In the Making...

I got my spinning wheel out last week. It’s been quite some time since I did any spinning because my schedule has gotten a bit hectic. I had a bit of a craving to spin though. I finished what I had started – not good practice to leave singles for as long as I did but I didn’t have too many issues with it ( as long as you don’t look too close). The fibre is Frog Prince roving from hilltopcloud – it’s a blend of BFL, merino, bamboo and sparkle. Using my new WPI tool from hilltopcloud, it’s about 10 wpi, which makes it worsted weight. It’s 3 plied. There’s about 172m, so probably enough for a hat. I’ve started another lot of fibre. This one is from Countess Ablaze .It’s BFL and I got it quite some time ago. I hoping to make this into a 3ply fingering weight yarn. There’s about 164g of fibre, so that should be plenty. I’m not sure at the moment whether I’m just going to go with the flow or navajo ply it. I’m just going to spin the singles first then...

Back to the knitting... The photo of this has sat on my computer for awhile, been a bit too busy to blog recently.  The pattern is Zuzu's Petals by Carina Spencer , which I made with some of my handspun, blogged originally here . Handspun Zuzu project page . The yarn is faux cashmere, 18 w.p.i, 268m/100g. So from fibre... to yarn... To Zuzu's Petals. It's a lovely idea, a small shawlette shape but worked as a cowl so it's not going to fall off. Another plus, is it doesn't take a lot of yarn. I have a few projects on the go at the moment. I've been wanting some very warm mittens for awhile now. I thought some Fair Isle ones with a lining would do the job. Another handspun yarn project, I blogged about the yarn on the same post as the faux cashmere. The pattern is Narwhal Mittens by Ysolda Teague . Handspun Narwhals project page . I've completed one full mitten and the outer mitten for the other. They are sittin...

Another year at Woolfest and it was just as fantastic. Here are links to previous years 2011 and 2012 . It seemed busier this year.  I went with the intention of buying no spinning fibre at all, as I had a lot bought me at Christmas, but.... Well, hilltopcloud fibre is so gorgeous, it just "had" to be bought. There was a beautiful blue and orange batt and some Southdown dyed in a gradient. Southdown is meant to be a fantastic fibre for socks and I've been wanting to try it for awhile. I love how the fibre was presented it looked like a fluffy octopus! Eden Cottage Yarns and a mini skein set from Natural Dye Studio Cute little sheep from Hestascene . Need to think of an appropriate name for her. Gorgeous buttons from Textile Garden Embroidery silks from Natalie Fergie aka Yarn Yard. The orange 4ply in the top picture is from her too. This is what I got most excited about. It's a Lilly Brush which before the show I thought was o...

I can't seem to settle with my craft life at the moment. I'm bobbing about all over the place. As well as the usual, knitting, I've been spinning and sewing too! As I mentioned last week, I've been doing some embroidery. My dropcloth sampler arrived this morning; so I've got another project to add to the list. I've got 3 socks finished at the moment, unfortunately none of them match each other! So I'd better get on and do the others. I have got some finished objects to show you. I've been wanting to spin the fibre I got for Christmas, but I'm a starter/finisher so wanted to finish the fibre I already had on the wheel. However, it seemed to be taking forever. I'd intended for the merino to be sock weight but somehow, it ended up thinner than that and in the end I've drafted over 2km and plied it into a 1km 2ply. I've no idea how it ended up being that much and I'll have to find another project for it, as it's too thin f...

I had some really wonderful surprises from my family this Christmas. I had lots of lovely knitting/spinning gifts. Some very helpful knitting books. And some gorgeous spinning fibre and some Knitpro Cubix needles. Going clockwise, starting with the braid, it is 100% BFL - Enjoy the Ride from Countess Ablaze . The others are from HilltopCloud , 100g Yellow Batts - shetland, merino & camel, and a 35g Frog Prince Batt and 100g Hand Blended Frog Prince Roving. And my best knitting present of all was made by my niece. I love it. Though, not sure what the warning is about, perhaps flying needles and balls of yarn! I'm sure I'm not a dangerous knitter...

I've spent a few days recently on my spinning wheel. Here are my latest yarn-like creations: Remember this? It was some of the Wensleydale/Silk roving I dyed recently - blogged here It's changed into a 2 ply, 15 w.p.i., 157m/100g - sport weight. I finished the Faux Cashmere I mentioned last week. It's 18 w.p.i., 268m/100g. I've finished the mate to the Teal Shetland - so it's all ready for some fair isle mittens. It's a very pale green, BFL, 161m, 17 w.p.i. Not identical to it's mate but close enough for the mittens. I've also made a couple of mini skeins. The sparkle will hopefully become a Christmas tree decoration;  and the other two are the start of a larger lot of yarns for another fair isle project. The original idea was for some Bandelier socks, so the colours I have are similar but think I might use the same pattern and improvise something else. Don't think I really want make a pair of s...

Among lots of other things, I've managed to fit in a little time for spinning. Happened to drive past Wingham Woolworks a little while back (it was a 50 mile detour really!). Bought a few bits and on the way to the counter saw this gorgeous shiny fluff and it went into the basket. It's 50% yak, 50% silk and it really shines. It changed from this to this... It's  a 2ply, 178m, 12 w.p.i. DK. It's going to become a "Yak Hat"! This is Shetland from Wheeldale and there's only 50g, 175m, 2ply and 18 w.p.i. So it's on the edge of being a fingering weight. I have another 50g in a light green in BFL to go with it and once that's spun, it'll be some handspun stranded mittens. This is my first attempt at corespinning and I loved it. 141m, 10 w.p.i., Worsted Weight. Fibre mix: merino, BFL, sari silk, bamboo, baby alpaca and sparkle. My thinking at the moment it would make a lovely drawstring bag but don't really nee...

I got a little sidetracked recently. I've participated in my first KAL (knit-a-long). Ysolda Teague has recently self published Orchid Thief shawl - it was originally available in Brave New Knits. To celebrate this, a KAL has been organised.  I ummed and ahhed over doing it and suddenly remembered I had the perfect handspun for the project and it sort of tipped the balance. So off I trotted and bought the pattern and found my needles and wool. It transformed from this...... to this.... And finally to this..... I've included a few beads that I had in the edging and used a crochet cast off edge.

After having a look through my handspun; I was looking at one of my favourite books  The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius . As a spinner, I felt that I was sadly lacking in even basic knowledge of different breeds of sheep and other animals and what each fibre was ideal for. This book helps to fill in all those gaps. It only covers fibre that comes from animals; so there isn't anything about cotton/linen/banana fibre etc. but what it does cover is very comprehensive. I love the maps inside the front and back cover that show where in the world each animal is native to. There is clearly a very strong history of sheep and wool in the British Isles because an individual map of the UK is needed to show all the different breeds. For each fibre there is a, wealth of information succinctly shown. There are clear photographs of the fibre in all sorts of different states; raw, clean, spun, knitted and woven samples. I like that it shows tha...

A quick catch up on my spinning. I have a few of my most recent skeins photographed. The purple/green handspun is 70% BFL / 30% Silk. It's a 2ply laceweight, 25 w.p.i and there is about 452m. The roving was bought at Woolfest from FeltstudioUK . This one is the same mix of fibre, 70% BFL / 30% Silk. This was spun on a spindle and is single ply laceweight and there is about 920m worth. Again the roving was from FeltstudioUK . 70% BFL 30% Kid Mohair. 2ply & 246m. This I bought when I was at Fibre East last summer from Picperfic This is some beautiful Suri alpaca that Chrissie from Homefield Alpacas  gave me to try. Homefield is a local alpaca farm and a lovely little place. There are lots of alpacas, Shetland sheep, Gotlands (who are a bit weird for sheep - they were quite fussy and wanted petting) and Buster, the Lincoln Longwool. Definitely worth a visit. 

I've not been knitting as much as I have been recently as I've just been bitten by the spinning bug. After using a spindle for awhile; my husband decided that he'd buy me my Christmas and Birthday present early and sent me off to get a spinning wheel. The other reasoning behind the wheel is that we thought it might be good for me to spin daily and help the muscles in my legs (though been doing it so much since I bought it walking is a little difficult, lol!!). We went to the Spinning Fair at Lincoln Uni a couple of weeks ago and had a go on the wheels that Wingham Wool Work had brought along. I'd sort of set my heart on the Ashford Joy but they didn't have one with them so I decided to go to their shop of the Monday and have a test run. My ever loving Mother came along with me; she was very patient all day even though she was probably quite bored- thanks, Mum!! I ended up buying a Kromski Sonata as it seemed to be the better deal. The £25 fibre voucher was fun t...