Meet Alice, the latest recruit to join Team No Frills Knitting, and the creative genius behind Woolmatters. For the past two years, we've been lucky enough to stock Alice’s crackin' hand-dyed yarns, so inviting her to officially join us was an easy decision. When Meg needed an extra hand in the shop, with a busy schedule and baby Jessie in tow, Alice was the perfect fit with her wealth of expertise and knitting knowledge.
Alice calls Clevedon home, where she runs Woolmatters from her glorious family garden. To be honest, calling it a garden does it a disservice - this paradise is a sight to behold, home to a load of delicious, fresh veggies, but also a colourful rainbow of dye plants - from the gloriously rich reds of the Madder root, to the deep natural blues of the Japanese Indigo plant.
Crafting bold and beautiful colors from garden grown or wild foraged plants is the essence of Woolmatters, but the magic is in the locally sourced wool fibers. Every skein and mini-skein in the real life shop (and now online - hurrah!) is a testament to Alice’s ethos and care.
This month, we teamed up with Alice for the ultimate cosy collab and the exclusive hand dyed skeins she created for our new Campfire KAL knitting kits are an absolute treat! Made with 20% Grey Exmoor Blueface and 80% Romney fibers, sourced and spun in Devon and dyed in Alice’s Somerset home, they’re about as local and sustainable as you can get.
I caught up with Alice recently whilst she was working in the shop to find out all about her knitting must haves, her fave knit designers and dyers and what she has on her knitting needles right now...
Alice, what’s your favourite:
Yarn?
Woolmatters Hand Dyed of course! I actually love woollen spun yarns, with De Rerum Natura Ulysses and Gilliat very high on my favourites list! I am also a great lover of Knitting for Olive Merino and the Portuguese yarns from Retrosaria Rosa Pomar and the Spanish yarns from Wooldreamers!
Needles?
Knitpro Symfonie Tips with a Mindful Swivel Cable
Type of knitting project?
Colourwork or simple top down construction sweater
Finished object?
Fuyuhi Sweater by Noriko Ichikawa
What are you knitting at the moment?
Linden Cardigan by Melody Hoffmann and a pair of socks in my own yarn. (Full disclosure - it's taken me a while to write this up, so you might see Alice showing off her Linden when working in the shop now - it's gorgeous!)
What yarn features most in your stash?
My own naturally dyed yarn for sure! I have a box with lots of little bits and bobs and I love it, if you’ve been to the shop before you might have seen the little ‘Seaglass Sweater’ I knit with my stash yarns in all the colours of nature’s rainbow!
What are the latest 3 projects in your Ravelry favourites list?
Tanaka Sweater by Junko Okamoto
Sheep Camp Sweater by Jennifer Berg
Do you follow any knitting blogs, YouTube channels, or online communities?
I follow many wonderful designers and dyers on Instagram. Some of my favourites are:
What's your best tip for beginner knitters?
Choose a PetiteKnit Novice/ Beginner Knitting Pattern and use the knitting tutorial s on VeryPink Knits YouTube Channel to help with things that are new to you!
Quick Fire Questions
Knitting or crochet? Knitting
Jumper or cardigan? Jumper
Magic loop? Reluctant yes
Must have knitting tool? Scissors
What's up next in your knitting queue? A Louvre Sweater by Petiteknit, a kids Hopi sweater by Linka Neumann for my eldest daughter and a pair of socks for my partner for his birthday!
Best yarn weight to work with? Chunky or sport
How do you get to work in the morning? I drive in, as I live in Clevedon and I usually listen to an audiobook and enjoy the peace and quiet between the hectic school drop off and starting work!
Must have shop snack? Flapjack! I make an oven tin full nearly every week!
Socks and sandals? If it’s hand knit socks and sandals yay! Otherwise nay!
Fruit or veg? Veg!
What are you having for dinner tonight? I think we will do a salad with leaves from our garden and lots of other veggies and seeds and I think we’ll have some beef skewers with it, maybe a teriyaki marinade!
Catch up with Alice over on Instagram at @woolmatters.
Explore Alice's gorgeous hand dyed yarn.