Reindeer are a little fiddly to make but our youngest attendee was 7 years old and made an amazing Reindeer.
The little wood stands that I made for the reindeer to stand in were made from wood from the forest too.
Thank you to everyone who attended and I hope to be back again in the forest next year with more family friendly willow workshops.
This heritage workshop was created as no-one had made anything like this within the area, but also because (like myself) there are still people cutting peat and to create a peat creel would be extremely useful. Plus I have a huge interest in heritage work.
Today’s participants were;
Another peat cutter with a huge interest in heritage crafts
A competition winner who is passionate about helping the community learn
Someone who challenges themselves to create even when they think it’s beyond themselves (,which it absolutely NEVER is)
A historical artist who loves to create heritage pieces
As a teacher that was a great selection of students.
This was not an easy workshop due to the variation in techniques, size of project, and square work required.
All this said I am immensely proud of everyone. Their peat creels were absolutely amazing.
Never say you can’t do anything.
If you are interested in seeing a peat creel then one has been left with Castlehill Heritage Society so please get in touch with them. Alternatively if you fancy a challenge and have some experince in willow work please get In touch, or watch out for future peat creel workshops.
Thank you Castlehill Heritage Society for the use of your facilities this weekend. There was no better place to have run this workshop.
This was our first family session and the feedback was that everyone really enjoyed it and want more sessions. The children who attended did fantastic, and the adults found the session therapeutic. Even the birds enjoyed it as we were joined by a group of 5 blue tits and a robin, although I think they were enjoying the bird seed in the bird feeder we hung at the start of the workshop.
So, a good day was had by everyone. If you would like to join us for a session in the forest then the next event is planned for December…so wrap up warm.
Watch a bird feeder being made https://www.facebook.com/reel/1194876132655299?locale=en_GB
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2171836743458998 this short video shows a blue tit enjoying a fat ball in one of the bird feeders.
Come along and learn how to make a traditional peat creel
10th and 11th October 2026
£175 per person
Castlehill Heritage Centre, Castletown
To reserve a place email handmade@blushfulearth.co.uk
It was so lovely to be asked to design a landscape scarf for the John O’Groats Mill Trust of the John O’Groats mill. The colours and textures of the mill are vast and I wanted to reflect this in the design of the scarf. I have therefore used a mixture of pure wools and thicknesses. Wools used include Scottish merino, Shetland, Scottish Lambswool, and a Lambswool and cotton mix.
The colours that stood out to me were the distinctive red from the windows, the white lime render, the mixed stone colours of cream and brown.
It’s a beautiful building and we are so lucky to have this building to visit and see locally.
The scarf is exclusive to the mill and therefore can only be purchased there. Sales are available from the 31st May when the mill is fully open to the public. If you would like one of these exclusive scarves contact:info@johnogroatsmill.com or visit the mill John O’Groats, KW1 4YR open 10-5 every day apart from Wednesdays. Last entry 4pm.
I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it.
We are delighted to introduce some new cotton designs for Mother’s day 2025.
The Dainty range Hand Woven Cotton Scarves
The Safran range Hand Woven Cotton Scarves
These scarves are all made from 100% cotton. They are thinner than our wool range at 14/16cm, but this gives the option to wrap a few times or have a loop knot. The scarves are perfect for both summer and winter wear.
Price £40
Order via handmade@blushfulearth.co.uk
]]>Inspired by our surroundings we wanted to create a natural product to display this. We also wanted to make them in the location using natural materials sourced locally.
Our first design is called ‘Moss of Brough’. Blushful Earth is based in Brough and over looks the Moss of Brough. We love the autumnal/winter colours and wanted to create a scarf to using these colours.
This scarf is handwoven here in Brough using Shetland pure wool.
Please get in touch for more details.
Most knitted garnments that we make end up with a slight surplus of wool, so this wool is then made into socks. But we are stretching the waste wool a little further too. With waste left over from the socks we are making knitted cards. These can be ordered via https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing
If you would like to order any of our socks please get in touch. Prices start at £8.00.
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