Reasons for Changing The Way I Craft

I have read so many posts from my fellow bloggers revolving around "2015 Intentions/Resolutions" that I really didn't want to do my own post on this. I know you don't care what I intend to do this year, provided I talk about it and take pretty pictures. I also don't like tying myself to something at the start of the year, because I know I have a lousy track record of keeping up with goals. I could blame my health but I know it's not only that, I just have terrible self control.

One thing I've learnt about my lack of self control is that if I make a big pronouncement about what I'm going to do, I set myself up for failure. What I have to do is make a continuing set of decisions that behave in a certain way. I can't stick to a decision made months ago as though it is written in stone, because it isn't. What I have to do is think about the reasons I want to do something and keep remembering those reasons, every time I make a decision regarding it. It's hard to do, when you don't set it down somewhere, and think it all the way through, so I'm going to do it here. Sorry, you can all go now, this post is for me, not you ;-)

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Stash

My stash is pretty huge. I reached SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy) a long time ago. Most things in my stash are things I love and really want to knit with. The Random Rummage CAL really helped me look at my stash again and it has already made me reach for more of my older stash. I want to continue using this lovely yarn. There are several things I have thought about to help me do this:

1. Stop being precious about my stash. It was bought to be used. USE IT!!!!
2. If I don't love an item anymore, mark it up for destash.
3. If I fall in love with a new pattern and I have stash that could use with this pattern, use the yarn in stash. Just because I have mentally matched it with a pattern does not mean I need to buy more yarn. If I haven't knit that pattern in the last 3 years with the yarn I bought, I'm probably not going to do so, any time soon. Use the yarn I have and knit the nice new pattern, OR, knit the original pattern with the yarn I have, THEN buy new yarn.
4. Set a reasonable budget each month to spend on craft - yarn, fibre, books, tools and stick to it. If I have a financial restriction I will think much harder about the things I buy and why I'm buying them.
5. Before hitting the "Pay Now" button, check the stash to see if there is anything already there that is remotely like it and ask myself "why are you buying this?" If I haven't used the yarn in stash yet, do I really need more like it, or I am having an"eyes bigger than my knitting needles" moment?

Blogging

I've already covered this in a previous post, I want to try and carry on with the way I laid things out, despite my missing presence over the end of December (if you haven't guessed already, I've had a hideous virus, as has, seemingly, everyone I know!).

Podcasting

I want to stop beating myself up whenever I think I miss a recording date. I have always said I won't record on a regular basis. I don't get paid to podcast, I do it because I enjoy it. Beating myself up about not recording, means I'm not having fun and, therefore, it is counteracting any enjoyment I actually do get from recording.

Projects

I want to work on things to go in my newly created "Gift Box". I've created a thread on the Ravelry Group about this idea, and set up a Page to gain inspiration. This Christmas I did NO gift crafting. It was lovely to have some breathing space this year but I missed giving hand crafted gifts. I have decided that deadline knitting is not for me, I hate it. I'm going to create a Gift Box (even if it's a mental one) and put completed projects in it for using for gifts on birthdays, at Christmas or as other random things occur. If I want to knit something that I know I won't use, but I have yarn in stash, I will go ahead and knit it, enjoy the knitting and then put it to one side to give to someone who will use it.

I want to use my handspun yarn more often. I'm going to try and find patterns that can be used with handspun yarn and match it up with what I have already in stash. Then I'm going to try and have one handspun project on the needles most of the time.

I want to start knitting more clothing. I have many sweater quantities of yarn in my stash, I need to use them. I need to make something for the size I currently am, and wear it now. If I change size (either up or down) I can always give the ill-fitted garment away, or even frog it and recycle the yarn. I need to remember that yarn is a very forgiving material that stretches and drapes.

As well as knitting socks, knit some mitts with existing sock yarn. It's a very similar style of knitting, that I can easily do whilst chatting or reading.

If I fall in love with a new pattern, and I have the yarn, I want to queue it and match the yarn and pattern in the queue.

I want to knit things in my queue, especially if it's been matched up with existing stash ;-)

I want to spin bigger quantities of yarn, so I can knit bigger projects with my handspun.

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Wow, what an awful lot of reasons for changing things up. I wonder if any of those reasons will stick in my head. I must bookmark this post and re-read it every week. Maybe it will stick in my head if I repeat it often enough.

If you've read this, I'm impressed! Thanks for sticking with me, please remind me when you sense me going off track with these reasons. I do really want to make all of these changes, but I'll be happy if I can manage one!

Fondant Fibre Organic Merino

I am so behind on my blog posts, I don't know if I'll ever catch up. I apologise for my disappearance over the last few weeks. My absence is because of changing the format of my podcast. I am moving over from audio to video and it has required a lot of my brain power and energy as there are many different things you need to set up in order to record, edit, process and upload a video podcast as opposed to an audio one. I think I'm nearly there on getting all my ducks in a row and that has left me a little more time and energy to get back to my beloved blogging. If you are interested in checking out my video exploits just click on the podcast button at the top of the website or check out my YouTube channel where you can subscribe to the videos. If you subscribed to my audio podcast you should be getting video updates in the same way.

Whilst on the subject of blogging in general, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who messaged me about my 6th blogging anniversary. I still can't believe I reached this milestone and I wouldn't find it half as pleasurable if you didn't read and comment on the posts.

A piece of spinning, that I finished some time ago, used some gorgeous fibre from Fondant Fibre. It was organic merino fibre and the colourway was Inked.

I was really attracted to the colourway of this top and that is why I bought it, rather than buying it for the base. This was the first time I'd used this fibre and I have to say I am SOLD! It is gorgeously soft and bouncy the way all merino should be, BUT, it has more texture. If you are a beginner spinner this would be a great entry into spinning merino. Merino is not an easy fibre to spin because it is so slippery, but this fibre has more grip and therefore is a dream to spin.

As all the colours blended so well I decided just to spin the yarn end to end, worsted style, and not worry to much about colour management. I used my Enid Ashcroft Bocote Tibetan Spindle.

This spindle is a pleasure to use and has great balance. Combining the spindle with this fibre made this such a fun project. I cannot express how much of a pleasure it was to spin without much forethought and to go just end to end without any pre-drafting, because it wasn't needed.

As always, I made two plying balls with half the singles on each, and then created a plying ball with the the two singles held together. I don't mind this hand winding of a plying ball as it helps even out the tension and twist, which makes it easier to ply.

I often use my Wildcraft Support Spindles to ply on, as the carbon fibre shafts are long and thin which means you can pack a LOT of plied yarn on it. It means that I can get roughly 50g of finished yarn on the spindle, sometimes more and sometimes less.

I have to say that the video download The Gentle Art of Plying, has really helped to transform the way that I ply my yarn. The whole video is taught using a spinning wheel but nearly all the information was relevant to using a spindle. It really helped to see the close ups of what the yarn looks like when singles are put together and twist added. Seeing how all the singles look before and after plying really was informative.

I soaked the finished yarn for 20 mins, squeezed it out and then gave it a few quick "snaps" before hanging it up to dry. This yarn feels even and the plying is balanced. This means the yarn is bouncy and soft and I can't wait to knit it.

I got 289m/316yds of a sport weight yarn, which is a reasonable yardage. I like to try and find projects to match up with my handspun yarn when possible. I've been thinking that I could probably get something small out of this; a hat, mitts, cowl or small shawlette. I think a really basic hat that would show off the yarn would be Simple by Alicia Plummer. It's a lot like the Sockhead Hat (of which I have three!).

© AliciaPlum

I might just use this pattern as inspiration, and do something different with the brim, maybe a folded stocking stitch brim, as I have a bit more yarn than is required for this pattern.

© Caitlin Hendrick

In terms of mitts, I really like Loch Lomond by Kendra Hope. I think these simple and elegant mitts would really show the yarn off. My only worry is that a loosely spun, 2-ply merino yarn may not stand up to the rigors of being worn on the hands. They are very pretty mitts though, so I'm really tempted.

© 2012, Heidi Haywood

The Leaf Lace Neck Wrap by Heidi Haywood looks like a nice straight forward and fun little shawlette that is more like a scarf. It would be gorgeous to wear this yarn around my neck and this pattern would let me do it.

It's tough to decide, but I will try and narrow it down from these three choices. Who knows, I might end up adapting one of the ideas from these patterns and doing something similar, but not identical. I'll let you know, eventually, which direction I take with this yarn. Until it's knitted, however, it is definitely a squishable and pettable skein of yarn.

Lovely Post

I got some lovely post yesterday. It arrived with things I didn't have to pay for, which is always nice, but the things that came were also very lovely.

The first thing I got was from Nadia at Abso-Knitting-Lutely. She had a give away for a braid of Malabrigo Nube in the Arco Iris colourway - and I won! I was really happy about this because when Nube first came out I bought two braids in the - yes you've guessed it - Arco Iris colourway!

So I have this braid to add to my two existing ones. I should be able to spin a decent yardage.

The second photo is probably more accurate, but they are still different dye lots, so I shall have to be careful. I bought this colour because I made a Brickless in Malabrigo Rastita in this colourway. The yarn is a DK weight singles yarn in the same merino as the Nube.

I bought the fibre intending to make a hat and mitts to match the shawl, but now I have three braids I'm beginning to re-think what I should make.  I don't know whether to stick to my intention of trying to spin my first singles yarn, or whether to try something different.  Any ideas of how to spin this gorgeous fibre are very gratefully received.

The second parcel I received was a complete surprise, as I wasn't told it was coming. It gave me quite a giggle. For those who don't listen to my podcast, you are probably unaware that I recently decided to try doing a video version to try and cut down on the amount of time it took to edit and prepare. It worked out really well and I subsequently did another, and will probably continue in this format. If you are interested, it is available on YouTube, iTunes and on the website under the Podcast button at the top of the page. Anyway, in the first episode I shared some fibre that I bought from Fondant Fibre.

A: Organic Merino Silk & Baby Llama (Beach Huts) B: Silk Hankies (One Tequila, Two Tequila...) C: Polwarth & Mulberry Silk

When I shared these purchases with the podcast I said that none of these colourways are typical of my choices and that often Deb creates colours that I usually hate but absolutely adore in the way she does them.

So you can almost guess my reaction when I opened my package and saw the colourway label before unwrapping the contents. The name was Not Chrissy's Colours. I laughed out loud before I cooed over the contents.

They are made up of my favourite Polwarth, Falkland, Silk and Bamboo. Aren't they pretty and really NOT my colours!  I started straight away.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, it was an Instagram snap last night.  By the way if you are on Instagram, come and follow me so I can follow you back, as I am addicted to this form of social media. 

Spinning long draw from Deb's punis is always such a dream. It's so easy to draft these punis and once again I cannot say enough good things about the preparation and how easy and pleasurable it is to spin them. I am spinning without plan for the pure pleasure of it, as my other two spinning projects require a little more thought and control.

I can't decide yet whether the laugh, or the pleasure from spinning, I got I made me happier. Maybe it was a wonderful combination of the two! I do love it when the postman brings parcels!

Fibre East 2014 - My Haul!

I didn't tell you I went to Fibre East this year, did I? It was my very first fibre festival (I'm not counting the Knitting & Stitching Show because it's not very sheepy) and it is the closest big event to me (around an hour's drive). I thought I wasn't going to be able to go as I didn't have any yarny/fibrey friends local to me who had a car and wouldn't mind shoving me around in a wheelchair all day. I gave up my dream of going until my friend Rachael (who does not knit, spin or weave but enjoys a spot of sewing every now and again) said she would take me. I couldn't believe my luck, someone who I love spending time with was going to take me to somewhere I've always wanted to go.

We decided to make a day out of it and went down on the Sunday. We decided not to risk getting something to eat at the event because Rachael is a vegetarian, and I am really fussy about meat, don't eat fish so may as well be vegetarian! I discovered a great pub online and we decided to give it a try, without booking, and if we couldn't get in, there were lots of other places to eat in Ampthill. The place we went was The French Horn at Steppingley and I can't recommend it enough. We arrived at 12.15 and they were fully booked. However, when we said we wanted to get in and out quickly they found us a spot and served us incredibly fast, but didn't rush us at all. The food was amazing and the surroundings were lovely. I really recommend this spot, but I also recommend booking a table, especially on a Sunday, and it wasn't precisely a bargain, though worth every penny in quality!

So after we were all fueled up and ready to shop we headed off to the event. The disabled parking was quite close to the entrance but for people with mobility problems, there were till a couple of inclines that weren't easy to get up. I think the people with scooter's probably had to best idea for navigating round the show in between tents and halls, but it was easier with a wheelchair to get into the individual booths and get close to the wares.

On Sunday afternoon it wasn't too packed so it was easy to get into most of the stands and there were a few deals to be had, in particular the Blacker Yarns stand had some skeins for half price and there were a couple of other stands who were discounting from their usual price. I'm glad we went on Sunday because the temperatures were a bit cooler than the day before. I was told that the heat in the sports hall was unbearable the day before, so I felt pretty sorry for the vendors in that area.

I went with a list of things I wanted to get at the show and stands I wanted to see. Sadly I didn't plan my route well enough so I didn't manage to get to a couple of the tents before my body gave out on me, but I did manage to get a few things I went for. One of the first things on my list was a basket from BasketBasket. I'd seen the store online and thought it would be nice to get one for carrying my shopping in. I didn't actually find any I liked but I've now seen the individual sizes and will be happy to buy one online when I see one in the colour I want. I also wanted to get a new spindle from IST Crafts. I was quite surprised to find all the Tibetan and Russian spindles they had left didn't really sing for me. I suppose all the best ones went on the first day! Ah well, I don't really need another spindle, but I thought it would be nice to buy one that I tried first for a change.

The next non-woolly item on my list was an Andean Plyer. I've wanted one for a while and could only find it online from one place in the UK, that ever seemed to have one in stock, Woodland Turnery. I decided to try and pick one up at the event to avoid paying postage. They call the item they sell a Peruvian Plyer but it's the same thing. I also picked up a darning mushroom because I had been thinking about getting one as well, but obviously not enough to get around to actually buy one!

I've already used the plyer on a small amount of singles and it worked really well. My technique is probably not all it could be, yet, but I think it will improve. I used this diagram because it was easier to follow than the one that came with the plyer.

After buying these tools, everything else that was purchased was squishy! In fact, Rachael got so caught up in the wool fumes at The Knitting Goddess booth that she bought some yarn too! I was, of course, generous enough to offer to knit it for her into something, so I get a total win there - pretty yarn to play with that I didn't have to pay for that will go to someone who loves it!

The yarn she got is lace weight and is 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk and 10% cashmere. This yarn is divine, I'm not surprised Rachael craved it! The colourway on the label is Greens. The picture above is a little too blue to be accurate. I just couldn't capture the colour well enough and it is more green teal than the turquoise above. It's gorgeously soft and I can't wait to get the go ahead to cast on a pattern. I've already sent some links to her to choose from.

This is what I bought.

1. Sparkle Sock in Sapling from Sara's Texture Crafts
2. Islington in Old Smoke from Kettle Yarn Co
3. Alpaca Supreme Fibre in Steel Grey from John Arbon Textiles
4. Blacker Swan Island Falkland 4ply in Earth & Stone from Blacker Yarns
5. Jumbo Twist in ooak & Hematite from Kettle Yarn Co
6. 4ply Merino Nylon Self Striping in Gothic Neon from The Knitting Goddess

I have plans for all of my purchases. The self striping yarn will, of course be socks. I was so pleased to get this yarn as it is really hard to get the self striping from The Knitting Goddess without stalking the store updates intensely, and I ALWAYS forget! I love the colours of the yarn too, so I was delighted when I saw it. The yarn from Sara's Texture Crafts will also probably be socks, but as the yarn is so lovely it may become a shawl or cowl if the right pattern crops up before it gets knit up.

The Islington yarn from Kettle Yarn Co is going to be for a Pebble Beach Shawlette by Helen Stewart. I went into the booth looking for the yarn recommended in the pattern, but got drawn to this yarn instead. I loved the yarn and I think the BFL/silk blend will probably be more robust than the camel/silk blend of the Westminster.  The Jumbo Twist yarns in Hematite and in the one of a kind colourway were bought to go together in a two coloured shawl pattern. I have several of those patterns in my queue and I rarely buy two skeins of sock yarn together to work in one project, so this was one of the things I had in my list to buy. The squishy and tightly plyed BFL yarn is very springy and I think will have amazing stitch definition. I think the Jumbo skeins, as opposed to the normal 50g skeins aren't available very often. It's nice to know, however, that you can buy smaller amounts of sock yarn for those striped patterns I like so much, or for colourwork! This yarn will probably become either a Cameo or an Axis.

I really enjoyed the Blacker Yarns stall. It was lovely to be able to feel the skeins of yarn that they sell, as it is sometimes hard to choose something from their yarns online. The breeds they use are not the run of the mill sheep that you find everywhere, so it's nice to actually get a sense of the qualities and how they feel personally rather than using someone else's opinion. I really like the BFL and the Elegance Range is lovely. I liked the Classic British yarns as a good workhorse yarn too. I couldn't resist the Swan Island Falkland as it is beautifully soft. I am a bit of a Falkland fibre fan so it was a bit of a no-brainer for me, especially as the colours were lovely. The two skeins of 4 ply that I chose will be used to make Bedale from the Coop Knits Toasty book I already have.

Finally the fibre I bought from John Arbon is amazing. I was drawn to the Alpaca Supreme skeins in the stand and both Rachael and I stood coo-ing over how soft and lovely it was. I was all set to buy a skein when I spotted the enormous sacks of fibre that were on sale and I saw that one of the sacks contained the combed and blended fibre that was spun into the yarn I had in my hand. I went over to the fibre and nearly dove in because it was so soft and beautiful. I bought 200g, and with hindsight, I should have bought more because I've since sampled the fibre and it is the most wonderful fibre to spin. 200g should be enough to knit a lovely big shawl though.

I'm very happy with what I purchased at the event, as all the things I bought, were things I intended to buy. As I said, there were a few places I really wanted to visit but didn't manage to reach - Baa Ram Ewe, Fivemoons, Namolio, p/HOP to say hello to Kate's Twirl, of The Golden Skein fame, Skeins, The Knitting Swede, The Natural Dye Studio and Yarn Garden. Sadly, my body didn't wish to participate and I should simply have planned better. However, I did enjoy wandering without plan after looking at the tools, spindles and baskets, and seeing what caught my eye. I actually came home with some money still in my purse and I put more things back than bought. I am becoming much better at these events, probably because I've been looking at my stash quite a lot this Summer and I know how lovely all the stuff I already have is.

We really enjoyed our day out and we are already planning a return trip next year as Rachael enjoyed herself too, so is happy to shove me around all day in my wheelchair. I highly recommend this event as a nice day out. I only wish I was well enough to take a course AND shop! Maybe next year I'll try and plan to meet up with people too, though I was glad to meet someone who listens to the podcast and have a nice chat after she recognised my voice (it does carry a bit). As I know we will probably be going next year I'll be able to make more arrangements than this year as I didn't really know we were going until the last minute. I still enjoyed myself tremendously, even without planning. Fibre people really are very nice folks!

Tour de Fleece 2014 - Spun Right Round Rambouillet

I have just realised that I didn't show you my second skein from Tour de Fleece! What an omission, because it's gorgeous!  My second spinning project was very enjoyable, from start to finish. I used a braid of fibre from Spun Right Round. This is a US dyer and I've followed Renee on Instagram for some time, and made lots of "oooo" noises at her photos. I finally caved and decided to pay the International postage and bought some Rambouillet fibre. I've never tried this fibre but lots of other podcasters have spoken fondly of it and I really wanted to give it a go. I am SO glad I did. This stuff is so much fun!

I couldn't resist the name of this colourway, though it was the actual colours that drew me in the first place. It's called Darkside of the Room, and who doesn't enjoy a good pun? The fibre itself is very spongy. It's like super crimped merino.

One of the things that attracted me to this dyer is the way she uses white space in her dying. This means that there will be strong colours that fade into paler ones, and create interesting transitions. It's a type of dying I see more of in US dyers that UK ones, though Fondant Fibre also does it well.

I decided to have a go at doing something akin to "Fractal" spinning. I split the braid in half lengthways and marked the top and then split one half in half again lengthways, making sure I knew which was the top of each section. I then wound the first half into a ball and wound the other two sections into a ball, ensuring that they followed the same "direction" as the first half. The two halves of the yarn were then spun into 2 plies that would barber pole nicely, as one ply would have long repeats of the colour and the second ply would have half the length of the repeats of colour, but there would be twice as many repeats.

I spun the fibre worsted in, what would be on a wheel, a short forward draw fashion. I used my gorgeous Spanish Peacock Tibetan spindle, but really had to work on flicking it slowly enough to ensure the singles didn't get too fine. I wanted to really emphasise the bouncy and warm nature of the fibre. I think it would have been easier to keep the single more even if I'd used a slower and heavier spindle.

In this project, I also used my Spanish Peacock spindle bowl. I have wanted one of these since I saw them all over Instagram after Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I was amazed when I actually managed to score one on an actual update! The bowl is on the top of a long stem, which makes it easier to hold stable between my thighs. It's got a tiny hollow in the centre of the bowl that the tip of a spindle sits in nicely as it spins, which stops it dancing all over the bowl.  In the above photo you can also see a very cheap purchase I made to help with my spinning. I found a great little plastic basket on Amazon, Premier Housewares Plastic Storage Basket with Double Handle - 20 x 32 x 18 cm - White. It was cheap as chips, but it is perfect to rest my spindles in whilst I wind off the singles or plied yarn. As it is plastic, it is sturdy and stable and because it is oval, different places in the basket give different lengths of gap for the spindles to rest in. It also holds my fibre nicely while I'm spinning too. I've used it so much more than I thought I would.

After spinning my singles I wound them into a plying ball and let them rest for a couple of days.

I plyed it together, using my Wildcraft Support spindle, which is nice and tall and slower than my other spindles, it's perfect for plying. After plying I would it on to my niddy-noddy, soaked it for a while, before squeezing the water out in a towel, and then snapping my two hands at either ends of the looped skein a couple of times to pull the yarn into alignment. I then hung it to dry on my airing rack.

The finished yarn is lovely.  A really bouncy DK weight yarn is the result of my labour, and it is so squishy!!

I love how the colours look. I really like this technique for mixing up the colours. I think because there is a limited palette of colours used for this yarn, having them barber pole works really well. If there were more colours it could get muddy. As it is, the colours are still bright and clear and should make a really interesting knitted fabric.

I got 225m of this DK weight yarn. There are a couple of thinner and thicker spots because of having to keep on top of my spinning speed, but on the whole it is relatively even and should even out in the knitting further.

I have already planned out what to do with this yarn. The softness needs to be on my neck, so I can't wait to knit it up into The Long and Winding Row by Susan Ashcroft. I really like Susan's patterns as they offer interesting shapes and textures that can really show off a yarn without getting lost or being too simple. I think it will be a fun knit and can't wait to cast it on.

Rambouillet is a really fun fibre to spin and the prep and dye work on this particular braid was excellent. I love spinning this so much, I bought another braid of the stuff in another colourway from Renee. Maybe if love this next braid as much I may sign up for my first fibre club!

Improving My Rolag Construction on A Blending Board

I have finally finished spinning up the first rolags I made on my birthday blending board.

These rolags were scruffy and far too dense. I made around 10 rolags out of fibre weighing 120g. Rolags really should be more light and airy. These were more like very very fat punis! Despite the messiness of my rolags I really enjoyed spinning them. The blend was lovely, using light grey baby alpaca, purple bamboo, teal merino and white kid mohair from World of Wool, and teal Bluefaced Leicester (BFL) from Sara's Texture Crafts. I have no idea of the proportions of this fibre, I just wrote down the contents! I spun it on my Enid Ashcroft compact Tibetan spindle with an ebony shaft and thuja burl. It's a very short spindle and it required singles to be wound off fairly frequently.

I plied the singles into a true 3-ply to try and even out the very wonky singles and I think it worked. Looking closely at the yarn, the thickness seems more uniform than I expected.

I got 189m/207yds of a DK/worsted weight yarn, that is fairly lofty and soft. I think it would make a pretty warm hat or set of mitts.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed spinning these rolags as they weren't very well constructed, but it wasn't a bad experience at all. I have plenty of "bits" of fibre left to play with in my "big bag o'fluff" so I know I'll be playing with it more often.

I already decided to try and practice with a single braid of dyed fibre so I could get better at layering fibre and creating rolags from it. I used 100g of Babylonglegs (who sadly no longer dyes fibre) BFL roving that had been sat around for a long time and got quite compressed. Loosening the fibre and then applying it to the board broke up any sticky bits and created nice lofty rolags.

With each pass, I only placed one layer of fibre on the board before carding it. I filled in any thin pieces and carded that in too. I made 3-4 rolags from each board I filled. I tore the long rolags in half lengthways to make it easier for storage. As you can see, I got a lot more rolags out of my 100g of fibre than I did from the 120g of the first batch I tried. I may have had to load the board more often, but I love how lofty these rolags are in comparison.

It's much less physical to draft out thinner layers of fibre, which is a plus for someone like me. It might take longer, but I will hurt less at the end of it. I think I will really enjoy spinning these rolags, and I'm itching to grab a spindle and have a go, but I already have two spinning projects on the go at the moment, so these will have to wait another week to be played with. If it works as well as I think it will, I may be employing this technique often, when I get some fibre I want to woollen spin.

Gale's Art BFL Spinning

Well, I'm finally back from lurgy hell. I can't believe how long I've been sick. I think I had two/three different cold viruses back to back. I haven't felt so "sick" in ages. I have said this before, I'm sure, but I'm pitiful when I have a cold. I just couldn't think straight and didn't feel like doing much knitting and several days I didn't pick up any craft whatsoever, which is a sign that I'm properly sick. So I haven't actually produced much over the last few weeks, but spinning was something I could just about manage, because it was brainless.

I picked up some fibre that I've had for a little while, bought in November 2013, it was some BFL from Gale's Art. I'd heard about Gale's Art on a few podcasts but it was The Fat Squirrel Speaks that really sold me on how lovely it was, so I caved and had a look at the ETSY store. The colours are amazing and Amy Beth raved about how amazing the fibre prep is. As soon as I visited the store I saw this particular fibre and knew I had to have it.

The colourway is Proud Peacock and it was dyed on 115g/4oz of Blue Faced Leicester Top. It was as bouncy as it looks. I bought this colourway as it was due to be discontinued in 2014 and the colours made me so happy I knew I would be disappointed to miss out on buying it.

The fibre was dyed in repeated blocks of colour and I decided I wanted to keep those repeats to make stripes. I thought about doing chain plying but decided that I wanted to try making stripes in a different way. I knew I wanted to spin a nice loose and soft single to keep the bounce from the top, so I thought it would be better to create a 2-ply yarn. I laid the fibre out and could see the colour repeated evenly four times through the top which seemed a useful thing to me. I split the fibre into 4 sections across the top, rather than through the length of the top. It was just easier to do it that way, especially as the sections were dyed so uniformly. I then spun each section worsted style, ensuring whilst spinning that the single remained quite lofty. I used my Enid Ashcroft Ebony and Bocote Tibetan spindle to spin this (and yes it is another new spindle, I can't resist her updates!). I then spun two plies together, ensuring the colour repeats lined up. It resulted in a very fat cop!

I just managed to squeeze each "skein" on the cop to produce two skeins of yarn with pretty evenly matched repeats. I was really pleased how quickly this project spun up, it took 2 weeks from start to finish, whilst I had the lurgy. I was also very surprised how the well the stripes lined up. It goes to show how accurate the dying throughout the length of top had been. There are just a few sections of barber poling but that actually adds to the yarn and makes it look more hand spun. If I'm going to all the effort of spinning my yarn I want it to look like I have!

I always tie my skeins together as I wind it round the niddy noddy as it makes it easier to handle when I soak and finish it, and when I calculate length I treat it as one skein. I soaked the finished yarn and squeezed all the excess water out using a new purchase, a Highlander Microfibre Bath Towel. It dries really quickly and absorbs as much water as a heavy bath towel. It is more compact which means I can really squeeze it without having to take my socks off to stand on it, which is what I used to do. It is also less fuzzy so it doesn't pull at the fibres of what I'm blocking as much as a regular towel. Once the skein was less wet I snapped it a couple of times and left it hanging to dry.

The resulting yarn is exactly what I wanted. It is light and airy, but it is smooth and strong. I have 221m of a DK weight yarn, and I'm really pleased with that yardage. It's pretty balanced too.

You can see in the above photo how some of the yarn is slightly barber poled at the transitions between the colours, but I like it. I think without those sections the stripes would be almost too uniform.  I'm pretty pleased with the consistency of the spinning and the plying, though of course it's not perfect and there are some areas where there are thinner and thicker sections, but they mainly even out.

I would happily buy fibre from Gale's Art again. Her colour sense is very compatible with my own aesthetic tastes, as well as having beautiful prep. The colours in this yarn make me so happy. They feel very Spring like.

I've been searching for something to knit, with this yarn, as I want to cast it on straight away. I thought about doing mitts but then I remembered the Cattywampus Hat by Elizabeth Green Musselman of Dark Matter Knits (a great video podcast, by the way). The hat is knit sideways on the bias and has an interesting texture. I think it would really show off this yarn well. I'm pretty sure this is what I'm going to knit, but would love any suggestions for a great DK weight pattern that shows off stripes!

I'm so happy with this project and I feel like I'm finally "getting it" with spinning. It feels like my muscle memory is embedded at last!

STSAL2014 Has Begun

I'm very excited today.  I recorded the latest episode of my podcast yesterday, where I launched the Spin-A-Long (SAL) and opened the SAL threads on the Ravelry board.  The chat thread is already a lovely lively place and lots of beginners are going to join in, which makes me extra happy.  I wanted the SAL (details are are towards the bottom of the linked post) to be a nice safe place for people who are quite new to spinning, to start feeling a bit more confident.  The SALs done by more experienced spinners and the Tour-de-Fleece can be quite intimidating for newer spinners, because you don't want to seem stupid by asking really obvious questions.  I know this, because that is how I felt last year when I joined in with SALs for the first time.

It is easier to ask questions of people who still remember, very vividly, the first time they picked up a spindle and fibre.  I think we have some other more experienced spinners joining in though, so we can pick their brains!

I think I know what I want to spin for the SAL, but before I can do that, I really want to clear off my favourite spindle.  I'm up to the plying stage of the Fondant Fibre nests and I keep getting distracted by other things, so it is taking longer than usual.  I will probably spend some time today really giving it my full attention.

My SAL project is going to be more Fondant Fibre.  The Malachite punis I bought at the same time as the pretty pink nests are calling to me. (If you want to know more about punis, there is an interview with Kate of Gourmet Stash who has quickly become the US Puni queen and she explains about the preparation here.)

The punis are 65% Merino/20% Shetland/15% Yak and as I don't think I've spun yak before, I'm quite excited.  I have 100g of punis, and even better than having a decent quantity to start with, is that this is a repeatable colourway and blend.  If I create yarn that I adore, but want more of it, I can request another batch.

This will be the first time I've spun yarn out of punis.  I spun a couple of samples and really enjoyed it, so I think it will be a real treat to spin this fibre into yarn during the SAL. I wanted to try something a bit different for the SAL and I think this type of fibre preparation is a good thing to try.  I have yet to decide how I want to spin the punis, so if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Part of me wants to spin them worsted to get a semi-worsted yarn, because that is how I spun the samples I had, however the "push your boundaries" part of my brain, wants me to spin them long draw.  After the success of the Polwarth I spun a few weeks ago, I am more inclined to give it a go.

I think I will be spinning some samples again!

I hope you are thinking about joining the SAL. Even if you are a complete beginner, two months should be time enough to spin 100g.  Please come and join us in the group where you can share your hopes and fears and we can talk you in to taking part!

Back to the Spindle and STSAL2014

Now the crazy focus of the Ravellenics is passed I can return to my normal scattergun approach to my crafting.  Whilst I loved not having to think about anything but the two projects I was working on during the Winter Olympics, I did really miss being able to flit around my different projects, as my mood took me. This flexibility in crafting means that I can usually find a project to match my mood and situation, such as when I can hardly keep my eyes open, let alone concentrate, I can knit vanilla socks or do some spinning, or when I'm bored and there is nothing on the tv that interests me I can work on a complex shawl.  It also means that my hands and body get a change. As I craft around the clock I need to change needles, yarns and crafts quite frequently in order to change my posture and the shape of my hands as they hold the fibre or yarn. Concentrating on two projects for two weeks went against all the acquired habits I have created in an endeavour to extend my crafting time each day.

One of the things I missed, during the second week of the Ravellenics, was spinning.  I got my cowl spinning out of the way in the first week and then I didn't pick up the spindle again until my second cowl was finished. I missed it so much!  For the last few days I have been obsessively spinning some gorgeous nests from Fondant Fibre. The colourway is Deeply Dippy and it is an MCN blend.  It is like spinning pink clouds!

I've never spun this kind of prepared fibre before.  The fibre is combed top which is then pre-drafted and made into palm sized nests.  It drafts so incredibly easily and the fibre is so soft, it is the most straightforward spinning I've ever done.

I was quite proud of myself with this particular project, because I spun some samples before starting the project properly.  I spun a nice single that wasn't too thick, nor so thin it fell apart as the slightest touch, and then plyed it into a two ply yarn and a three ply.  I soaked both of the plyed samples and retained the singles as a reference for during my spinning.

After looking at the samples I decided I liked the appearance of the 2ply as I think it looks more delicate and would be nice to work up as a light garment.  Plus, if I spin a 2ply yarn it will have greater yardage!

I am also using a new toy with this spinning, which is making the activity even easier.  I found it on eBay, where I often look to see if anyone is selling their support spindles, as they are quite difficult to get hold of in the UK.  I stumbled across a seller I'd not seen before, who was selling several different types of spindle, including support spindles.  I was really tempted to buy a Tibetan spindle but I've been bitten by buying from unknown woodturners before.  What was available from this vendor was a support spindle bowl, something I have wanted for a while, and something I felt I could take a risk on.  I have a bowl that came with my first spindle from IST Crafts, but I wanted something that would sit more stably in my lap and not tilt so easily.

This bowl is excellent if you are spinning on a stable surface (or a smaller lap than mine), but I've wanted a different style of bowl for some time.  I'd seen one on a couple of US makers' sites and really liked them, so to stumble across a UK maker was a real bonus.

This style of bowl is a stemmed support spindle bowl. The stem sits between your thighs and holds the bowl steady.  The bowl is shallow and wide with a small dimple in the centre to keep the point of the spindle in place, and it sits neatly in your lap.  It is a very stable platform for spinning and as I mainly wear trousers I can use it most of the time.  It also means you can adjust the height of your bowl a little by raising where the bowl is held using the stem.  I like the actual object, to look at, as well as to use.  There is something so tactile about turned wood.

The new bowl is working out really well.  As you can see from the fat cop!  I've got about two thirds of my nests spun and wound onto a plying ball.  I'll do end to end plying by winding the single onto a nostepinne and making a centre pull ball.

It has been such fun spinning this fibre and I think it is going to make really beautiful yarn.

Isn't it pretty? I will hate for it to end, but I already have the next spinning lined up to console me. I've got some lovely BFL from Gale's Art, waiting in the wings.  It's sooooo fluffy!  I blame The Fat Squirrel, she keeps raving about the preparation.  I had to buy it!

If you are thinking of doing some spinning in the next couple of months you might want to join me in my spin-a-long (#stsal2014).  I have a few spinning prizes that have been donated lately so I want to share them with people who are spinners, rather than knitters.

The spinning should not have been started before 1st March and it must be completed by April 30th.  The prizes will include: Issue 3 of PLY Magazine (the Woolen Issue), a project bag from Fondant Fibres along with 100g of Pink Gradient Shetland Fibre and a set of stitch markers, and a set of red camel and silk punis from Elly's Knit (In)Sanity. You must spin at least 100g/3.5oz of fibre, post a photo and details of the project AND a suggestion of what pattern or project you could use your yarn for.  The entries will be posted in the relevant thread on my Ravelry Group Board, which will be opened on 1st March.

I hope even if you can't spin, you might be interested in knitting with handspun yarn, and the suggestions for patterns that could be used for the yarn being spun, may serve as inspiration.  Many fibre vendors on ETSY also sell handspun yarn and it really is delightful to knit with.  Maybe I can even tempt one or two of you to give spinning a go.  The more knitters I lure over to the fibrey side the better!

The blog post I started to write last Tuesday

Last week, I wanted to talk about the lovely new yarn I had made.  It was blue and fluffy and gorgeous.  The only trouble with this plan was the lack of cooperative levels of sunlight.  However, since that miserable grey day, we have had a glimmering of sunshine and I got my camera out, quick sharp.

But before I get carried away, I should start at the beginning, with the fibre.  This fibre was Polwarth in a lovely blue with hints of purple, dyed by the lovely Countess Ablaze.  I swear I should get a sponsorship deal from this woman!

As you can see, I used my Medium Weight Wildcraft Tibetan Spindle.  I wanted to use something relatively slow that I could control easily because I wanted to spin long-draw.  By the way, do you see that white sheet in the picture.  It's a spinner's lap cloth that I got from P & M Woolcraft.  It has helped cut down on the amount of fluff I'm constantly picking off my trousers or trailing round the house.  I really coveted a "Lap Thing" from FiberCatcher on ETSY, but once again my loathing of paying ridiculous amounts on customs admin charges prevented me from getting something pretty.  The black and white lap cloth is perfectly fine and does it's job whilst having no chance of clashing with my outfit ;-)

This project was great fun as the fibre was prepared beautifully and Polwarth seems to enjoy being spun long-draw.  The fibre was prepared as combed top, so I spun from the fold and the more I spun, the more the motions became embedded as muscle memory.  I think another couple of braids and it will be stuck permanently.

As the singles, I spun, were so fluffy I decided to only create a 2-ply yarn, as I wanted a reasonable meterage.  I would the singles around two plying balls and then plied them on the same spindle the singles were created on.  As this was one of my first full skeins of spinning long-draw there is quite a lot of uneven places in the yarn, but it a much lighter and fluffy skein, than my last attempt at long-draw spinning.

I really don't mind the uneven yarn because it is incredibly soft and light. I soaked the yarn and gave it a whack against the bathroom tiles then left it to hang until dry. The finished skein weighs 97g and is approximately a worsted weight yarn and is 165m/180yds in length, which is more than enough to make something light and warm.

I am delighted with this yarn, first because it is pretty yarn and second because it was spun long-draw and I actually enjoyed the process!  This is a first and I can finally see what all the fuss is about, it's such a fun technique.

More Dyeing

After my last dyeing adventure I was very keen to have another go.  A new bigger pyrex dish arrived (eventually, after some fun where the first one was lobbed over the 7' gate to my back garden by the delivery guy, and of course smashed). The dish I bought was the biggest I could find that would fit into my microwave and it has much more space to dye in, which makes it easier.

I decided I wanted some purple yarn so went heavy on the purple and red and added a dash of blue colouring.  I might have gone a bit too heavy on the dye.  It took eons to rinse the yarn as there was so much left over after the yarn was saturated.  I learnt that I really don't need very much of the Wilton's Gel. The resulting yarn, however, was amazing.  I was so happy with it.

I also really love this yarn base.  I may have to order some more BFL yarn because it resisted felting really well, despite all the rinsing that was required.  On the same day, that I dyed this, I decided that I would try dyeing some of the Superwash Merino fibre I bought.  I wanted to try a completely different colour scheme, so went with the cream and yellow colours.  I mixed it throroughly together and used a lot less of the colour.  I added the soaked fibre to the mixed dye and then when it had absorbed the yellow dye, I added a couple of splashes of green to the top.

I love the vibrancy of this fibre.  The fibre is still amazingly soft, which I was not expecting, for some reason. I would never buy this sort of coloured fibre normally.  I normally only buy my absolute favourite colours of fibre, which means there isn't much variety in my fibre.  Dyeing the fibre myself is giving me free rein to choose different colours to my normal top of the list choices.  I've started spinning it already because it is perfectly sunny for the currently grey weather.

I'm using my brand new Enid Ashcroft Bocote spindle that I managed to score on an ETSY update.

I was amazed that I managed to find this spindle because it is meant to be quite difficult to find the updates for this maker, as they are not frequent and the quality is meant to be excellent.  I just stumbled over the spindle when I was browsing supported spindles on ETSY and when I saw this for sale, I knew it was meant to be mine!  It is amazing.  It spins like a dream.  The sample above was made from some merino and sparkle punis from Fondant Fibre.  It was so much fun to spin as both the punis and the spindle were gorgeous to use.

If you are in the market for a spindle and you ever stumble over an update, I urge you to not hesitate.  There were some gorgeous Turkish spindles in the shop yesterday and they are now gone.  I was tempted to buy one, despite knowing I can't use a drop spindle, because they were so beautiful.

I am not spinning my yellow fibre with any kind of intention, I am just spinning it for fun, because it is pretty and it makes me happy.  I'll dye some more fibre when I get near the end of this. Dyeing is so much fun and I can't wait to give it another go  I'm so glad I bought a decent amount of this fibre because it survived a learner dyeing it, and is still lovely to spin.  I think it's just as well I am too sick to dye often because I would be over-flowing with hand dyed fibre and yarn within a very short amount of time.