Stories
Liz Gaffney
April 16th 2025
In so many lives 2025 is putting forward challenges many of us find difficult to navigate through. With all my sadness and personal loss this year my garden and my craft have kept me sane.
Structural pruning ( hacking back trees and plants) is cathartic. Pruning away the dead growth with the ambition for strong new life. Setting seeds of dye plants and flowers( grown just for their beauty) a miracle from such tiny beginnings. It’s like that with teaching and passing on knowledge, sharing skills and cultural differences, uniting in the same mediums as crafts people around the world, wool and plants being universal...more
Liz Gaffney
April 16th 2025
Blue, a visible colouring our landscape. Sea and sky, river and flower and yet elusive when it comes to capturing that colour into a viable lasting range of shades.In the history of Scotland the plant discovered for that purpose was Woad.I grow this biennial plant in my garden and this year was seed year so next year should be a good cropping time.This year I grew two varieties of Japanese Indigo and also propagated many of the Indigo Tinctoria tree, a graceful and happy plant. It is now mid November and I still am cropping my Indigo plants for fresh leaves and the seed is ripening...more
Icelandic Sheep wool
Felting this fabulous fibre
September and October 2024
South Iceland Wool week is an amazing collaboration between Icelandic wool lovers and everything sheep. Farmers, spinners, knitters, weavers and a host of other skills gather together to celebrate and share. I have been so fortunate to have travelled and taught at all of the events.
I have watched it grow and spread with many visitors coming from around the world. Iceland is a unique and stunningly beautiful country but it is the people and of course the Icelandic sheep that make it so special.
Sharing my joy of this beautiful fleece through a workshop on creating collars and scarves was a real highlight for me. Some wonderful designs were made and a seed planted. Looking forward to the next event there in 2026.
Rhubarb is King
For food, for colour ( in its roots )and for acids in its leaves
November 2024
Rhubarb, Rheum x Hybridum
​Such a useful plant with its edible stalk used in pies and jams and many culinary uses. Its oxalic acid in the leaves but its real gem to the fibre lover is its dye properties in its thick root. From browns and greens right through to pinks ( in ammonia ) I choose a rhubarb day as a celebration in the summer time for this worthy plant.
Tastes and colours like this are worthy of a dye day all to themselves
Contact me if you are keen to join the celebration this summer
