Maid of Fibre boat trip with yarn - Downham Market

Maid of Fibre is a 60ft narrow boat, custom fitted to be a sanctuary for knitters!  Brothers, Richard & Stewart Ellis invite knitters on board to sit, relax and view next season's yarns whilst wending your way along the river.  We first met them 3 weeks ago at our Knit in Public Day and now we were taking advantage of them being moored here in Downham Market overnight, before heading off to the south of England. Although the guys are often in East Anglia with their van, it has been 4 years since they last brought the boat here, and it will probably be another 4 years before it returns.  Six members of the group were free to visit the boat today, plus we invited local talented craftswoman  and author Sue Welfare, and local reporter for the Lynn News, Jo Garner, who were both delighted to join us for our jaunt.

First group excitedly about to embark. Weather grey, windy and impending rain.

 Sheila, Sue, Pat and Donna snugly seated onboard, with coffee. Bring on the yarn!

next season's scarf yarn

Wonderful Peruvian alpaca loveliness.

Will  Donna choose the purple?

 Sue and Pat watch Donna's choice.

yarn storage on the boat

Stewart, the perfect host and salesman

           Cap'n Richard, who drew the short straw today!

2nd group about to embark (Nik, Sheila, Tricia and Pat-Jo has yet to arrive)

Nik and Jo in the bow of the boat

Sheila finishes Stewart's scarf !

fab hand-dyed Chilean cotton yarn

Pat and Tricia are renowned for having similar tastes. They often go out wearing the same colour (like today). So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that they both fell in love with the same pattern and the same yarn!!  We all had a fabulous day and feel very blessed that we were able to make contact with the guys and visit their wonderful workplace!! Looking forward to seeing them again at the Ally Pally in October.

Maid of Fibre here we come!

Next Monday several of our group are meeting the lovely Richard and Stewart Ellis from Maid of Fibre  as they are coming to Downham for a couple of days. We have planned a 'cruise and peruse' along the waterway, and will see next year's yarn. So exciting. There are a couple of places still if anyone in the area would like to join us. You must let us know in advance as group sizes are limited to 5. Cost for the trip is £10 for 2 hours, of which £3 is to cover expenses and refreshments. The remainder is entirely redeemable against any purchases or orders made on the boat on the day.

 

You may remember that Stewart, Richard and Maggie joined us for our Worldwide Knit in Public Day on 14th June here in Downham.


 

An evening in June just after midsummer

This evening we had a visit from Sue Welfare and her hubby Phil Pead who has recently launched a new community website He is doing a feature on our knitting group, and took lots of photos.  So watch that space. Kerry proudly showed us the crocheted blanket she has made since learning last month. Donna is making a mystery shawl. Pics below. Nik made an amazing carrot cake for us!! We planned our visits to Maid of Fibre next Monday, and also talked about the Ally Pally Knit & Stitch Show.