February 2024 – Karen Turner Stitching Life

February

There were many ups and downs, but February brought us the new home for which we’ve been waiting.

Most of the month was spent fretting, phoning estate agents and solicitors, and preparing.

Moving day itself was something I never want to experience again. We ended up having to exchange contracts and complete on the same day, which didn’t exactly go according to plan but we did finally get our keys at just gone 4pm. And here we are at last – it could have been worse, and in a few days the stress and fatigue will be just a memory.

Want to see my new work room? Here it is:

We’ve been focusing on sorting the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom so that we can function while we attend to the rest of the unpacking, so neither of us has unpacked our work spaces yet. My room is about 11 feet square, slightly bigger than in our last house. It’s north facing so will be cooler in the summer with more consistent light, and the view is mostly the surrounding back gardens. Our garden is tiny, but relatively private.

My room also has fitted wardrobes on one wall:

Easily adaptable for thread and fabric storage. My first job will be to paint the walls, and possibly the floor – there is a very dark red/pink carpet, which I don’t like. Dark flooring tends to absorb a lot of light, which means you can’t always see colours as they really are. I’d like to paint the floor white, if the floorboards are good enough. If they’re not then I’ll think about a pale laminate floor instead.

You can see it will be a while before I can return to work, so the shop will remain closed for now. I’ve been looking forward to this since October and I want to enjoy organising it so I’ll take the time to get it right. It will take as long as it takes.

(Limited) progress

I was hoping to have the latest batch of hand-dyed threads in the shop next week but unfortunately that’s not going to be possible.

A few thread types are done but I still have many more skeins to wind, and then they will need sorting into sets, photographing, describing and listing, all of which takes more time than you might expect.

Further progress will be limited because it looks as if our long-awaited house move may finally be happening the week after next, and I will have to close the shop temporarily while I focus on packing.

The shop will close on Tuesday 20th February, and will re-open as soon as I’ve been able to unpack my supplies in our new home. I don’t know how long that will take, but I’m aiming for the first or second week in March. If you’re looking for daily stitching templates while the shop is closed, you can now get those through my Teachable school here.

A preview of some of the silk threads that will be coming next month:

And in the meantime, here’s what I’ll be doing next week:

See you on the other side 🤞🏻

Thread again

The thread update last week has kept me very busy, and if you have ordered some thread (thank you) it’s on its way.

Most of the thread collections have gone; (at the time of writing) there’s just one silk set left:

the last silk thread collection, very pink

I gave myself a surprise extra dyeing day yesterday. Normally I plan these events and spend a week or two preparing for it, but this time I wondered what would happen if I just wound some larger hanks and got stuck in.

And it turned out to be so much easier this time. Winding single skeins and dyeing them takes a bit of time and effort, particularly as many of them need winding again if they tangle too much in the wash. Bigger hanks don’t tangle anywhere near as much, and will yield several skeins of similar colours. They will still all need winding individually, but that’s fine. They’ll be done when they’re done.

threads in various stages of drying/waiting to be washed

This current batch will just be for thread sets, not single skeins. There will be some silk sets and some mini cotton sets, when they’re all dry and sorted. I like putting these collections together, finding colours that sit nicely side by side. They’re a bit like a choir, I always think. Some sing loud and clear, others sing a quieter underlying harmony that sits in the spaces between the more strident notes.

I have a tiny bit of dye left, and there is some fine silk thread that should be arriving today, so I will put all of that together later until all the colour is used up.

In the meantime there are a few single skeins left in the shop but when they’re gone there will just be thread sets for now.

I’m really looking forward to sorting this week’s threads when they’re all dry. There is nothing so joyful as glorious colour on a grey wet day.

Thread

Three weeks of thread-dominated days, and I think we’re almost there.

I’m taking the afternoon off, and then I’ll update the shop some time later today (UK time). If you’re waiting for thread, keep checking in. The ‘coming soon’ boxes will disappear when the threads are live.

Just a few announcements, while we’re here:

(1) There was an alarming point in early January when I discovered that some of my silk and cotton thread suppliers were no longer trading. I’ve managed to connect with new suppliers in the meantime, but their thread is more expensive so I have had to make a small increase in my prices. I think the prices are still reasonable, given that each thread is unique. I don’t dye by recipe so everything turns out to be slightly different every time.

(2) I’ve found some commercially hand-dyed silk threads that I’ve added to the shop. These are the only threads there that are not dyed by me. I’ve used these threads myself and I like them, despite the many annoying knots that appeared in the hanks. They do come with a warning about their colourfastness – I have thoroughly washed and rinsed them all before winding into skeins, and some of them did lose a little colour (mainly anything with magenta or dark blue in it, including purples and dark greens) but they may still lose more colour if they’re washed again. If you need to wash your project, then test the threads first (actually that advice probably applies to all of my hand-dyed threads, none of which can be guaranteed colourfast). If you do need to wash the thread, then I would suggest cool water, minimal detergent and minimal agitation. Rinse well in cool water and blot the excess water onto a towel; don’t wring or squeeze, and definitely don’t tumble dry. If you’re not washing your project, then none of this matters. I rarely, if ever, wash embroidered work and have never had a problem with rogue colours staining the cloth. If you’re making something that will need frequent washing then I’d suggest using commercially dyed thread that does have a colourfast guarantee.

(3) This time I have made available some undyed skeins, in case anyone wants to have a go at either dyeing their own thread or painting it. You can paint thread quite successfully with something like Jacquard Dye-na-Flow fabric paints – these are very liquid colours that behave more like dye than paint, and they don’t alter the hand (the softness) of the thread. There are lots of dyeing tutorials and instructions online, for fibre-reactive dyes and for botanical dyes. You can also use the undyed threads as they are, of course; white thread is always A Useful Thing.

Other than these new additions, there are the usual ranges of cotton and silk in various weights, plus a few thread collections.

Enjoy!

Month: February 2024

February

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(Limited) progress

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Thread again

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Thread

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