Recent Projects

Here are a few things I have been busy with lately. 

The blanket is a Kaffe Fassett design knitted in hand spun Jacob and Shetland. The blue is indigo dyed Jacob.

This is more Jacob again using  indigo dyed yarn. Knitted in the round it was a quick and easy project that I am very pleased with.

This waistcoat came about after talking to friends about how to use art yarns. It was a good stash busting project and I have incorporated core spun, cabled, racing stripe and three ply as well as the usual two ply. It was originally for sale but I fell in love with it and have been wearing it myself.

Fleeces and Demos.

This has been a week of collecting fleeces and doing demos at a farm open day. Both things over lapped a bit.
I often get calls from various by contacts when they have fleece to sell. This year it started early because it was so warm farmers sheered early. Some of the fleeces are not such good quality because of this, a bit shorter mostly. Which can make them more difficult to spin. So far I have picked up Ryeland, Black ,Welsh Mountain, Shetland and a few unidentified bags of  white fleece. That can some times be a problem when deciding what to do with them but they look fairly good quality and they should dye well so I am pleased. That won't be the end I'm sure. I can't open my shed door with out all these bin bags of dirty fleece falling out. There is lots of washing to do this summer.
The farm open day was a bit disappointing as so few people turned up. It is such a lot of work to stage these events and I feel very sorry for the organisers when they don't go so well. I don't mean it was a total falier, the people who did come had a great time especially the children. My friends and I had a lovely day spinning. We did not sell any thing, but neither did any of the other stalls, well not much any way. I did buy some fancy dog biscuits for my lurcher Mia. She liked them which was just as well as they were expensive for dog food. The over lap came when I was given two bags of BWM fleece buy the farmer which was very nice of him but as I have so much already I gave it to my fellow spinners. It is sad to think it is not worth him trying to sell it, the wool board is not interested in coloured fleece.
We were opposite a stall advertising Medical Assistance Dogs. So interesting they way they can sniff out different things from fluid samples, cancer cells, diabetes, lots of different illnesses that can be hard to detect in a lab. They only work in laboratory's not on people, although I think I would prefer a dog to some people I have met in hospitals. A worthy charity to support if you are looking for one.

The unplaned project.

I have had the most horrible cold and have not felt like doing much of anything for nearly a week. This has given me some time to think about how I am going to finish the pinafore top I wrote about last time. I do have enough of the recycled mohair and Shetland mix to finish the bands and straps, it's the triangle panels of the skirt that are the problem.

At first I was using a madder dyed pink fleece, (Oxford Down) hand carded and spun with some space dyed pink, red silk. I rolled the silk into the rolag before spinning and was very pleased with the results. Then as I ran out of fleece I had to think again. Fortunately there was some similar coloured fleece in my stash but the method of spinning did not suit it so well. It was not labeled so I dont' know what it is. There's a lesson to remember LABEL EVERY THING. It's not hard and can save you a lot of trouble.

This fleece worked better if I spun it straight no carding. Then I spun a single of silk and plied them together. The colours link these two different yarns enough for me to work them into the pattern of the piece. At least I hope they will. Watch this space for the finished article and judge for yourself.

How much better it would have been if I had put a bit more thought into the planning of the piece in the first place and made sure I had enough of every thing to start with. Still it will be a unique garment that's for sure.

Plannig a project

The correct way to plan a project goes as follows.
Select a piece you want to make.
Select a suitable fleece.
Weigh up the amount needed.
Prepare as necessary.

Spin the fleece.
Make your piece.
Unfortunately it rarely happens that way with me. Usually I will find a fleece I like and can't wait to spin some up. Then I have spun wool that I have to find a project for. Running out of yarn is common,if I'm lucky I will have more of the same fleece. Some times I have to substitute, It may work it may not. Either way I am spinning as I knit. Not an ideal situation.
This time I undid a jumper that never really worked. I hate to waste yarn so I always reuse where I can. This is a mohair shetland mix that I spun ages ago, it will make the borders for a pinafore top. The inserts had to be spun from scratch. Yes you've guessed it I have run out of wool. The story gets more complicated so I will carry on with it next time.