Wednesday 20 July 2011

Wednesday 20th July

Two posts in a week, must be something in the air.

I wanted to share with you the photographs of the finished cashmere scarf. 




the first picture shows the completed fringe, I twisted this using four strands of the warp yarn at a time, it fulled up quite nicely when washed. 

The second picture is of the main body of the scarf showing how the Bronson Lace pattern has fulled and is not quite so lacey as when on the loom.  I was a little disappointed because I thought it would have been the same but I will be trying this pattern again using a fine silk yarn and see how the pattern reacts after washing.  I will keep you posted.

In the meantime the loom is now warped with Sirdar Baby Bamboo yarn and Twilleys Freedom cotton in cream and pale blue to make fabric for a small bag.  Pictures to follow in the next post.

Happy weaving!

Monday 18 July 2011

Monday 18th July

I thought I would share with you some pictures of my latest two weaving projects using the 12 inch Ashford Knitters Loom.  I am quite enjoying going back to basics with this loom and have been also enjoying meeting up with some new faces in two Ravelry groups that I have joined.  For those of you not familiar with Ravelry, its an online knitting, weaving and spinning community where like minded fibre enthusiasts can meet to share pictures of their latest projects, swap advice and support each other through those tricky moments.  If like me, you are unable to get to a local group for your hobby(ies) then its a wonderful way to meet new friends and gain experience.

I have joined the Ashford Loomies group and also the Rigid Heddle group. 

Here is the first project below, showing the loom warped up using some swedish weaving cotton that I purchased earlier this year from ebay.  This was originally to make placemats but in the end I decided to use the resulting cloth as a scarf as I didnt want to cut into it, I was so pleased with the result.

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The following two pictures are of the Knitters loom warped up with 100 percent Cashmere yarn that I purchased from Devon Fine Fibres a few years ago.  It has been mill spun and is very soft.  I wish I had made it a little wider but I was not sure I would have enough yarn.  I am using a pattern from the May/June 2009 issue of Handwoven and the technique is known as Bronson Lace.  This requires the use of a pick up stick to make a third shed. 
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Rigid Heddle looms are suprisingly versatile and with the availability of different sized reeds and a second heddle kit for any of Ashford's rigid heddle looms now available the possiblities really are endless. 

I recently hand dyed some mohair curls and I am now spinning them up into quite a fine yarn on my Kromski Minstrel wheel.  The first part bobbin and the curls are shown below.



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I hope you enjoy these pictures and that they will give you some inspiration for your projects.  If anyone has any questions, please dont hesitate to ask.

Wednesday 13 July 2011

Wednesday 13th July 2011

Here we are halfway through July and I cant believe that the summer holidays are nearly here.  The girls are looking forward to a nice long lazy six weeks and to be honest so am I.  Getting up at six every morning to ensure everything gets taken care of before heading off on the school run can be a bit wearing.

First the chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs need feeding, then the dogs and cats and finally us.  After breakfast its chivvying sleepy children into doing their hair, teeth and retrieving their shoes from the last place they were thrown when they came home the previous evening.  It will be nice to have a slower pace of life for a while. 

Finally after getting them into their schools its time to walk the mad dogs on the beach.  After that down to work.

I have a three day craft fair to attend in August, it will be the 5th, 6th and 7th of August and takes place at Sanders Garden World at Brent Knoll in Somerset.  The proceeds of the fair go to the FreeWheelers charity, which is a group of people who transport blood, x rays and similar free of charge between the local hospitals.  It can help to save lives and is constantly needing funds. 

I shall be taking my fibre shop, with drop spindle kits, hand dyed fibres and yarns and some of my jewellery. 

I have been taking advantage of the hotter weather to get lots of dyeing and washing of fleece done.  I now have 5 lovely Jacob fleeces that were purchased in Somerset through a contact from the craft fair I attended in February this year.  I have also discovered two Bowmont fleeces lurking in my store cupboard and this is now listed for sale in the online shop.  I have assorted hand dyed rovings for sale, last summers stock is currently at half price and the new fibres are being listed as they are dyed and dried. I am waiting on some gorgeous Wensleydale fleece which should be with me by mid August.  This will then be dyed and listed in the shop.

I am currently spinning up some hand dyed mohair curls which I have dyed in shades of lilac and purple and these are coming out very fine and I will hopefully be making a shawl out of the resulting yarn. 

I have warped up the knitters loom using a 12 dpi reed and am making some place mats using some Swedish weaving cotton that I got as a job lot on ebay. 



The weaving bug is still biting and despite selling the beloved floor loom I am strongly considering investing in a small table loom to satisfy my urge to keep weaving.  The jewellery making means that I can just weave for pleasure and not for income so the strain on the back wont be so bad.

I should love to hear from anyone regarding their spinning or weaving projects, its  always good to talk fibre.