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Cat and Sparrow UK
Cat and Sparrow UK

beautifully crafted fibres and yarns – made in the UK, shipped worldwide

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@catandsparrowuk on Instagram

Oh most days, at least for some part of the day, this is where you'll find me - in my dye studio. Yesterday I realised that it needs a GIANT reorganisation, so I'm going to be in there for most of the rest of the week, dyeing and sorting out all my stock. One of the things about being a small business owner is you don't just learn more about your own craft - you learn about inventory systems, bookkeeping, marketing, and time management, often on the fly. It's a thrill of a ride. Fortunately, I love learning and I would not swap it for anything. I'm happy to be in my studio because it's such a creative space. I've been thinking for a while that I need to save time by sorting my dyes into alphabetical order so I can find Antique Mauve when I need it, rather than picking up every single dye pot on the shelf first. Do you have any organisational tips that you swear by? Please do share them!
This is a new colourway on my Eco-warrior Sock base (British BFL and sustainably-and-responsibly-produced Tencel). I needed something bright and cheery to carry me through the grimness of the weather we're having recently. Yesterday was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, but as it tends to fall on my birthday I usually manage to weather that one. I just want a pair of socks in this now, because my feet would look really happy. I'm doing dry January as well, so this is the closest I'll get to a Mojito for a while.
Birthday dinosaur says RAAAAR. ⁠ ⁠ My birthday's on the 18th, but I never know when Instagram shows people stuff, so I'm putting it out there a little early! If you'd like to take advantage of a birthday special offer, you can use the code BIRTHDAY2021 at checkout, and it will give you a lovely, warm, fuzzy 10% off your order. ⁠ ⁠ Also, if you haven't yet signed up to my newsletter, did you know that you get a 10% discount code when you do? Yep, true story. ⁠ ⁠ Help me celebrate and fill your boots with fluff. ⁠ ⁠ The offer is valid from now until 11.59pm on 18th January (GMT). ⁠ ⁠ #birthdayoffer #catandsparrowuk #olderandwiser #21again #lockdownbirthday #yarndiscount #fibrediscount #indiedyer #yarndyer #dyersofinstagram
Birthday dinosaur says RAAAAR. ⁠ ⁠ My birthday's on the 18th, but I never know when Instagram shows people stuff, so I'm putting it out there a little early! If you'd like to take advantage of a birthday special offer, you can use the code BIRTHDAY2021 at checkout, and it will give you a lovely, warm, fuzzy 10% off your order. ⁠ ⁠ Also, if you haven't yet signed up to my newsletter, did you know that you get a 10% discount code when you do? Yep, true story. ⁠ ⁠ Help me celebrate and fill your boots with fluff. ⁠ ⁠ The offer is valid from now until 11.59pm on 18th January (GMT). ⁠ ⁠ #birthdayoffer #catandsparrowuk #olderandwiser #21again #lockdownbirthday #yarndiscount #fibrediscount #indiedyer #yarndyer #dyersofinstagram
This is my first attempt at drawing using procreate. My daughter is obsessed with it and uses it all the time to create a menagerie of strange and wonderful characters. I fancied sketching out my #makenine2021 because this year I'm all about planning. Please excuse my terrible drawing skills. I'm quite excited about this because I have a few designs in my head that have been percolating in there for a while. It's nice not to feel that if I don't knit everything right now it will never happen. It will happen. Look! It's in my plan! Is anyone else planning a #makenine? Or planning anything else remotely exciting?
I've been thinking a lot about self-care recently, because, frankly, times are a bit shit. Worrying about loved ones, trying to run a business, homeschooling anxious kids, managing money, meals and meltdowns - it all takes its toll. Don't get me wrong - I know how lucky I am, but when stress is all around, taking care of yourself is HARD. ⁠ ⁠ You know what else is hard? Knowing what self-care looks like. I totally love this print I got from @katiegreenbean, which I have in my office. I refer to it more than I thought I would, because she's nailed it. Self-care is different for everyone. Sometimes it's different on different days. Working out what it means for me has been a bit of a journey. ⁠ ⁠ For me, self-care is not a glass of wine at the end of the day, as for years I thought it was. It doesn't mean I don't WANT a glass of wine of an evening. I totally do. I just know it's not good for my mental health, especially now, so I'm doing #dryjanuary. I'm sleeping like a hibernating bear. It's joyous. ⁠ ⁠ At the moment, self-care is ordering a Hello Fresh box, because it means I don't have to plan the majority of the family meals or worry that I've run out of spaghetti. Again. ⁠ ⁠ Self-care is doing a daily meditation. Once I started doing meditation when I woke up, I realised that my brain is in a constant state of, 'Return that package from Amazon. Must reskein that yarn. Don't forget to order more dye. Is today a good day for taking photos? Forgot to put the washing in the dryer. How craven and corrupt is the government going to be today? Should I register for VAT? Was David Bowie truly the thread holding the world's collective sanity together?' and on, and on. Meditation makes me aware of those voices, and helps me to get them in line before the day begins. ⁠ ⁠ Self-care is not beating myself up every time I don't manage to get out for a run. ⁠ ⁠ Self-care is also getting out into the dye studio. It's my place of calm and inspiration. Just being among my dye pots is a balm to the soul. ⁠ ⁠ As Katie says,
I was packing up some orders last week, and found myself looking at these two braids sitting next to each other, and wondering how they would look spun up together. I don't habitually spin different braids together, but sometimes a pairing calls to me. ⁠ ⁠ The fibres would be great together too - the one on the right is Polwarth, while the left is my favourite blend - Polwarth, Shetland and silk. I'm running very low on that base at the moment, which is causing me some rather pointless anxiety. There are some colourways in stock but it will be at least March until I can get it back in as the mill isn't doing custom blends at the moment. I'm not very good at waiting for things, but I'm starting to learn (it’s only taken me 40 years) that it won’t make a difference to anything except my sanity if I’m impatient. I’m also learning that the older I get, the more quickly time seems to pass and the less I seem to have of it. Please tell me it’s not just me losing my grip on the fabric of space-time? ⁠ ⁠ Anyway, I'll definitely be getting more of this blend in when I can. It's a brilliant all-rounder - soft, strong, bouncy and with a subtle shine. I love it.
Who out there is a winter person? It was never my favourite season - I much prefer autumn or spring - but it does occasionally have a certain appeal. I do enjoy the clear, crispness of bright days, and the atmospheric murkiness of dreary ones. I love coming home after a cold walk to a warm house and a steaming cup of tea. I do not love going into my studio of a freezing morning to find the water in my bain-maries has frozen over. I'm thinking of investing in a pair of drysuit gloves so that I can soak fibres and yarns without losing all feeling in my hands. ⁠ ⁠ Winter also means being able to wear all my cosy knits. My particular favourite right now is my #westknits #texturetimeshawl. It's ridiculously warm, and I'm sitting here, wrapped in it right now while my kids work industriously at their zoom lessons (cue wailing and gnashing of primary-aged teeth). ⁠ ⁠ It also produces photographs like this, which makes me want to wrap myself in these colours. I'm planning a colourway based on this soft sagey-blue and the spiced orange of the leaves. It's got my dye-brain whirring with plans, icy studio or not....⁠
I was thinking about tools over the weekend, because one of my #instaprompts this week was about favourite tools, and why. I thought it would be an easy question, but then I started thinking, well are they #knittingtools? Spinning tools? What about weaving and crochet? I have so many tools that I love for different crafts, and I love them all. It's why I use them. How to choose? So I thought I'd just focus on knitting for now, because I have a #wip on my needles, but not on my bobbins or spindles. ⁠ ⁠ I've used a fair few brands of knitting needles over the years, and I do use different ones now and again for certain projects (I always knit socks with #knitproZingsDPNS) but the ones I come back to over and over are these Lykke short circumference needles. I love everything about them from the packaging to the feel of them in my hands. They're smooth, but have some purchase on the yarn; they have sharp enough tips to make knitting easy, but not so sharp that they make me bleed (I'm looking at you, Chiaogoo); they're lovely to look at and they feel warm in my fingers. I realise that knitting needles are a very personal thing. I get stabbed by very sharp tipped needles because of the way I knit, which seems to involve pushing down on the tip when I work a stitch. Not everyone has this problem! Each knitter is unique, which is why it's such a great thing that there is a needle type for everyone. These are mine, and I'm so happy I found them. Working with tools you love is such a joy.
It took a little while - thanks Christmas and New Year - but I've finally listed #oldphotograph on #ohsofinesock. I'm also going to be dyeing it onto #willothewisplace because I think these colours will go so beautifully on kid mohair and silk. It'll be almost ethereal. Look out for updates as that'll be coming soon. I just love the muted colours of this - it suits my current mood. It's so calming, which is what I need with all this homeschooling going on. I can't work out if I love Zoom or hate it.
It's a slightly different #fashionhistoryfriday today. ⁠ ⁠ Does anyone remember the pussy hat? The Women's march on Washington? That was almost exactly four years ago. I thought I was angry then. I desperately wanted to be part of the march on Washington, protesting the election of a racist, a sexual predator, a man utterly without morals or principles. I remember seeing that sea of pink and feeling a sense of hope and pride, that there was nothing that couldn't be achieved if we came together and made enough noise about it. The Pussy Hat Project (Linkin.Bio for more info) is still doing really great social mobilisation work in the US. It's easy to wonder what actually has changed as a result of protest but, as RBG said, real enduring change happens one step at a time. ⁠ ⁠ That said, I look back my 2017 self and wonder how I could have been so naive. Of course, Black and BIPOC people, particularly womxn, have known what we were dealing with for decades. I'm ashamed that it took the last four years to open my eyes. ⁠ ⁠ What did we think would be the end result of four years of state-sanctioned corruption, overt white supremacy, misogyny, bigotry and intolerance? The coup attempt we witnessed on Wednesday really shouldn't have come as a surprise. Trump has been preparing his followers for this for years. ⁠ ⁠ The differences between how the overwhelmingly peaceful #blacklivesmatter protesters and the armed white terrorists storming the Capitol were treated by security forces are stark, but unsurprising. As we've seen, over and over again, existing while Black in America is a hazardous undertaking. Trump's supporters have seen, over and over again, that they won't face consequences for violence, even murder. He's been showing them this all along. (continued in comments).
#wip alert! In December I launched the #autumnleaveshat pattern, and started a KAL on #facebook, which is still ongoing if anyone fancies joining in! I'm knitting another one, because I love wearing my daughter's but she's not so keen on me snaffling it. This one's being knit using one of the lovely kits available from @fromeyarncollective in gorgeous hand-dyed (by me) Wensleydale DK. Im using a mix of That 70s Yarn and the natural yarn, which is a gorgeous creamy white. I adore how this is turning out. I can't wait until it's blocked and some of the parts where I've caught the floats are evened out. I also love my #geometrycocoon (also from #fromeyarncollective), which is holding both cakes of yarn quite nicely, thank you! The link to the kits is in the Linkin.bio above if you're interested in seeing what other scrumptious colourways are available. #makersrockig
Even though I live in the middle of a city, I’m really lucky to have two nature reserves a two minute walk from my house. One of them is in the grounds of an old manor, now crumbled into root-infested walls and the occasional gatepost. It has an old orchard, though, full of beautiful heritage apple trees. The council have recently planted some new ones. We got a bunch of damsons there last year, and in late autumn the air is sweet with slowly rotting apples. I took some pictures earlier in the year. I’d taken myself out for a solo walk (stomped out of the house in a huff) and it was so calming to walk amongst the trees. Looking at tiny details is very calming, don’t you find? I love this photo of some lichen on one of the branches of an old apple tree. After yesterday’s talk of inspiration, it made me think of this yarn that I dyed after taking a walk with my mum near her Dales home one day. I love these deep greens, murky yellows and grey-browns. I’m normally one for bright, cheery colours, but these just sing together. I have decided to put a skein aside to make something from the #52weeksofsocks book I got from @fromeyarncollective. More on that later. If you want to see some really beautiful photos of my part of the world, you should check out @craftycatknittybits - she takes sublime photos of her daily walk, and she doesn’t live far from me. I love her photos! #makersrockig #catandsparrowuk #indiedyersofinstagram #indiedyer #sockyarn #sockknitting #spinstagram #spinnersofig #spinspiration #knitspiration #handdyedfibre #handdyedyarn #lichenandmoss
Inspiration - it’s fickle isn’t it? Sometimes ideas come in a rush, and other times I look at my dye pots and wonder what on earth I’m going to do. I have a #pinterest board for colour inspiration, which is hugely helpful when I’m looking for a colourway that really meets a need in me. I also tend to gravitate towards colourways that feature gold or mustard. I hadn’t noticed it until someone pointed it out to me at a show, so I have to make a conscious effort sometimes to just not pick up that jar of honey mustard or autumn gold. I love it, though, when people come to me with ideas. This yarn is called Sundowner, and it was inspired by a photograph sent to me by a customer for a specific mix of colours she was looking for (swipe to see the second photo). It was such fun to dye, and it’s not a mix of colours I would usually have put together. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be inspiring in itself. I absolutely love how it dyed up onto this beautifully fat DK Merino singles. Tell me about what inspires you. Do you have a go-to colour? How do you choose the yarns and fibres you use? #catandsparrowuk #indiedyer #yarndyer #handdyedyarn #customdyedyarn #colourinspiration #spinspiration #knitspiration #knittersofig #yarniesofinstagram #crochetersofig #wemakeyarn #makeallthethings #makersrockig
What a treat! Another photo of me. After yesterday's introduction, I wanted to talk a little bit about how I got started with Cat & Sparrow, and this really is it - spinning. @catandsparrowfibres and I met when I sold her my first spinning wheel, and we hit it off so well, we eventually started a business together. ⁠ ⁠ Spinning has always been my focus. When I dye fibre or design blends, it's always with the spinning experience in mind. When I first started, nearly 10 years ago, I gravitated to softer wools, such as Merino. I still love a good bit of softness in my blends, but over the years, I've developed a special love of wools with different characters - a bit of crunch, bounce or shine. It's one of the reasons I'm really excited about the single-breed fibre collection I've got planned. I want to explore the different characters of the wools, their reaction to colour and how they express themselves in yarn. ⁠ ⁠ Because I also started knitting and weaving as a way to use the yarns I spun, rather than the other way around, I've never been particularly interested in planning yarns. I love to just throw it at the wheel and see what happens, and I'll find something to make with it. Over the last couple of years, however, I find that I increasingly want something specific from what I'm spinning. The yarn in the picture is some BFL/Masham that is currently becoming a pair of socks, and I actually worked out what I wanted from it before I started. I know! Revolutionary!⁠ ⁠ I've been think about what forms I can present fibres in other than 100g braids to make planning yarns easier or provide inspiration. I'm going to put together a few kits for spinners, looking at how to spin yarns with particular characteristics, and I'm planning a new blending club. It's all really exciting. If there's anything you'd be interested in seeing, shout out below. I'm all ears.⁠ ⁠ I'd love to know about your crafty journey. Are you a planner or a 'chuck it at the wall and see what happens' type of crafter? What's your passion? Tell me!⁠
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a lovely break, and 2021 is treating you well so far. I have some new followers - hello! - and so what better way to start the year than with an introduction? I'm Rachael, and I run Cat & Sparrow UK. I sell hand dyed fibres and yarn, and have just started designing knitwear, which is very exciting (for me, at least). I'm particularly committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility, and love using British wools. I do a weekly post called Fashion History Friday, where I share some interesting titbits about knitting or crocheted garments through history. This book by Sandy Black a treasure trove of information. I highly recommend it!⁠ ⁠ I have lots of interesting things planned for this year - a new single-breed fibre collection, a new blending club and a couple of new designs. I'm really excited to share them all with you over the next few weeks and months. Join me for the ride!⁠ ⁠
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a lovely break, and 2021 is treating you well so far. I have some new followers - hello! - and so what better way to start the year than with an introduction? I'm Rachael, and I run Cat & Sparrow UK. I sell hand dyed fibres and yarn, and have just started designing knitwear, which is very exciting (for me, at least). I'm particularly committed to sustainability and environmental responsibility, and love using British wools. I do a weekly post called Fashion History Friday, where I share some interesting titbits about knitting or crocheted garments through history. This book by Sandy Black a treasure trove of information. I highly recommend it!⁠ ⁠ I have lots of interesting things planned for this year - a new single-breed fibre collection, a new blending club and a couple of new designs. I'm really excited to share them all with you over the next few weeks and months. Join me for the ride!⁠ ⁠
I've been winding down a little bit as the flurry of Christmas orders subsided over the last few days. I've been making origami stars. I had this idea that I could sit around the table, listening to Christmas music and teaching my children how to these stars, and we'd all be super happy and glitter would literally fall from the ceiling like tiny flakes of happiness. My kids are 11 and 8, so I should know by now that any romantic idea I have of whichever activities I plan for my children's (my) enjoyment will not turn out as envisioned. There were tears of frustration. Fighting ensued over whose star was the neatest. Removal of presents was threatened. This bunting is filled with happy memories. I like it anyway. Also, that's hand-dyed yarn that's stringing it up, so I can shoehorn in a yarn reference. I love finding uses for scraps. Here's hoping you're all enjoying your seasonal prep! ⁠ ⁠ @kariebookish just posted about a beautiful post about light and love, and mentioned a pattern for knitted 5-point stars that I'm going to attempt to make. (The pattern is Scintillation by @hunterhammersen, link to the pattern in my linkin.bio). They're so cute. Go check them out! ⁠ ⁠ #christmasiscoming #origamistars #bunting #festivestuff #qualityfamilytime #imsotired #isitfizztimeyet #wherearethemincepies ⁠
Last week Nikki from @ewefeltything launched this gorgeous #knittingpattern - the Orme Sweater. It’s endlessly customisable, with various length and sleeve options, and two gauge options. You can see how versatile it is from the photos, in which Nikki models them delightfully. The gold, blue and pink are in #catandsparrow Lone Ranger DK - a lovely singles yarn in superwash merino. I love mine - I knitted it in Faded Glamour, which is a soft pink with rust and mustard speckles. It’s so warm and soft. It was a simple knit too, with enough detail to keep it interesting. Kits are available from Ewe Felty Thing so you might want to check them out! Check the Linkin.bio for a link to the kits and the pattern page. #knittersofinstagram #knitstagram #knitting #strikke #tricot ´#knitweardesign #indiedesigner #sweaterpattern #sweaterweather #knittersofig #sweaterknitting
I'm sticking my head above the parapet today to let you all know that the Royal Mail's last guaranteed UK Christmas delivery for 2nd class is tomorrow, and 1st class is Monday. I will be posting things out up to and including the 23rd December, but if you need any last minute bits and bobs, now's the time! ⁠ ⁠ I fell downstairs yesterday and badly bruised my coccyx, so I'm feeling a little tender around the nethers and sorry for myself today. I'm going to take it easy, wrap some presents and do some knitting, which I have barely had any time to do for weeks. I hope all your Christmas prep is going swimmingly! ⁠ ⁠ #catandsparrowuk #royalmail #christmasmaildates #ukchristmaspost #quirkypostbox #prechristmasrush #lastminutechristmas
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