Chopped Tomatoes

Chopped Tomatoes Hand Dyed Cashmere Yarns

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hi, and welcome!

Chopped Tomatoes is a little artisan company that specialises in knitting, crochet, and spinning accessories, and the occasional batch of luxury hand-dyed yarns and fibres.

I (machelle) love working with my hands, and I learn something new everyday; I hope to somehow inspire you to create.

Now in Store

recipes.knit - knitting journal design notebook
cuddlesome baby tights - Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen
teeny toes baby socks -  Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen
not socks fingerless gloves - Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen
contempo fingerless gloves -  Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen
christina fingerless gloves - Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen

Chopped Tomatoes Hand Dyed Yarns & Knitting Patterns

Knitmeets

Tuesdays

Coffee #1, Cardiff Queen Street | Cardiff City Centre

5pm - 8pm

Thursdays

Coffee #1, Cardiff Queen Street | Cardiff City Centre

5pm - 8pm

Why don't you come along and enjoy some yarn and yarn!

a friendly disclaimer / copyright notice

Unless otherwise stated, all the content on this site, including articles, patterns, graphics and photography are my original copyrighted works. Please feel free to include my work on your website or blog but please link back to Chopped Tomatoes Design Kitchen.

Thank you!

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16/05/2012
weaving loom restoration :: before
weaving
loom restoration table top weaving loom

About a week ago, I was offered a loom. I accepted it, and this is my story...

When I went to pick up the loom I had no idea what to expect. You see, I have never woven (except on the cardboard rectangles with pinked edges that I was given when I was in primary school!), nor have I ever seen a 'real' loom up close. It was the weekend after Wonderwool Wales, and although I showed no interest in learning to weave the week before, seeing the beautiful pieces on show in Builth peaked my interest and I wanted to know more. 

On the way to Ms. L's house (I will be referring to the lovely generous donor as Ms. L from now on), I was filled with both excitement and apprehension. The cause for excitement was obvious, I was embarking on a new journey, a new craft... more 'stuff'... But I was also worried; I have no clue where to start, how will I learn? Who do I ask if I get stuck? What if I just don't 'get' it? 

Those thoughts didn't last long after I set eyes on the loom. They all disappeared and were replaced my my obsessive Need to Clean. The loom was quite caked with layers of rust, dirt, cobwebs and greasy tufts of leftover fibres. Ms. L explained that she hadn't used it for some time, and that it was in need of a really good scrubbing before I could play with it. 

Not a problem, I said. Cleaning is what I do best, so bring it on!

To be honest, realising that the loom needed restoration was the best thing that could have happened that day. You see, it was the day before my birthday; if the loom was ready to 'go' I would have spent the entire weekend experimenting and refusing to socialise with anyone. This way, I could work on it a bit at a time and still find time for family and friends on my birthday. 

After giving it a quick wipe, I took plenty of photos of the loom, so I could have a reference of what it looked like before I got to work on it (and also to make sure I knew how it was put together so I can put it back after I've dismantled it). Here they are:

keep reading
04/05/2012
wonderwool wales 2012
community
wonderwool wales 2012

It's been almost a week since Wonderwool, and the exciting buzz still hasn't worn off. For a change, I went to the show as a member of the public and not as an exhibitor; it was absolutely wonderful. The lovely Eirwen from Knitwitches Yarns had recipes.knit for sale at her stall and that allowed me to browse to my heart's content that weekend.

I didn't take anywhere near as many photos as I would have liked... The weather was a bit chilly (and I wasn't wearing gloves that day) and I was too lazy to take my camera out most of the time because I was distracted by all the fibre goodness around me! Instead of a wordy post, I'm just going to share some photos with you: 

 amanda hannaford (mandacrafts) being her amazing 'spinny' self!
keep reading
20/04/2012
recipes.knit launch :: let's talk about knitting journals
knittingshop updates
recipes.knit - Knitting Design Journal by Chopped Tomatoes

"I've been checking in on your blog lately, what happened to 'I'm going to write weekly posts and monthly giveaways from now on' then?"

My close friend had really hit it on the nose with that question. My last post was back in January, and now, almost 4 months later, I'm wiping off the virtual dust that had gathered on my blog. I had intended to keep up with my posting, I prepped how-to articles, experimented with recipes, filled up my hard drive with photos of inspiring pretty things... then reality hit and my fantastic blogging intentions went out the door. 

Over the past few months, I worked on a new project. An amazing new product (if I may say so myself!). I called it recipes.knit. It's a knitting journal, designed for designing. It's somewhere between a notebook, and a textbook; with plain pages for sketching, knitting graph paper for charting, and a substantial reference section with conversion/measurement charts. 

Here's a little peek into the book:

 
plain sketch pages with margins for extra notes
 
knitting graph paper
 
16 page reference section
 
keep reading
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