... Have been thinking ...

Should I start dyeing Fibres again??
Not a lot of people are buying Yarn at the moment, which isn’t such a good thing for me, as Husbeast is still jobless >.<
Thing is, dyeing fibre the way I do is very labour intensive, so it will not be cheap…
When I used to spin regularly, I was always more than willing to pay for a good quality roving… is this the same for everyone?
I could try to speed up the process, but this might be to the detriment of quality, and you know how I hate rushing things !!

I am very interested to hear all your thoughts :D

I have started a thread on my Ravelry group about it HERE

Lotsa love as always, my awesome peeps

S xXx

4! Ounce! Challenge!.....progress pics......

(L to R) Hello Yarn “Air” (merino/tencel) SCF “Hades” (Polwarth/tencel) and Spunky Eclectic “Algae” (Merino/Bamboo)

Plying it right now….well, uh…not right now, but I took a break from plying to share :D
The Polwarth/tencel just shines I mean reallyReallyREALLY shines……it’s impossible to capture it in the light we have here at the moment…and I just loved spinning it…so smooth and yummeh and almost biblical ;)
Hehehe…

Cannot wait to finish it, it really is all over the place SHINY!!!

xXx

The 4 oz Challenge

(L to R) Hello Yarn “Air” (merino/tencel) SCF “Hades” (Polwarth/tencel) and Spunky Eclectic “Algae” (Merino/Bamboo)

Here it all is braided together, so you get an idea of how it will look all spun up :)

I am hoping to be able to make it into an Aran weight, but, as there is a lot of protien fibres in there, I expect it will want to go skinny ;) The challenge is to spin a yarn to make 4 oz, and then write a pattern and publish it, both to be done in the months of August and September.

How the yarn turns out will dictate what I design... but I expect it will be a hat...

I like Hats :)

If you fancy joining the "4 oz Challenge" please click this link to be taken to the Ravelry group :)

Rambo's Whirled :)

The Ingredients: Merino from Into the Whirled and Rambouillet from JulieSpins

One Bobbin down.....sheesh this took forever!!! Well, that was until I found out I could spin properly on my Matchless.....hahaha.....

This yarn is IMMENSE!!!

There's 225 g and 500yds/462m (approx) over 2 skeins...and the colours are just amazing.

The ingredients were of the highest quality...little or no spinners waste from either set of hand dyed rovings. I can't rate Cris or Julie highly enough...*grin*

Anyway, it took me ages to get going with it, but once I finally realised that trying to spin on a Matchless like I was spinning on a Louet S10 was totally the wrong way to go....I motored through it :)

It is reallyReallyREALLY bouncy too, because of the Rambouillet.....so it will knit up beautifully :)

I think it's safe to say things have totally clicked now with my new wheel.....

HuRRaH HuRRaH HuRRaH

My new Addition

An opportunity to own one of these wheels does not come around every day.

If you hadn't already realised what it is from the picture above, my new addition is a Cherry Matchless, manufactured by the Schacht Spindle Company to celebrate their 40th Anniversary of trading.

Only 150 of these wheels were made.

Thanks to a genius piece of direct marketing by it's previous owner ie a Facbook tagging (yes folks, I am that easy, teehee) it now belongs to little old me :) I was not even thinking of buying another wheel, but this is the only one that would have turned my head, in fact my head was turned so fast I nearly ended up with whiplash ;)

I picked it up at Wonderwool this weekend, delivered to me by the lovely Kat (thankyou to infinity, Kat!!!)

As you can see from these two photos, it is very similar in construction and set up as my Robin Deluxe only the Robin has mahoOOosive bobbins, is a leetle (only a little mind you) bit prettier and the Matchless has 3 modes of tension, whereas Robin has only two. Robin is also smaller.

I messed about with the double drive option for a while, but I just couldn't get on with the yank I got when the driveband knot went over the whorls, so I have it now set up on Scotch tension, which I much prefer. I was probably doing something glaringly wrong with the Double Drive, but, I felt I really needed to bond with this wheel as soon as possible...so I reverted to the tension mode I know.
The detail in the wood is just stunning, and it will only get better with age, as Cherry gets redder as it gets older, as you can see on the Robin.

So there we are...say hello to my new baby.... ****grins***

Noma

This is Noma, a hat designed in my handspun, by WoollyWormhead. It has just been published in Issue 127 of the Knitting and Crochet Guild's magazine, SlipKnot along with my very first print advertisement!! Heehee.....
It is knit completely in Garter stitch, which shows the depth of colour in the yarn beautifully, and as well as the pattern there is a short article about head measuring and getting a good fit for Hats.
You may recognise the handspun, as I made Dulcie from "Going Straight" with the other skein ;)

Awesome Spinning :)

This is my February Fibre Club... a GlitterBall called "Frosty Skies", all spun up by a very talented customer.....she's navajo plied it, to preserve the colour repeats.....
I just had to blog it, because I just *love* the photograph...

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

Squuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeee!

Look who is coming to live with me!!!! Loooooooook!!!!
I pick her up at Woolfest, from the lovely Susan :)
I can't wait......she looks just so.......So......SO.....PRETTY!!!!

Emerald City, 3ply Handspun

This the first of what will be 2 skeins….not had chance to finish spinning the other one yet :) Very aptly named by my son, Daniel :D
2 plies hand~dyed Falkland, one space spun solid merinos (in complementary colours to those in the other 2 plies), 75yds/69m, 69g...self striping as you can see from the picture of the centre pull ball :)
Will be all ready for sale at Ravelry day though….hehehe

Another fabaroOOnie spin!!!

This has been most expertly spun by Phil, the lovely lady who rehomed my Louet S10, Louie :)
Its the 100g of pinky pretty from this months fibre club :D

More fabaroOOonie spinning!!!

This is half of this months Babylonglegs Fibre Club, all spun up by the totally spintastic Helen!!!
It is beautiful.......!!!

How cool is this???

A customer of mine bought the Corriedale "Iris" 3ply Spinners set last week, and she's spun it up already....how's that for super speedy spinning!!! And she's photoed it with an Iris too......fAb!!!!

And its exactly how I envisioned it would turn out when I dyed it up.

Stunning.....just stunning :D

Pics, as promised :D

I bought this roving, Superwash Corriedale, in its undyed state from CapistranoFiberArts on etsy…

Its a really thirsty fibre, the dye struck very quickly on it….but I am very pleased with how it all turned out :)

There’s about 180g in this colourway, all ready to be spun into self striping sock yarn :D

Getting there.......

Finished spinning the superwash BFL for my Mum's Xmas pressie yarn last night.....so now to the plying!!!

Its a lot different plying on Lola...for a start she has a tensioned mobile Lazy Kate.....so I've had to change plying position, and get used to resistance when pulling the singles up to be plied.

Have got used to it quite quickly though......blimey them singles are uber twisty!!!!

Its about 17/18 wraps per inch at the moment....but all that will change once the twist has been set......

More pics once its all done :D

Rivendell, superwash BFL

Dyed up some superwash BFL for myself on Friday, 200g in my "Rivendell" colourway, destined to become sock yarn I think!!!!
It took the dye really, Really well...so will dye some up to sell tomorrow.
Any requests?
hehehehe

She's here!!!!

Say hello to Lola...the newest spinnerly addition to the Longlegs household!! She's a Louet Julia and she's wonderful!!! She's the big sister of my travelling wheel, Lily, and their parts are interchangeable...so I have 10 bobbins...hehehe

I immediately, well not quite immediately as I had to finish my workload for today, put her together, and put Lily's flyer and last bobbin of my Mum's sock yarn on her, and started spinning :) Because she's taller (and bigger) than Lily, my spinning position is a bit better, and so I don't have as much shoulder pain :D

On a sadder note, I say goodbye to my lovely Louie tomorrow. He's going to live with someone who I've know online for quite a few years now, so I am happy he'll be loved and looked by a new family of four :D

Fluffy goodness and a poorly finger!

Had lots of fluffy post this week :) Which has cheered me up no end, as my youngest son mistook my wedding ring finger as a football earlier on in the week and I was rather afraid it was broken :o(
It s alot better now though, I have tons more movement in it...but it still really hurts nontheless...

This is Corriedale, from Spindlefrog on etsy, "Alleluia" its called....its so lovely, i couldn't resist it...

And these two beauties are from LindaLee also on etsy, above is "Rainbow's End" and below is "Midsummer's Dream" Both are Merino/Cashmere.....drools...

I have quite a stash of merino/cashmere now, maybe I should think about spinning it up...hehehe

Handspun sale!!!

These 4 yarns are now in the sale section of my etsy shop

and are at the bargainous price of £10 each (or $20 in etsy money...hehehe)

Grab yourself a bargain for your winter hat, whilst you can!!!!

Fate's conspiring to keep me on the up...

Karma comes around :)
Thanks for your support, Jen....means a lot!