Hand Dyed Yarn Sneak Peek

I wanted to give readers of the blog a sneak peek of the hand dyed yarn that I have started producing.

The photo is of a 100g skein of 100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester.

I'm getting to know the camera and the settings to get the most accurate colours possible. If any readers have any tips on photographing yarn please leave a comment on this blog post.

The yarn that I have been dyeing is a mix of semi solids and variegated yarn and will be available from The Quizzical Owl's site in the very near future. I'm thoroughly enjoying dyeing the yarn. It's creative and therapeutic. I'm looking forward to trying out new dyeing techniques, colours and yarns.

Watch this space!

An oldie but a goodie

Just before Christmas I'd been into our local antique shop to browse. I love looking at all the weird and wonderful things that are for sale. Let's face it, people collect all sorts of things!

*Cough* Not that I can say much really, I collect miniature tea sets. There you have it. I have 60-odd of them.

But it's not just about collecting stuff though, is it? In the modern world of flat-pack, plastic/particleboard objects, it's fun to be able to look at how things used to be done. How things used to be made is an eye-opening experience (how things are made, and what they're made from today is surely an eye-opening experience too, but not for this blog post!) Being able to wander into an antique store/secondhand shop can be inspiring, amusing, and educational.

When in our local antique shop before Christmas, I'd seen a swift (wool winder) for sale. I didn't buy it then, but today I went back into the store in the hope that the swift would be waiting for me. And waiting it was!

I was thrilled that it was still there (obviously it was waiting for me to take it home).

Wanna see it? These photos were taken before I gave it a bit of a clean.

I'd love to know more about the item - where was it made, who made it, how old is it, who has used it over the years, what did they make with the yarn they wound from it? So many questions! The base is made from Silky Oak, which makes it most likely Australian made.

I can't wait to use this to wind my newly dyed skeins of yarn. I'll be posting more about those shortly!

What do you think? Can you shed a light on any of my questions about my new winder?

New Year

It's a few days into 2012, and I've been thinking about my New Years Resolutions.

Apart from the usual get healthy, etc, there are a few new things I'll be doing with The Quizzical Owl. And I'd like to share them with you here.


1. Hand dyed yarn

I'll be hand dyeing yarn. I'm so excited about this! I've bought in my supplies  - dyes, yarn, gloves, etc. I am itching to get creative! I've bought some amazing lace yarn (made from Baby Alpaca and silk), and several varieties of sock yarn (an organic merino, a merino and nylon mix, and a merino and silk blend). I've also got a special order of some sparkly yarn from the UK on its way to me.

2. Commercial Yarn

Fyberspates is a UK company and is owned by the lovely Jeni. I became friendly with Jeni through attending various yarn shows. Jeni has a range of yarn called Scrumptious. This yarn lives up to its name, it's yummy! It's a blend of merino and silk, and comes in weights from lace to aran. There are also 10 colours in each weight. I've knitted a Clapotis in the DK weight in a lovely deep purple. There are also two pattern books to support the Scrumptious yarns - one for adults, and one for babies (released soon!).

3. Pattern books

I've got some of the fabulous Ysolda Teague's pattern books - each of her three books. I'll be loading them onto the website for purchase soon! Ysolda's patterns are well written, and easy to follow. Her latest book, Little Red in the City is a combination of a pattern book and knitting manual - if you are a shape that doesn't fit "conventional" measurements (you are between sizes, different sizes top and bottom, etc) then this book teaches you how and where to alter patterns to suit you. Invaluable advice for all knitters who are not supermodels!!

4. Jewellery

I'd like to experiment more this year with Fimo. It's a fun medium to play with, and I'd like to get creating with it. There will be lots of Lego, of course. I'm thinking about other new things I can do with Lego and Fimo pieces.


So there you go! It's going to be an exciting year. I'm getting used to being back in Australia, and slowly getting used to the humidity in Brisbane.  I'm looking forward to sharing 2012 with our growing fan base. Thank you for welcoming us back to Brisbane and to Australia. Keep checking back to keep up with our progress on dyeing and creating.

Remember you can Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check out our homepage.

Alex :-)

Merry Christmas

First of all I hope that all the readers of this blog have had a very Merry Christmas.


This Christmas was thoroughly enjoyable spending time with family and enjoying wonderful food. Last Christmas was exactly the same however we were in Hungary with family. I'm sure you can imagine, the temperature difference between Budapest and Brisbane in December is about 35 degrees Celsius. 

This is the first hot Christmas that Scott and I have had in 7 years and it was definitely a little odd.

To compare, here are two photos, one from Christmas 2010 and one from Christmas 2011.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! :-)

Oh, and the Ninjabread Men I made went down very well.

Brisstyle Indie Designers Market

Saturday 10th December was The Quizzical Owl's first official BrisStyle market.

The day started out with rain, rain and more rain. It was bucketing down. We'd already packed the car, and I decided to head to Racecourse Rd to see what the weather was going to do. We got there, chatted to other stallholders, and waited for the rain to stop.

Our spot for the market was outside, hence the waiting!

The rain cleared up just as the market opened at 9am. Talk about perfect timing!

We had a fantastic day. We met crafty and non crafty people alike. I am so pleased that we stayed.

The Quizzical Owl's stall

The stalls outside, from a distance.

Reclaimed Records' stall - gorgeous notebooks

The stalls inside the hall

Lego hair clips - the Christmas Special!

These will be available at the BrisStyle Indie Twilight market, 16th December

The Quizzical Owl's last market for 2011 is this Friday, 16th December. Between 5 and 9pm, I'll be in King George Square, in Brisbane City.

See you there!

Custom Order - Harry Potter & Captain Jack Sparrow

I was contacted on Etsy by Maggi, who wanted a couple of custom items for her nieces.

Maggi had specific ideas about what she wanted, and I was more than happy to oblige. One niece loves Harry Potter, and the other loves Pirates of the Caribbean. And of course, Lego do both of these themes, so it was perfect.

Normally for pendants, I use just the Lego figure. For this order I used a few extra bits and pieces for each necklace. I also made each girl a pair of matching earrings. Harry Potter is surrounded by potion bottles, and is carrying his wand. The matching earrings were white owls, just like Hedwig. Captain Jack is surrounded by cutlasses. And the earrings were cutlasses too.

I'm really proud of these pieces. I think they look fabulous, and I'm looking forward to hearing from Maggi how her nieces liked their presents.

What do you think? :-)

If you would like your own set like this, please email me! thequizzicalowl [at] gmail [dot] com

Knitted Secret Santa Present

BrisStyle held its first AGM last Saturday. It is always lovely to see the crafty ladies. There was a Secret Santa present swap and the only rule was that it needed to be handmade. Rather than raid my stock of Lego jewellery, I wanted to knit something. I was very pleased with my creation and thought that I would share some photos.

Cute, huh?

I've also made a second one for Scott's Secret Santa at his work.

The pattern I got from here.  It's an excellent way to use leftover yarn. And I've got lots of yarn.