Spinning: 30 Mehefin / June 2010

Spinning: 30 Mehefin / June 2010
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

Yesterday, I took possession of a box of goodies from Shiela's shop, including some carders, power scour and toolkit for my wheel. I'd also bought The Ashford Book of Hand Spinning by Jo Reeve, and it's a revelation. I've learnt how to combat twist (tread more slowly), how to regulate my drafting so that it's more even, and the different kinds of yarns that be spun. I couldn't wait to delve back in, so I headed for my stash of roving, and this is the result. You can see a teensy bit of overtwist there, but that's because I'd let go of the yarn to take the photo! I'm delighted that it's coming together so nicely, and I'm feeling more confident about joining the Ceredigion Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers next week.

A History of the World in 100 Objects

I've been following The British Museum and BBC's A History of the World in 100 Objects series with much interest, and imagine my joy - literally - when I found this contribution that was submitted by The Devon Show! That's my wheel! I'm not surprised that it was added...

Blended yarn

Blended yarn
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I've had a hectic couple of days, so today was put aside for concentrating on learning to spin properly. Of course, it's going to take a while before I manage to produce a smooth, even yarn, but even today's effort was much better than Friday's. I've learnt that the key to good spinning is to relax one's posture, to draft - or tease - the fibres gently yet firmly, and to control the twist with the right hand; not easy when you're a beginner, but it clicked soon enough.

I started with some merino, which was lovely and smooth, but I got too much twist into it. Learning fast, I then turned to some Corridale, which was quite difficult to draft, but made a lovely dark brown yarn. Then it was back to some merino, in purple this time, and that spun quickly and smoothly. I've now plied the Corriedale and merino together, and I just need to set it. I'm really pleased with the resulting yarn (even if the colours are a bit iffy together); it's a little bit slubby, but that will add texture, and there's quite a lot of it, which was a bit of a surprise.

So, where to next? I'm going to practice, practice, practice, until I really know what I'm doing, and having fun with different colour blends. And then I get to knit it all up, of course :)

Blueberry Angoras

Blueberry Angoras
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

The idea of spending Friday in Pembrokeshire, my favourite county, had begun formulating earlier in the week when I'd found out that Blueberry Angoras is located right on the border with Ceredigion, about an hour's drive away. I'd been getting my head clear about buying a spinning wheel, and although their website has no information about prices, I thought it would be a good idea to go along, meet the people, and ask about wheels and courses. And, more to the point, they're in Pembrokeshire. 'Nuff said.

The welcome we received was warm, and unexpected. As soon as I stepped through the door, Sylvia flicked the kettle on, and sat me down to talk about wheels and looms. Before I knew it, she'd set up a Joy wheel for me, and started me spinning, and within 10 minutes she had me plying a sample of yarn; I was so thrilled!

And I discovered something astonishing. When I was at Wonderwool Wales a couple of months ago, the first thing that I saw when I entered the building was a lady sitting in the coffee area, spinning some wool. She looked so content that I went over to talk to her - don't ask me why; it's not something that I'd normally do, and I certainly knew nothing about spinning at that point. She explained to me that she'd bought the wheel as a present for herself, and I remarked that it looked like such a joy to use - and she exclaimed, "That's what it's called!" I was invited to try it, but I was so scared that I'd mess up her beautiful work that I declined, and was happy to just watch her instead. This was the moment that I decided that I had to learn to spin. And Sylvia told me that she knew who this woman was, and that she'd bought the wheel from her that weekend: small world...

Having decided that I was going to buy a Joy, Sylvia then showed me how to card some wool, and explained about the different looms that she has, and I've promised to go back for a weaving lesson. And I really couldn't resist buying some angora whilst I was there, and decided on some glorious raspberry and heather yarn.

This was such a wonderful experience. Sylvia was very patient and generous with her time, and I would have been completely lost without her help. I can't wait to go back!

Knitted flowers

Knitted flowers
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

I've owned Lesley Stanfield's 100 flowers to crochet and knit for a while, but haven't really felt brave enough to tackle any of the projects. However, having seen Sue2's brooches at the weekend, I thought it was high time that I gave it a go. Using Sirdar's Balmoral DK in Clarence Pink and Polo Pink, I started with the dahlia and moved on to the floribunda rose and I'm really happy with the way they've turned out. I originally considered felting them, but I think I'm going to leave them as they are, as they're quite big and blowsy.

I think the most realistic flowers in this book are those that have been crocheted, so I'll need to dust off my crochet hooks and get going with some of them. I'd like to add them to the bottom of some of my scarves, or needlefelt them into some of my other creations - the possibilities are endless!

Brooches

Brooches
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

Yesterday afternoon I spent a lovely hour or so at the Festival of Quirks and Crafts in Pontrhydfendigaid. I had no idea what to expect, but I'm such a sucker for this kind of thing; I love looking at what other crafters are doing and we usually end up having a good chat.

The festival itself was quite small, but there were plenty of activities going on, not all of them totally PC ('Button Sewing', 'Ironing a shirt' or 'Man Carrying a Woman Race' anyone?). How 'Coin Snatching' actually manifests is anyone's guess, but I suppose this constitutes the 'quirk'...

I was delighted to find a wood turner there and with any luck he'll be making some buttons and pins for me, and I could have spent the whole afternoon with the hawks and owls. The stall that really caught my eye, though, was Sue2; she makes lovely knitted and felted items, and I couldn't resist buying these flower brooches and a brooch-making kit. I'll be having a good look at the website later on - and I'd urge you to do the same (go on! You know you want to!)

Ribbons

Ribbons
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

The past month has provided a number of opportunities for stocking up on some new supplies. I bought these ribbons at the Urdd Eisteddfod, and these ribbons from the Toko Gallery in Aberystwyth. My original intention was to combine them with my knitting - by threading them through some of my lace scarves - but I think this is going to be overkill. I've had a bit of a re-think and I'm going to incorporate some of them into my cards - to find out how, then you're going to have to wait to see :)

Somehow, I think Sue is going to approve of my latest purchases.

Silk and Bamboo

IMG_1660
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

This was a little bit of an experiment. I've been making lots of Spring/Summer scarves using bamboo, which is just such a delight to knit, and I thought I'd try to add a bit of texture to one of them. I've added silk to both ends, one by combining it with the bamboo, the other by just knitting on in the chunky thread. About half-way along, I've added a panel of thinner silk, which really shows off the stitch pattern. The silks came from Oliver Twist, who had a stall at the Wonderwool Wales festival, and I've got another six hanks to experiment with.

Anglesey Project

Anglesey Project
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

Another recent project. This is handspun, hand-dyed yarn, this time from Felt Studio UK. Again, it was a lovely, soft yarn to work, and I thought the colourway would make a long-ish, fairly narrow scarf. The added sparkle plied in with the yarn lifts it to being a glam-ish item, and the dyed lengths make nicely spaced colour changes. It's a fun item, and I really rather like it :)

Lascaux

Lascaux
Originally uploaded by ziedu_mate

Here's a little neckwarmer that I made yesterday. I bought some glorious Blue Faced Leicester handspun, handpainted yarn from Spinning Streak, and had just enough of it to make something small. It was such a joy to knit, not only because it had been plied with some silk and felt so glorious, but the colours are just divine. I love artisan yarns because it's just such a thrill to look at how the colours are developing as you work. That this yarn is called Lascaux is just icing on the cake.

Now I need a couple of buttons to finish it off. I'm very specific about this; I want some little turquoise wooden toggles - shaped like claws. I may have to wait a very long time before I find the right ones, but that's ok.