Damson & Slate at Best of Britannia and Selvedge Winter Fair

It was great to finally meet Damson & Slate at the Best of Britannia event in the Farmiloe Building, Clerkenwell (Damson & Slate last blogged about here - they sell a lovely slate soap dish which I still have my eye on).  They were also at Selvedge Winter Fair a couple of weeks ago, more posts coming up soon about this event.

Damson & Slate sell beautiful Welsh-made products - their website says: 'we are actively supporting and encouraging a new generation of craftspeople who are using traditional skills in a fresh way to make truly beautiful gifts and interior accessories.' Which, of course, is what I love about them.

They brought with them to the Fairs a fine selection of their textiles.  The 'Amroth' throw in the pic below caught my eye - it's a herringbone pattern woven in traditional looms and based on a vintage herringbone pattern, available in Indian Red, Barley Brown, Slate Grey, Oak Green and Damson. Size 150 x 200 cm.

Welsh dolls  - made using Welsh cloth woven at local mills and vintage pieces

Made in Cumbria - blankets by Helvellyn Herdwick and Original Cumbrian Wool, and oak swills

I ate so much Christmas dinner yesterday that these blankets are about the only thing big enough to wrap around my expanded self.

Helvellyn Herdwicks make throws and blankets from the wool of sheep that live on the Helvellyn fells - the light grey Herdwick wool is left in natural shades, and also dyed mossy green, a russet bracken colour and soft pink and blue.

Original Cumbrian Wool is a group of sheep farmers based in the Duddon Valley that make rugs and blankets from undyed wool from their fell-bred sheep.

Two-ply rug

Single ply rug

Oak swills are baskets traditional to south Lakeland and were used in farming and industry, and they can be bought from Owen Jones who makes them using traditional methods: the main part of the basket is made from thin oak strips steamed until they are pliable, woven on to a hazle rim ('bool').  

Oak swills are perfect as log baskets, but also for laundry or toys or newspapers...

this is a pic of a much-loved swill: you will note that the swill is missing a handle. 

this is not traditional design

Made in Wales: Damson & Slate

Damson & Slate sell Welsh-made products. Here are my top picks

Shea butter and goat milk soap 3 x 150g for £10

Pembrokeshire slate soap dish £22

Isa printed linen cushion £68

Traditional Welsh woven wool blanket £195

Aubin & Wills fox cushion

yeah, foxy cushion!!

Aubin & Wills cushions available here.

Other fab homewares from Aubin & Wills - you'll need this picnic blanket....

...for tea out in the garden

Made in Yorkshire

Pheasant is a fantastic website, dedicated to things made in Yorkshire.

Hmm, this gives me an idea - more posts coming soon, featuring handmade good things from different counties across this fair land....

Check out the handmade teapots which look like your favourite branded foods - Marmite, Colman's Mustard and Tate & Lyle syrup - made in Leyburn, North Yorks.

The weather can't make up it's mind - for those wintry moments, these lambswool blankets made in Morley, West Yorks look just the ticket:

Love is...(Part 1)

...a cliche of red and pink.  Get ready for Valentine's Day

Go out on the town wearing this little number: Belle & Bunty Eliza silk georgette maxi dress at ASOS

red Cambridge Satchel available here 

snuggle up under a Melin Tregwynt blanket (range of sizes available): Knot Garden, in ember, available here

say it with...lobsters from Tatty Devine

for the key to your heart: Susannah Hunter key ring from here

snow's on the way - more blankets needed

Well, if not snow, then colder weather... time to get cosy with some lovely blankets.  Jen Jones, a leading expert in Welsh blankets, has an on-line shop stocked with iresitable blankets, quilts, and tapestry bedcovers.  Blankets cost between £60 and over £100.

Cumbrian Wool makes blankets from undyed natural wool ranging from white-grey to dark brown / black from sheep in the Duddon Valley.  The blankets are made in two sizes (the smaller 'lamb' and the larger 'ewe') and two different weights, and a changing selection of designs, of the stripes and checks sort. They make excellent presents (eg. wedding presents), and support small scale 'cottage industry' to boot.

last days of summer

As a 'famille nombreuse' one picnic blanket is never enough. Before school started we sneaked in a final week's holiday in Wiltshire and I found a Welsh blanket made from recycled wool at the National Trust shop in Avebury. Charmingly named random woollen rug, it's excellent value at £10 and comes in a random assortment of colours (surprise surprise). My photo doesn't do the colours justice - it's got lots of dusky blues in it, and the wool is soft enough to use as throw or blanket at home.