POM POM INTERNATIONAL COMING SOON!

Amy Lame´'s Pom Pom International and Prick Your Finger invite you to a pom pom making party with Dj's. Bring your friends, bring a conflict and we'll get sorted.

Party starts on Friday 1st August 7pm onwards, with following afternoons, 2-6pm on Saturday 2nd August, Tuesday 5th August, and Saturday 18th August.

All parties are free. Please collect odd scraps of wool x

For more information go to www.pompominternational.com 

IN TINGLE NOOK AT 'IN THE LOOP' CONFERENCE.

For those of you that can't attend the 'In the Loop' conference at Winchester School of Art over these next three days, I wanted to share a song with you that I aim to teach the conference to sing on the 'New Wave' day.  It is called 'Knit, Knit, Knit" and it was written by the Kendal WI ( my local town in Cumbria) in 1927, and it won a prize at the Mary Wakefield Festival in that same year. It was a busy summer for the WI because Kendal experienced terrible floods.

If you feel your knitting circle needs a copy, we can copy you the the sheet music.

It goes like this....

Allegretto (With Humour)

We're a busy and joyous band, Terrible knitters of Westmoreland,

And many's the stocking we've sent away, to Kendal town on market day.

Week in, week out, you may see us sittin' In t'ingle nook a-do-in' our knit tin',

In t'ingle nook a do- in' our knit tin', a do- in our knit-in'.

Chorus;

Knit, Knit, Knit, By morn-in', by noon and by night.

Knit, Knit, Knit, So lang as there's owt of a light,

When ever you're sorry, when ever your sick, 

There's nowt that cheers like t'needles' click, so Knit, Knit, Knit.

T'men may snuff or drink or smoke, But that's not t'way with women folk.

To pass the time or to soothe her grief, 

She takes up her own lile knit-tin sheaf,

And hours on end, you may see her sit-tin, Just do-in' nowt but knit-tin an' knit-tin, 

Just do-in nowt but knit-tin, just nowt but knit-tin.

Rep. Chorus.

APPARATUS FOR ORCHESTRAL KNITTING.

Make sure your knitting circle is heard.
Here is a piece by Laure Drogoul.

REWIND.

Its happened to all of us.....collections of unwanted or unwearable knitwear start lurking in our wardrobes.
It might be a much loved old cardi with holes, a beautiful Sonia Rykiel number that your boyfriend shrunk (yes that has happened!)  or that old cliche - the Christmas jumper.  Well here at PYF, we are a thrifty bunch and we are turning the unwearable, unwanted, into the wanted and wearable. Here is a picture of me knitting with our jumper yarn, styling a re-worked jumper and Rosemary sporting an old sweatshirt she's remade by changing the shape, crocheting a new neckline and using fabric pens to draw a lobster! Lx

UNDER THE HAMMER.

And at last! The evidence that the knitted sheep auction really happened and raised a staggering £1170 for Farm Aid.

I was Bo-peep, with a bone crook made by the local bank manager, and a dress and corset I made from a mosquito net and some old face towels.  I hold aloft 'The Champion" who was bought by Ray, who has spent his entire career moving Rough Fell Sheep from farms to auction houses, but had never actually owned any livestock of his own, until Adam slammed the hammer and I ran across the pen, to unite sheep with shepherd.  Ray had seen the champion sheep earlier in the day when he came to view the lots and knew he wanted it. Leaving his wife in the cafe, he came to the auction and waited for his sheep to come up.....which it didn't, until right at the very end, when he learned it was the champion, and just had to go for it and keep bidding. Ray was delighted with his purchase. He then introduced the sheep to his wife, who was not so sure, and affectionately said " What the hell did you buy that for Ray?"

Well done all knitters and bidders. I really hope it happens again next year.

SHEEP OF THE WEEK!

Last Saturday, our friend Maggie invited us to spin at the Mudchute City Farm. 

Mudcute is the biggest of all the city farms and can be found on the Isle of Dogs.  The animals were happy and so were the farmers, epitomised by bags of healthy fleece to spin and a delicious lunch, with summer pudding, and cream!

Our favourite photo is this Oxford Down lamb on the right, kissing a Wiltshire Horn lamb on the left. We had never met Oxford Down before.  Oxford Down is the biggest of all the Down breads, with big sturdy shoulders and a wide head. The fleece is short, but very fine quality and grows close to the body, and up their legs with an impressive 'top-knot' on their head.  

The children at the farm helped us card and spin while the horses neighed in the sunshine, and we couldn't believe we were in London! 

Thank you Maggie, and thank you Mudchute.

DUST JACKET FOR THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.

Lovers of adventure, I recommend you visit Miss Fleur Oakes's "Museum of Objects of Virtue" this weekend, for the show "Dust Jacket for Darwin's the Voyage of the Beagle."  Please aim to visit between the hours of 12-6pm. 

I'll ruin the adventure if I describe it to you, so all I'll say is that the museum is quite small, in a big place, and once you are there, you'll wish you had brought all your friends.

To find it, take the A to Z, to Cockfosters at the end of the Piccadilly Line, and follow the map to 89, Park Rd, New Barnet, EN4 9QX. The map has "Museum" written where the museum is.....Dress code is probably beautiful, but with sensible shoes....