Monday, August 24, 2009

Doing my bit for the team......

It's a Mum's Life!!

Spinning progress too!



Nearly done with the merino (on the right).......then I'll be ready to ply it all together :)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Prayer Shawl progress



Making good progress on my "Eath Mother" shawl...
One more skein to go......
**grins**

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Monday, August 17, 2009

Reverser

Remember this handspun?? Its "Purple Rainbow" 3ply, one ply purple merino, one black merino, and the third a space dyed ply of "Rainbows End" Cashmerino, fom ExclusivelyLindalee

How fantastic is this hat, made by Purple Rainbow's new owner!!!
It's "Reverser" by WoollyWormhead, from her book Going Straight (all sideways constructed Hats, made on straight needles)
Perfect choice for my self~striping handspun 3ply......its amazing!!!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Enquiring Minds??


I've been asked a few times over the past week how I go about creating a 3ply, and what makes me choose the colours I do...well, here is my best explanation ;)

Pictured is my next spinning Project...some Merino~tencel from LimeGreenJelly and some Merino from PoppyFlowerFibers

I pick a variegated/space dyed fibre, then I choose co~ordinating colours out of that as my other two plies. One may be a semi~solid fibre with the coordinating colour in, and the other a solid…or one may be another space~dyed fibre that wholly complements the other (my pictured fibres fit into this category) and a solid.

I tend to veer strongly away from too much green (as a co~ordinating ply), as it is a very overpowering colour, as are bright oranges…..but, sometimes you want this…for example, green is the predominant colour in the pictures above.

Sometimes you can't fight it....hehehe

It really depends on how I feel at the time too…I’ve often chosen all the fibre for a 3 ply, spun one then completely changed my mind about one or sometimes even both of the other two! That’s why I always spin a variegated ply first, as colours do change a lot after spinning, they mix to produce other colours, and sometimes become paler…

It’s difficult to put how I do it into words.

Baktus


Finally, we have pictooores of Knitterly content!
It's been a while, huh??
Here's my Baktus scarf made with Fyberspates Sparkle sock yarn......
WIN!!!!

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Baby's first yarn!!!




Three plies, (far right) Finn in Moonlight Baker’s “Earth Mother” colourway, (middle) some mixed~up merino and last but not least there’s some solid Falkland :)
There’s over 300g of it and I’m going to make myself a Josephine Shawl with it!!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

My little Footballer.......

And so he follows in the footsteps of his big brother.....
Here's J in his new football kit......

Three Bobbins Full...........of WIN ;)

Okay, so maybe the Russet one isn't all the way full, but I will probably finish spinning the rest of it tonight, and I'll be way too impatient and start plying straight away......so I thought I'd show you guys this first bobbins of yarn spun on my new dreamy wheel.....
And she is so dreamy.....I have the measure of her now.....hehehe

Monday, August 10, 2009

Customer show off!!!


How completely awesome is this scarf??
It was made by a customer, she spun the BFL braid and then crocheted the scarf from her own yarn......

It's the Boteh Scarf pattern from Interweave......
I get such a buzz when I enable people to make such beautiful things!!!
It's what it's all about......for sure :D

Monday, August 03, 2009

First Bobbin :)

Well, I’ve been spinning a lot on her since I got her on Saturday, and have just finished 100g of Finn I got from Moonlightbaker in her “Earth Mother” colourway.
Wanted to go with a long stapled fibre to begin with ;)
The Robin is very different to spin on when compared to the ease of the Louet Julia, but, I use my Julia as an ST because I treadle too fast, whereas this one I can DT with no problems, as it’s harder to treadle fast.
So, my spinning position is better, ergonomically, and I can spin for longer because of it. I don't get a sore left bum cheek from single treadling...so thats the first point of WIN ;)
She’s very much like my old Louet S10, I don’t think I’ll get “skinny” yarn on her. But if wanted to go skinny, I have the Julia and the Victoria for that :D WIN again!
Someone commented in a group on Ravelry, that they’d heard a podcast reviewing the Robin, and that the reviewer didn’t like it much because it was like treadling “uphill”…I would agree with this, but it’s not a bad thing for me. More WIN
Something else I like is that when you stop treadling, the wheel stops too…completely.
I have now started spinning some merino, which is slippier and has a shorter staple, so it is a little harder to go fast, but its not too bad.....
So, I am happy with her, she's pretty and spins well...there's not much more you could ask for :D

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Saturday, August 01, 2009

Hello pretty :D





Oops.......my finger slipped on eBay again :D
Say hello to my new friend, a Robin Deluxe wheel, completely handmade in the USA by Gilbert Gonsalves, from Pennsylvanian Cherry, and displays the most amazing craftmanship…
Huge bobbins, both Scotch and Irish tension, and 4 ratios.