Why spend your money here?

As some of you may be aware this Saturday is small business Saturday. My head is in two places with this concept as yeah spend money locally, support us tiny businesses that work 24/7 on our little shops that are our life and love. help us stay open, help us grow and get better, help us get in stock that you want, help us still be here! We do what we do because we love it and we love you.
So yeah spend your money locally on Saturday, I urge it. You have no idea how much it means to us to have people in. but at the same time, the same as everything, we should really do it all year round, I have the same view on Valentines day. But I really need to stop being so cynical as if on that one day you pop into your local gift shop and buy your card there instead of Tesco, or come to me for those needles instead of hopping online, or even just supporting your local takeaway (Mr fluph take note) It makes a difference. You will probably read more posts like this over the upcoming days but I just wanted to say Thank you for sticking with me all year round! for leaving bum marks on my sofa, and cheering me up with your happy faces. I really appreciate it!

So for small business Saturday i am going to make up some goodie bags, filled with fun little bits (I haven't really got myself organised yet so I have no idea what will end up in them) but yeah for every person that comes in and spends £20 you can have a goodie bag on me to say thank you!

We also have our Saturday Knit group on that day which is our last of 2015, so feel free to come and remake your sofa bum mark, eat some cake and LOTS of tea!

Also check out what else is going on around the city. There are like a thousand craft markets going on, so you could do a bit of a crawl and then end with some tea and cake.

Creative Dundee have put together a post on what's happening this weekend and they say it better than i can!
http://creativedundee.com/2015/11/dundee-christmas-market-guide-2015/

What is this fluphy twisters?

So by now you will have heard me sporadically call the fluphy twisters to arms about our next meetup.
But Lj what or who are the fluphy twisters.
I would love to say they are a bunch of rag tag superheros who meet in secret at a local yarn shop to maintain their cover. When in actuallity they are our knit nighters. Its our Saturday knit day.

They meet in the shop every 3rd Saturday of the month in fluph from 10.30am - 1.30pm ish. There is always cake, tea and sometimes crafting!

Same rules as knit night (i should write those down) Completly free, open to crafts of all types (we arnt craftist), all ages and genders.

For the rest of 2015 meet ups land on these dates
August 15th
September 26th - rescheduled from the 19th as thats marks dads wedding and i'll be closed
October 17th
December 5th - our last one for 2015....ive heard there will be cake :)

interview with Helen of Ripplescraft

I am so excited that Helen froms Ripples Crafts will be visiting us on Saturday. I thought it would be good fun to find out a little bit about Helen before we all dive into her car on Saturday before she gets the yarn out!

fluph - Thank you so much for taking to time to answer my questions, an answer i always want to     know What made you start dying yarn?

Helen - I have been a knitter for as long as I can remember, and had begun to use hand dyed yarns from other UK dyers. Then I went to an informal workshop with The Border Tart (Lindsay Roberts) who now dyes the most beautiful indigo yarns, and I was hooked! We used kool aid for our dabbling, but it wasn't long before I progressed to acid dyes. When we made the move north to the highlands, I converted my passion into a business. And hey presto! Ripples Crafts was born.



f - When dying yarn, what do you use for inspiration?
H - Simple - the landscape in Assynt, where I live. I just have to look out my workshop (aka shed!) door and I see hills and the sea and wild flowers and sheep and rocks. The weather plays a big part too, as the landscape is continuously changing its mood and look depending on the weather.

f - I am trying to learn more about sheep breeds and fibre, do you have a favourite base you like to dye with and why?
H - Ohhhh now that is a really really difficult one. And for some, contentious, as we all tend to become a little "precious" about our favourites. But I do love Bluefaced Leicester. It has a marvellous sheen which makes the colours "zing". However, having grown up in Southern Africa, Merino is a personal favourite too. I am thoroughly enjoying dyeing my part yak base at the moment, as this too has a glorious sheen, and given it is mixed with silk it really does sing once dyed.



f - Do you have anything excting on your needles?
H - I've been trying to get samples finished for shows. At the moment I'm working on "Stay the Same" by Veera Valimaki in my Suilven base which is the 4ply merino/silk/yak mix. The pattern has an interesting method for achieving block colour in the garment, which I've enjoyed doing. The large section of twisted rib .... not enjoying that so much.

I'm also nearly completing a pair of socks in the new base I have for sock yarn, which is a double knitting. They are knitting up so quickly!

f - so what your stash is like? is it ridiculous or fairly tame?
H - Can we move on to the next question ....?? Seriously, my stash is a bit of a bone of contention between Mr RC and myself. He keeps finding what I thought was well hidden sections of stash.



now onto the important stuff?
f -How do you take your tea/ coffee?
H -I don't really drink ordinary tea. I'll bring some Rooibos tea bags with me, if I remember, otherwise I'm happy with coffee, milk no sugar. And to sound like an extra super snob, I don't drink instant .....  (Mr fluph will be on your side with this one!)

f - Favourite cake?
H - Hmmmmmmm ..... lemon drizzle, carrot, chocolate, but not all mixed together in one cake!

f - totally random question since you are from the same end of the country as me, do you have a favourite scottish word and what does it mean?
H - Oh another hard one. Probably "stooshie" as it is so descriptive. There isn't really an English equivalent that holds quite so much meaning or implied meaning. In the same vein, Dreich - it is so much more than just grey and wet. 

stooshie - a row or fracas.
Dreich - (especially of weather) dreary; bleak

f - So apart from yarnygoodness, do you have a passion for anything else?
H - My family and dogs. and community. I think as I get older I have become more "political" in terms of my outlook on the world, and if I were to be elected to office my byline would be "be most excellent to one another". Kind of sums it all up really. But let us be clear .... I'm not standing for political office! Ever!


Helen i would vote for you! As i said Helen will be here with her car filled with goodie on Saturday, if you are in the area we would love to see you, there will be cake and tea and good chat also. 

Photos given with kind permission from Ripples crafts and Jeni Reid