Showing posts with label Spinning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spinning. Show all posts
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tour de Fleece update - Day 12!
Last night was Slimming World, so I didn't have a lot of spinning time. I did manage to finish the single for the art yarn. I'm excited to ply it and add the beads and stuff. I don't know if it will ever be made into anything (isn't the point of art yarn that it isn't made into stuff?) but it's going to be cool...
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tour de Fleece update - Day 11!
Day 10 was a rest day for both the riders and spinners, so I happily spent my evening knitting on the Clapotis I’m making for my mum.
Day 11 was a trying day for me in real life, as the redundancy announcements at work came out. I actually still have a job, but I’m not yet sure how I feel about that. I finished the second alpaca single and I intend to ply those shortly.
Then, to cheer myself up, I started my first ever art yarn. I had a pack from the Threshing Barn which I picked up at one of the British Wool Weekend events, I think last November.
I emptied the tube onto my floor to see what was in there…
Flowers, leaves, beads, yarn, curls, silk blend and wool fibre (from two different breeds of sheep, at least)
So, I started spinning a single of that, with some intentional slubs, and then when I Navajo ply it, I will add the beads, flowers and leaves. I’m not sure about the yarn. It’s not really working for me, so it might not be added at all to this yarn. We’ll see how I feel when I get to that point.
Day 11 was a trying day for me in real life, as the redundancy announcements at work came out. I actually still have a job, but I’m not yet sure how I feel about that. I finished the second alpaca single and I intend to ply those shortly.
Then, to cheer myself up, I started my first ever art yarn. I had a pack from the Threshing Barn which I picked up at one of the British Wool Weekend events, I think last November.
I emptied the tube onto my floor to see what was in there…
Flowers, leaves, beads, yarn, curls, silk blend and wool fibre (from two different breeds of sheep, at least)
So, I started spinning a single of that, with some intentional slubs, and then when I Navajo ply it, I will add the beads, flowers and leaves. I’m not sure about the yarn. It’s not really working for me, so it might not be added at all to this yarn. We’ll see how I feel when I get to that point.
Monday, July 08, 2013
TdF day 7, 8 and 9!
Well, being off work is apparently not conducive to posting daily on my blog. I wonder why that could be?
Thursday evening I did a little bit of spinning on the alpaca, but I didn’t have long to spin so not a lot got done.
Spinning alpaca from the cloud (with no prep) is pretty dirty work, but it’s spinning up nicely!
Friday I did less spinning than I had hoped, as I spent the morning doing chores and then we went strawberry picking in the afternoon. I really enjoyed the fruit picking and might even go again before the season is over. I did manage to take the wheel outside for a little while though, which was nice.
And the bobbin started to fill up nicely while I was out in the sunshine
Day 8 was Saturday, and we went to the exhibit about the Mallard speed record at the National Railway Museum in York. It was a lot of fun!
It did mean that I didn’t get much spinning done though, in fact the day 8 bobbin looks quite similar to the day 7 one above!
On Sunday there was a tennis match on the TV (that would be the historic Wimbledon men’s final where Andy Murray finally triumphed!) and I spun during the whole match. This ended up being quite a lot of spinning!
The slightly blurry picture on the right is my second bobbin of the alpaca; the one on the left is the first finished bobbin.
Today (Monday) is a rest day for the Tour de France cyclists, and so I won’t be doing any spinning today. This is fine by me, as we’re experimenting with a new transport option for my knitting group: I’m going to get the bus back to the nearest village tonight, and then hubby will collect me from there once his ceramics class is finished.
Thursday evening I did a little bit of spinning on the alpaca, but I didn’t have long to spin so not a lot got done.
Spinning alpaca from the cloud (with no prep) is pretty dirty work, but it’s spinning up nicely!
Friday I did less spinning than I had hoped, as I spent the morning doing chores and then we went strawberry picking in the afternoon. I really enjoyed the fruit picking and might even go again before the season is over. I did manage to take the wheel outside for a little while though, which was nice.
And the bobbin started to fill up nicely while I was out in the sunshine
Day 8 was Saturday, and we went to the exhibit about the Mallard speed record at the National Railway Museum in York. It was a lot of fun!
It did mean that I didn’t get much spinning done though, in fact the day 8 bobbin looks quite similar to the day 7 one above!
On Sunday there was a tennis match on the TV (that would be the historic Wimbledon men’s final where Andy Murray finally triumphed!) and I spun during the whole match. This ended up being quite a lot of spinning!
The slightly blurry picture on the right is my second bobbin of the alpaca; the one on the left is the first finished bobbin.
Today (Monday) is a rest day for the Tour de France cyclists, and so I won’t be doing any spinning today. This is fine by me, as we’re experimenting with a new transport option for my knitting group: I’m going to get the bus back to the nearest village tonight, and then hubby will collect me from there once his ceramics class is finished.
Thursday, July 04, 2013
Tour de Fleece update - Day 5!
Still managing to spin and post daily...
I wound this off the bobbin and onto the niddy noddy. It's about 100 yards, I need to wash it before I measure the wpi.
I'm really pleased with it though, the colours have blended nicely and so it's got that slightly "mucky" effect which looks so pretty.
Then I weighed out 50g of the alpaca fleece
and started to spin that "from the cloud". It's quite dirty, I hear that alpaca like to roll in the dust a lot. However, I've also heard that it's easier to spin alpaca dirty.
It's spinning up nicely but quite fine, I hope it will bloom when washed. I think it will be a 2 ply, although it depends on what the rest spins up likw. I have about 500g all together, so I'm hoping to make about 5 100g skeins all of a similar thickness. We'll see how that pans out. I might end up doing something else entirely!
I have tomorrow off work, so I should be able to get quite a lot done, once I have tidied the house, put up the new curtains, put away the washing... Okay, I should get some done in any case. Hubby is also off work in the afternoon, so we might take a trip to the pick your own strawberries nearby. I fancy making some strawberry wine and jam.
I wound this off the bobbin and onto the niddy noddy. It's about 100 yards, I need to wash it before I measure the wpi.
I'm really pleased with it though, the colours have blended nicely and so it's got that slightly "mucky" effect which looks so pretty.
Then I weighed out 50g of the alpaca fleece
and started to spin that "from the cloud". It's quite dirty, I hear that alpaca like to roll in the dust a lot. However, I've also heard that it's easier to spin alpaca dirty.
It's spinning up nicely but quite fine, I hope it will bloom when washed. I think it will be a 2 ply, although it depends on what the rest spins up likw. I have about 500g all together, so I'm hoping to make about 5 100g skeins all of a similar thickness. We'll see how that pans out. I might end up doing something else entirely!
I have tomorrow off work, so I should be able to get quite a lot done, once I have tidied the house, put up the new curtains, put away the washing... Okay, I should get some done in any case. Hubby is also off work in the afternoon, so we might take a trip to the pick your own strawberries nearby. I fancy making some strawberry wine and jam.
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Tour de Fleece update - Day 4!
So, yesterday was day 4 of the Tour de France, the team time trial. I managed not to see any of the race this time, but I did enjoy watching the Yorkshire contingent getting excited about the Grande Depart which will be in Yorkshire next year for the 101st tour.
Anyway, I did manage to finish the alpaca single, and I stayed up far too late last night plying it.
I still need to wind it off onto the niddy-noddy and then work out how long it is.
That will then mean two complete skeins (one 100g, one 50g) and I'm moving on to some alpaca fleece, all being well, tonight.
I'm hoping to spin enough of the alpaca for a sleeveless cardigan of some description, though I also want a little bit of some other colours to give some stripes across the bust.
Anyway, I did manage to finish the alpaca single, and I stayed up far too late last night plying it.
I still need to wind it off onto the niddy-noddy and then work out how long it is.
That will then mean two complete skeins (one 100g, one 50g) and I'm moving on to some alpaca fleece, all being well, tonight.
I'm hoping to spin enough of the alpaca for a sleeveless cardigan of some description, though I also want a little bit of some other colours to give some stripes across the bust.
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Tour de Fleece update - Day 3!
Well, I'm not comitting to daily updates, but who knows...
here's what I managed yesterday
I wound the plied yarn into a skein - though it needs a bath now before I consider it finished.
I got distracted by 50g of alpaca top from Willo Alpacas though, and instead of spinning the alpaca fleece I went ahead and spun this instead. It's spinning up very nicely though, and I look forward to navajo plying it maybe this evening!
here's what I managed yesterday
I wound the plied yarn into a skein - though it needs a bath now before I consider it finished.
I got distracted by 50g of alpaca top from Willo Alpacas though, and instead of spinning the alpaca fleece I went ahead and spun this instead. It's spinning up very nicely though, and I look forward to navajo plying it maybe this evening!
Monday, July 01, 2013
Woolfest, Open Studios and TdF
Wow, I've had a really jam-packed weekend! Hubby and I took off from work on Thursday afternoon and headed off to Cumbria. We stayed overnight near Cockermouth, ready for Woolfest 2013.
It was a great day, though I failed to take any photos of the event. (Hubby got a few of the sheep demo) All the stands were amazing. I was especially interested in Lakeland Valley Goats who are a new startup supplying cashmere fiber. Lovely. I actually ended up buying a lot of fiber this time, rather than yarn. Must be the spinning jag I'm on, but more on that in a moment...
here's my haul from Woolfest. (I will "flash the stash" of fiber and handspun sometime soon)
1. Blue faced Leicester humbug, 2. Kid mohair, 3. Yak, 4. Masham, 5. Baby camel, 6. Wensleydale, 7. Jacob, 8. Trilobal nylon, 9. BFL / Kid Mohair, 10. Merino, 11. Kid Mohair, 12. Lakeland Valley Goats' Cashmere
The pink/black merino (number 10) is gorgeous. That and number 9 were from Felt Studio UK, and might upset my original spinning plan for the TdF. More on that soon.
So, Saturday I had agreed to take part in the Bugthorpe Open Studios event, so hubby and I took our stuff to the village hall and I demonstrated spinning while he did some drawing.
(That's one of hubby's works in the background)
It was a really nice day, and the kids seemed really interested in the wheel. I let some of the little ones have a go at pedalling, so some of my yarn is a little overspun, but not to worry.
The added bonus for me was a whole day of spinning, even if it wasn't uninterrupted spinning. I've signed up for the Tour de Fleece, which is a spin-along timed to coincide with the Tour de France. Saturday was day 1, and I spun this single:
Then, on Sunday (day 2) I spun the second single
Since I divided the fiber lengthways, it wasn't entirely evenly split. That meant that I had to do a little Andean plying at the end to get one skein out of it. However, here is a nice 2ply yarn. (sorry it's a bit dark, it was about 11pm when I took this photo!)
I've brought the bobbin and a niddy noddy with me so that I can skein it tonight at knitting group, and all being well I'll make a start on my alpaca tonight.
I bought that at Woolfest 2 years ago! It's about 500g of uncarded chocolate brown alpaca fleece. I'm excited to spin some of it, though I'm not sure how much I will spin. It's a shame I didn't think to buy some more bobbins. Broadly, my plan is to spin 50g onto each bobbin and then ply it into 100g skeins. I might end up putting one (or more) singles onto loo-roll tubes in order to maximise my effort.
I might invest in some painkillers too, as all this spinning is making me ache!
I'm also pleased to say that all this spinning will count for Nerd Wars, and Elise has modified the rules for R2 so that spinning started for the Tour can be included in the R2 challenges - so my skein can be submitted to any of the challenges, if I can figure out which one!
It was a great day, though I failed to take any photos of the event. (Hubby got a few of the sheep demo) All the stands were amazing. I was especially interested in Lakeland Valley Goats who are a new startup supplying cashmere fiber. Lovely. I actually ended up buying a lot of fiber this time, rather than yarn. Must be the spinning jag I'm on, but more on that in a moment...
here's my haul from Woolfest. (I will "flash the stash" of fiber and handspun sometime soon)
1. Blue faced Leicester humbug, 2. Kid mohair, 3. Yak, 4. Masham, 5. Baby camel, 6. Wensleydale, 7. Jacob, 8. Trilobal nylon, 9. BFL / Kid Mohair, 10. Merino, 11. Kid Mohair, 12. Lakeland Valley Goats' Cashmere
The pink/black merino (number 10) is gorgeous. That and number 9 were from Felt Studio UK, and might upset my original spinning plan for the TdF. More on that soon.
So, Saturday I had agreed to take part in the Bugthorpe Open Studios event, so hubby and I took our stuff to the village hall and I demonstrated spinning while he did some drawing.
(That's one of hubby's works in the background)
It was a really nice day, and the kids seemed really interested in the wheel. I let some of the little ones have a go at pedalling, so some of my yarn is a little overspun, but not to worry.
The added bonus for me was a whole day of spinning, even if it wasn't uninterrupted spinning. I've signed up for the Tour de Fleece, which is a spin-along timed to coincide with the Tour de France. Saturday was day 1, and I spun this single:
Then, on Sunday (day 2) I spun the second single
Since I divided the fiber lengthways, it wasn't entirely evenly split. That meant that I had to do a little Andean plying at the end to get one skein out of it. However, here is a nice 2ply yarn. (sorry it's a bit dark, it was about 11pm when I took this photo!)
I've brought the bobbin and a niddy noddy with me so that I can skein it tonight at knitting group, and all being well I'll make a start on my alpaca tonight.
I bought that at Woolfest 2 years ago! It's about 500g of uncarded chocolate brown alpaca fleece. I'm excited to spin some of it, though I'm not sure how much I will spin. It's a shame I didn't think to buy some more bobbins. Broadly, my plan is to spin 50g onto each bobbin and then ply it into 100g skeins. I might end up putting one (or more) singles onto loo-roll tubes in order to maximise my effort.
I might invest in some painkillers too, as all this spinning is making me ache!
I'm also pleased to say that all this spinning will count for Nerd Wars, and Elise has modified the rules for R2 so that spinning started for the Tour can be included in the R2 challenges - so my skein can be submitted to any of the challenges, if I can figure out which one!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Some and some
I've done a little spinning...
Remember this carding that I did? I spun it up into a little 50g skein of fluffy yarn
it's about 50 yards, and it's thick and thin in places. I went for a 2ply.
I'm working on another baby sweater, this one is a gift. I'm also working on a picot edge on a shawl. It's time consuming, but it will look amazing when it's done. Technically I declared the shawl finished, but I decided that it needed something extra, so I'm doing a shell edge for it, with picots.
Otherwise I've been pretty slack on the knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving front. Still, Nerd Wars T8 kicks off on Saturday, so I'll be casting on a bunch of things for that! I'm planning on making another Clapotis which should be fun, I remember that being a fun knit last time I made one! I'm also planning another dissertation, which will be $5 in Paris. I've made my swatch and I'm ready to go! Probably. Between all those things, I have plenty to do during June, and July will be my first Tour de Fleece. So July will be a month for spinning. I don't know how much of the Tour de France I'll watch while I spin, but it's the spinning that I'm in it for!
Other highlights of June will include going to Woolfest again! Yay! And we're also hoping to make it to Fibre East too.
Remember this carding that I did? I spun it up into a little 50g skein of fluffy yarn
it's about 50 yards, and it's thick and thin in places. I went for a 2ply.
I'm working on another baby sweater, this one is a gift. I'm also working on a picot edge on a shawl. It's time consuming, but it will look amazing when it's done. Technically I declared the shawl finished, but I decided that it needed something extra, so I'm doing a shell edge for it, with picots.
Otherwise I've been pretty slack on the knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving front. Still, Nerd Wars T8 kicks off on Saturday, so I'll be casting on a bunch of things for that! I'm planning on making another Clapotis which should be fun, I remember that being a fun knit last time I made one! I'm also planning another dissertation, which will be $5 in Paris. I've made my swatch and I'm ready to go! Probably. Between all those things, I have plenty to do during June, and July will be my first Tour de Fleece. So July will be a month for spinning. I don't know how much of the Tour de France I'll watch while I spin, but it's the spinning that I'm in it for!
Other highlights of June will include going to Woolfest again! Yay! And we're also hoping to make it to Fibre East too.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Just one image
Of my lovely first ever carded batt (and the fibre I blended it from)
More to come in the following days/weeks/months, I promise
 |
| green + yellow = greenish yellow |
More to come in the following days/weeks/months, I promise
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Change is on the Carder...
(sorry about the poor pun in the title)
Work is still hard. There’s a lot of change which is difficult for everyone involved. Because hubby and I both work for the same company it feels that much worse, because we’re both subject to these changes.
I’m finding it okay, though there’s a lot of new stuff for me to do. I like things to be interesting and I like to be busy, so I’m enjoying that aspect of things. But it’s unstable at the moment, we don’t know whether the projects I’m working on will continue, and though the decision on that is due soon, it’s not soon enough for my preference.
However, I have just purchased a new toy: a drum carder. I’ve never used one before, but hopefully it’s not too hard. I have quite a lot of reasonably short-staple fleece that needs preparing, and I am not a fan of hand carders. Like with my spinning wheel, I’ve got a good deal by buying second hand. I’m itching to play with it! of course, I still haven’t sorted out my craft room (a task which is required more frequently than I would like) so I’m probably going to have to be a bit creative with where I play with it to begin with. It should motivate me to sort out the craft room at the weekend though.
I’m quite excited about the prospect of carding the fleece I have, but also about the prospect of blending some of my fibres. I have a lot of alpaca, lots of fleece types, I have some Masham X which might benefit from being carded (or not, it’s a longish staple so it might be better combed…)
The proofs of the photos from hubby’s family photo session came through yesterday, and they’re pretty good. As with all these things I’m sure we all like different photos. (Which reminds me, I have to seek some advice about our wedding album) maybe I’ll share some of them later.
There’s really nothing much going on right now though, I haven’t even finished any knitting or crochet since I last posted. I’ll share some of the carding once I have some.
Oh, I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode of “The Great British Sewing Bee”. It was interesting last week, and I felt a little bit inspired. In fact, I have been inspired to make costumes for an up-coming party hubs and I are going to. Hubby was going to be wearing a costume we already owned, but sadly we seem to have thrown it out in the last move, so I’m going to have a go a re-making it! All I need is the fabric, a tidy craft room (there’s incentive 2) and a little bit of time! The party is in just under a month, and we’re away for our anniversary the week before the party, so it’ll need to be finished before the 27th when my sister is visiting. So that gives me two weekends, I think, to get it done! Eep! Still, I know what I need, I know approximately the plan of attack (as I’ve made it before) and I have new skills that I did not have previously. I also plan to make my costume, but other than the skirt part, I think I’ll have to buy rather than make (tights for example!) I’m not going to share my plan just yet; you’ll have to wait for the party photos!
Work is still hard. There’s a lot of change which is difficult for everyone involved. Because hubby and I both work for the same company it feels that much worse, because we’re both subject to these changes.
I’m finding it okay, though there’s a lot of new stuff for me to do. I like things to be interesting and I like to be busy, so I’m enjoying that aspect of things. But it’s unstable at the moment, we don’t know whether the projects I’m working on will continue, and though the decision on that is due soon, it’s not soon enough for my preference.
However, I have just purchased a new toy: a drum carder. I’ve never used one before, but hopefully it’s not too hard. I have quite a lot of reasonably short-staple fleece that needs preparing, and I am not a fan of hand carders. Like with my spinning wheel, I’ve got a good deal by buying second hand. I’m itching to play with it! of course, I still haven’t sorted out my craft room (a task which is required more frequently than I would like) so I’m probably going to have to be a bit creative with where I play with it to begin with. It should motivate me to sort out the craft room at the weekend though.
I’m quite excited about the prospect of carding the fleece I have, but also about the prospect of blending some of my fibres. I have a lot of alpaca, lots of fleece types, I have some Masham X which might benefit from being carded (or not, it’s a longish staple so it might be better combed…)
The proofs of the photos from hubby’s family photo session came through yesterday, and they’re pretty good. As with all these things I’m sure we all like different photos. (Which reminds me, I have to seek some advice about our wedding album) maybe I’ll share some of them later.
There’s really nothing much going on right now though, I haven’t even finished any knitting or crochet since I last posted. I’ll share some of the carding once I have some.
Oh, I’m looking forward to tonight’s episode of “The Great British Sewing Bee”. It was interesting last week, and I felt a little bit inspired. In fact, I have been inspired to make costumes for an up-coming party hubs and I are going to. Hubby was going to be wearing a costume we already owned, but sadly we seem to have thrown it out in the last move, so I’m going to have a go a re-making it! All I need is the fabric, a tidy craft room (there’s incentive 2) and a little bit of time! The party is in just under a month, and we’re away for our anniversary the week before the party, so it’ll need to be finished before the 27th when my sister is visiting. So that gives me two weekends, I think, to get it done! Eep! Still, I know what I need, I know approximately the plan of attack (as I’ve made it before) and I have new skills that I did not have previously. I also plan to make my costume, but other than the skirt part, I think I’ll have to buy rather than make (tights for example!) I’m not going to share my plan just yet; you’ll have to wait for the party photos!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
bien
Work is pretty weird at the moment. There have been some significant changes in the department that have made things interesting to say the least. This has meant that my crafting has been a real respite for me, and also the games consoles!
So, I’ve been doing plenty of crafting of one sort or another which I need to catch you up on. Hubby has taken on the making of the rug, which is fun. He’s doing a really good job and he’s only made one mistake which was easily fixed!
Anyway, on with my crafting…
I finished spinning the other single for this yarn, and then plied them. It’s lovely and soft, though I don’t know what it might be.
And then I spun and chain-plied this one, it’s about 220yds, so not a lot of yarn, but possibly enough for a hat or neck-warmer, or striped with something plainer it could be something else.
I also finished the baby jacket I designed. I need to take a better photo, but this one will do for now. It needs blocking, as you can see.
And I made another Sweet Norwegian Baby Cap. I love it, they’re so cute. They’ve become my go-to item for leftover sock yarn. (I’m making some baby socks to match this one, but they’re not much fun to knit so they keep getting left alone while I do other fun things!
We’re going away this weekend to visit hubby’s family in Cambridgeshire and have some family photos taken as well. I’m thinking about asking for a couple of individual shots and certainly some of hubby and me together. We got some lovely ones last time, so all being well we can repeat that experience.
I’m also looking forward to seeing one of my oldest friends again. We’re going out for dinner and drinks, which should be lovely.
And, when I’m not out for dinner or having my photo taken, I will be working on this shawl.
I want to finish it by the 28th April, which will be the end of this round of Nerd Wars. If I am successful then I will have completed the dissertation challenge for the first time. Whether crocheting a simple shawl in three months is really that impressive is another question, but I will be proud of it in any case.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
2012 - A Look Back
In a year that saw the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics in London, there have been some highlights for me too.
January saw the beginning of my first year growing vegetables in the garden here. I started out with tomatoes and potatoes, and also tried chard, beans, chilli, squash and onions. Some were more successful than others, the tomatoes did very well in the end!
April saw my sister's wedding, my first wedding anniversary (which I didn't blog about, shame on me)
October was a packed month too, we redecorated the kitchen and I met Patrick Stewart at Star Trek London!
In crafting, I've crocheted...
...knitted...
...including socks...
...and shawls...
...I've woven...
...and spun...
...and knitted a scarf for hubby...
I blame Nerd Wars for the large number of projects I've completed this year, and while I'm considering taking a break from it for a while, it's certainly been useful in getting some crafting done!
Happy 2013 everyone, let's hope it's as productive!
January saw the beginning of my first year growing vegetables in the garden here. I started out with tomatoes and potatoes, and also tried chard, beans, chilli, squash and onions. Some were more successful than others, the tomatoes did very well in the end!
April saw my sister's wedding, my first wedding anniversary (which I didn't blog about, shame on me)
October was a packed month too, we redecorated the kitchen and I met Patrick Stewart at Star Trek London!
In crafting, I've crocheted...
...knitted...
...including socks...
...and shawls...
...I've woven...
...and spun...
...and knitted a scarf for hubby...
I blame Nerd Wars for the large number of projects I've completed this year, and while I'm considering taking a break from it for a while, it's certainly been useful in getting some crafting done!
Happy 2013 everyone, let's hope it's as productive!
Friday, April 06, 2012
Scrappy Spinning
I finished it!
Fibre: (1) MHE Falkland (yellow), (2) Skeins Merino (green), (3) Wingham Merino Silk (blue/white), (4,5) Freyalyn Merino (blue/purple/red), (6) Skeins Falkland (pink), and (7) Mandacrafts BFL
Colourway: various
Spun using: Ashford Traveller, middle ratio
Spin direction: Z (wheel turning anticlockwise, spin to the left)
Plying type/direction: 3-ply, S (wheel turning clockwise, spin to the right)
Yarn Stats: 110g / 256yards (14 wpi, approx 4ply weight)
Verdict: All of the fibres were amazing to spin with, and so different. It was good fun trying to get something even out of it! I also wasn't expecting the colours to work so well. It's my first attempt at a three-ply using fractal spinning principles. I do like it, and I'm planning on knitting something like Argosy (a diagonal scarf) with it...
Fibre: (1) MHE Falkland (yellow), (2) Skeins Merino (green), (3) Wingham Merino Silk (blue/white), (4,5) Freyalyn Merino (blue/purple/red), (6) Skeins Falkland (pink), and (7) Mandacrafts BFL
Colourway: various
Spun using: Ashford Traveller, middle ratio
Spin direction: Z (wheel turning anticlockwise, spin to the left)
Plying type/direction: 3-ply, S (wheel turning clockwise, spin to the right)
Yarn Stats: 110g / 256yards (14 wpi, approx 4ply weight)
Verdict: All of the fibres were amazing to spin with, and so different. It was good fun trying to get something even out of it! I also wasn't expecting the colours to work so well. It's my first attempt at a three-ply using fractal spinning principles. I do like it, and I'm planning on knitting something like Argosy (a diagonal scarf) with it...
Friday, November 11, 2011
Slack
Sorry I’ve been slack in updating the blog. Between the chickens, Nerd Wars knitting, and life generally, I’ve been a little bit busy!
However, last month I did complete two further items (well, three) for Nerd Wars, and I’ve submitted some yarn I spun for this month too. So let’s start with a little finished items display!
Baby Hats
These were for the colourtastic challenge, simple but effective:
Pattern: Basic Baby Hat
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton (white and lime), King Cole Bamboo (blue and brown)
Needles: 4mm
Modifications: None! I knit one newborn and one 0-3month sizes
Verdict: Nice pattern, ends up with a nice enough hat. Basic, simple, quick – and most important sweet!
Neckwarmer
This was for the “best dressed nerds” challenge!
Pattern: Easy Neckwarmer Headband
Yarn: Llama yarn my mum brought back from America!
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: None!
Verdict: I like it! It’s actually a bit loose for a headband for me, as I don’t have a lot of hair. I’m considering running a strand around one end and pulling it tight for a hat. But for now, it’s a good neckwarmer! It needs a bath too, hopefully that will soften the yarn a bit!
And then for this round of the tournament:
For the “nerd culture” topic we have to make something related to another nerdery. I picked Doctor Who, and made some Yarn which reminds me of the Sixth doctor. It’s called LCARS after the Star Trek information panels.
Fibre
Yarn
Fiber: Felt Studio UK Wensleydale
Colourway: Multi
Spun using: Ashford Traveller, middle ratio
Spin direction: Z (wheel turning anticlockwise, spin to the left)
Plying type/direction: 3ply, Navajo, S-plied (wheel turning clockwise, spin to the right)
Yarn Stats: ~100g / 117yds (approx. DK)
Verdict: I took some merino I was spinning off the wheel to begin this. I expected to spend a couple of days on it, but in reality I spun the yarn in an afternoon. (woo!) I decided to aim for a slightly thicker yarn, partly because I wanted a quicker project and partly because the fibre felt better when I did that. The colours in this braid were fantastic, so I knew I had to Navajo ply from the beginning. The result is a lovely slow stripe passing through the colours in a really pretty way. It’s lovely smooshy yarn too. Now I just have to figure out what to knit with it! (a recurring theme with handspun, I find)
However, last month I did complete two further items (well, three) for Nerd Wars, and I’ve submitted some yarn I spun for this month too. So let’s start with a little finished items display!
Baby Hats
These were for the colourtastic challenge, simple but effective:
Pattern: Basic Baby Hat
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton (white and lime), King Cole Bamboo (blue and brown)
Needles: 4mm
Modifications: None! I knit one newborn and one 0-3month sizes
Verdict: Nice pattern, ends up with a nice enough hat. Basic, simple, quick – and most important sweet!
Neckwarmer
This was for the “best dressed nerds” challenge!
Pattern: Easy Neckwarmer Headband
Yarn: Llama yarn my mum brought back from America!
Needles: 5mm
Modifications: None!
Verdict: I like it! It’s actually a bit loose for a headband for me, as I don’t have a lot of hair. I’m considering running a strand around one end and pulling it tight for a hat. But for now, it’s a good neckwarmer! It needs a bath too, hopefully that will soften the yarn a bit!
And then for this round of the tournament:
For the “nerd culture” topic we have to make something related to another nerdery. I picked Doctor Who, and made some Yarn which reminds me of the Sixth doctor. It’s called LCARS after the Star Trek information panels.
Fibre
Yarn
Fiber: Felt Studio UK Wensleydale
Colourway: Multi
Spun using: Ashford Traveller, middle ratio
Spin direction: Z (wheel turning anticlockwise, spin to the left)
Plying type/direction: 3ply, Navajo, S-plied (wheel turning clockwise, spin to the right)
Yarn Stats: ~100g / 117yds (approx. DK)
Verdict: I took some merino I was spinning off the wheel to begin this. I expected to spend a couple of days on it, but in reality I spun the yarn in an afternoon. (woo!) I decided to aim for a slightly thicker yarn, partly because I wanted a quicker project and partly because the fibre felt better when I did that. The colours in this braid were fantastic, so I knew I had to Navajo ply from the beginning. The result is a lovely slow stripe passing through the colours in a really pretty way. It’s lovely smooshy yarn too. Now I just have to figure out what to knit with it! (a recurring theme with handspun, I find)
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Fibre East, Ysolda and such like
Well, the last few weekends have been amazing! I've done lots of crafty things and now I'm finally getting around to sharing them with you...
So, lets start with some knitting. After I finished the tam, I decided that I needed to do something with all the yarn I still had. After a false start on a feather and fan pattern I was trying to make up, I created these simple mittens. I've done a raglan thumb for ease of knitting.
There is even still a little yarn left! I'm thinking about making some flowers or something with it. Any ideas?
Well, my dear mum saw the hat I made and she liked it so much that she asked me to make her one! So, I took some yarn I dyed myself (with natural plant dyes, no less) and set about making another one.
and here it is:
I made it exactly like the hand-spun version, same mods and everything. :)
Well, that's about all the knitting I've done lately. Well - that's finished anyway!
The weekend before last was very wet, but that didn't stop us from visiting the Bishop Wilton Show. There were some lovely exhibits in the craft part of the show, though not many - I think people were put off by the weather. However, we'll go again next year!
The Sunday saw the Malton show, an altogether larger event. The exhibits at this show were also of a very high standard. (I'm thinking about entering something myself next year!) I especially enjoyed walking around the chicken, duck and rabbit section. While we were wandering round, I cam across a man who makes crochet hooks, and I couldn't resist this one
It's in excess of 10mm, and will be great for some rugs I want to crochet out of old fabric scraps.
Last weekend was Fibre East. It's a small festival in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire. I love fibre festivals! This was on the smaller side, but no less exciting. We knew it was going to be a good day when we started with a very nice cuppa and Hubby had a bacon butty. I wandered around for a while and oogled lots of nice things. I did pick up a long cable for moebius and some 3mm tips for the Fyberspates Lace.
I also bought this lovely thick 4ply Shetland. It's so soft and yet sturdy. Love the colour too! The chap said it would take dye well, but I think it's nice as it is.
I stopped by Woodland Turnery and picked up this rather nice inch gauge (that's for working out the WPI or Wraps Per Inch of a yarn)
And this mini niddy noddy, which is shown here with my standard sized Ashford niddy noddy.
I ummed and aahed about my last purchase, mostly because I already have over 1000g of alpaca fibre which is to be spun.
But the colour was so nice! It's rose-grey, which is a kind of pinkish tinged grey, though I have a bit of brown and a bit of white in the bag too...
Now all I have to do is spin it, and make it into something nice!
Well, last but not least...
On Friday Ysolda Teague visited York.
I went along to try on some of the samples from her new book Little Red in the City and to get my own signed copy. (woot!)
I even managed to get a photo with her, which was nice!
Ysolda was really lovely, just as you'd expect from reading her blog.
I almost bought a sweater-worth of yarn too, but it turned out that there were only 4 balls of the colour I fancied. Shame, but probably for the best. I'll have to use some of the yarn I already have!
So, lets start with some knitting. After I finished the tam, I decided that I needed to do something with all the yarn I still had. After a false start on a feather and fan pattern I was trying to make up, I created these simple mittens. I've done a raglan thumb for ease of knitting.
There is even still a little yarn left! I'm thinking about making some flowers or something with it. Any ideas?
Well, my dear mum saw the hat I made and she liked it so much that she asked me to make her one! So, I took some yarn I dyed myself (with natural plant dyes, no less) and set about making another one.
and here it is:
I made it exactly like the hand-spun version, same mods and everything. :)
Well, that's about all the knitting I've done lately. Well - that's finished anyway!
The weekend before last was very wet, but that didn't stop us from visiting the Bishop Wilton Show. There were some lovely exhibits in the craft part of the show, though not many - I think people were put off by the weather. However, we'll go again next year!
The Sunday saw the Malton show, an altogether larger event. The exhibits at this show were also of a very high standard. (I'm thinking about entering something myself next year!) I especially enjoyed walking around the chicken, duck and rabbit section. While we were wandering round, I cam across a man who makes crochet hooks, and I couldn't resist this one
It's in excess of 10mm, and will be great for some rugs I want to crochet out of old fabric scraps.
Last weekend was Fibre East. It's a small festival in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire. I love fibre festivals! This was on the smaller side, but no less exciting. We knew it was going to be a good day when we started with a very nice cuppa and Hubby had a bacon butty. I wandered around for a while and oogled lots of nice things. I did pick up a long cable for moebius and some 3mm tips for the Fyberspates Lace.
I also bought this lovely thick 4ply Shetland. It's so soft and yet sturdy. Love the colour too! The chap said it would take dye well, but I think it's nice as it is.
I stopped by Woodland Turnery and picked up this rather nice inch gauge (that's for working out the WPI or Wraps Per Inch of a yarn)
And this mini niddy noddy, which is shown here with my standard sized Ashford niddy noddy.
I ummed and aahed about my last purchase, mostly because I already have over 1000g of alpaca fibre which is to be spun.
But the colour was so nice! It's rose-grey, which is a kind of pinkish tinged grey, though I have a bit of brown and a bit of white in the bag too...
Now all I have to do is spin it, and make it into something nice!
Well, last but not least...
On Friday Ysolda Teague visited York.
I went along to try on some of the samples from her new book Little Red in the City and to get my own signed copy. (woot!)
I even managed to get a photo with her, which was nice!
Ysolda was really lovely, just as you'd expect from reading her blog.
I almost bought a sweater-worth of yarn too, but it turned out that there were only 4 balls of the colour I fancied. Shame, but probably for the best. I'll have to use some of the yarn I already have!
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