hellos and goodbyes...

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There’s been a fair amount of saying goodbye this past week  - my vintage Husqvarna sewing machine finally gave up the ghost. She was made in the 1960s so it’s probably only fair she’s allowed to pass over to the other side but we did have fun together. I have a tudor dress to make by the middle of next month so I have to borrow a machine very soon! (any recommendations for a new machine gratefully received!)

Plus my first spinning wheel – also made in the 60s (I believe) an Ashford Camelot has gone to a new home. I’m sad to see her go, it’s a little like saying goodbye to your first car. I learnt so much with her but she has gone to a fabulous studio with the installation artist (and buddy) Leah Hislop. Leah creates wonderful webs and weavings. I can’t wait to work with her more on projects.

There has also been some saying ‘hello’ too.  No new sewing machine yet (gotta sell a lot of pots for that!) But thanks to my wonderful husband a new birthday* wheel arrived. Can you guess what it is yet?

 A Schacht Ladybug all the way from the Threshing Barn and a bulky plyer. (For those of you out there in blogland who care about such details...) I love her – she’s amazing, we’re going to have great adventures together… I can’t wait – now to name her… Any suggestions?

*More birthday goodies later... warned they are mostly fibre related....

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Welcome to my new followers - nice to see you here!

woolly wednesday - may

Oh my, Wonderwool Wales was wonderful!  I have returned home poorer in money but richer in fibres...

Two new drop spindles (I know, I'm greedy), lots of bags of fibres, wools, silks and lots of ideas.

I've started my Quill Hap shawl in a Portland Merino mix. I'm still knitting the central panel in garter stitch which is simple enough for me to start longing for something complicated to do along side it... So as I'm a glutton for punishment I have started Circles blanket - pattern by Amanda Perkin who dyes the most gorgeous yarns....

a doll for Ellie

See, I'm doing it again... just dropping by to show you a doll I made for my friend's littlest daughter. It's her second birthday in early April and I made her a doll that looks just like her.

It's my first attempt at a Waldorf style doll and I have to say I was sorry to see her go to her new home...

I used a hank of badly plied (plyed?) handspun which I dyed with a combination of onion skins and henna for her hair, some of Jessie's old clothes for her outfits and knitted her up a coat. (It's still freezing here so a coat seemed essential.) I have orders for dolls from my own children so I think Ellie's doll won't be my last. I hope she loves her...

Woolly Wednesday

Oh my, it's Woolly Wednesday once more and this time I've got lots to show and tell. January has been a time for finishing things. It's one of my resolutions to stop starting things and wandering off when something else catches my eye. (I'm a fickle knitter) Also being stuck in the house due to rubbish weather has helped to keep me near my work basket....

First up I finally finished the Ab Fab throw that I was given a few Christmases ago. (ravelled here.)

I started and finished the Hemlock throw as a gift - knit in Rowan Big Wool it's very snuggly.... (snuggly is a proper word I'm sure)

Last up on the knitting front  is the Lonely Tree Shawl which I love!

Right. Now its the time for spinning. I have got back down to it and without all those knitting projects staring at me I feel less guilty about making more yarn. (don't get me wrong - there is plenty on those needles of mine, but that is another post entirely.)

Last summer I was lucky enough to be given 3 portland fleeces from a friend's flock. I've blended it with some merino and have great plans to spin enough to make this. There I've said it in public. That means I've got to do it! There is absolutely no way I could afford to buy the original yarn and I think handspun is the way to go....

spinning the sky ~ part two

 Apologies for the spinning related (some would say obsessed) post that follows.....

From this...

... to this...

.. and this.

Now I know its far from perfect -  I can see all the mistakes but I don't care, it's mine!!! And the goddess of charity shops (for she does exist) blessed me as I found a niddy noddy in the window of a charity shop for 50p! One persons weird bit of wood is another persons very useful spinning thing...

spinning the sky

Ever lie on your back staring at the blue, blue sky? (Not that people in the UK had much chance of that last summer.) Ever been amazed at the vivid colours that appear in nature?

 

Some of the of the bundle of tops I bought in Hay on Wye are the colour of the sky on a summers day. I gently blended them with white merino as if they were clouds chasing across the sky.

Jago says when I have my basket of carded batts that I'm a giant spinning the sky. He's making me look at colours in a new way - how the hedgerow shades would look blended into a yarn... I love the fact I'm seeing the world with a three year old engaging with his fascination and sense of wonder.

in progress...

I have a new love.

Ceramics you are my first love, nothing will ever change that but spinning is warm, fluffy and much more portable. Before Jess was born I bought a secondhand spinning wheel and had a few lessons. Then I found out I was pregnant and pregnancy and sheep and lambing time don't really mix -  I live in a rural area with lots of lovely sheep all around. So I gave up for a long time. My spinning wheel looked mournfully at me from the corner of the room. I felt a bit guilty...

This summer I was walking through Hay-on-Wye (as a stop off on our way to Snowdonia) when I found a shop with with a baskets of beautiful hand dyed merino and bamboo tops. A few of those bags came home with me and I dreamed of my wheel again, it was time...

By the time we got to our holiday cottage I was dreaming of the yarn I would make... The fates were smiling on me and in a local store I found a drop spindle and a copy of Respect The Spindle. I'm hooked. I go everywhere with a bag of fibre and a drop spindle (along with my knitting.) The house is covered with fluff, I answer the phone spindle in hand and get in a muddle as I realise that I can't write down notes and spin at the same time. My family just smile - and indulge me - bless them!

(More about what I'm spinning in a future post)