Splash the colour Light Shade

Just a Little Splash of colour...it all started with a natural Linen yarn too!

one more round and its into the PVA Glue bath with both the Linen and the brights Light shade, with the sun shining it might be dry by Monday

NETTLE YARN

Loving the Nettle yarn so far its delicate, soft and very pretty, not my usual chunky stuff but maybe a new direction to explore?

Only 12% Nettle so will look out for a higher % if they do it, impressed so far. It crochets well and its too expensive if you use a pattern that uses lots of 'holes' in the design. lol

its growing 1" for every 2 row pattern and takes me around 15minutes to do ta couple if inches, perfect for the 15 Minute Rule...if i cant get to spend a day on it in one session

10g makes approx 5" with this pattern

so for a reasonable size scarf i will need 2 x 50g balls and it should be around 50" long and approx. 10" wide so @ £6.45 only £12.90 for a fabulous and unusual scarf..not bad at all i don't think

Yarn from Ewe and Ply  click to see more

our local Ethical yarn shop in SHREWSBURY'S Market hall

soft, dreamy and delicate Nettle, and no sting in the tail 

NETTLE MESH PATTERN

Nettle yarn

4mm hook, bigger than recommended

US Terms 

This mess pattern repeat is multiples of 4sts +2

For the Netle scarf I'm doing 46 for the mesh and another 4sts for the flower stem.
NETTLE PATTERN

Make a small flower

finger wrap of 10 wraps, 

ROUND 1: 14sc into circle

ROUND 2: ch2, dc into fist st, dc, ch2, sl st into same st, sl st, into next st, repeat for the next 6 petals, sl st, to complete

Ch50,

 thats 46sts for the mess and a few extra ch sts for the stem of the flower using this method you don't need to be completely accurate with your base chain as the 'stem' sts can varies by a couple of stitches.

ROW 1: ch2,  hdc, in 2nd st, from hook, hdc, in next 44sts, turn,[46hdc]

ROW 2: Ch3, counts as first tr, tr in next st, ch 2, miss 2sts, repeat to end, finish with 1tr in last 2 sts, turn. [11 mesh spa, 12 mesh bars]

ROW 3: ch1, hdc in first 2sts, above the tr, 2hdc into ch2 sp, repeat to end, turn. [46hdc]

ROW 4: Repeat row 2, make sure your stitches line up about each other, tr, above tr. 

ROW 5: repeat row 3

continue to repeat rows 2 and 3 until the length required.

NETTLE NOTES: 
Not a cheap yarn but not a really expensive one either, this brand was £6.45 for 50g.
It's 180m so it should go quite a long way especially using the very open mesh stitch scarf pattern [update to come]
Nettle yarn, crochets well, feel quite soft and has a slightly waxy sort of feel to it too, [will update after a wash] with this mesh pattern it feels delicate and very feminine in the treble mess st. and for me a huge change of direction as i'm a usually an Aran weight lover not some one who works with delicate yarns. 
Fear of such a lovely yarn and cost are probably two reasons for the delicate pattern choice. lol 
Updates to come.

ETHICAL YARNS....

Rule of 12 solid square blanket: the centre is now complete just a border to add, i used 2balls x 150g random dyed Aran yarn and
approx. 400g of Aran in a stone tweed colour to join them all together

link to rule of 12 posts and pattern 
HERE


ETHICAL YARNS?
Do you buy ethical yarns, do you even know and understand about ethical yarns?

I know a little and was horrified to see some of the practises from yarn manufacture. But where to stop with ethics? Cruelty to animals or people? Planetary concerns? People/company ethics?
Where do you stop? A personal decision for everyone to make...
 It's definitely a minefield of considerations

In town on Saturday i paid a visit to our own local ethical yarn company.

Ewe and Ply 

Based in our fabulous Market Hall in Shrewsbury and they have their own flock too

Ewe and Ply are a relatively new local yarn shop, doing well I presume as they have already moved to a bigger stall so there is room to enter the well stocked space, chat and squish away. 

They have a get together on the first Saturday of the month, 2nd September is the next one.

Some yarn brands I knew and some I didn't.

Some expensive and some not.

Love the idea of a crochet project from the SHROPSHIRE PLY,  their own flock, can't wait for the new 2017 wool to be spun and the new stock to be on the shelves shortly.

Shropshire Ply click for more info.

I bought a couple of the Shropshire Ply Legends from 2016 stock in 2 colours and i quote....

"Guinevere is blues (a very Medieval colour for women) and

Perceival the forest born knight is the green, pure of heart and the original finder of the Grail."

Beautiful to crochet with on its own or mixed with my favourite Alpaca yarns, to give me my favourite weight of yarn Aran and enable the use of my favourite 5mm hook

Such though has gone into their yarns, the ethics and the sourcing, it's defintely made me think a little harder about the ethics of my yarn use.

And i  now know where i can get a fabulous range of Alpaca from they stock the complete range of Drops Alpaca...

DROPS Alpaca is a lovely yarn spun from 100% alpaca. 

The alpaca fiber is untreated, which means that it is only washed and not exposed to any chemical treatment prior to the dyeing.

Check out their site for Ethical info...was very pleased to see my favourite Clover hooks are OK..Phew! no idea what i would have done if they weren't?

I'm not a yarn snob, and will use anything i like the look of and works for me, but in the future i will be a little m0re aware of the production of yarns and where they come from 

ETHICAL YARNS

Worth reading, one or two of the many features on Ethical yarns

They can be quite an eye opener...

This feature in 'Knitting magazine'  is quite a good informative piece by Julia Hopson
just click the link