A very woolly day out

 Do you remember the 6 inch rings that we had to create something woolly with for the Guild Exhibition?  Well, yesterday was our trip down to the exhibition at the Weald and Down Museum in Hampshire.  We went by coach shared with a few other guilds from the midlands.  I do apologise in advance for  the onslaught of pictures that follows, it was very difficult to choose which pictures to show, as there was so many wonderful exhibits.  The rings themselves were exhibited on a three sided display.  So many different ones all from the same ring, amazing!  There were a few that really stood out to me.

 I had fun spotting the rings created by friends.  Here's Dawn's (who I happened to bump into at the same spot, lovely to meet you Dawn, hope your voice is on the mend)

 Lucy's from InTheSky.

 and Lucy's mum's that I had seen Lucy blog about.

 And then there was mine.  I was, if I am honest, a bit disappointed with how the 3-D ones were displayed.  They were too high, and even holding my camera above my head, you could not see the robin sat on it's nest. 

 Not only were there the 6 inch rings, but also lots of entrants in the exhibition for various categories.  So many gorgeous things.  I dread to think how many years worth of work was represented in the hall.  This coat was amazing, all handspun, and the pattern created by the person herself.

 Such delicate weaving in this mandarin styled top.  Three layers of weaving in one.

 Sculptural art, inspired by a forest.

 Wall hangings using natural dyes, and appliqued plants of which dye used for each panel.

 A most beautiful cloak

 The texture on this woven wall hanging/floor covering (not sure I'd want to put it on the floor!) was just stunning.





This woven scarf was so fine, and so silky soft.  I loved the zig zag effect woven into the scarf.





 The beautiful exhibits,  were both inspiring, but also a little disheartening, thinking I could never produce such beautiful things and place them under the critical eye of the judges and the public.  But I certainly left in awe of the people who had created such things.

After the exhibit, was the rare breeds show.  There were stunning rams.

The cutest baby alpaca (cria)

 A Leicestershire Longwool.  Oh, how I felt for this sheep.  She had won her class, and was in the final for best in show.  I was admiring her stunning locks, but very relieved that she was going to be shorn the next day, as it was very hot!

 There were some amazing tudor buildings which we just about had time to have a quick look around.

 It was a fantastic day.  My first day out by myself without children or husband for about 8 years (I think), and I missed them all terribly, but I was able to indulge my love for all things woolly!  9 hours sat on a coach meant I was able to tackle some knitting that I would never have been able to do with the constant interruption from children.

 I simply couldn't resist this wonderful blend of merino, silk and black bamboo for £5/100g.  Ethan has already asked me to make him something to cuddle with it as it is so amazingly soft and squishy!

And my bent coat hanger of a niddy noddy is able to retire now, as I have treated myself to a proper wooden one, where I can do proper skeins.

I must admit to being very glad to be home though, as I really missed everyone, and what a surprise I had!  Stuart has been working so hard all day, and tackled many areas of the house that had been neglected.  Now I have to try not to undo all that hard work!!



Very Woolly Thursday

Ok, so it should be Woolly Wednesday, but I was rather busy yesterday! But despite the delay, this month has seen lots of woolly projects going on, especially with the weather being so awful! So here's my contribution to Spinspiration for this month.

Remember me wondering how to dye a green with woad and weld?  Well, I eventually gave up on trying to get my head around it, and as time was of the essence, I got the colour below with some...

...Kool-Aid!!  How anyone would ever actually drink this stuff is beyond me, it is just full of chemicals, but it does make a wonderful dye stuff, and I will save the woad and weld for some future projects.

     

 My first attempt at dyeing my own wool, it was rather nerve wracking putting my wool into this, and then heating it!  But it was also very intriguing!

It seemed like magic, when the time was up and the wool was dyed and the water was fairly clear.  I was amazed at how vivid the colour was, and all from a dubious drink!!

 

 So the leaves have been crocheted, and sewn onto the framework of wire and wool that I created.  Robin is sitting patiently on her eggs, and all I have to do is sew a few more leaves on, and I reckon a few crocheted flowers would look rather sweet too.

It's really difficult to get a good picture ofit all, as the angles are a bit strange.  But you can just see the eggs that mama bird is sitting on. Sophie is adamant that they are going to hatch into little birds.  It would be wonderful if my needle felting skills were up to creating a little baby robin, just so I could give Sophie the satisfaction of them hatching, but I really think that might be a step too far!!

 

 Other wooll-i-ness has been going on with my commissioned bag.  A friend saw the bag I made for the guild competition, and asked me to make her one.  This is as far as I have got, as the wool I had spun was spun much finer, and I've had to double up the yarn.  I am now waiting for the weather to give me a break long enough to wash some more zwartble/suffolk fleece that Dawn kindly sent me.  I reckon a nice bright pink floral lining would finish it off perfectly, along with a nice silver button for the closing, but I have yet to source those.

 In the meantime I am really rather chuffed with my stitch markers.  I've never had stitch markers, and as a result my knitting has possibly had extra stitches or rows in some places, and perhaps be missing some in other places.  So these are going to be put to good use.  A wonderful shop on Etsy supplied me with them.  I thought little Buddha's were perfect, as I do see knitting as a form of meditation and seeing the whole process from the farmer and the fields, to the sheep and the shearer, all the way through to the spinner and knitter. 

Off to see what other projects have been worked on by other Spinspiration members.  And for all you spinners out there, why not come and join us?

Flitting

 I haven't been able to settle to anything much this week, flitting from one project to another.  This is more than likely due to there being lots of projects needing to be done at a similar time (when is that never the case with me!)  So, there has been lots of crocheted leaves ready for my 6 inch ring I am doing for the Guild exhibition.  I have to get it done by the beginning of May, and there is still some more spinning to do too before that is finished. 

At Christmas time a friend saw the bag I made, and asked if I could make one for her.  After explaining that I had lots of things on, and if she didn't mind waiting I could do her one in the grey Zwartble I had, she agreed.  So I eventually turned my attentions to this this week, only to find I had spun the wool too fine to use for this project, so am doubling up the balls, and will have to spin some more wool to finish it.

 I haave also been dragged into the 21st century with, not only a mobile phone, but a smart phone that does all kinds of things as well as making phone calls!  So before I was happy to take it out anywhere I had to make a case for it to prevent the screen from getting scratched.  I was going to use some handspun wool on that too, but it seemed a little rough, and was again too fine!  So I raided the conservatory (where all the wool scraps are kept) and came across some self patterning "Crofter" by Sirdar.  So combined with a dark grey for the collar, my new phone cosy was created. 

As for reading, just a bit of Radical Homemakers before bed.  Still enjoying it, but not finding much time to settle down and read.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to in Ginny's Yarn Along

The Journey of the Rings

It's Spinspiration time again!!

It really is quite a journey of discovery creating these rings.  I have finished the 2-D one, I might add a few more touches to it, but am pleased enough with it.  The clam shell and fishes are crocheted and sewn on.  The grey edging (zwartble) is supposed to be a porthole that you are viewing the underwater view through.  And everything else is needle felted.  The 3-D one of the robin on a nest is hitting a few stumbling blocks, which is a shame as I was really excited by the idea of creating this.  The biggest problem has been the dyeing of the wool.  I was hoping to spin enough white Portland to then dye it with woad and weld.  Firstly I've not had enough time to spin the white, and then the whole process of dyeing using woad seems to complicated, and I never have enough time in any big enough chunk of time to get anywhere with it.  So I am contemplating spinning some green roving I have, and see if it is enough, I'm not sure it will be, but I really do want to get this done.

 The robin is headless at the moment, and is awaiting its red breast.  Time is ticking on, and I will really have to crack on with it.

The Guild have announced their new competition to be completed in time for Christmas.  A cushion cover, so I am looking forward to having an excuse to sit down with my wheel and get some serious spinning done.  I have also been browsing Ravelry for some ideas for designs.  If I can co-ordinate it with our revamp of our lounge then I can see it having pride of place on our new three-piece suite!

That's probably all the woolly news for now.  Looking forward to seeing what others have been up to this last month.

Woolly Wednesday - The Ring(s)

 The first Wednesday of the month, so that must mean it is Woolly Wednesday over at Spinspiration.  So what has February seen me doing on the woolly front?  I have been taking advantage of the warmer weather and getting some of the Portland fleece washed.  A first for me, washing a fleece, and not as bad as I thought it was going to be!  I am hoping that some of the bits come out when it is carded, at least that is how it worked with the alpaca. 

For this wool I have already washed, I have great plans!  I need some green wool for the rings that we are producing at the guild.  So in the spirit of learning new skills, I thought I would have a go at dyeing the wool I have.  So I pop along to the Guild and ask what would be the best way to get a green colour, and I get pointed in the direction of Teresinha who is a fountain of knowledge, and just happens to sell natural dyes.  She was wearing a green jumper she had dyed using weld and woad, which was the perfect colour that I was after. Next day saw me on her website ordering the necessary ingredients. 

 I haven't taken the next step yet, a bit nervous to be honest.  I am assuming that I dye it one colour, and then remordant it, as the weld and woad follow a different dyeing process, and then over dye it with the other colour.  I am also assuming dye weld first to get the yellow, and then overdye with the woad.  If anyone has any ideas on this I would be very, very grateful!!  Oh, and another question regarding dyeing.  Is it better to card the fleece first, or even spin it first?  Or do I just dye it as is?

As far as the rings are going I have done something on each of them.  The background for the seascape, for my 2-d one...

 ... and a robins nest and eggs for my 3-d attempt. 

I am looking forward to getting a bit more time to work on them, as I hope they will turn out as good as they are in my head!!

Looking forward to seeing other things people have been getting up to with wool this month.

Woolly Wednesday

 Another month already, wow!  Well, in January there have been various woolly projects on the go.  I managed to finish spinning the beautiful purple wool from Sarah.  And then plyed it.  It was such a delight to ply, seeing how the changing colours mingled with each other.  It is like a collection of purple gems. I have been known to just look at it and admire it!!  I don't know what to make with it yet, but I'm looking forward to see how it knits or crochets up. 

I have now moved back to the alpaca, but for the life of me cannot spin it thick.  I don't know if it is just my technique, or because the alpaca has little natural crimp it won't hold very well if I take too much.  So I think my plans for the chunky knit dress may have to be put on hold, either that or it will end up as a 10ply or something ridiculous like that!!

 I had a little play about with needle felting too.  Making my first three dimensional needle felting as a gift for my niece.  I am rather fond of this little bunny, even if he does have a bit of a crazed expression! 

And I am already making plans for this lovely Portland fleece from Dawn.  Just got to wait for the weather to improve a little. Some of it will be going towards my Guild ring for the National Exhibition after a bit of dying, spinning and knitting!  I've already made a start on one of the rings, but not much to show for it at the moment, hopefully by next month something will be taking shape.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else is up to this month.

National Exhibition

At last nights Guild meeting we were each given a 6 inch steel ring.  Why? Well, the Guild is having a national exhibition at the Weald and Downland Museum in July.  Each member can submit a piece of work that will fit within the 6 inch ring (the ring making up part of the exhibit).

So, what to do?  Apparently it can be three dimensional or flat.  So I bought an extra ring so I could experiment!  But looking at the ring I was so uninspired.  I mean, where do you start?  However, on the 30 minute drive home the ideas came flooding.  I first thought of a crescent, needle felted moon, with a star hanging within the ring.  I've since thought of a full moon, in 3-D with the dark side shown too.  But then my ideas became a little more ambitious (as they do!). 

I then spent a couple of hours browsing ravelry, and found some beautiful crocheted applique motifs, and thought of doing something along the lines of fairy tales, but then discovered the patterns were in chinese, or something similar.  But I now think I have decided on two themes.  For a 2-D creation it will be themed, "under the sea", and for the 3-D one it will be named "shhh" and is inspired by a picture by the very talented Jacqui.

I'm all for a challenge, and hope some others I know will be taking part.  Exciting times!!

Seven Days

 Well, it started with a "bang" quite literally!  We have a horrible feeling this will be the end of this 20 year old Mazda MkI.

 Ethan was in a school play, where he was a redundant teacher (a modern day slant on the Christmas Carol, and perhaps a tad topical!)

 We did some baking.

 Had a mini celebration of Bodhi Day.

 Made decorations with our first attempt at drying orange slices.

 More pictures of the Guild meeting.

And this last picture isn't from this week, but links to Gimli's very brief adventure in a tumble drier!  Thank goodness Sophie had seen him climb in there, she really did save his life.

Joining in with Jacqui at the Barefoot Crofter, for a glimpse at our seven days.  Which, if I am honest, have been a bit too eventful for my liking this week!