Spinzilla - a learning curve

I first join the Spinzilla challenge in 2015, I was a real rooky, never thought that I should do anything in advance other than to make sure my wheels were in working order.  We had been away in the weeks previous arriving home the day before the start.  Monday morning saw me going through stash trying to decide what to spin...  How crazy was that?  That year I managed a respectable yardage, and exceeded my hoped for mile, but nothing like the more experience spinners who spin an amazing total - something like 45,000 yards.  I also got a pressure sore from sitting in one place for seven days...


2016 I was more prepared - bought a load of John Arbon's lovely fibre at Fibre East, and arranged that we returned from our autumn break with a few days grace before the grand depart! But for preparation of fibre - nothing.  Indeed I spent a whole evening making punis as I had spun tall my fibre - prepping fibre is not a good idea when the idea is to spin as much as possible..  But I had improved and my total that year was a respectable 15,500 Spinzilla yards.  Here I should explain the concept of Spinzilla yards, you count one for every yard you spin, and then you get another for plying, so for a two ply yarn you multiply your skein's yardage by three, one each for the singles and one for plying - so if your skein comes in at 100 yards you get credited with 300 Spinzilla yards.

Once again the winner spun over 45,000 Spinzilla yards - how on earth could you spin that amount, skein, count etc?  Well it seems that you don't actually have to do anything else except spin and ply - the winner has a team of helpers skeining off, so freeing up bobbins for further spinning.  I had done all these myself, so using spinning time with non counting tasks.

2017 - I was really clued up.  We were home for nearly a week before, much of which was taken up with prepping fibre.  By this I mean really prepping, all the lovely fibre I had bought from John
Arbon was pre-drafted ready to spin.  Also every evening I sat making punis for long draw spinning.  I forgot to mention that in previous years I had spun worsted, not woollen.  Earlier this year I did a long draw class and have been practising ever since to get faster.  So this year I switched between the two and also instead of sitting in one place I had three wheels set up, so I could alter my position, and have more bobbins that I could fill before plying.  I had also practiced double plying!  What is double plying!  Well I have a Hansen Mspinner which I set up on the footstool to my right and my Matchless to my left - both have WooLee Winders, so no moving the yarn along, and I ply on both at the same time - great time saver.


This year's total - 20696 Spinzilla yards

There are lots of lifts in Edinburgh.....

I've just got back from the Edinburgh Yarn Festival with friend Ann (coffeecake on Rav) - fabulous time, but isn't Edinburgh hilly, I don't think I have ever been in so many lifts in such a short time.  The most nifty one was in the Hotel, it came out of the floor when called and disappeared when not in use - a sort of now you see it, now you don't sort of thing.

No lift and magically it arrives

So much nicer than the bog standard hotel lift for wheelchairs...

But back to my trip to the EYF - we flew up on Wednesday afternoon with Easyjet, here I have to say that the service for me was extremely efficient.  my chair was the last item into the hold and the first item out - very reassuring.

Wednesday night we ate in a lovely veggie restaurant called David Bann - nice food, portions were large and tasty, but every time one of the waitresses passed my chair they knock it - this is painful and unnecessary and for me completely spoilt what should have been an enjoyable evening.

Thursday morning we did the tourist thingy and browsed the shops on the Royal Mile (going down hill) before catching the bus to our class on Two-Handed Colour Work with Carol Feller.  Finally I discovered what I had being doing wrong - you scoop the stitch, when you see it demonstrated it seems so simple, that I can't understand why I didn't see it before.  Anyway I managed several rounds of what will be a head band - don't do hats...

Friday was the first day of shopping - as we had taken a class we were allowed in an hour early ahead of the general public.  It was really great to be able to shop without having to fight for space and of course, there was no one to step back without looking and then blaming me for having the nerve to be there.

Here we are waiting for the doors to open

And here is some of my purchases - well you can't go that far and fail to buy..

Not bad?

Saturday was a day for browsing and just a very little shop.  Mainly we wanted to see our friend Emily to do her podcast - for nearly three hours we waited around and then at the last minute the event was cancelled - it was too noisy - well they knew that when they set up the venue.  We felt so sorry for Emily, and the other two who had been asked to do this, she had put a lot of effort into preparing for this, brought samples and set up, just to be told sorry.  I feel quite miffed about this, for had we known we could have spent time exploring Edinburgh in the sun rather than sitting around in a stuffy, noisy room.

That night we ate at Ecco Vino in Cockburn Street, just a few yards from our hotel, well what a difference to the previous restaurant.  The actual space was tiny, open kitchen and just two front of house staff who ran the place with utmost efficiency - not once did anyone kick my chair - bliss and the food was yummy, I had goat's cheese and sun-dried blush tomato risotto - divine, Julie had the Spagbol and Ann the Tuscan Beef Stew and we shared a starter of olives, pesto, hummus and gorgeous bread - a super little gem found purely by accident!


Sunday we viewed the Celts exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland - fabulous as was the actual museum

Then just as we leaving, rather peeved that the Lewis Chessmen were less impressive than we had imagined we saw this amazing tapestry

Woven using yarn from every breed of sheep in the United Kingdom by Victoria Crowe of the Dovecot Tapestry Studio
Then we headed for the airport and home, very tired but happy.... Late nights knitting, chatting and drinking coffee and early mornings make for tired girls.......

New Loom!

I have been considering upgrading my loom for several months now. I spent far too long on the internet, searching and reading reviews on various looms.  I do not have the room for a floor loom even if I was able to use the treadles, which I can't!  I wanted more shafts at least 16 so this meant a dobby loom.  This brought the number to consider down to two possible looms.  The AVL Little Weaver and the Louet Magic Dobby.  The AVL is operated by computer only and is 16 inches wide, so not perfect, but the cost was exorbitant - over £6000 including shipping and customs etc.. 

So I was left with the Magic, I got all sorts of reports regarding this loom, all bad - the shed is too small, it is impossible to advance the weaving, the treadle is useless, the shafts are heavy and hard to lift and so on.  I really only got a good review from Clare (Mintyweaver) and from a couple of weavers in America on Ravelry.  One owner, who had offered me her electronic at an inflated price, later admitted she hated it and blamed all her bad weaving on the inadequacies of this loom.  Could it really be that bad?  It was obviously a Marmite loom - love it or hate it   

At the beginning of February I met up with Louet Magic Dobby owner, Clare, in Shrewsbury where the local guild had generously agreed that we could set up the loom during their Friendship Day.  We arrived at 11am and for nearly three hours I explored the 'failings' of the loom...

Small shed, well only if you are used to a floor loom, it was almost identical to the shed on my Ashford - my Glimakra shuttles slid through with ease, so no problems with that.  The loom can be operated by either pulling down a lever or depressing the treadle - one or the other - not both!  We did not bother to attach the treadle and the lever work like a dream - with no problems I could lift all 24 shafts, which in the ordinary way of weaving would never happen.  In those three hours I had dispelled all my fears....

I had found my loom - the only problem was that for me sat in my wheelchair the loom was too high by about 10cms or 4 inches. Possibly a diy job, but before I committed an email to Louet was called for.

Please can you lower a loom for me - yes, said Jan Louet!

Order placed...

Another bag and a new weaving project

I must be a glutton - how many colour Gamp bags does a girl need?  Well I now have two and a wallet!

It seemed a shame to waste all that fabric, plus I wanted to see if I could make a necessary clutch wallet without buying the actual pattern. Very pleased with the results! Got lots of comments in John Lewis yesterday too!

Onwards to the next weaving project..  On the Warped Weavers Forum there is a WAL (weave along) involving the book 'Next Steps in Weaving' and rather than starting with Chapter One, I jumped to the Chapter on Summer and Winter - something I have wanted to try for a while, but couldn't get my head around the process.

I didn't have the right weight of cotton so I am using a 5/2 cotton for the warp and tabby weft and it used double for the pattern weft - perhaps not the best, but I have finally worked out what I should be doing.  The tabby pick is woven between every pattern pick and hey presto you have a double sided fabric which is light on one side and darken the other - summer and winter!

Here is my progress so far..

No New Years Resolutions

I have really neglected this blog over the last few months, but this is a sign that I have been incredibly busy spinning, weaving, dyeing and generally making things.  I will try to keep up, but make no promises....

Since the weaving workshop last May I have finally got to grips with my loom, that had languished unloved for several years.  The workshop was intended to be a final fling - a point of decision, to keep or sell...  However, the real change was the purchase of a DVD 'Warping Your Loom' with Madelyn van der Hoogt.  This was a light bulb moment and since then my weaving has gone from strength to strength... What you cannot do is weave well if you can't get a warp on your loom - twisted threads and uneven tension is a real no-no and quite honestly makes the whole process not fun..

My intention with weaving always had been to make fabric that I could make things from and I have done it!

First I dyed a selection of sock yarn in six bright colours, this was inspired by the Lunatic Fringe Colour Spectrum, and warped up a colour gamp - which is a sort of sampler of twills..

I made a three yard warp and got a finished length of 84"  from this I made this

Success - i have achieved my goal!  Although it is still awaiting handles as I ran out of black thread and Royal Mail seems to have gone on a go slow - although I ordered last Monday and received a notification of dispatch on Tuesday I am still black thread less a week later...

No apologies....

I have been very lax in the last few months about recording the happenings in Chez Sassy.  This is not because nothing has happened, but more to do about the huge amount of crazy things we have been up to!

Since the Tour de France (Fleece) Mr S and I have been fully engaged in our various hobbies.  Knitting, spinning, bag making and quilting - just to name a few..

After the workshop in May I have rediscovered my weaving mojo.  The loom has been in use almost daily and Mr S made me the most amazing winding station..

Since then he has a commission for four more and that has kept him busy! 

September saw us on our usual month long break, and this year we began in London, then spent 10 days in the Peak District before a 12 day stay in the fantastically spectacular Yorkshire Dales (there are loads and loads of photos on my Instagram feed thesassyspinner - will put a link in if I can work out how to on the iPad) finishing off with a few days on our favourite CL in Ruskington.  

During this sojourn we painted crockery at Emma Bridgewater's factory, 

visited Yarndale 

and The Masham Sheep Fair - where Mr S got roped into showing (and winning) with a Border Leicester ewe!

We returned home just in time to take part in Spinzilla 2015 -  this was a week long spinning challenge and I was a member Team Handspinning News UK - my total was a tad under six miles - that is in Spinzilla yards - you get credit for each single spun and for plying.

So if you, as I did, make a 3 plied yarn and it comes in at 1000 yards you get credited with 4000 yards (the three singles and the ply) - easy yes?

From the top two skeins of 3 plied fawn Bond, 2 skeins of Shetland, Troubled Water from SCF, Deep Orchid again a SCF fibre, the greens from After the Rains (BFL) and a couple of smaller skeins, a sample from Into The Whirle and one of  black Cormo, which I spun while doing the weekly shop!

We are still waiting for the total yardage from the team but hopefully we will have beaten last years winning total of 17,000 yards - will keep you posted...

July is the Tour de France (Fleece)

July - tennis, cycling, tennis and more cycling - yeah I love the beginning of July - why - well I get loads of time to spin with no chance of being moaned at....

Mr S is an avid cycling fan which means we get to watch a lot of the TV coverage and believe me that is a lot.  Most stages take at least four hours and more likely nearer to five.  That is a fair bit of spinning time.  Also this year Wimbledon started a week later so there are has been a bit of a conflict in Chez Sassy.  The one thing you can do with the Tour is fast forward through some of the more boring bits - well once you've watch a load of cyclist ride along one road you've seen a lot of the race - mountain stages and sprinter's finishes are great fun, but the bits between can be a tad tedious...

Wimbledon on the other hand must be watched live, point by point.  Both provide ample opportunity to get out the fibre and wheel and get productive.

This year as been particularly productive - so far (and there is still five more stages)

First on the wheel was 'Death' from Into the Whirled - a superwash merino and a really fast spin - so fast that I forgot to take in progress piccies.

 

Then Dragon Fruit and Rosebud from Southern Cross Fibre - Bond and Mulberry Silk - a scrumptious blend.

The sharp eyed will notice some new bobbins have appeared - these are from Akerworks in the USA, 3D printed and in magenta - how could I not get some.  They arrived last Monday and a week of testing has proven them to be excellent.  They are lighter than the ordinary Schacht bobbins.  These are compatible with my WooLee Winder and I looooooove them.

Next to face the wheel was Octarine, the last of my MegaSal fibre - for this I spun two bobbins end to end and plied to keep the gradient.

Then over this weekend, when again there was a conflict between cycling and tennis - this time the Davis Cup - and we won, for the first time in 30 years GB are into the semis - which will be played in September here in the UK against Australia - that is going to be fantastic....

This is Deju Vu, another Southern Cross Fibre colourway, - hot of the wheel

Next - well I must go stash diving...... but.....

This weekend is Fibre East - currently just over 4 days to go, and as usual Mr S and I are volunteering, so bright and early Thursday morning will see us on the road to Ampthill and then over to Shillington for a bit of r and r!  With hopefully a trip to the Handweaver's Studio next Tuesday.....  Mr S is a sucker for a train ride, so Hitchin to Finsbury Park and a short walk or bus is a real treat for us both....

I've been neglecting....

Just realised that it is over a month since I last posted! My excuse - I have been busy, spinning, weaving, knitting and generally being crafty...

Firstly I have cracked warping my loom. After completing messing up trying the Ashford back to front methods (wasting some really lovely yarn in the process) I tried the front to back method using 'Warping all by yourself' by Cay Garrett and the Interweave DVD by Madalyn van der Hoogts 'Warping your Loom'.  The front to back method is so much easier on the back as a lot of the work can be done away from the loom...

It also required some wood work by Mr S in the shape of a heddle stand and an ingenious little device to hold the cross sticks.

These two little gadgets make the process so much easier....

So here is my first piece of proper weaving

Block Twill

The next thing is to make some tea towels, why?  Well everyone seems to make tea towels and I have a large quantity of cotton yarn just waiting to be woven.  This was an absolute bargain 4 kilos for £30. But, of course, to do this needed extra heddles and a new reed, so what could be relatively cheap tea towels are turning out to be rather expensive!

That was the beginning of the month, for the last two weeks we have been away in our caravan staying at Chertsey, firstly so I could go to the Muse Connection Volume II and secondly for our annual visit to Wimbledon. 

The first was fantastic, but the second was a damp squib, in all the years we have been allocated tickets through the Wheelchair Tennis Foundation we have never been disappointed with our seats.  

Now the allocation is organised by the LTA and we found ourselves at the very top of Centre Court. 

The whole thing had been a fiasco, the tickets had miss-addressed and despite checking with every 

sorting office in Bristol were deemed lost. We had to go to the ticket office to collect replacements - that was easier said than done! As we had left home 10 days before, we didn't have  the necessary letter, to gain entry so we had to be escorted, then there was the wait as the queue was very long, and of course sans letter meant finding the tickets proved to be less than simple...

Then we found out where our seats were! The view was terrible, the roof feels as if it is only inches from your head. Fortunately there was a really good match on Court 18 - Liam Broady who had been given a wild card and played a brilliant game.  He lost the first two sets, we thought it was curtains, but he fought back and won the last three sets impressively. We did go back to our seats for the last match, but Stan's game was lack lustre, so left early and beat the traffic... Obviously we need to rethink our strategy - definitely go for the second week or a lesser court (cheaper) in the first week and seek out the more competitive matches.  Watching the top seeds walk over qualifying players is not entertainment...

I know I shouldn't moan, some people never get to Wimbledon let alone sit right next to the court, but  honestly you get a better view on TV! 

Weaving and Railways

Last weekend saw me, Molly and Mr S in Bedfordshire - me for a weaving workshop and Mr S was exhibiting his model railway - the new larger and improved layout that is.

 

The enlarged version takes up more room in the car and requires two large coffin shaped boxes to safely transport.

 

The enlarging of the layout required additional trees and the revamp of the existing which were looking the worse for wear, my job and I am pretty pleased with the new ones!  I discovered that with the camera on my phone that I could take photos from different angles - here is one looking down through the fields....... 

Must have be worth the effort, because he got an invite exhibit next year in Oxford...

And while all this was going on I was completely out of my depth on a Creative Weaving Workshop.  In the week leading up to the workshop I had attempted to warp my loom four times - complete disaster.  I now have a large bag of thrums - that is what the bits from the ends of the warps are called, I just had more than you would expect...............

I did finally manage to get something on the loom, but it was a poor attempt when I looked at the other looms .........

This is only photo of my pathetic efforts

And here are some of the beautiful fabrics being woven by the more experienced weavers..

Think you can see from this, just how much!

This stunning weave is in a variety of yarns, including cotton, silk and sock yarn - I just love the way the rust really pops out!

The inspiration for this piece was the foliage along side the canal near to where the weaver lives - she had dyed the yarn to reflect the colours in her photos.

An just to show that you don't need to have a complicated warp - this was done with just five colours.........

But one good thing came out of being the newbie - I got an individual lesson on warping - and the best bit was that everything didn't go right, a thread broke and in the end the tutor cut the warp, saying that it wasn't something she would recommend..........  Nice to know that even the experts get it wrong sometimes.

The outcome of this weekend is that I am today warping my loom, on my own and so far everything is fine - I have a two coloured warp ready to thread, pics will follow if it works..................

Machines take over....

It seems that lately I have done more using machines than my hands! Particularly as sewing seems to have taken precedence over knitting and spinning in the last few weeks....

Blame Wonderwool....  Yes I did go to Wonderwool and unlike previous years bought very little.  I had a Purlescence voucher, so I got some Jamieson and Smith yarns to go with the bargain cone I bought at Unravel.  These will be part of my first proper machine knit project - for this I will knit the stocking stitch body on the machine and the interesting fair-isle bit by hand.  I have swatched and was already to go when I chanced upon a bargain - a Knitmaster 360 with lace carriage, couldn't resist so I currently have three machines, two under the sofa (they really don't take up much room when packed up) and the latest purchase...

My only other Wonderwool purchases, were two pots of dyes and some prins for my shuttles.... How restrained was that?  But just as we were leaving, my attention was drawn to some simple bags (£25) and the questioned was posed as to whether I could make one!

This was number one and was quickly followed by

I still have a couple to finish off! But they are really simple and very practical for knitting on the go! Plus I had an order for my smaller project bag and a clutch, so the sewing machine has been in constant use over the last two weeks! 

Then I have made Mr S three pairs of shorts, these are the final pair for now, rather pleased as from one metre of denim material I will have made one pair of shorts and three bags, not bad for £9.99!

The Shorts

The first Bag

This was made entirely from odd bits of fabric I had left over from other projects - and talking of being thrifty here are three cushions I made from a Charity Shop sweater

It was a size 20, so plenty of knitted fabric - one cushion from the front and one front the back and one using both sleeves - total cost £6.00

And here they are brighting up the caravan

Life just keeps getting in the way!

I realised yesterday that a month had sped by since I last posted, then I considered what had I had achieved, in the last 30 days.  Apart from cooking meals, cleaning up, washing (not ironing) shopping and all the other things that have to be done just to keep body and soul together.

I have spun just under 2000 yards of finished yarn, considering that most of that was 2 plied, that means I spun 4000 yards of singles

BFL - Salvation Jane from Southern Cross Fibres

Bond, Josephine, Winetasting, and Desert Rose, again from Southern Cross Fibres

Then I have been spinning fibre for the #MegaSAL on Ravelry. This is a collaboration of five dyers who have all come up with Discworld inspired colour ways. Discworld is the imaginary world of the late Terry Prachett whose books I have not read, can't abide books where you have to keep going back because you don't understand the lingo! But I have enjoyed the spinning......

This is Vetinari again from Southern Cross Fibres, and this one is Ank Morpork from FatCatKnits

Told you, his books were full of silly names, even the photo comes out on its side!

And then there were the Bags, lots of bags and sorting out my studio, no longer do I have a study, I now have a room where I can be crafty, I would say creative, but I am not sure that I am that sort of person! Creative to me is having the vision to create something new, out of the norm which is new or innovative!  

Gone the is the desk and big PC now I have a laptop and this super little drop down shelf which can be pulled up to give more space for creativity, in its space in the knitting machine with room underneath for all the cones of yarn!

And I made some trees! Little ones at 4mm to the foot

For Mr S

Tomorrow I go to Wonderwool ......

Help! I am addicted!

Last summer when I was seeking a cheap knitting machine, to make sock blanks for dyeing, I was warned that it could become addictive and it has!

Following the recent purchase of a better spec machine, I have acquired a ribber - essential equipment for knitting in the round, a colour changer, essential to smoothly change colours, a linker, essential to seam, a cone wonder, essential to produce a good feeding yarn for the machine, and of course a table on which to place all these essentials!

What I haven't acquired is the extra space needed to store all these essentials! Plus each of these comes with the ubiquitous manual so necessary for the beginner. Then there are the books that explain in detail what all the levers and buttons do! Don't be fooled by watching someone demonstrate a simple bit of stocking stitch! First you have to get the yarn onto the needles, this requires a lot of jiggery-pokery with cast-on combs, weights and precise selection of the correct levers and buttons, so the books are an essential extra, honest!  Thank goodness Mr S is understanding and has hobbies of his own!

These machines are also time eaters, you sit down to play and woosh, it's dinner time and all you have produced is a coaster!

Bags, Bags, more Bags and a quilt.

For somebody is never carries a handbag of any sort, I do seem to make an awful lot of bags..  I am fascinated by the construction and have even bought tatty bags in charity shops just to see how they were made!

But project bags, needles cases and the like are useful and fun to make..

First off I was looking for a suitable case to store my growing collection of signature needles - for anyone who has never knit with these needles, they are a joy.  I was first introduced to the straights and they made me long for a set of circulars.  But the cost of buying from the US with all the added extras by the government, put them beyond any sensible person's reach. 

Then last year a friend went to New York, and asked if there was anything she could buy for me - well I didn't hesitate and asked her to bring a set of 3.75mm and cables - total love.  Then at Unwind last year they were selling Signatures - and I managed to get three more sets!  In April another friend will be bringing some 3.25mms to complete my collection.  But these very expensive needles need a very special case

First off I saw this on Etsy and made this

The only problem I had was stitching down the bottom of the concertina - it isn't for the faint hearted! And there is no mention in the instructions exactly how you are expected to sew this bit.

There are eight pockets which you have to fit into a space less than 2 inches. 

Then I tried again

and again

this last time I changed the way I made the pockets which are sealed at the bottom and the last one isn't quite so big!

Inspired by the concertina effect I found this bag and was intrigued!

Following the sew along I was able to make a bag and got an insight into how to stitch the needle case at the same time!

Outside

Inside

 

 

This material is Petit Street from Dashwood Designs, think I might just have enough left for a project bag! I do so like matching accessories....

This quilt is one of two I am making for our caravan seats

These beauties were a gift from a wonderful friend who knows my tastes perfectly - bag?