brilliant, exhilarating and exhausting weekend! I can’t wait for next year. (Oh, and I’m going to be launching my little online shop next week with some cowls and pouches to follow so keep an eye out if you’re interested!

glasgow

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Hello from Glasgow! We’ve only been here for two weeks but the craziness of January, what with packing up our house and lives in Melbourne and saying goodbye to so many loved ones, already seems like months ago- I think we are still recovering! We came with work leads but no real plans or commitments and so have been able to take the time to settle in gently. We’ve been spending most of our time wandering the streets and doing a bit of sightseeing too, so the city (or parts of it) is starting to feel like home…

Looking over at Park Circus, the swanky part of town!

University of Glasgow

Wonderful windows at the University of Glasgow

Stained glass

Although we’ve tried to just take it easy, we’re also very keen to start putting down roots and so have been looking at loads of tenement flats and have our fingers crossed that we’ll be accepted for one in particular- so, so lovely! Scotto is in discussions with several acupuncture clinics and I’ve already got some work teaching knitting (more on that tomorrow) and am exploring how to run workshops in natural dyeing too. I’ve also been in contact with coordinators at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens to see how I can get involved there. So there are good plans in the works! Now I’m just looking forward to making some friends here and building a community and routine for myself- after being so busy recently, it’s so strange to have so little in place!

Greenhouse and cold frames, Glasgow Botanic Gardens

Greenhouse and cold frames for starting seedlings in the cold climate, Glasgow Botanic Gardens

Tender plants under glass

Children’s gardens

The River Kelvin

This part of the Kelvin was frozen over when we arrived and much of the vegetation was beautiful shades of brown and grey but, over the past week, the ice has disappeared, birds are more active and there are bulbs and buds appearing everywhere. To me, it feels like spring is around the corner. Or perhaps not? We don’t know the weather patterns yet!

Hornbeam (Carpinus spp.)

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica) is a winter flowerer in Melbourne but is appearing now in very early spring here

Viburnum spp.

Spirea

Snowdrops (Galanthus spp)

Snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum)

Winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

Crocus spp.

Chubby, chirpy robin

Chunky squirrel!

I’ll be back with more very soon but, for now, we send our love to all our family and friends! xx

japan

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We’ve arrived in Glasgow! More about that very soon but, for now, here are some moments captured on our 4-day stopover in Japan, where we caught up with friends just outside Osaka.

We spent a day in Nara, where sacred deer roam freely through all the temples and parks…