The Steadfast Hand......

Back before Christmas Interweave had a sale and I bought three instructional DVDs, just so I would have something to watch during the dark days in January! Or that is my excuse and I'm sticking to that!

Two were with Deb Menz - Colour and Yarn Design for Spinners and Colour Work for Spinners, were on colour blending and supplement her book Colour Works The Crafter's Guide to Colour which I have found very useful in the past, plus they were at a bargain price of $5.99 each - so not to be missed


The other was the Gentle Art of Plying with Judith MacKenzie.  The blurb says 'Plying is not an afterthought. Its your gateway into the vast world of yarn design'.  Thinking back to when I learnt to spin plying wasn't given that much attention, in fact it was suggest that now you have mastered the hard part - spinning a single - plying was the fun part!

Not so, there is far more to plying than simply twisting two (or more) singles together............  Judith actually shows how to make a 5ply yarn, but I haven't tried that as yet!

Judith's method requires a steadfast hand - this hand (in my case my right hand) does not move, it does exactly what it says - it stays still and controlling the singles as they are drawn from the Kate and keeping both with the same amount of tension -  while the other hand (my left) controls the amount of twist - and it works!  Not that I am saying that my yarns were wrongly plied in the past, but since using this method my yarns are so much better! So I can't recommend this DVD enough, if you get a chance of it at a bargain price or even at the current asking price of $20 - go for it!

This yarn is made from Spelsau fibre - Southern Cross Fibre's December coordinate in Cabernet - plied with the steadfast method............ 

I have also made good use of the DVD's on working with colour.  Back when the sun shone I experimented dyeing silks with Elderberries and was suprised how the dye took differently on Mulberry and Tussah silk.  Tussah seems to have a much more subtle colour to the Mulberry, but that's by the by.

Mulberry Dyeing

As a result of this dyeing experiment I had several batches of dyed silk in 25 gram lots, not enough on their own, but if I thought that if I blended some merino top to match then perhaps I would get enough yarn for a shawl!  Plus I would get to play with my Blending Board.

Mulberry Dyed Bombyx Mori

This is what I wanted to match, so I played around with colours and came up with a blend of Lavender, Magenta and Amethyst

For the 25grams of silk I blended 40 grams of merino and spun two lots of singles.

These are spun singles, the blended merino is on the top bobbin and the silk on the lower one and I think that they are pretty well matched...........  Here is the finished yarn on the bobbin

and the skeined yarn approximately 415 yards of silk and merino yarn

Whisper Who Dares!

Next, some walnut dyed Tussah and another blend perhaps?






 

Welcome to the Black Hole, a Post Free Zone!

I have come to the conclusion that, for parcels coming to me from outside the UK, I live in a black hole when it comes to the Post Office, Parcel Force and courier firms...... 

My first Bliss wheel disappeared never to be seen again, according to the tracking facility my wheel entered the depot in the Netherlands and never left, although much later it was updated to address not valid - unable to deliver!  If it ever got back to Woolmakers I never heard..........

Now the latest Ply magazine - which has been arriving on door mats all over the UK for those who get their copies through Janet at The Threshing Barn.  My copy which should come straight from the publishers, and so not through a middle man - there is no sign, although the copies were received in Australia and New Zealand over a week ago. 

Likewise a parcel from Canada - posted in the middle of November, this was my proper Christmas present from Mr S a selection luxury yarns from Tabi of Sericin Silkworks, has followed my wheel into oblivion, and it is now nearing the 90 days cut off, when a parcel is deemed to be lost forever.

Again, a swap parcel from New Zealand supposedly sent in August/September - disappeared without a trace into the black hole that is the UK postal system

Am I particularly unlucky or have I been exceptionally badly behaved, or is there some evil pixie sat just waiting to knock my parcels off the sorting office table to become part of the flotsam and jetsam of never to be delivered post?

What happens to these never delivered parcels? Research shows that the Royal Mail 'made' £933,00.00 in 2010/11, and close to £1 million in 2011/12, from the sale of undeliverable parcels.  The BBC who obtained these figure under the Freedom of Information say that Royal Mail 'store valuable goods which cannot be delivered or returned for up to four months. If they are not claimed, they are then sold at auction. The company insists this is always a last resort, where the sender cannot be traced'.

Is there a warehouse of parcels, where you can go and search for your lost goods? It seems not as according to the Daily Mail, the contents of 75,000 items of undelivered post are sold off (often on Ebay) every year with some of the proceeds going to charity, but most to help with the running costs of Royal Mail, who if I understand this correctly lost the goods in the first place..............

All of my parcels should have had a return address so even if my address is not 'valid' they should in theory have been returned to sender...............  pigs might fly!!

That was the year that was!

I don't make New Year's Resolutions as I have always felt that you start with good intentions and by the end of January the enthusiasm has fizzled out and you are left with a feeling of failure...............

Instead I thought I would ponder on things I have achieved during 2013...

I think my crowning moment was being awarded First Prize at the Gillingham and Shaftesbury Show for the SpinDyeWeavers display in the Action Crafts Tent.  We had put a lot of effort into 2013's exhibits with the intention of answering the two most common questions of 2012............. which were sheep fleece - aren't they all the same and do you use natural dyes?

Of course the answer to the first is no they were all bred for a specific purpose and to the second yes, but you do realize that natural dyes need chemicals to make the colour stick!

Spinning and 2013 saw the 'Murmuring of Spinning Wheels' grow!  With the addition of Demelza (Schacht Matchless), Miss Bliss (Louet Bliss), and more recently a Haldane Shetland.  Other wheels have come and gone as I continue to explore the wonderful world that is spinning.

Currently I am refurbishing a Ashford Traditional and a Louet lookalike - both Ebay purchases and both in need of tender loving care.

The Trad looked OK until you got up close and found that some kind soul had liberally covered everything, and I mean everything, in a thick gloopy varnish.

But with some remover and elbow grease the beautiful patina of the wood is showing through..

Recently I watched Judith McKenzie's Gentle Art of Plying, as, I expect like a lot of other spinners, plying for me was just the last stage of the spinning process..

The blurb says 'Plying is not an afterthought. It’s your gateway into the vast world of yarn design.' and it really is.  Since watching I have taken on board the rights and wrongs and my plying is definitely improving....

This is a skein of Cashmere and Silk (50/50) from World of Wool with I believe a very even twisted ply.  Plying needs concentration, probably more so than spinning, one steady hand and regular treadling... Take you time and try to ply in one go!

So - things for 2014...

• I really should stop adding to my stash of fibre and yarn, but I know that is  an impossible feat - so I will try the one in one out approach if at all possible! This ambition has already been breach and its only Jan 3rd....

• Spin everyday if only for 5 minutes

• 'Walk' for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.. This is weather dependent - I will NOT push in the wet!

• Make the most of every minute - you never know what's round the corner and so many people not that much older than me have die recently - makes you realize that you are mortal!

Happy New Year!

It doesn't do to get you hopes up!!!

Phew - survived, not only the awful fuss that is Christmas, but the wind and rain that swept across south Devon on Monday.  We had gone away to our usual hidey hole for the duration, but hadn't expected the weather to be so extreme and with more gales forecast for Thursday night and today we made the decision to come home early...............

I just missed Mr S running from the waves, but those are his footprints.....


Mr S and I don't do Christmas presents as such - mostly we buy each other presents as ideas occur, so to be told that he had ordered me a surprise was tantalizing to say the least!  Prodding and guessing got me only knowing looks, but a grin when I mentioned sheep!  Would he really - buy me a sheep!  No, of course he didn't but a girl can dream - two Baby Southdown lambs would look perfect in the garden and would really take up too much room...

Picture from http://www.rostraverfarm.com

No I got a pair of sheep earrings in enamel very pretty, but not, as I keep telling him, really sheep......................................

I really shouldn't have.................

Gone and bought another wheel, but I did!  Just couldn't resist and it was a bargain - honest!

Its what the 'experts' call a Dutch Louet look-alike and appears to be flyer braked tension with huge bobbins....

 The only identification is this  - Rotterdam and an address................

 

I did a bit of googling and came up with this photo of a Louet look alike on the Thrifty Knitter blog 

and another at worldwool where they are call Rotterdam Delft wheels although this looks as if it might be a double drive - but that might just be the angle...

Needs a good clean, wax, oil and some new hooks, which have all been broken off at some time, but surprisingly the drive band is still intact....

and yes I got a copy of Mabel Ross' 'The Essentials of Handspinning' along with the wheel - what a bargain.............

Recent Acquisitions

You know what they say, you can't wait for a bus for ages and then three come along at the same time!  Well the same applies to spinning wheels................

First there was an Ashford Traditional - in real need of some tlc!  Some kind person had covered the whole wheel, screws, nuts and everything visible surface with what appears to be yacht varnish - a liberal coat, not a thin coat, thick and gloopy with big blobs!  Underneath there are even bigger blobs where the varnish was allowed to run!

Every screw was glued in with the varnish, so I had to work Strippit into each screw and eventually after three days I have managed to get the wheel to pieces and am now working on releasing the wheel from the crank as I may have to re-glue the rim.....

Second there was this wheel

It was advertised with a starting price £35, while admitting that there where bits missing, it did say that similar wheels were being sold for £250 - well they might have an asking price of £250 but that doesn't mean they sold!  I paid at lot less -just about what the crank is worth - one day I might get it to spin..............

Third was a Haldane Shetland

seen next to Patience my Orkney.  The Shetland was the precursor to the Orkney so there are a lot of similarities............

I was attracted to the light wood in the first place, and the location which wasn't that far away and I got lucky and got it for my maximum - the bobbins are definitely replacements and I am pretty sure that the flyer is too - but again with some 'tlc' Prudence will be a lovely little wheel........

First Wednesday in December

Today I booked our pitch at Hebden Bridge Caravan Club Site for the Tour de France in July 2014.....................

Mr S and I had been sat at the PC ready and waiting for 9am to click by and bingo we got our preferred site for the days we wanted - why?  Well the riders will go past the gates of the site at the beginning of the longest continual climb in the UK and we will be there to watch and experience the razzmatazz that is the tour.  This will be our third Tour in the UK, the first in 1992 we cycled too, the second (2008) on Beacon Hill my view was obstructed by a foul-mouthed woman who insisted she wouldn't stand between me and the cyclists, but did, so I saw virtually nothing - this time no-one will get in my way!  Plus we already have our official T-Shirts - yellow for Mr S and pink for me!

But what of all things woolly in November?  Well it has been a month of experimenting - firstly I tried plying with beads, inspired by some exquisite spinning by Tabi of Sericin Silk 

I had been given a sample of Cormo which by chance was a perfect match for some walnut dyed silk, and this is the result

Silvered Don

I have to admit that this was second attempt at plying with beads, the first will reside along with some other first attempts shrouded in the mists of obscurity.

But this month has really been about making and using my newest toy - a Blending Board.

I had been intrigued to find out what all the fuss was about, but not at the £100 plus price tag! In fact I will have made three and still come in at under that figure!

First the carding cloth - the best prices are, as usual, in the USA, but customs and international postage costs make this less attractive, so in the end I bought from Winghams - who despite saying it was in stock took 2 and 1/2 weeks to deliver!  B&Q provided the board, nuts and bolts, Mr S the cutting and me, I did the sanding and cutting of the cloth and viola!

Punis, Rolags or Poonags - call them what you will - they are the most fabulous things to make

Here I have a blend of, Pumpkin, Pink, Lime Green, Yellow and hints of Black which magically turn into this -

and these..........

My crowning glory this month was the test knit for LindaCC -

 Hemeracallis - Day-Lily Shawl

Now its December which means dark days and knitting an Advent Stole - so far 3 days in and going OK