Reconnecting with 'The Wheel'

Oh dear, I didn't realise it was SO long since I have posted on my blog. I thought it was only a few months ago... ummm... Weeeell, it was only eleven of them... Oooops.

Never mind, it has been go, go, go with work at Aurora House but for the last couple of days, I've pulled my wheel out and taken some time to relax and restore - she was complaining loudly about being so neglected - and have been spinning English tops, though I cannot for the life of me remember what fleece it is.

Even though its spinning up nicely, its quite coarse so will probably use it for something other than garment wear. It might turn into a bag; there is only about 100grams so it wont go very far on its own, though I could intermingle it with something else for a fashion effect...

Spinning English fleece is such a lovely change to the Australian fleeces - there is so much more choice. Considering I have boxes and boxes of fleece I've gathered over the last couple of years or so, its about time I got stuck in and started to whittle it down. Nooooo, not by de-stashing, I couldnt let it go, but by spinning it up - before I start buying more.

'Hmmmm... fat chance of that,' say all my spinning buddies.

I've also dragged out another fleece I'm spinning and decided to wash the balance of it in readiness for use. This one is Merino/English Leicester. A nice fleece, but very dirty - more so than I thought when I bought it. It spins easily but is more coarse than I thought it would be, so outer wear will be the end result of this one - a winter jacket, if I get it done in time.  :-)

There are a number of projects I have to finish - then again, I think we all have those...

A brand new year is about to get underway, and lots of new ideas are in the making.

If you are a knitter, its an excellent relaxation therapy - and can also help with other health problems, such as pain management, depression, stress, can help with dementia. There is so much more to knitting than just clickety-clack.

If you want to find out more about Knitting Therapy, take a look at Stitchlinks - stitchlinks.com -  It is a revolutionary method of helping many health issues. Research is being carried out in the UK with amazing results. There are many options, with tips for reducing pain, and helping to conquer addiction as well as many other problems.

Apart from that, knitting gets the creative juices flowing when re-hashing a pattern, or designing a new garment or item, playing with stitches for different effects, and intermingling colour to its most effective scheme.

So, get those needles out and clickety-clacking away - and have fun creating your masterpiece...

Winter Warmer Handspun Scarf

Brrrrrr... With the cooler weather in the northern hemisphere already set in, and starting to think about it in the southern climes, the time is nigh to set the wheels in motion for making sure that keeping warm this winter will be a comfortable affair, so knitting has commenced!

The first 'knit off the block' is a handspun, scarf with the addition of colourful flecks to enhance that winter coat or sweater.

I decided to be cheeky and add a teaser. This scarf is a chunky weight and will be medium length. It's still in its early stages - I knitted as I was watching Santos Tour Down Under, though I did more watching than knitting. Weeell, I have to get into practice for Le Tour in July, don't I? ...

Knitted on chunky needles, the scarf gives a rustic effect. The red flecks enhance the natural brown of the handspun yarn.

I'm working frantically to add more Winter Warmers to my store. There are other goodies in the pipeline too.

What?     Aaaah, that would be telling...




The new Winter Warmers will be in my  Etsy Store
The Woolly Mother and available for you to add to your winter wardrobe as they come off the production line.


Now - back to the knitting...

Yoga for Spinners and Knitters

Stiffness and limited movement can become a problem for many spinners and knitters. Extra exercise and movement will help to re-mobilise those stiff shoulders, wrists and joints.

I found this Yoga video when looking for something to re-mobilise myself and thought I'd share it with everyone. After only the one session, I already feel a difference and intend to work with it every day.You don't have to be 'Senior' to reap the rewards!

Esther is using a fold-up chair but I recommend using a dining chair or one that is solid. Fold-up chairs can be a little flimsy and tend to topple over. Once you know the moves, you can even practice this yoga in front of your spinning wheel while taking a break..




Give it a go, and if it helps do leave a comment so that we can let others share this excellent practice.

A New East Friesian Fleece for Spinning

It has been a marvelous week, I've had the place totally to myself. And guess what? Fleece and spinning abound - spread from one end to the other!

If anyone is thinking about taking up spinning - beware. It's addictive! Once you pick up that spindle, or treadle that wheel, there is no turning back. Your home will become a vast fibre studio with stash hidden in every spare, or not so spare, space imaginable.

My new East Friesian fleece arrived earlier in the week and I've been boxing it up for safe storage away from any moths. Moths hate newpaper, so that is what my storage consists of. And it works, I've only lost one fleece in thirty years of spinning due to moths.

This fleece is absolutely superb, and about the best I've seen in a while. Its well grown, clean, strong, soft with a downy feel and will be excellent to spin. It is the first time I have tried Friesian and so far am very impressed. The weight would be about 3-4kilos (7-8lbs) - and enough for a number of items.

The whole fleece.

 

A selection of the staples - very clean, long and white.

Fleece being boxed, to keep it safe from moths. It also stops it from becoming 'creased', which makes it hard to find the tips of the staples as they tend to fold in and hide.

The preparation process will be minimal because of the good quality - it always pays to buy sound clean fleece and walk away from those which seem very dirty or heavy in VM (vegetable matter) - a mistake I made a while ago when buying some merino at a show. Two washes later and its still not clean, and now slightly matted making processing more time consuming, and frustrating.

Part of this fleece will most likely become a handspun and knitted jacket for me. I'm not sure yet whether I will dye it or leave it natural white. Being a 'down' type fleece, it will be hardwearing, springy, and therefore will hold its shape very nicely. The soft feel is a bonus.

Some of the fleece I will spin into yarn and have on offer in my The Woolly Mother store on Etsy. There will also be sock yarn spun with this fleece as it will be both soft and hardwearing, so keep checking in and be the first to knit a pair of socks with this unique wool!

Ok, back to the fleece - Oh dear, do I really have to waste time to eat and sleep? ...

.

The Woolly Mother on Esty.com

After much ado, I decided to open an Esty shop for my handspun yarns and, soon to come, spinning accessories. Setting up was pretty easy, though time consuming.

Etsy.com is a oneline shopping site for handmade goods. All items on the website are made by the shop owner therefore making them quite unique and set aside from the commercially mass produced goods. There are some marvellous items and its well worth having a look, especially if you have birthday gifts to find. 

As I enjoy spinning, even more than knitting, the shop will give me an outlet for all the yarns I manage to produce and accumulate. Hopefully, my handspun will find a loving home and be well utilised instead of just sitting around doing nothing.

One yarn is a beautifully soft dusky Burgundy handspun  
It has been spun to accentuate the slubby texture of the yarn, enhancing the colourway with splurges of white and darker burgundy.

This 'Tweed Twist' is a bulkier yarn and very soft. It will knit up very well into a vest or hat and scarf. The yarn will blend perfectly with a white or brown contrast, which can extend the 200grams into a long-sleeved garment for warm winter wear.










Other items include a natural brown bulky yarn, and a pale grey singles which was spun from a very soft corridale fleece.

Coming soon to the shop will be spinning accessories such as handcarder covers, spinning lapcloths, and fabric bobbin protectors. These invaluable accessories will be an asset to any spinner who would like to keep her, or his, spinning equipment in first class condition.

Tour de Fleece

For those who think I have gone totally balmy talking about a 'Tour de Fleece' - no, I haven't.

The Tour de Fleece is a spinning competition that runs alongside the Tour de France, and this year started on 4th July and ending on the 25th July, with the same rest days in between. The idea of the competition is to give yourself a goal with spinning, whether it be just sitting for longer at your wheel, creating a new designer thread, spinning that kilo of fleece you've been putting off, or sitting and watching the Tour de France and spinning at the same time. Prizes were awarded in different areas of spinning at the end of the competition.

For me, to sit and spin at the same time as watching the Tour de France, it was late at night as France is a long way from Australia and the time zone is hours apart - but it was fun and it did happen...


Those who enter the Tour de Fleece, and there ended up being about two and half thousand members on that Ravelry forum, it was be an exciting three weeks. All the more so if you live in France somewhere along the tour route. Weather permitting, spinning could be undertaken on the side of the road as the cyclists pass - now That would be different and something to keep in mind should I have the opportunity to be in France at that time.

Somehow, I've ended up as team leader and as I'd never entered an event like this, or led a team before, it was a first for me and thoroughly enjoyed taking part. The Tour de Fleece has been going for a few years and seems to be growing each year. Spinning is becoming more popular and in France especially, its entered a 're-birth' as more people are again starting to spin.

It is truly an International Event in the crafting world, with some amazing results. Spinners from all parts of the globe took part, making friends, challenging themselves, and winning lots of lovely prizes.

Whether you spin on a wheel or a spindle, the fun is taking part and setting yourself your own goals for Le Tour. The colours, textures, amounts, the dyeing, the fleeces, it all adds up to one huge event. It must be the only event in the world where so many people get together and work for a common goal. Even the Olympics doesn't get this much coverage - most people cannot 'take part' in that event, only watch.

One of the best parts of this competition is the making of new friends, in all parts of the world. I am a member of quite a few groups on Ravelry, but one group in particular has caught my attention - Spinners of France. Maybe because I love that country, and its people, that I have become somewhat addicted to learning French for when I am over that way. Its a beautiful country, and now the art of spinning is in 're-birth' with hundreds of women, and probably some men, taking up the Wheel and spindle again.

Next they will need to look at their wool production, for use other than filling mattresses, creating roofing batts with the fibre or burning it as is happening with most of the fibre now. Sheep grown for their meat are the main animals and they do not create spinning fibre; their wool is coarse and no good for spinning so basically, a new industry will need to spring up for the spinners. Italy and Spain have the merino, the UK has many different breeds of sheep, and in time, France will follow suit. There are already a few small-holding farmers who tend the spinners market, and that is set to grow providing infrastructure is put into place for the industry.

For my part in Le Tour, I spun up some Shetland tops into a lace weight yarn, and when I have completed that, next will be coloured slubby tops that I also acquired at the Berry Wool Muster last weekend.

The original goal was to spin 1kg of fleece or tops into yarn in the three weeks of Le Tour de France, but it was a wee bit of wishful thinking... Other things always seem to get in the way of being able to sit and spin, i.e. eating, sleep, shopping, and other menial tasks that have to be done throughout the day. What a waste of time, when we ought to be spending it spinning!
 

First yarn hot off the bobbin!

To say that trying to spin, and watch Le Tour de France at the same time is challenging is an understatement - looking at two things at once is definitely different - if one looks down at the spinning, you miss anything going on along the road or seeing the magnificent countryside. If you watch the action on tv, you end up with globs of bubbly stuff that isn't meant to happen, running onto your bobbin. This is where we could do with two sets of eyes -  that would make things much easier.
The Tour will at least get me back into spinning mode, I have much to catch up on and once this is finished, will see about some fancy yarns and playing with dyes. That I have been planning to do for a while, and not quite gotten around to it. Now is as good a time as any - any time is a good time for fleece, spinning and dyeing.

Here, downunder in Australia, its dawned beautiful clear but cool days - and the spinning wheel was oiled and ready to go for the next session, which was... Start, of the mountain stage.

Handspun Lace Scarf in Merino/Silk

With a bit of a lag in activity after Le Tour de Fleece, I've managed to get myself back to 'The Blog' and put a few words on paper. Its been a busy time, completing the editing of a manuscript but that is now out of the way and I can concentrate on more important things - like my spinning and knitting.

The Shetland I spun for Le Tour has been stored for later use, I haven't decided on a project for it as yet but I'm sure something will crop up at some stage. The grey matter is already ticking over on that one. With only 250grams, its not really enough for a jumper, but might make a short sleeve summer cardigan...

Oh dear - think I just found a project for it. Whether to dye it or leave it natural white?

The yarn below is a beautiful purple Merino/Silk, which I've spun up in a medium lace weight. A pattern has been sourced and knitting has commenced.



As I have not used silk yarn as stated on the pattern, I decided on using larger needles as the yarn is not as fine, but it's still knitting up very nicely.






At the same time, I am also working on a cardigan for my daughter. The blue dyed sliver is to be blended with alpaca to spin into a fine slubby yarn.



So far, the corridale/alapca blend is spinning up beautifully with the first bobbin nearly complete.  It is a pleasure to spin.
To blend the fibres, I am using hand carders with 2/3rd sliver, 1/3 alpaca and carding until the white is fully blended, giving a 'denim' look to the yarn. One strand will have slubs of white alpaca, emulating the original yarn on the pattern as closely as possible.

In the meantime, the bath-tub has been full of fleece leftover from other projects and washed in preparation for carding.
If that isn't enough, the thought of knitting my granddaughter gloves and beanie is also on the cards...
And if there is any time left over, I will see about a bit of sleep and food here and there...

A Coat of Many Colours - Dog Rescue part 2

Millie looked a sorry sight when she was brought back to my daughter's house - her coat was very matted, hair falling into her eyes and the longest eye lashes I've even seen on a dog! She was very unsure and barked at everything. The lady that found her and looked after her brought her back from death's door, spending a lot of time to get her back to health.

After a few days in her new home she is starting to settle down, quite quickly in fact, and is already becoming part of the family.

An appointment was made for her at the Pamper Parlour to clean her up a little, so today she went in a ragamuffin and came out a fluffy little pooch. They had bathed and blow-dried her, trimmed her coat and removed all the tangles, of which it was all matted, cut back the hair on her face, and downsized the toe nails.

With the arrival of the new dog, along came the request 'can you make her a new coat?' So out come the needles and some dyed handspun yarn and I start knitting. After finding a basic pattern on the internet, I customised it by re-sizing and changing the neck shape. I decided on a simple rib to give a bit of extra warmth. It knitted up quickly, and I was surprised at how well the colours blended together. The dyeing of this skein was an experiment and I'm pleased with the result.

The dog coat is a success and looks beautiful on her. Now she is bathed and trimmed, the fluffy pooch is much happier, can see easier and is more mischievous than ever. Hopefully, she will fatten up a little with good food, plenty of love and attention, enough exercise, settle in and become part of the family for a long time to come.

      

One very smart little girl, all snug and warm.

Handspun Cable Jumper

Done! Finito! It's finally completed! Considering the time it eventually took, I'm pleased with the result. The pattern was easy to follow after sorting out the three stitch variations and working the three of them simultaneously to keep track of the  rows in each pattern.

The pattern was easy to follow, especially once I had worked out how to cope with three different patterns, all with different numbers of rows per pattern. The main cable was twenty-four rows, and luckily the other two patterns worked into that number perfectly.

How did I do it?

I used a child's Primary School exercise book with the wide and narrow lines and going between the red lines, set all the pattern out in their multiples. It worked perfectly.

The yarn was a dream to knit - very soft with plenty of spring. Once I had got into the swing of the pattern, it knitted up very quickly.

Very little that went wrong, apart from a couple of times, one when one of the single cables insisted going the opposite way,  the second was when the middle section decided to go walkabout and it too went in the opposite direction so had to be unpicked - somewhere around ten rows before it was noticed. Ouch! But it all turned out fine.

And hopefully, the proud owner of the jumper will have many years of wear - as these handspun jumpers seem to last forever...