Tuesday 14 February 2012

Wales - crafty things & purchases

I usually manage to find something arty or crafty to purchase on my visits to Wales and I like to visit woollen mills if there are any in the area. On this trip I found the Trefriw Woollen mill on the edge of Snowdonia in the Conwy Valley.


The mill specialises in traditional Welsh woven blankets, throws, tweeds and some clothing. They produce the items from the raw wool and in the season you can watch the weaving. The products are just beautiful, rich with colour and understandably quiet expensive due to the labour intensive production.
If you've got lots of money and are a confident sewer you can buy the fabric on the bolt.


But what I like about these places is you often find offcuts of fabric to buy or oddments of wool and this was no exception. Lots of beautiful hand dyed wool from about £7 a ball but I'm not good enough for that level, I bought this recycled fabric wool to make small things.


My best find was this scrap bag of bits of woven cloth, the colours are just lovely and there's a great smell of fresh wool to it. I think I'll be able to make some brooches and things.




Not far from the mill is the pretty village of Betws Y Coed, one of those honey pot villages which is way too busy and heaving with tourists in the summer when I've driven through it before. This time I got a look around as it was quiet.  The only reason I'm mentioning it is because I found they still had a Hawkshead, one of my favourite shops which seem to have closed down everywhere else.
Here it is, and here are some new walking boots I picked up in their sale,



Moving on and somewhere I discovered last year was the fabulous Wheelers fabrics in Machynlleth so I popped in for a few bits of luscious cotton! Always worth a look if you go to Machynlleth.


http://www.wheeler-fabrics.co.uk/

And finally, I usually take something crafty to keep me occupied on a trip and this time I took some lovely new multicoloured wool and I knitted these simple wrist warmers. I used 2 wools together for the ribbed bit, an orange and a red and then the multicoloured wool is the panel with the wavy edge.

6 comments:

greenrabbitdesigns said...

Your little scraps of cloth are beautiful Sally, they will make pretty brooches!
Love the wrist warmers too, I used the yarn double throughout my bag but still knitting on the recommended needles so that I got a nice firm fabric.
Happy Valentine's Day,
V x

patty said...

Hi V, I wondered how your bag looked a lot thicker with that same wool, what a good idea, I never thought to double it up. Mine could have done with being thicker like the ribbed bit so I'll have to remember that for next time as I've got the same wool but in a blue purple shade.
S x

grace said...

What a fantastic bag of scraps, I love bags like that and really enjoy planning new makes from cast off bits!

lavender attic said...

I always drool over Melin Tregwynt blankets, too pricey for me tho! Apparently there is a mill in Guiseley, North of Leeds, called Moons I think that does the same sort of thing. Must try and find it.
Wales is a lovely place, we visited Tenby and Narberth last year. x

patty said...

Hi Sally, spooky I discovered Tenby & Narberth in the last couple of years and thought they were lovely places. Also went and drooled at Melin Tregwynt, bought some scraps there too,
A friend of mine has mentioned Moons to me before, check out their website as I think they are only occasionally open to the public.
http://www.moons.co.uk/index.asp

Rebecca said...

The scraps of woven cloth look gorgeous! I like all the patterns and colours. Definetly should be used to make brooches and little crafty things! The fabric is just lush!
Becky.