Fun

There are those who can manage to keep their work space clear, tidy and organised...

Obviously I am not one of them
I have however had a simply wonderful afternoon carding and blending and coming up with super concoctions. How about...

Fairy Godmother - a blend of merino wool, mohair and angora with a frosting of rose coloured silk. I had tremendous fun with this one.
And...
Wildflowers - wool and alpaca blend in soft herby shades dashed through with some poppy. I bet you this felts up a treat.

I am off now to put these up in me shop which is fun all on its own 'cos then I get to wax really lyrical about how lovely these things are. I have reigned myself in here cos I don't want you to think I am a fibre nut or anything crazy like that...

What do you mean "too late"?
Hope you have a soft and fluffy day

Jewels and Eden

I so love the internet: it is coming up on midnight and I have just bought half a pound of fibre from half way round the world. How? The fell word for craft addicts across the 'verse - Etsy. Etsy is fun and a great way to kill an hour but I have never seen anything that has made me want to part with my cash when I have Winghams only up the M6 (Okay, it's in Yorkshire but still a heck of a lot closer than pond hopping innit?) But They Told Me Sew was just too much. I was boasting to V only the other day that I have not bought any wool or spinning stuff so far this year (okay, I have bought dye, silk and silk paints, but hey they are not my number one habit so they barely count eh?)

But, honestly, look at these and then tell me that you wouldn't have bought them too...

Superwash Merino and tencel so it should be super silky and oh deary me look at the colours! Jewel is top and Eden is bottom and I can't wait 'til they are here. They are coming from South Dakota, where ever that might be, sounds very injun country to me but really all I care about right now is how good the pony express is out there. It can't take more than a month can it?

Pod's Hat - phase two

Pod has a team and that team's colours are black and amber. Amber is not a colour one gets in the Winghams catalogue. So it is out with the carders for a bit of creative blending.

This is fun, but it takes a looooooong time. Get the colour mix right, then blend, pile the batts up, split, card up, pile up, split the pile and card again. It is best to take rings off the fingers for this or else you'll get blisters! Trust me, I know.

Colours to make amber. Mostly yellow, orange and brown
but touches of others needed for depth

the blend on the carder

semi-mixed batt

finished pile of blended batts

sample of amber felt

Pod's Hat - phase one

Laying out the fibres

Add bubble wrap, hot water and soap... and a bit of elbow grease

Two pieces of fine black merino felt

Weights and Measures

cashmere on niddy-noddy

Three bags full
and that's just the start...I have an attic full

How much yarn do I have exactly? Sorting out the stash for the felting day with Zoe made me think. So off to Birdie the soap maker whom one would have thought should possess accurate scales and she does, good enough for rock music as one might say. And she has a niddy noddy. Now that is not a sentence one hears every day "Excuse me, can I borrow your niddy-noddy?" but there you are. A pleasant evening, playing with yarn. Plus a casserole. Yum.

And I have rather more good yarn than I thought and rather more fibre...but you never can have enough, can you?

5pm

Amazing what a few hours will do innit? I'm feeling fine now and why is this? I'll tell you...three little words

Orange merino yarn.
This was part of the haul from the winghams sampling day.
From fluff to yarn in just eight days. Oh my gosh, I rock!

Pure merino in orange & merino and tussah silk blend in flame

Singles

Plied (fancy as usual)

The finished skein, steam set and drying on the bannister
ready for the needles this evening.
I am so chuffed

Felt like felt in the end

We chose felt.
A whole day almost of potching around with pretty wool. All that and sausage and chips to finish off.

The Haul

• Merino, (white) cos it's a basic right? The equivalent of spuds in the pantry.
• Dyed merino: scarlet (for xmas decorations), fuscia, orange, chocolate and mixed rainbow snips for embellishing.
• Nylon trilobal in parrot, yes it is tasteless, glittery, artificial and altogther anathema to spinners in general, but I LOVE it!
• Cashmere, silk and merino blend. (white) Heaven in a fibre. Bought for felted baby blankets. Faith has started the ball rolling and babies are like mushrooms, once one is expected, more always come along. As long as one doesn't come my way I don't mind!
  
• Falkland wool,(white) makes a beautiful spongy yarn. So warm, just right for hats.
• Teal acid dye
• Two surina wood crochet hooks, 9 & 12 mm.
• Rainbow merino and silk blend (one length in rainbow and the other in flame) for cobweb felted scarves.
• Wool and possum blend. (beige-unfortunate colour but can be snazzed up with surface work)
  
• Blue faced leicester humbug blend.(humbug colour-I'm not kidding). This is a stunning glossy wool and it spins like toffee. Just gorgeous.
• Tussah silk (pale honey) as I was running low and it is useful for plying.
• Scrap of pencil roving (cherry truffle) to felt into the hearts.
• Finest white Mongolian cashmere. Destined for laceweight yarn now that I have learned this fab new technique. I will post on that when I get to spinning it up, but I have to finish the seascape silk first.

So I have an awful lot to be getting on with. Good thing it is the start of October as a lot of this stuff is destined for Christmas presents. Gonna be a busy girl from here until Christmas Eve!

Wingham's Sampling Day

One desperately needed cuppa after a hard days spinning, felting and buying fibre goodies

Birdie felting

Felt ehibition

A bobbin full of samples:
rainbow merino and the brown is possum.
Possum is a nightmare to spin, so short!

Craftless Week

Have been reading over this ol' blog of mine and I have to say it is not as crafty as it was. There are several reasons for that of course. Injured hip means no spinning, no dancing either come to that. Lack of visible progress on Cobweb makes for a dull photo and I haven't been doing anything very much apart from cobweb when I have a clear half hour to sit and craft.
Preparations for the America trip has really chewed my time up too.

So, with that on my conscience may I recommend The Yarn Museum to get a fibre fix. The galleries of handspun are enough to make you weep with envy and covetousness. Oh dear, that has got to be a few sins I've just recommended. Okay, how about: these pictures will lift your heart with the wonderful expression of creativity that the Lord has placed in the human heart and mind. That's better. It's hard being a born again nutter when a character is as flawed as mine :)

Have a perfect day guys...

Fibre Swap!

I've never done a fibre swap before.This one is organised by Spindle and Wheel, a spinning e zine but is open to fibre crafters and artists of all description; knitters, weavers, felters etc. I am plotting possible goodies to send already. What fun!

Mmmmm...silk

Todays Project

Turn this into something lovely

It is rather kermit coloured but you know - It's not easy being green.

I'm planning a felted bag, but who knows really. I think it will be good with some daisies or butterflies embroidered on it. I might even put it in the Guild Exhibition. (See Tawe Guild link on side for more info)
It has been a while since I attempted yarn of this uniformity and thickness. As a single, it is probably a DK weight and will ply up to a chunky. I usually foul this kind of yarn up as I still have difficulty keeping the roving even as it twists, leading to slubby yarn. Which means that I usually stick to thick'n'thin "fancy" yarns (for that read lazy spinner) as I like to have something other than a foul mess for the money I have spent on roving. So far though it looks as if I am doing okay ... hey, I've only been spinning for two years gimme a break!