Christmas Over

Christmas over - thank goodness!!! The weather here was snowy for the week leading up to the 'great day', but on Friday the sun was shining so we went for a 'walk' along the front at Clevedon. The really nice spinning shop was closed!!!!!!! Could have spent my Christmas money............

Best present was the windmill swift that Mr S made for me. He is already thinking about the improvements that the de-luxe version will have

Poe Revisted

Several weeks ago I saw some gorgeous roving on Etsy called Poe, it had been dyed using scarlett and black acid dyes and was quite expensive. Thought I would have a go and try to reproduce the roving and this is the result - not bad eh!

Last night at the Spinning Weal I spun a 85 gram skein (76 metres).

Last night I finished spinning and skeining, I now have around 700 metres enough for the top I am going to make - pattern No 26 in Noro Mini Knits. Noro Garden Silk is an Aran weight yarn and as soon as I have Poe Revisited balled up I shall do a tension swatch and see what alterations I shall have to make to the pattern.

Carding 'Red Sky at Night'

Today instead of driving up the M5 to fetch our caravan back from the repair man, I am carding some more 'Red Sky at Night' - Cherry Red and Black Merino with Firestar and red Angelina. Really pleased with the way this is spinning and I am Navajo plying the yarn which is giving me an Aran weight which will knitted into a scarf for a Xmas pressie (not saying who for yet!).

Why am I not driving up the M5, well Mr SS started running a temp last night, so the 'man flu' turns out to be 'real flu' and we do need to be careful as he is less than three months over heart surgery, so instead of spending tomorrow at Lincoln Christmas Fare with our Lincolnshire friends I shall be tending the sickbed. Could have been worse it could have been tomorrow and a long way from home.......

On the plus side at least my spinning wheel is OK.......

The Sassy Spinner

I am a sixty something wheelchair spinner. I got interested in spinning and weaving when researching my PhD which is looking into the silk industry in the south-west of England from c 1688 to 1901. Silk was thrown, how different is that to spinning, throwing puts a twist into the silk so it is very like spinning. I found that very little had changed in the silk industry except that the source of power has changed from horse jinnys to electric.

In February I got a loom for my birthday from the Spinning Weal in Clevedon, while there Sarah showed me silk rovings and spinning - so I booked on to one of her Spinning Classes in June for the day and was hooked. I got my pride and joy (pun intended) a Ashford Single treadle Joy and haven't looked back. Recently I took a four week spinning course to hone my skills - spinning, silk, cotton and everything in between.

I now have so many wips, the most pressing is the scarf for Xmas, but I also really need the Francis revisited I am making for myself from 'Posh Sylvia' in Kelpie. I always have a pair of socks on the go and the current pair are the 4th plinth yarn I won in the Knitting Goddess raffle in August.