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!!



Excited about Jacob

So, I got the phone call to say that the fleece was all bagged up and ready for collection. Stuart very kindly picked it up for me on his way home from work.  I was curious.  What did 10kg of fleece look like?  I didn't have to wait long.  Look, this is what it looks like!  Filling the back of out large 7 seater car's boot! 

 Yesterday was wet, so it had to stay in the car. The first glimpse of blue skies today, and I was out trying to skirt the fleece. I laid it out to the best of my ability, but it was all tangled up. Anyhow, I set too, sorting the brown from the white, and removing the REALLY dirty bits and the second cuts.  Looks like there are two fleeces per big bag, and possibly one in the smaller feed bags.  That's alot of fleece.

 It is so gorgeous!  The white is so creamy, although I think it will wash to more of a white than cream.

 The brown is beautiful, such subtle changes of colour in it, I can't wait to experiment with it all, blending and spinning it.  It is virtually dripping in lanolin, and you can imagine my disappointment when another shower of rain hit us, and I had to quickly pack it all away!

I'm going to have to be a little more patient.  I have the weather to contend with to start with, plus I have to finish spinning the merino/alpaca yarn to free up the bobbins, and then I have to spin some more of the grey zwartble cross for a couple of commisioned iPad covers!  Patience will really be a virtue!

Seven Days

Joining Jacqui aka "The Barefoot Crofter" with a review of the last seven days.  Because even when you think nothing special is happening, if you look closely enough you find it! 

After last week was very much an out of the house kind of week, this week has been more home based.  Monday whilst getting very cold walking back from the shops I stopped to put Sophie's gloves on her for the umpteenth time, and happened to stop outside a friend of my Mum's house.  She saw us and invited us in to warm up.  Sophie got to play with her grandson, and we had a lovely impromptu chat.  This happened again on Tuesday, calling in to a friend, just to check her daughter was ok, after seeing her daughter very distressed earlier, and another cup of coffee and a lovely chat.  It really made my week.

Other lovliness that has been happening...

...finishing off the bag for the three little pigs

...catching Sophie making shadow puppets whilst eating her lunch... 

 ...having the time (and ingredients) to be able to make Sophie's demand for chocolate cake a reality...

 ...whilst I was at Guild, Sophie had popcorn, I do hope she shared it!

 A big package of woolly goodness (if a little dirty) arriving in the post, with the promise of endless amounts of dyeing and spinning.  Thank you Dawn!

 And more little knitted animals, this time the Billy Goats Gruff. Awaiting the arrival of the troll, and a bag, so that they too can make their way to their new home.

Looking forward to the week ahead, which I think will  be a good mix of home and out and about. But I guess we will just have to wait and see what it brings.

Random Week

 Peas!  Our first harvest, and we just got enough for a meal!  Well, there would have been more, but they are just too good raw!  One for the pan, one for me!  Well, that was Luke's way of podding them!

 A birthday present for a girl in Ethan's class, hair slides and grips.  I hope she likes them.  Ethan is such a popular little lad.  Invited to so many parties, and this last one he was the only boy invited.  He took it all in his stride, and I am proud that he still enjoys playing with girls, when many at his age are only playing with children of their own sex.

 We have a bit of a family obsession/dream of hobbit holes at the moment.  Luke is creating one from scratch.  A papier mache balloon, some balsa wood and filler has so far created this.

 Ethan has been busy designing a hobbit hole too.

 With an inside plan too.

 And just to add to the random nature of this post.  I have some new storage for my unspun wool.  Still have half the alpaca fleece in a bag, but this should keep me busy for a while, and means there's a few less plastic bags dotted about the place!

Woolly Wednesday - spin, spin, spin

 Well, what have I been up to this last month?  A fair amount of spinning actually!  I got some unknown wool from a friend, which had been carded on a drum carder, there are however, some bobbles in it.  Don't know whether that is due to the type of wool, the age of the wool, or the carding.  It made it quite difficult to spin into a regular yarn,

 The stuff on this bobbin doesn't look too bad, but at times it would really get very bobbly, and I was unsure whether I'd be able to do anything decent with it.  However, once plyed it has created quite a pretty yarn.  Too rough to use as clothing, but I'm going to try my hand at cable knitting, and make myself a bag or two with it, as I still have alot of fleece to spin!  Is there a way of getting bobbles out of carded wool?  Or does it basically need re-carding?  Not that I will with this, as I quite like the effect, but for future reference it would be handy to know.

 I also acquired some zwartble wool from Dawn (thanks Dawn!).  I have been able to try my hand at carding, after picking up some carders that were slight seconds, from a link on Spinspiration a while ago.

 I was able to get some lovely fluffy clounds of zwartble wool.

 Looks like I might have another source of spinning fibre too!  No Luke, it isn't a hair brush!!

 The wool once spun looks like it might be my first "proper" looking yarn. I'm beginning to feel I am getting the hang of this!

Creativity

 For Christmas my Mum bought me a day course on wet felting.  So the other Wednesday I trotted off to our local craft centre, whilst Mum looked after Sophie, and spent 6 hours learning how to wet felt. There was me and 7 teachers who were on a teacher training day (now we know what they get up too!! ;) ), all learning how to produce a felt bag.

 We felted onto fabric, which ended up as the lining of the bag, and the bag was made without any sewing, just folding and more felting. 

 I am really pleased with the outcome, I have yet to attach the shoulder strap on, but I can see a few more of these being made over time, now that I know how!!  And I will be saving even more bits of scraps of material and wool for my felting supplies now!!

Other creativity that has been going on, WarHammer!  Stuart has set up a local warhammer group who will be having their first weekly meeting on the 4th April. So he and Luke have been busy creating a fort to aid their game play.  Already there have been quite a few people sign up, so fingers crossed it will get off the ground, and become a regular opportunity for gamers to get together, paint and have a game.

For Earth Hour, Luke very kindly made some candles with a beeswax kit he got for Christmas.  I think we may have to increase our amount of materials, as it is quite addictive, and the rate we go through candles, we need a steady supply.

 And look what arrived in the post these last couple of days.  I have been wanting to read Juno for a while, and from a quick glance through this morning it looks like a lovely magazine, with a wide breadth of articles.  Thank you Jacqui.
And this book.... wow, I think this is the first education book I have read where I am nodding in agreement from the first page.  The perfect book for a would be homeschooler who sits on the fence way too much!  Thank you Sarah, it's just what I needed!