WonderWool 2011

wonderwool was Amazing. such a huge array of fiber artists and producers never ceases to amaze me, even though i went last year. I met so many Lovely people, handled oodles of beautiful fiber, ate Delicious food and even taught drumcarding (which is a first for me). i came home with 4 plastic bags of assorted fiber and a very great big smile having had a wonderful time.
even though i took the camera with the intention of taking as many photos as i possibly could, i completely forgot for the majority of the time (apparently wool in large quantities plus way too little sleep causes me to be a bit blithery) and there for don't have any photos of Feltstudiouk's gorgeous stand or of me cuddling the adorably fluffy grey angora that the lady from bigwigs had brought (i didn't want to give it back, it was just so soft and unbelievably cute).
here are some of the photos i did manage to take

 Freyalyns fibers

 sallyinwale's knitting machine

 Angora rabbits, so cute and totally unfazed by all the people

Lincoln long wool sheep

Love Patisserie's delicious berry and almond things (i got a bit overexcited and had a bit before i thought to take a photo)

so right, now I'm whacked (unsurprising considering we travelled 500 miles in total), surrounded by bags of beautiful fiber and very very happy. I cant wait for next year!

6 days to Wonderwool!

Six Days...six days till WonderWool Wales, possibly my favourite even in the entire year. Ive read the Yarn harlots Fiber festival survival guide I've started the packing, I've written a shopping list and everything. and now my brother, who has been the incubus of viral contagion for about a week, appears to have finally spread it to me, despite the fact that I've been mainlining echenacea and trying to stay out of his general vicinity.  there's nothing for it but to resort to sticking my head over a steaming bowl of lavender and water. I refuse to be ill for wonderwool! I've been looking forward to it since before Christmas!

Yarn on the Brain

the weather is so beautiful outside, sunny and warm with a light breeze from the SW,  the bay tree is in flower and the garden is filled with the sound of insects. perfect weather for spinning in the garden and walking around barefoot on the grass.

I finished the scarf, something I've needed since before Christmas as the one i have just isn't enough, just in time for all this warm weather were having...typical. never mind though, once id got the hang of not YO for the last stitch (and subsequently causing me to be very confused as to why i had 13 stitches on the needle and not 12)  it went like a dream. its so comfy to wear and is warm as toast. the cowl project I've been planning to do next may get postponed though as if the weather continues on in the same vein i wont get to wear it till October.

I spent most of yesterday trying to distract myself from the beautiful handspun silk/wensleydale  DK sitting dripping in the garden. i sat there trying not to think about how much i wanted to finger crochet it into a summer hat or imagining how it might come out (slouchy, lots of big holes, maybe something like fishnet stitch).  this morning i come downstairs all chirpy, thinking "it has to be dry, its had two days now, including one spent hanging in the sunshine for hours, it has to be dry" and what do i find? damp yarn that's what. looks like today is going to be yet another day of trying not to think about finger croched, summer hats patterns or that wensleydale silk handspun in the garden.

at the moment (in an effort not to think too much about aforesaid yarn) i am halfway through spinning this

its going to be lovely, ive added lots of beads in and i hope my friend, whome its intended for, will like it. it should make amazing pixie hair when its done.

All Golden

The Summer sun seems, finally, to be creeping over the horizon. spring is definitely in the air and, due to being held back by the harsh winter, Cornwall is painted with golden fields of early daffodils. we are literally smothered in them down here, you cant go for a walk without falling over the things. the beaches are beautiful and the water is clear, if bone chillingly cold. the wintry winds are still roaming around though leaving a toasty day to turn chilly very fast, so keep that coat on a little longer, you might just need it.

I think i may have finally figured out why I've been in such a slump with the spinning, I started a spinning journal the other day (something I've been meaning to do for ages) and suddenly realised I'm making the same yarn over and over ...semi worsted, slubbed, aran, 2ply, spun short draw,  ....I'm am the proverbial record stuck on a scratch. so i consciously chose to do something new, something i haven't tried before, something that would push the envelope so to speak. and this is what i ended up with...

And I Loved it! i had so much fun and really enjoyed it, even when i overdid the uneven plying and one of the singles gave up the ghost it didn't phase me. well, OK, i did swear a bit when it wouldn't splice back together but a nice square knot sorted that out a treat.

Since i haven't blogged in a while (yes, yes, very bad me) i have loads of lovely yarns to show you. and this one (Weedy Seadragon), and its identical twin, are going to be a lovely scarf in this pattern. I've got the yarn, I've found the knitting needles, now all i need to do is work out what on earth a YO and TURN consist of and I'm in business.
Anyway, enough of that for now...Bring on the eye candy!!

 Cherry Red, hand dyed Falkland spun super bulky

 Sweet surprise, hand dyed Falkland spun bulky

Perfect Day, merino, nylon, mohair, throwsters spun bulky

Treasure trove

I am the happiest bunny in the world today. i walked into a local shop yesterday and came out with this amazing antique wool winder. what a find!

it was just sitting there, asking to be taken home and used. I've already wound a skein on it, and i cant believe how fast it went, it just ate the yarn. i recon i could easily fit a 200g skein on it, with room to spare.

my other lucky score this week was this amazing vintage knitting bag to hold my bigger projects in. the fabric is very 60's and totally sycodelic, to the point where you almost need sunglasses to look at it.

I did take some photos of my latest yarn, but the camera and i are having  a disagreement again and it has stubbornly decided to eat them, much to my dismay. ah well, you'll just have to wait till next time for that.

Suprise!!

yes, i know. you didn't expect another blog entry quite so soon. well I just had to share the good news, I've finally got my head in gear and photographed some of my freeform finger crochet hats, which also means everyone gets to have a look at what I've been up to for the past month. Enjoy!

Dyeing days

Wow, its been ages since I've done one of these. Just to let you all know, I haven't actually fallen off the planet (so far anyway). January has just been, in keeping with national average, a very slow month for me. but now its February and though the weather is still pretty bleak its betting warmer  the first signs that spring is actually coming after all are appearing and  life is finally starting to get back to some sort of normal rhythm.

The finger Crochet is going well, sadly still no pictures though I'm hoping to get something up on the shop in the near future so keep your eyes peeled. But the big news of the week is that I have finally fallen off the wagon and brought a spinning wheel. Ive never used one before (its all been spindles up till now) so needless to say I'm pretty intimidated by it and everything I've managed to produce on it looks like its been mangled by a dog. but I'll get there in the end (just don't expect any photos of anything I've made on it for quite a while).

Last week A group of friends and I got together and had a weekend dyeing party, needless to say we all ended up with hands of one colour or another even though we were wearing gloves. sadly i have very few photos of this as the camera decided to play up and ate most of them, for reasons that are , as usual, beyond my comprehension. those that follow are the best of what I managed to salvage from the camera.

 we must have dyed some where around 3kg of fiber over the course of 2 days. this is my stash, 300g of Falkland top and about the same of a mix of Mohair, Romney and Texel X fleece. which is now picked and waiting to be carded into awesome textured batts with a whole stash of other goodies.

After Shock

Christmas is now over and we're into the new year, soon all the decorations will be taken down and (apart from those who still have allot of snow) the world will be back to normal. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling very washed out after this Christmas, maybe its the cold, or it could be the bout of flu that's been going round but now seems like a good time to sit down and heave a big sigh of relief. time to have a bit of a rest after all the merry making a little holiday before the norm is quite reinstated. time to look forward to the new year before we have to get on with everything again. I don't know about you lot, but after my very successful fibre diet, what little space i have has once more been swamped by batts and beautiful dyed top. a good sorting is definitely needed, but that can wait for now. I also have a lovely new toy to play with, a Fleece picker from Kaydessas. great gadget, really takes the strain out of picking fibre when i want to put fleece through the drum carder without shredding the teeth. now all i have to do is get dyeing!