Wonderwool this year was splendid. Whilst I failed miserably in meeting up with people I did manage some shopping.
We took my friend Anita with us. It was her first Wonderwool and it was nice to see it through her eyes. She brought her daughter Milly who enjoyed it. I think (I'm not practised in the art of guessing what teenage girls think), but again it was another pair of hands...
We split up when we arrived, to ensure thorough coverage of the site, and between us I don't think we left a hank of yarn unfondled. After meeting up for lunch, the Scotch Eggs were splendid as always, we had another wander together to mop up anything we had missed. On consideration, a successful day.
Sadly, I left some fibre at Freyalyns, so I shall have to collect it at Woolfest. But maybe I will be able to buy a little more to go with it by then....
In the meantime I shall have to make do with the small pile of fluff I brought home. (This is what happens when DH offers to take bits and pieces back to the car). Clockwise from the top, some splendid fluff from Amanda Hannaford yak and silk on the left and BFL and silk on the right. Then, from Chris Brennan at Riverside, 2 and a bit kilos of DK, 3 kilos of 4ply (on a huge cone, hidden at the back) and 2.5 kilos of a worsted mohair/wool mix (I've had this before, it's fantastic stuff). I also bought a knitted dress pattern from Purl Alpaca Designs which I have been after for a while, although I suspect initially it won't be knitted kn alpaca, but you never know. DH also brought home several pairs of socks from John Arbon (aparently they come second only to my hand knit, which is a huge complement). They aren't in the pile, as DH is already wearing them.
The 2 kilos of the Mohair worsted are already in soak ready to be dyed later today for a Viking Tunic for DH.
The fabulous Freyalyn did know! This is her yummy Volcano over dyed on coloured BFL.
Looking forward to seeing more of it at Wonderwool...
Life chez Yarnspider has not run smoothly over the last couple of weeks. It started with another abscess and a touch of blood poisoning which resulted in yet more Doxycycline (I really hate that stuff, it makes my hair fall out!). And then I accidentally poisoned myself (I have a real problem with Rapeseed intolerance, pollen and oil). This resulted in a weekend of being poorly. A shame really, as the pasty was really nice. It does concern me though that so many people mix up margarine and butter and assume vegetable oil is not generic! And then the following weekend we had to have the doctor out as I went down with suspected Noro Virus.
Oh and the house made a spirited attempt to burn down. Nope I do not jest. Our fuse box melted. We were told by the emergency electricians that if we had had our box boxed in, we would not have smelt the burning plastic in time and that would have been the house gone! The moral of this folks, is REGARDLESS of how new/amazing you think your fuse box is, PAY a qualified electrician to take the whole of the front off and inspect it every 12 months. I know that there is a call out fee, but it is so much cheaper that having to rebuild your life.
Right, excuses over, in between all of this, I have been pottering along.
For a change, Weaving first. This, on the left, was my first attempt at overshot weaving. The colours for the runner, matched the swatches exactly. But. The warp was dreadful and drove me totally nuts! So I did the sensible thing and tootled across the web to The Hand Weavers Studio This is a magical place that has all sorts of different warps and wefts. After careful consideration and a lot of measuring and sums on the backs of envelopes, (thank you #1Son), I bought half a kilo of Mercerised Cotton. What a difference! It warped without a murmur of complaint, and just does exactly what it is supposed to do. The colour is slightly bluer that I had hoped, but that is the trouble with being in a hurry and not checking thoroughly enough. Don't care, it works really well with the weft and the pattern definition is really crisp. I am in love! Even my selvages are beginning to behave! Sigh. I'm almost sorry it's going off elsewhere once it's finished. On the other hand, I have promised myself the next piece will be mine, I tell you, all mine!
I have also managed to spin and ply stuff - before you all accuse me of doing loads, this is the product of several months, I am very lazy with plying... so anyway, here we are all waiting to be washed and blocked.
From left to right:
Blufaced Leicester (from the Woolclip, all carded ready to spin.) It still had a lot of bits in it, (tiny bits of grass etc), but it spun like a dream and the yarn is really soft).
2 hanks of Freyalyns coloured BFL in a fantastic colourway who's name escapes me at the moment, but I am sure she will put me right soon.
The last two are again from Freyalyn. This time one of her own blends, 40%Manx, 40% South Down, 20% Tussah. The one on the left is eau natural, and the one on the right, Copper in a long dye and repeat (one of my favourites).
In the circumstances, I feel I haven't done too badly. What I have on my wheels and needles I shall leave for next time as I haven't pictures at the moment.
Right off to put feet up and knit. Or maybe down to the workshop.... hm, decisions, decisions.
It' like this, I was half way through a kind of swap so that I could generate sufficient funds to get myself a truly spiffy kick spindle to travel with when I walked into Guild the other weekend and saw this.....
This girls and boys is a 28" (yes, that's right twenty eight inches) Saxony wheel. Now. I have been on the look out for a 28" flat bed Scandinavian Wheel for some time now to long draw with, so whilst I know that this isn't a flat bed....hey, you get the idea. And it is lovely. So lovely in fact that for the first time since I have started owning wheels (this is my 6th in 10 or so years), I have named a wheel. This is Bailey-Scott after my all time favourite Arts and Crafts architect. There really is a very Arts and Crafts feel to this wheel and it really is living up to all it's glorious promise. So once I have spun a couple of hundred grams on it, I shall start long drawing for the next shawl. Excellent!
Oh and this has been cut from my loom and posted off to it's new home. I think there was a generous 3m or so, which was my aim, so I shall dislocate my shoulder patting myself on the back pretty soon.
This means I am on to the next bit of weaving (I am doing just so well at the moment, not to worry, something will bring me to a halt pretty soon I'm sure...). I have warped on 4m of cotton thread for a 3m table runner. First thing I have now learnt in my adventures in weaving land is that I really do hate cotton thread (unless mercerised) and as such will be sticking to wool or silk after this for the foreseeable. The second and more important thing I have learnt is that I love overshot weaving and will be looking into ways on incorporating more of it for the next piece that finds itself on my loom. Worry not, pictures will be forthcoming....
In the meantime, I'm off to knit a sock.
