Spinning a Yarn

25/01/2019

Finally, life is returning to normal and spinning is once again high on my priority list. We moved house in late November after a stressful search for the right place. We rent and competition for places is fast and furious. If you’re not quick enough off the mark, a Let has been agreed before you have time to dial the agent to arrange a booking! When your heart skips a beat as you scroll down the page full of ‘No’s and suddenly there’s a definite ‘Yes’ your hopes are often dashed when you’re informed that the landlord doesn’t want any pets. Anyway, it all turned out all right in the end and we are settling happily in amongst cider and perry orchards! Can’t wait to see the spring blossoms.
Oh, and we both had to find part time jobs as well. Now though, with the unpacking all done, Christmas and visitors behind us we are picking up where we left off last autumn and with the tiniest room in the house bagsey‘d by me for my fibre room I’m raring to go!

25/01/2019

This in desperation is my make-do swift! I had a much needed drum carder for Christmas as well as a lovely ball winder. It’s arm aching work as I carefully unwind the skein whilst winding the handle of the ball winder. Can’t afford one just yet so I shall just have to keep calm and carry on unwinding!!

19/09/2018

I finally put up the Shibori dyed Swiss blind I made. Pretty pleased with myself!

04/09/2018

I must start putting the conversations I have with myself in my head down on paper! Soooo.. I’ve been spinning Gotland now for a while, began by carding Rolags but it tangled up on itself. A friend advised flick carding but I think I was a bit heavy handed with it because I was drawing out a large amount of fibres onto the carder from the locks and consequently have a big pile of waste. So I am just flicking with absolutely no pulling which has the desired result of very little waste - but - as I spin, the fibres are still getting tangled up 😠. Finally, I think I’ve discovered a solution. Instead of holding a handful of the flicked fleece, I am just spinning two or three locks at a time. There are less fibres to tangle up and it seems to be spinning more smoothly and without me having to keep stopping to untangle the drafted fibre. 🤞

19/08/2018

What a great day, sorting and washing fleeces. The sunshine and heat finally returned!

24/06/2018

On both my ‘upstairs’ Frank Herring wheel and my ‘downstairs’ Ashford Elizabeth wheel, (this is because there are too many stairs to keep carrying everything up and down all the time), I have Gotland fleece. It’s beautifully soft and lustrous and needs very little preparation. I’m spinning it fairly finely as I’d like to see it knitted as a Henley style tee shirt with cap sleeves, as well as something lacey. Anyone got any knitting patterns they can share? It spins like a dream although now and then it can be wanton to tangle as the fibres are quite fly-away. However, it’s easy to address this and isn’t a problem. , , , , , ,

24/06/2018

Update on my ‘free’ wool collected during a walk (see my earlier post); It’s now a lovely soft centre-pull ball, 21 wraps per inch waiting to be knitted into something 🤔 , , ,

24/06/2018

The Shibori dyeing is getting better but is still a work in progress. I want a much darker more traditional indigo colour. I really love the stitch resist technique as I enjoy hand sewing but never seem to do it! This gives me the chance to use a needle and thread in a very simple running stitch and I find it very satisfying 👌

17/06/2018

The Shibori dyeing workshop run by my local guild of spinners, weavers and dyers yesterday was very inspiring but see what happens when you don’t read the instructions about using cotton fabric carefully enough and bring polyester instead!! The dye didn’t take. You can just see the very feint squares and thin lines on the first two samples but my third experiment did work and the mystery was solved as to why when I realised I had accidentally picked up a piece of someone else’s fabric ☺️Still full of enthusiasm I am having another go at home and hoping for better results. Watch this space!

09/06/2018

Yesterday’s dog walk provided me with all this lovely sheep 🐑 wool for free off barbed wire and on the grass. A quick scour and wash and I shall see how much yarn I can spin from it.

31/05/2018

19/05/2018

Just managed to squeeze a wheel into the car along with all our camping gear as we’re bound for the Derbyshire Dales and the weather is gorgeous for both spinning and camping!

13/05/2018

Azlan (aka Wazzboy) and Cheryl the feral testing the coziness of the Gotland fleece!

13/05/2018

A fabulous present from my sister- Wensleydale, Gotland and Grey Faced Dartmoor fleeces 😃

13/05/2018

Jacob 2ply yarn spun from washed fleece just teased apart. I’m not a fan of the barber pole look but am experimenting with different ways of plying. Navajo next.

07/05/2018

Knit with your handspun! Spin up handpaints, gradients, batts, and different breeds, then cast on 20 custom knits with your one-of-a-kind yarn. Spin & Knit features spinning and knitting projects for all skill levels, whether you j

06/05/2018

No, that’s not a bit of fleece on the floor, it’s my cat Azlan known as Wazzboy to his friends!

06/05/2018

Such a treat to be spinning outside at last.