Full of Fibre

Good news everybody, some of the fibre I dyed on Friday is dry, I’m sure the suspense is killing you so without further adieu bring on the eye candy...

This is the merino top that was painted blue, purple, green and yellow. I'm really happy with it, it looks really good. Not sure if I’m going to be able to bring myself to blend it, it may just get spun as it would be such a shame to spoil the beautiful colour sequence.

this one is kettle dyed Blue faced Leicester, half of it is olive green and the other half washed out denim

and this is nylon top, dyed in the same vat as the blue faced Leicester. it only went in two colours though (one blue, one green) but somehow came out with these amazing golden orange streaks all the way through it, no idea how that happened but it looks lovely.

 

Also, The chick's finally deigned to be photographed, if rather fuzzily, suffice to say that there are 12 of them (yes we have another one as of this mornings count) and being hyperactive little balls of fluff they refused to stay still, even for the 0.01 of a second it takes for the shutter to close.

Ive been busy finishing off projects over the weekend, my version of a spring clean, well, more like a summer clean but you get the idea. so far I've finished my low twist thick and thin yarn which has been sitting around gathering dust and hogging my mid weight spindle for about a month, haven't decided what to call it yet, possibly tutti fruity. I've also finished the last 50g of yarn for my hat (ran out at the end of the pattern, apparently 100g didn't quite cut it), after struggling to find the colour of merino again (4 orders before i got it right) it has come out a completely different colour as i haven't managed to put quite the same amount of nylon into the blend. ah well, c'est la vie, at least it will look very individual.  

Dyeing for Colour

I have so many things to write about today, Yesterday I went on a dyeing course with Amanda Hanniford of Mandacrafts and had a great time. I must have a kilo of brightly coloured goodies drying in the bathroom (sadly I'll have to wait till its dry to take photos of it), It's so beautiful I cant wait to blend and spin it all, especially the silk cocoons (my favourites).

also big news, The chicks have hatched! they're a bit camera shy at the moment so I'll wait for a nice sunny day to try and get some photos, but they are incredibly cute, all 11 of them have come out slightly different colours and every single one is adorable. Bob (never let my brother name the animals, he has a unique sense of humour) is a brilliant mother hen,  I wish she was handtrained though as she doesn't like anyone touching her at the moment so checking on the chicks is going to be a bit tricky.  

also, the crimson flowered broad beans are in bloom (aren't they lovely)!  wont be long till they have lovely fat pods for me to pick. I saved all the seed from last years plants, grown from a packet  I received through the garden organic Heirloom seed library.

Alfresco fibre

The weather is so beautiful at the moment, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature in the warmest of the green houses is topping the high thirties (in degrees anyway) even with both the windows and the door open.

It’s so beautiful I thought I’d set the drumcarder up in the potting shed so I could enjoy the sunshine whilst making some batts, gives me a wonderful view over the veg patch.

 

Everything has gone mad in the garden, if its not dripping with flowers then its growing like crazy, this runner bean was planted out from its pot in the green house yesterday and already its halfway up the cane,I swear its grown about 2 feet overnight! Another nice surprise were the 6 self set tomato plants in the greenhouse, no propagation required, which is ok with me.

Going Batty

I have had my new Louet drumcarder (which I utterly adore) for 8 days now, I ran out of fibre by the 4th. I must have carded about 2kg at least of fibre and have ended up with over 14 large batts, at least 20 mini batts and 10 micro batts. I'm realy enjoying experimenting with all the colours and textures, i found the colour blending exceptionally satisfying. I have also discovered that taking picture of batts that accurately represent their colour is a lot trickier than I would have previously suspected, does anyone know any good tips or tricks for taking good batt photos?
firstly, to avoid confusion, you should probubly know that I always name my yarns and fiber blends, always have, don't ask me why though because I'm not sure myself. so that over with, on with the batt parade... Scummow (Cornish for things washed in by the sea)

lavender fields


one of my Hotchpotch batts


Cheshire cat

Clowning around

Apart from a few choice items I am saving for a special occasion and what’s left of the fibres too fine to blend on their own, my entire stash has gone through it. I must say though, that even though its arrival was delayed by a couple of weeks (props for the folks at Scottishfibers, whose customer service was excellent) I have had an immense amount of fun with it so far and am now impatiently waiting for tomorrow as it is Wingham wool works annual migration to Parr (a little village by the sea in west Cornwall) where they will be setting up shop for 2 days, therefore a perfect opportunity to buy more fibrey goodness to feed my drumcarder.

Begin at the beginning

This is my story, and as with every story it has to have a beginning, and this beginning, as in all the best stories, started a long, long time ago (or, to be more precise, when I was about five) and it came about completely by chance. We had all gone into town, my mother, my brother and I, to a café we had regularly frequented, where we discovered that the upper floor was occupied by a group of reenacters all kitted out in the fashions of bygone eras, demonstrating traditional fibre arts. One of them had brought along a spindle, which fascinated me as I had never before seen one being used, and with more than a little help I even managed to spin what was possibly some of the lumpiest yarn ever. But that didn’t matter; I had made it and thought it was wonderful. As I walked away from the café with my hand clasped tightly around that little lumpy tangle in my pocket I felt wonderfully happy and extremely proud of it, and at that moment I decided I wanted to learn to spin one day. But as with many things it never got any further than that, but I remembered that feeling, the joy of making something, and it stayed lodged somewhere in the depths of my memory.
Now, nothing at all may have come of it, and that is what would have most likely happened if I hadn’t, by chance, found myself with a massive slice of time to fill (for which I am not going to account, as it would take far too long). It was at this point that I suddenly remembered all those years ago, walking down the road with a hand tightly clasped around my yarn, and that feeling of being perfectly blissfully happy, and I said to myself now is as good a time as any to learn to spin. And I’ve never looked back, but what I can tell you is this; I am a self confessed fibre addict, I have a love affair with drumcarded batts, I have Way too many spindles and yet never enough and that I’m never happier than when I’ve got a spindle in one hand and some fibre in the other.