Helen Lockhart Ripples Crafts

Chief Dyer at Ripples Crafts Hand Dyed Yarn,
A Scatterling of Africa
Living in Assynt and loving life here.
I'll chat mostly about #weaving #dyeing #knitting #Assynt #Scotland #photographs #art #IndependentLife #OffGridLiving

You will also find me in my other professional guise at @RipplesCrafts where I talk about hand dyeing yarn which I've been doing since 2008.

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npub1twh3fxw0awrwzxpyvmwh9h9hfx660hdut0d8t4pyq7v2lutkvwzsr2hcm5

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

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nprofile1qqs9htc5n887hphprqjxdhtjmjm5ndd8mk79hkn46sjq0x9079mx8pgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsqvc8cf

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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npub1twh3fxw0awrwzxpyvmwh9h9hfx660hdut0d8t4pyq7v2lutkvwzsr2hcm5

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Last Notes

2026-04-26 08:42:41 GMT

Obviously I've done an online search and it is coming up with a lot of starter providers, but I'm looking for a personal recommendation if you have one.
2/2

2026-04-26 08:42:18 GMT

Any home made yoghurt makers out there?
I eat a lot of yoghurt and years ago used to make my own just using a flask and live yoghurt. Recently I invested in a dedicated yoghurt maker, but I'm struggling to get a yoghurt any thicker than thick milk. I'm using live yoghurt as my starter (Yeo) but to make a decent yoghurt I can have with my granola I need to strain it and it wastes so much.
I'm on the hunt for a good, reliable yoghurt starter - any ideas? I'm avoiding Amazon if possible.
1/2

2026-04-25 17:55:28 GMT

This article had my jaw on the floor:
" A lot of the second homeowners, particularly in our group are retirees and it’s a lifestyle choice they’ve made using their pensions to supplement,” he said.
“They’re choosing to holiday in Scotland if you like, and they’re choosing to invest in Scotland, and more importantly they’re choosing to do that in the Highlands.
“We’re just ordinary people, we’re certainly not on the wealthy scale by any stretch of the imagination.”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/26052241.highland-second-home-owners-oppose-300-per-cent-council-tax-rise/

2026-04-25 09:07:51 GMT

Ahhhh the joys.
Thought I'd get to the Post Office and back to the workshop before the madness began
I was wrong ...
Two more campervans joined the car you can see at the previous passing place.
Reader, it took a while.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/464/544/390/784/950/original/bdbb5bd10c531fa2.jpg

2026-04-23 17:19:38 GMT

It would seem that this is to be the year of the tick :(

2026-04-16 08:12:08 GMT

A volt and bolt at the Perth chargers before heading to Bridge of Earn for a filling breakfast to see us through the rest of the trip to Edinburgh and then the hard work of setting up for #WoollyGoodGathering
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/413/372/305/414/999/original/82d82d2b56d6d52c.jpg

2026-04-15 11:13:42 GMT

So much for the Clearway ruling that came into force near Ardvreck Castle last week 🤷‍♂️
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/408/418/621/075/712/original/7576420bd6455711.jpg

2026-04-04 20:00:59 GMT

Re watching the series presented by Prof. Sam Willis on The Silk Road, and was reminded of the lovely quote from a Zoroastrian woman talking about their colourful clothing. She said Zoroastrians don't normally wear black, and that ....
"We wear lively colours to refresh our souls".
I can certainly understand and appreciate that perspective.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/116/348/210/498/737/393/original/921bd3ffcb6b4b7f.png

2026-03-30 07:01:46 GMT

Could we all agree to stop using the term "Vegan Leather"? Thank you.

2026-03-08 13:44:31 GMT

Any Queenslanders/Australians who can recommend a search engine for accommodation south of Brisbane? Everywhere I'm looking seems very expensive and just wondering if there is a local search engine I don't know about.
At the moment a 2 bedroom apartment for my sister and I for two weeks while we visit my elderly Mum is coming in at between £1500 and £2000 which feels excessive, especially as some places are rated "disappointing" or "avoid"!

2026-03-04 12:19:23 GMT

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@nprofile…hl5m AND THE PRIZE GOES TO ........ Justine 🎉

2026-03-04 12:12:43 GMT

Two parcels went in the post on the same day last week. One to Australia and one to London. Guess which one got there first. Go on ... guess.
🤷

2026-03-04 09:01:17 GMT

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@nprofile…hqk5 If you want to go down an Aran sweater rabbit hole .....
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#craft=knitting&weight=aran&pc=sweater&pa=cables&fit=adult&sort=recently-popular&view=captioned_thumbs&page=1

2026-02-27 19:36:43 GMT

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@nprofile…hqk5 I'm about to begin the first.

2026-02-20 19:44:51 GMT

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@nprofile…hqk5 I can only talk from a yarn dyer's perspective .... I need the yarn to be in hanks for the dyeing process, and as I am a one person business I simply don't have the capacity to convert hundreds of hanks I dye into cakes. It isn't really to do with the cost of the equipment but rather the time it takes.
Also the theory about the tension of cakes vs hanks is very true. Unless you're going to use the yarn as soon as it is caked, it is better for it to remain in a hank.

2026-01-28 16:32:04 GMT

One of the pieces I really love is the woman carrying the peat creel. I was asked to produce a colour to represent the colour of the rope for the creel, coloured over the years from the peat and after a few go's I came up with a cracker - even if I say so myself.
#spiritofthehighlandsandislandstapestry
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/973/667/396/823/185/original/b6f4d1ace263ca57.jpg

2026-01-28 16:16:26 GMT

The tapestry representing Glencoe was just stunning.
The more you look at it the more you see.
#SpiritOfTheHighlandsandIslandsTapestry
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/973/610/072/174/886/original/37204e3c2fea333b.jpg

2026-01-28 16:13:05 GMT

I had the opportunity to visit the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands Tapestry this morning, houses at the refurbished Inverness Castle.
Around 600 folk from the H&I (including Shetland and Orkney) participated in this enormous communal creative endeavour, producing 56 panels, some of which are now part of the exhibition in the castle. Each tells the stories and histories of the location where stitching groups were based.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/973/576/641/333/827/original/be08cc4a655622d0.jpg

2026-01-09 08:04:39 GMT

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@nprofile…hqk5 Ohhhh crocheted lanyards! There's an idea. I'm a knitter and a not very good crocheter, but my husband @nprofile…25u0 can crochet so I may nag him to crochet lanyards for us for when we attend yarn events around the country for our vendor badges. Thanks for that idea. Is there a trick to attaching the lanyards to the id badges?

2026-01-07 16:24:11 GMT

Had a reminder of this today from Tony Benn today. I miss him and his ilk.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/854/737/105/936/100/original/f1c6257cbdcf64a3.png

2025-12-12 20:01:04 GMT

Ohhh @nprofile…rnd7 has a new pattern out using Ripples Crafts Yarn and its a beauty! I don't stock sport weight any more, but I'm sure DK would work too.
https://woollywormhead.com/product/rangle-knitting-pattern
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/708/366/680/321/040/original/2d21485552b3c650.png

2025-12-12 10:54:40 GMT

Food shopping day today. It is at this time of year that we make sure the cupboards and freezer are well stocked in case the weather closes in and we can't get out for a shop.
But first we made a detour to Lairg pharmacy to get my flu jag and naturally that was all the excuse we needed to stop in at The Pier for a warming fire and a festive coffee
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/706/216/868/056/254/original/fae8b56b43b6d109.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/706/216/891/196/849/original/a062da0e7eb20cf2.jpg
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/706/216/959/136/507/original/7545879294f3d3e9.jpg

2025-12-10 14:43:51 GMT

Highland folk on Mastodon .... do you know of a lovely venue north and pref. east of Inverness to hold an event? Think Strathpeffer Pavillion type space. Any suggestions welcome. Asking for someone not on Mastodon (more fool them, naturally, but 🤷 )

2025-12-07 17:03:35 GMT

It was very "watercolour painting" type scenes in Inverness this afternoon so I shouldn't have been surprised my phone camera thought so too
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/679/360/887/941/903/original/2bff0e89bf55339a.jpg

2025-12-05 21:03:51 GMT

Our neighbour brought us meringues and custard tarts left over from a community tea. We are now both very over sugared!

2025-11-08 15:20:04 GMT

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@nprofile…x4wz @nprofile…32g2 @nprofile…7ugy He never stands still for long enough! Here is one of him at Three Rondavals
Note having bandwidth problems so here is the alt text that wouldn't post to pic:
"A man stands side on to the camera looking at the photographer. Behind him is a landscape of hills and mountains."
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/115/514/738/322/188/136/original/0b3f7ab852c34f74.jpg

2025-07-22 13:48:49 GMT

A very poor phone photograph and on full zoom, but just a small section of our total compliment of small birdie folk this year.
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/897/196/261/033/946/original/5d7c3e5c2d57f47d.jpg

2025-07-19 07:11:36 GMT

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@nprofile…t4qe @nprofile…k7gd ah Justine, FINALLY someone understands the hardships I bear .......
Oh okay I'll admit it. I actually have the easy bit. Stevan's hard work is done by this point. But here he is grafting hard getting the stand built
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/878/645/051/064/786/original/b310043365433d72.jpg

2025-06-21 18:54:28 GMT

We were visiting friends from Germany last weekend, and our friend Vera struggles with English at times, even though her English is way WAY ahead of my German which is non existent. But sometimes when searching for an English word she describes what she's talking about. And she was trying to grasp the English name "Starling" when talking about a bird. She said, you know, the ones with the little hearts all over them. And I had never looked that closely at starlings before, but 👇 #birds
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/722/868/020/674/774/original/95cff9617c7f5ceb.png

2025-06-09 08:32:57 GMT

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@nprofile…j90y Thank you. This card doesn't have a pin number so it is good to know that there is a limit to offline payments. As someone else helpfully suggested (which I just didn't think of) I can set up a hotspot to my own phone for wifi too.

2025-06-09 07:53:07 GMT

I don't use Google wallet on my personal phone, but I have to use it for tour guide work that I do for someone else so I keep it on another phone. So my question is this - in order for payments from a card held in Google Wallet to work do you need a mobile signal or can it work without wifi/mobile signal? Sorry if this sounds really ignorant but I don't understand the process.
What it boils down to is I don't want an unnecessary sim in that spare phone unless needed.

2025-06-07 09:12:45 GMT

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@nprofile…60lz Even with Nationwide's branch banking commitment, they were unable to open a savings account for us recently (we are already current a/c members) in the branch, saying we had to do it online. 🤷

2025-05-29 10:10:08 GMT

I wonder what it is about a sign which reads "Hand Dyed Yarn" which would indicate that I sell ready made or made to order hand knitted garments ..... 🙄

2025-05-22 07:40:24 GMT

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@nprofile…t4qe @nprofile…k7gd If only you KNEW how many times he's actively "broken" his laptop so that he can reinstall everything to try to get it to run more efficiently........

2025-05-19 14:08:22 GMT

Aye, because the real issue is not being able to use EU electronic gates at passport control 🙄
Meanwhile small businesses like mine continue to suffer thanks to those who orchestrated and voted for Brexit.

2025-05-16 11:25:28 GMT

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@nprofile…t4qe @nprofile…k7gd Has managed to squash his finger to the point that it burst! Sort of.

2025-05-16 11:20:06 GMT

Accident prone? @nprofile…k7gd? Never!
So .... why does our bathroom look like the set of a horror movie as we speak? Why?
🙄

2025-05-12 20:14:16 GMT

Damn and blast Brexit to hell and back again. That is all.

2025-04-28 12:44:36 GMT

*sings* 🎶
"doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c705y5079pko

2025-04-26 12:50:11 GMT

A hard nod on this quote today from Tim Walz:
”If you say you love freedom but you don't believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.“

2025-04-22 12:04:18 GMT

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@nprofile…s0cr Hmmmm no still works for me?

2025-04-21 19:36:22 GMT

I hadn't dyed this colourway for ages, and then a customer asked if I'd dye her a batch and it made me remember how much I love it. So .... I dyed more .... and more .... and now it is all up on the website if you fancy "The Starling Wing" on various 4 ply bases or on Culkein DK.
https://www.ripplescrafts.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=starling+wing
https://media.mastodon.scot/media_attachments/files/114/377/625/347/737/952/original/41d81a0555c77329.jpg

2025-04-18 20:21:56 GMT

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@nprofile…t4qe @nprofile…k7gd Only if there's been a huge increase in the rate of VAT recently 😉

2025-04-01 17:22:27 GMT

Any one coming to Woolly Good Gathering in Edinburgh this coming weekend?
#knitting #yarn #crochet #WoollyGoodGathering

2025-03-17 18:48:29 GMT

I met a lovely lady from Frankfurt this weekend and she said she was on Mastodon. If that's you can you let me know so I definitely follow you? Tnx
#knitting

2025-03-02 12:03:18 GMT

Glasgow folks - as we all know despite their advertising Premier Inn breakfasts are ...... well lets just say we won't be partaking.
So - where in central Glasgow (Buchanan Gallery) or near the Uni is good for a QUICK breakfast? Does the University Cafe in Byers Road live up to the hype?

2024-01-05 08:29:36 GMT

Not the most enticing day ahead. Off to the bank (the actual branch) to do battle over online access to our bank accounts. This may sound a trivial trip, but it is, in fact, an 140 mile round trip. We have been reminded, recently, of the fact that there is not a single branch of #BankOfScotland in the whole of Sutherland.

2023-12-10 16:24:32 GMT

My sister, who died from breast cancer, got upset when someone referred to "beating cancer". She always knew hers was terminal, and nothing to do with her "losing the fight". These words from Laura Smyth ring bells:
I resent all the social-media language that has now taken root in cancer diagnosis and treatment, like: “You’re gonna kick cancer’s ass.” People die of cancer not because they didn’t “think positive” or they weren’t good fighters, but because sometimes there is no rhyme or reason"

2023-11-08 03:20:50 GMT

Ahhh where would we be without our pets .....
"Another customer, Annie, told local radio she found out about the outage through her cat, who was left breakfast-less when her automatic Wi-Fi feeder failed due to the network issues."
#optus

2023-09-03 07:42:35 GMT

The week ahead for me holds new adventures. I will be helping guide a group of knitters from the US around the Highlands & Islands on a "Wool and Whisky" tour. I mean, what is not to love about a tour with that kind of title? We'll be taking the group to places I know well, and also to places I've never been to and will be discovering for myself alongside the group. And it even looks like the weather may treat us to some warm, sunny days.
#KnittingTour #Knitting #Whisky

2023-09-03 06:53:54 GMT

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@npub1uzr…k9aj I'm betwixt and between. I really didn't like the one from last year, even once it was finished, so I'm swithering. I may wait to see what it looks like first. Also, I'll be travelling for most of November, so definitely won't be able to keep up with clues.

2023-08-22 19:09:19 GMT

A question for the #knitting hive mind.
A garment knitted in garter stitch that needs sewing up on the sides - would you block before stitching up the sides or after? I don't think I've ever knitted a completely garter stitch sweater before and I'm doubting my plan to sew up first and then block. Would it not be easier to block THEN stitch so your seaming stitches aren't too tight?

2023-08-17 09:32:55 GMT

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@npub12ca…q8m2 Yes, our willow has SHOT up

2023-08-17 08:59:27 GMT

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@npub12ca…q8m2 They seem to have ripened early this year. But they are looking rather lovely.

2023-05-13 11:32:12 GMT

I'm (very) slowly developing a new Orkney Collection of colours after our recent trip. Here is the not quite finalised colourway inspired by the floor of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall
https://media.mastodon.scot/mastodon-scot-public/media_attachments/files/110/361/148/534/429/425/original/642cf5f7365c5469.jpg