The Autumn chill has descended in Berrow and despite the sunny days the wind off the sea has definitely lost its balmy feel.
My thoughts have turned to Christmas this week and the making of gifts for friends and family. I have constructed a list and last weekend I cast on for two pairs of socks and some fingerless mittens as well as knitting the camouflage type hat for my fishing cousin, using the handspun falkland roving that I was spinning up last week. It helped that Film 4 were running a Star Trek weekend so I was able to settle in front the t.v. with an endless supply of yarn, my favourite way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Autumn!
Our thoughts also turn to thick, cozy jumpers and accessories as well this time of year and I am pleased to see that cables are making a comeback in fashion at the moment as well as the colour grey. I do happen to have a large stash of Gotland yarn in double knit thickness and am hoping to use that up with handknits for the online shop.
If, like me, you enjoy getting something for nothing then take a look at http://www.elann.com/ where you will find a whole pile of free knitting patterns in some pretty amazing designs. All you have to do is register your email address and details and the patterns are accessible as pdf downloads. Also this week I came across Patons website, http://www.patonsyarns.com/ where again you can access a whole lot of free knitting patterns and they have some wonderful afghan patterns or throws to knit. You can save these to your "hive" on the site and download or print them when you are ready, saving on ink of course. If anyone else has links to free pattern websites then please feel free to list them here so everyone can benefit. If any of the links above dont work, let me know and I will check the web addresses.
The loom is silent this week as I am concentrating on knitting items for the shop and spinning up some gorgeous Bluefaced Leicester and Tussah silk roving hand dyed in lemons, blues and pinks and mauves that was a purchase on etsy.
Have a good week whatever you are doing and happy knitting.
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Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
TUESDAY 12TH OCTOBER
Forgive the long delay, again, life seems to have overtaken me. My beautiful grand daughter was born on 5th October and all are well so now I can relax and enjoy being a grandmother.
Obviously a lot of my spare time has been taken up over the last months in making clothes for the new baby. I am going to make a few more things for Christmas but now in bigger sizes as my daughter has been given so many clothes there will be no need to buy anything new for a long time to come.
Consequently I have a lot of baby wool left over and began to think how I could use this up and decided to weave up some baby blankets using this. I dont normally consider using acrylic fibres when weaving, I'm not sure if anyone out there does, do let me know. However, I have warped up the loom using a four shaft, six treadle tie up which I found on the All Fiber Arts website, http://www.allfiberarts.com/ for a baby blanket. I am using Sirdar Snuggly baby 4 ply yarn in a soft blue and the weft is a double knit acrylic yarn which graduates in colour throughout the ball. The weaving is quick to grow and fast to warp up. See pictures below.
It has made me realise that I have had rather a blinkered view of weaving todate. I have always used silks, and natural fibres for my items, forgetting the vast range of man made fibres that are available to use. And what if, like my son in law, you are allergic to wool? It makes buying handmade items very difficult. Also there is the question of cost. In our current climate it is difficult to price up garments made from expensive materials. One is caught between the two ends of wanting to make a profit out of ones hard work but at the same time wanting to sell items regularly. So either the profit margin is very narrow or the time spent making the item is not taken into consideration in the final price. So to use cheaper yarns doesnt necessarily mean that the finished item will not be just as lovely as if you had used the finest and most expensive of the natural yarns available.
This week I am spinning up some hand dyed Falkland wool tops from Mandacrafts called Autumn to make a knitted hat for my cousin who is a keen fisherman and wants something to blend in with the background!
I purchased a turkish spindle recently from the Etsy site, it is handmade in beautiful woods and the two cross pieces are similar in colour to the Knitpicks wooden needles, those lovely multi coloured ones. See picture below. It is a dream to spin with and solves the problem of not being able to take my spinning wheel with me when I travel. This is small enough to tuck inside my handbag.
I am also using my Ashford Knitters loom to make some handwoven scarves and bag lengths for Christmas stock in my online shop. Keep a look out for these as they will be fairly reasonably priced and I am hoping they wont be around for too long.
So lots going on here and I hope you all have a very good week whatever you are doing.
Obviously a lot of my spare time has been taken up over the last months in making clothes for the new baby. I am going to make a few more things for Christmas but now in bigger sizes as my daughter has been given so many clothes there will be no need to buy anything new for a long time to come.
Consequently I have a lot of baby wool left over and began to think how I could use this up and decided to weave up some baby blankets using this. I dont normally consider using acrylic fibres when weaving, I'm not sure if anyone out there does, do let me know. However, I have warped up the loom using a four shaft, six treadle tie up which I found on the All Fiber Arts website, http://www.allfiberarts.com/ for a baby blanket. I am using Sirdar Snuggly baby 4 ply yarn in a soft blue and the weft is a double knit acrylic yarn which graduates in colour throughout the ball. The weaving is quick to grow and fast to warp up. See pictures below.
It has made me realise that I have had rather a blinkered view of weaving todate. I have always used silks, and natural fibres for my items, forgetting the vast range of man made fibres that are available to use. And what if, like my son in law, you are allergic to wool? It makes buying handmade items very difficult. Also there is the question of cost. In our current climate it is difficult to price up garments made from expensive materials. One is caught between the two ends of wanting to make a profit out of ones hard work but at the same time wanting to sell items regularly. So either the profit margin is very narrow or the time spent making the item is not taken into consideration in the final price. So to use cheaper yarns doesnt necessarily mean that the finished item will not be just as lovely as if you had used the finest and most expensive of the natural yarns available.
This week I am spinning up some hand dyed Falkland wool tops from Mandacrafts called Autumn to make a knitted hat for my cousin who is a keen fisherman and wants something to blend in with the background!
I purchased a turkish spindle recently from the Etsy site, it is handmade in beautiful woods and the two cross pieces are similar in colour to the Knitpicks wooden needles, those lovely multi coloured ones. See picture below. It is a dream to spin with and solves the problem of not being able to take my spinning wheel with me when I travel. This is small enough to tuck inside my handbag.
I am also using my Ashford Knitters loom to make some handwoven scarves and bag lengths for Christmas stock in my online shop. Keep a look out for these as they will be fairly reasonably priced and I am hoping they wont be around for too long.
So lots going on here and I hope you all have a very good week whatever you are doing.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Friday 10th September
Hello I hope everyone has had a good week. Its been a hectic one here as it was the first full week back at school, its been hard work getting used to the new routine but now we are settled and looking forward to the weekend.
Its been a busy week on the fibre front as well. I have started to organise the winter weaving and knitting for the online shop and had a dye run in the week as well. Aside from dyeing up samples for a customer in the US of silk roving there are new hand dyed wool rovings for sale in the Etsy shop, do have a look, I am going to have a hard time letting these go!
On the loom this week is the lambswool and silk scarf I mentioned in last week's posting, pictures below,
Its been a busy week on the fibre front as well. I have started to organise the winter weaving and knitting for the online shop and had a dye run in the week as well. Aside from dyeing up samples for a customer in the US of silk roving there are new hand dyed wool rovings for sale in the Etsy shop, do have a look, I am going to have a hard time letting these go!
On the loom this week is the lambswool and silk scarf I mentioned in last week's posting, pictures below,
This shows the work in progress, the ten outer threads on each side are just lambswool and the rest of the dents are threaded with one lambswool and one gold silk thread.
Here is a closeup of the pattern showing the "ridges" running the length of the scarf, these are made by threading 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4,4, so a double half twill.
This shows a closeup of the warp threads so you can see the gold silk thread alongside the lambswool.
Also I am spinning up some Shetland Rovings that were purchased from Jamieson and Smith on the Shetland Isles. I bought 500g of Black (which is actually dark brown), 500g of fawn and 500g of white. Once these are spun up I am hoping to make a double weave shetland throw in a tartan style pattern and also knit some fairisle cushion covers. Hopefully these will go into the online shop. Unless they are snaffled by older daughters for their homes!!
Here is the first of the white being spun up and below
is the second hank of black before it was washed to set the twist.
So a busy week allround and I am looking forward to a little R and R this weekend. Eldest daughter has come to stay so lots of fibery chat.
Have fun with your fibre, whatever you are doing and it would be lovely to hear from anyone with pictures of their projects and favourite looms/wheels.
Friday, 3 September 2010
Friday 3rd September 2010
Well, the summer holidays are over and the children are settled back into school. Apologies for not having posted anything since the beginning of July but it has been an incredibly busy time.
During the break I have been busy sorting out my yarn stash, I am sure it keeps growing behind my back, I really dont remember buying some of it!! Anyone else have that problem?
I shall be having a carpet fitted in my workroom soon so have got to get down to a major clearout of fibres and yarns, I may just have a sale on my etsy shop and clear some of it out the way for good.
I shall be dyeing up lots more fibre and roving soon and putting that up for sale in my online shop so keep checking back for progress.
Spinning up at the moment is 500g of brown wensleydale roving and hand dyed silk roving which together look very nice. This is being spun very fine using the higher ratio smaller whorl on the Minstrel wheel.
I have a warp of lambswool and gold thread waiting to be put on the Glimakra julia loom and shall be threading up a four shaft pattern from the latest edition of Handwoven magazine.
My older daughter is now eight months pregnant and we are excitedly waiting for the arrival of baby and lots of knitting is still being done plus a floor quilt that I am making. Hoping desperately to get it all finished in time.
I would always be interested to hear from anyone who has any questions about spinning or weaving or just wants to chat fibre in general.
Signing off for now fibre fans, more soon.
During the break I have been busy sorting out my yarn stash, I am sure it keeps growing behind my back, I really dont remember buying some of it!! Anyone else have that problem?
I shall be having a carpet fitted in my workroom soon so have got to get down to a major clearout of fibres and yarns, I may just have a sale on my etsy shop and clear some of it out the way for good.
I shall be dyeing up lots more fibre and roving soon and putting that up for sale in my online shop so keep checking back for progress.
Spinning up at the moment is 500g of brown wensleydale roving and hand dyed silk roving which together look very nice. This is being spun very fine using the higher ratio smaller whorl on the Minstrel wheel.
I have a warp of lambswool and gold thread waiting to be put on the Glimakra julia loom and shall be threading up a four shaft pattern from the latest edition of Handwoven magazine.
My older daughter is now eight months pregnant and we are excitedly waiting for the arrival of baby and lots of knitting is still being done plus a floor quilt that I am making. Hoping desperately to get it all finished in time.
I would always be interested to hear from anyone who has any questions about spinning or weaving or just wants to chat fibre in general.
Signing off for now fibre fans, more soon.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Friday 2nd July
Personally I am glad the heat of the sun has abated a little. I was beginning to feel like a roast chicken, I dont think I have ever had such a good tan just from being outside in the garden, sorting fleece and walking the mad dogs on the beach.
I have managed to find a little time this week to progress with the weaving, a silk and merino scarf is almost finished on the Glimakra Julia loom, with a fine gold coloured silk warp and a hand dyed gold laceweight merino weft. Done in a geometric pattern, its looking quite good.
The summer holidays are looming, if you will pardon the pun, and I am trying hard to get as much fibre sorted and dyed and in the shop before they start. Not that the girls are too much trouble but I really do like to choose my own colours for dyeing, my eight year old's idea of colour is not quite the same as mine!!
Colour plays a big part in my life as I am sure it does in yours,especially with regard to the atmosphere in our homes. The colours we choose to decorate our rooms for instance, have a big effect on whether a room is relaxing or energising. Blue is cool and dreamy, red or orange vibrant and energetic. So too with the clothes we wear so next time you are choosing some fibre for spinning or felting or some yarn for knitting or weaving or simply designing a project, give consideration to the colours you will be using and how this will affect your moods when wearing the finished article or if it is to be soft furnishings, where in the house it will be placed. If you choose a lovely calming blue or green then will those gloves or mittens or even socks be a warm choice for the winter months or would you rather wrap your fingers and toes in some warm colours, deep browns, reds, oranges.
Again if you are making a shawl, will this be a lightweight shawl for the summer evenings and need to be a calming colour, pastel shades perhaps to go with the balmy mood of a summers night or if it is a winter shawl and to be in thicker yarn, then some deeper shades will be better.
There is such a lot to consider and if you manage to get all these things into place at the time of design then the finished article will give you so much more pleasure.
Right, more later fibre fans, the mad dogs are now demanding their daily exercise.
I have managed to find a little time this week to progress with the weaving, a silk and merino scarf is almost finished on the Glimakra Julia loom, with a fine gold coloured silk warp and a hand dyed gold laceweight merino weft. Done in a geometric pattern, its looking quite good.
The summer holidays are looming, if you will pardon the pun, and I am trying hard to get as much fibre sorted and dyed and in the shop before they start. Not that the girls are too much trouble but I really do like to choose my own colours for dyeing, my eight year old's idea of colour is not quite the same as mine!!
Colour plays a big part in my life as I am sure it does in yours,especially with regard to the atmosphere in our homes. The colours we choose to decorate our rooms for instance, have a big effect on whether a room is relaxing or energising. Blue is cool and dreamy, red or orange vibrant and energetic. So too with the clothes we wear so next time you are choosing some fibre for spinning or felting or some yarn for knitting or weaving or simply designing a project, give consideration to the colours you will be using and how this will affect your moods when wearing the finished article or if it is to be soft furnishings, where in the house it will be placed. If you choose a lovely calming blue or green then will those gloves or mittens or even socks be a warm choice for the winter months or would you rather wrap your fingers and toes in some warm colours, deep browns, reds, oranges.
Again if you are making a shawl, will this be a lightweight shawl for the summer evenings and need to be a calming colour, pastel shades perhaps to go with the balmy mood of a summers night or if it is a winter shawl and to be in thicker yarn, then some deeper shades will be better.
There is such a lot to consider and if you manage to get all these things into place at the time of design then the finished article will give you so much more pleasure.
Right, more later fibre fans, the mad dogs are now demanding their daily exercise.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Tuesday 22nd June
Hello Fibre Fans, it is another lovely day here in Berrow and the perfect weather for dyeing. Thus said the garden was filled with brightly coloured fleece yesterday, all drying in record time. There are two new colourways now in the Etsy shop, see link on right, pictures below.
Jade Colourway
Spring Colourway
I am currently spinning up some of the lovely Border Leicester/Suffolk cross fleece that I have hand dyed for myself, in peach, mauve and blue colourway, blended on the hand carders
I shall use the resulting yarn to weave a blanket for the impending grandchild.
My weaving has taken a bit of a back seat lately with everything else that has been happening, apart from losing my dad, I have also had to change my car as it became quite poorly and would have cost more to put right than it was worth so that has now been sold and a new one acquired, a much smaller and more economical car all round.
Currently I am knitting a shrug for my daughter's birthday next month. I am using Gotland yarn which I purchased a couple of years ago now from a farm in Devon. Gotland sheep are quite rare,although Sue Blacker of the Natural Fibre Company has a flock and she will sell fleeces from these if you contact her. Gotland is a mixture of shades of grey and the fleece is very curly, but very soft and easy to spin. It requires little carding. It can be dyed and produces lovely muted shades.
The knitting for the Etsy shop is a lace scarf knitted from hand dyed alpaca and silk yarn purchased from BlueFaced Leicester.com or I think the web address is http://www.bluefaced.com/ if that doesnt work let me know and I will check out the proper address. Amazing prices on their undyed sock yarns.
Also a pair of fingerless mittens knitted from a handspun hand dyed Shetland wool top that I fell over on Etsy, dyed in rainbow colours.
So, a busy week so far and if the good weather continues, many more colours of fibre going in the shop.
Have a good week.
Friday, 11 June 2010
Friday 11th June
Its been a while since my last posting but sadly my father passed away suddenly on 27th May and it was two weeks before a funeral could take place due to bank holidays and vicars holidays! Now all has been dealt with and life can settle down again, albeit without the presence of my lovely dad.
Our trip to the Bath and West show was very nice, especially as the sun was shining down on us for the first time in three years. The only fibre purchase I made this year was 100g of Llama fibre which I have never tried before. It spins very well and goes a very long way. I am spinning it unwashed but find that it has much less dust than alpaca fibre. I shall post pictures of the finished yarn later.
I have also just finished spinning up the rainbow dyed shetland tops that I purchased a couple of weeks ago but the weaving has taken a back seat over the last two weeks so I shall have to take that up again next week. The online shop has been stocked with lots of new hand dyed fibres so do take a look.
More later, have a good week everyone.
Our trip to the Bath and West show was very nice, especially as the sun was shining down on us for the first time in three years. The only fibre purchase I made this year was 100g of Llama fibre which I have never tried before. It spins very well and goes a very long way. I am spinning it unwashed but find that it has much less dust than alpaca fibre. I shall post pictures of the finished yarn later.
I have also just finished spinning up the rainbow dyed shetland tops that I purchased a couple of weeks ago but the weaving has taken a back seat over the last two weeks so I shall have to take that up again next week. The online shop has been stocked with lots of new hand dyed fibres so do take a look.
More later, have a good week everyone.
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