If you've been thinking about learning to spin I may have just the opportunity you have been looking for :)

I am teaching a day's Workshop here at the end of this month.

Scroll down on the Workshop - 'current courses' page and you'll see the 'Spinning Workshop' details.

I love teaching people to spin and we'll be starting with the basic  yarn production and move on to look at plying and designing yarn for your projects. We'll also cover different fibres and how to work with them and look at combing and carding and preping fibre for spinning. Later we'll look at wheel spinning and what to look for and avoid when choosing a wheel.

I am really looking forward to my day and hope to meet lots of new spinners, places are limited though so book now if you'd like a wonderful wooly day :)

Last weekend was my first visit to The Scottish Borders. This is my stall at the Edinburgh Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers Annual Gathering held in the village hall in Broughton. What a fabulous venue!I had some lovely spindles by Enid Ashcroft, beautiful woods and great little spinners :)My table laidened with fibre packs, spindle kits and hand knitted goodies was popular too - especially the alpaca!On the main table I had lots of fibres for sale, all brightly coloured acid dyes and ready to spin straight from the braid.With some lovely blends of BFL & silk and BFL & Seacell. Those little packs at the front are sock yarns in mini skeins ideal for hexi-puff blankets! More on that later...As well as the fibre my yarns made an appearance including handspun yarns too - I hope to be doing more and more of these in the coming year. There was Super Chunky, Aran, DK, Sock and lace weights. All in all a wonderful day and made all the better by the company of friends Agusta, Claire and Jon and by the lovely ladies of the Guild. I must go back to explore the countryside too. This coming weekend (27th August) I will be at the show in Coldstream Community Centre. As well as taking all of the above with me I have a spinning wheel to re-home. A lovely Haldane Orkney complete with 3 bobbins and having had one careful owner from new she comes with her original leaflet and bill of sale :) Why not come along and say hello I will have my youngest daughter with me this time so I'm sure she'd like to meet as many people as possible :Dnt>

Progress continues on my portable project :)The front is finished and I'm doing a simple double crochet (dc) back with stripes of the 4 colours from the front and an additional colour from my stash. The front took almost all of the 4 balls but there's enough left for a decent stripe or two :) The cushion cover will come out at 16" which just happens to be the size of most of my cushions - there's plan of sorts! This is my 'take along' project at the moment and for the first time in ages there are no socks on the go. These were the last socks I finished - DD1's birthday socks, Regia yarn.Meanwhile the blanket project is too big to carry around but is growing steadily as I add a row or two each evening. The Stylecraft Special DK is cheap and cheerful but I'm loving the coloursand it will be an easy care blanket which hopefully will keep DD1 wrapped in my love when she leaves home in October.Well it will be once I finish, and, ... sew in the ends!

I've been looking at Attic24 as DD1 wants a blanket to take away to Uni with her. I showed her the options there and she chose the granny stripes one. Meanwhile, not much to show there yet as those are 'l.o.n.g.' rows, I have been crocheting a cushion cover with some stash yarn acquired from Ring-a-Rosie. A nice portable project which I took with me to DD2's swimming club tonight. An hours uninterrupted hooking! Yay! Loving this and the blanket too.This yarn is a Sirdar discontinued yarn, Sublime Yarns Organic Merino Wool DK. Lovely squooshy yarn. This project is making me want to knit the 20 balls in my stash into something gorgeous to wear to work this winter.But the sun is still shining now so I'm happy to press on with the crochet blanket and cushion. I think there may be many more to come :) One lovely fringe benefit of crochet is that whilst my mum taught me to knit she does not crochet and this craft is my link to my grandma who crochets but does not knit - perfectly balanced family heritage lolTalking of the sun, today was a funny day at work in my LYS. Very warm, sweltering, and lots of people buying chunky yarns to knit big jumpers to keep them warm this winter! Either they are going somewhere very cold or this is very good forward planning! Remember how cold it was last year? Walking back from putting my car in the garage I realised the nights are starting to draw in :(Still a little summer to go and I'll crochet faster if it helps keep the sun here for longer but those snowy days could be just around the corner and I have so many plans for projects I didn't even cast on last year. Let us not mention the ones I did cast on and not finish! I'll have a WiP effort in Ocrober I think. August/September is reserved for knitting handspun to coincide with La Vuelta (spanich Bike race) - I really didn't get much spinning done during the Tour de France, I was working on a secret project I'll tell you about asap, but I have plenty of handspun to work with.Another lovely thing happened at work today - new seasons yarns have started to arrive, but I can't tell you about that yet either, shhhhh, it's a secret!

How much fun can you have in a tent? Well, whilst I wouldn't recommend sleeping in one - you don't get much sleep - going to a fibre festival held in one (or two) is definitely a good idea :DSetting up didn't take long, I've done this a few times now :D First time for DD1 and DS2 though, but they seem to have enjoyed themselves.Everything laid out on Friday night ready for the customers on Saturday morning - and here's a closer look at the things on offer.This was the first ever Fibre East but I am sure it wont be the last. We all enjoyed it and everyone else seemed to be having a good time too :DI took 10 minutes on Sunday to have a look around and visited the 'Sheep to Sweater' tent where everyone was working hard. It took 6 minutes to carefully clip Sally the sheep so that there were no second cuts in the fleece, then it was over to the spinners. Once the first bobbins were full the knitting began and within 4 hours the child's size sweater was ready.I don't think I'd like spinning in the grease, although the lanolin left after scouring a fleece does make your hands feel wonderful. This fleece was exceptionally clean and gorgeous looking. Sally has an ear tag so she can be found again for next year's full scale challenge.One of the huge beneftis of heading south for a show is being able to have my teenagers with me. As I said this was their first show and now they know what it is that Mum does. They were great and having them there was a joy :)DD1 even learnt how to spindle, and made a good job of it too, her preffered spindle was a Turkish mini - great work!Another good thing about going to Bedford was visiting with my family, we're scattered around the country but for once we were all together (apart from my eldest) and it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my Mum who has recently been diagnosed with dementia. Not an easy visit but a very worthwhile one and here's a picture I will treasure from our evening out together. My Mum and my little sister share a joke, ahhhhh!

Just a quick drive by posting to give you a great link to a video on using Russian Spindles - I have some beauties to add to the shop tomorrow and here's how you use them :) Fleegle's Blog is a brilliant resource for those who like to knit lace and just lately I've been feeling the need to do just that. Whether I will have the time to do it is a different thing :)

I'm getting ready for Fibre East - here's a sneaky look at some of the Corriedale Tops I've been dyeing for the show

Often my spinning produces yarn that goes happily into my yarn stash but gets no further. I have however, decided to turn over a new leaf so I knit those singles (see previous post) straight away and made a Revontuli shawl. This pattern has been in my queue on Ravelry for ages but I never seemed to have the 'right' yarn, the Shetland singles were just right!I'm very pleased with how this one turned out so I imagine there will be more. Happy with how the singles knit up and spurred on to try more I thought I'd get some preparation in for the Tour de Fleece spinning to come next month. For the duration of the Tour de France bike race we'll be spinning every day and I've decided to try art yarns so I made some thick and thin singles in Finn dyed in Acadia colourway by Amy at Spunky Eclectic.If you'd like to join the Spinning a Yarn, Tour de Fleece Team and spin with us then post over on the Ravelry group - the more the merrier :)

Shetland singles spun on my newest wheel a Pipy Poly I really like this wheel's low ratios and hope to start spinning some 'art yarns' as soon as I have time to experiment :) Meanwhile I am knitting this yarn into a Revontuli I got around 520yds from 100gm and the fibre is from Wildcraft Fibre Club :)

Another lovely day out at the Tynedale Spinners Weavers and Dyers Guild annual gathering. Thank you to all those who came to say 'hello' :) I'll post photos when I can find my camera!

The fibre shop is back online and these beauties will be added tomorrow.

Another fibre update. Don't forget that Tynedale Spinners Weavers and Dyers Guild Annual Gathering is next Saturday - 10 am - 4pm at Stocksfield Community Centre :) All these lovely fibres and more will be there. If you can't make it or want to make sure you get your favourite before it sells out then these colourways can be found now in the Falkland and Luxury Fibres sections of the site. Enjoy!

A little preview for you :)

This little shawl was knit with DK weight handspun and used just under 272yds - every little bit of handspun is precious stuff! Pattern to follow.

Yummy fibre, lovely and soft and free drafting, now which one shall I keep back to spin for me? :)

English Wool Blend fibre, a crisp, crimpy, easy to draft fibre, great for hard wearing outer garments and very reasonably priced :) I've finished another Hitchhiker - I'm loving knitting with my handspun at the moment and this little pattern is very adaptable for different meterages and weights. This one is spun from Babylonglegs fibre, a BFL Humbug. I love the way the colours have striped up.

Shetland Humbug added to the shop tonight. This is a beautiful fibre, I like Shetland Tops anyway but I really like this fibre a lot!
I've also been knitting with my handspun and I'm using a pattern that really shows up stripes in handspun very well. It's Hitchhiker (Ravelry pattern link)

Here's a photo of one in Spinning a Yarn Nylon Pools Super Sorted BFL chain plied



 approximately 4 ply gauge, and I liked that first one so much I've started a second in Humbug BFL singles from 'Fire in the Sky' from Babylonglegs. I'm dyeing up some English Wool Blend now but I'm finding time to knit too as I'm really enjoying this handspun :)

Warmer again today and just right for a walk in the sunshine.

Lots of signs of spring all around - lambs
frogspawn

tadpoles

daffs

leaf buds

and toadstools

 so spring has reached Northumberland at last :)

and the sky is blue - for today at least :)


and because I managed to miss the photo off my catch up post here's the Posh blanket I mentioned :)

Last weekend was the Birtley Model Railway Show. One of the good things about having a DH with an obsession, er, I mean interest, of his own is that he can't criticise mine! Well he can and he does, but he hasn't a leg to stand on!




Another good thing about it is that it chimes nicely with a past interest of my own, Dolls Houses. These models are in another league from anything I ever made and I really enjoy looking at the exquisite detail in some of these exhibits.




Essential equipment is 'the step'.




These events are always attended by the nicest people, the same people often that you meet at preserved railways.

It just wouldn't be the same if she couldn't drive some engines too.
This Thomas the Tank layout is always popular.


On the way home from Birtley we pass The Angel Of The North and as we've never stopped to have a proper look we did so this time.
The size is really something you need to stand up next to to believe.

So she did and it was!

Luckily it was nice and sunny.

There were also some rather good clouds.

This fabulous blanket arrived on Saturday morning just before I left for work. The wonderful Posh Yarn Ravelry group members made it for me! I am overwhelmed and much as it is beautiful to look at it is so much more gorgeous to feel. All that loveliness... for me?!? Amazing. I shall treasure it forever and 'thank you' is not big enough to begin to express my gratitude.

Today the sun shone again. Maybe it's the spring equinox or maybe it's the love of the Posh Posse, whichever it is the gloom is lifting and we're heading in to spring. Hurrah!
We went to Tynemouth and built a sandcastle.

It was good, and the day was warm enough (until the sun went down) not to be bundled up too much. Looking forward to the year ahead now.

There's a fibre update next Saturday 26th March at 8.30pm GMT. There'll be a preview before then so you can see what will be included. Meanwhile, I'm starting the sleeves on my Fair Isle jumper as the body is done up to the yoke shaping.

Happy knitting and spinning, enjoy your sunshine whenever and wherever it comes and be kind to each other there really isn't much else. :)

Time for a catch up :) I finished my 'Sunglasses Required' blanket and the download for the free pattern is available hereThe fundraising at Ripples Craft for which I donated a Cold Hands Warm Heart Mitten Kit raised a grand total of  £1155.33 which is fabulous. Of course since then events have overtaken us and we now think of our brothers and sisters in Japan and their loss and grief. If you'd like to do something to help there is information here about knitting squares.I added a photo of St Abbs to my website blog but not to blogspot so here it is.I've been doing lots of spinning but have no photos to share yet, more of that next time.The Metro runs not far from my house and is a vital link. I like it even more now that I am reminded how much I don't like buses! The metro is closed for refurbishment of stations, installation of new ticket machines and the relaying of the original track which was put down more than 30 years ago by British Rail.They are working through the night and DH has been out taking photos. I thought I'd share, after all something like this doesn't happen on your doorstep every day of the week :)For anyone local whom it may effect - DH says there's no way North Shields station will re-open in 2 weeks time, it is now a muddy hole in the ground!The website is undergoing a bit of a spring clean so some areas are offline at the moment. The next fibre and spindle update will be on Saturday March 26th at 8.30pm GMT. Hopefully you will find the new layout of the shop pages easier to navigate. I welcome any feedback on the website so do get in touch using the contact form :)I am loving my current project. The original Martin Storey pattern Homesteadis lovely but I wanted to tidy up those reindeer legs! So I've adapted it somewhat by knitting it in the round and doing the reindeer as a yoke rather than seaming them so there will be no 6 legged reindeer. This one will be for DD1 and she has had a lecture about laundering it as the baby alpaca yarn s too gorgeous to even contemplate shrinkage! This is what I've done so far and I don't want to knit a stitch on any other project until this one is done! I may not feel the same by the time I get to the sleeves. I've altered the fair isle patterns a little to make them fit more comfortably into my stitch count and knitting in the round.So, happy spinning, knitting and crochet and let's here it for the people who work through the night for us.

First things first :) I'm donating a prize for the raffle to raise funds being run my Helen at Ripples Crafts. You can buy a ticket to help support this excellent fundraising idea here. The prize I'm donating is a Cold Hands Warm Hearts Mitten Kit - there are some wonderful prizes and the money raised will be matched $ for $ - read all about it on Helen's blog.

Secondly - the shop is temporarily offline whilst I do a quick stock take after a wonderful day at St Abbs. There are more spinners every time and I really need to do a fibre update as I only have 2 braids of fibre left! So to answer Cal's question from a blog post or two ago (waves to Cal) there will be a fibre update towards the end of March, I'll give plenty of notice both here and on Ravelry.com. There hasn't been a fibre update for a while now so I'll try to make it a special one :)

Please excuse the photo free post but as I've been up since 4.30am and it's now half past ten I think if I tried to upload the St Abbs photos now they might come out upside down or something! LOL

I don't do crochet. I used to a long time ago. I can put an edge on a knitted cardi but I've forgotten so much. recently I figured out I was doing it backwards anyway! BUT... I loved the Full o' Sheep Yarn that I used for Katy's jumper. The feel of the fabric was even better after it was soaked and blocked. The colours are vibrant and happy and I wanted more but not as a garment for me. So, a blanket seemed an ideal solution, I bought 1 ball of each colour and I have begun my journey into a ‘wake you up, bright and breezy, better wear your sunglasses’ easy peasy beginner’s crochet blanket :)

PS I am ignoring all those ends, if I ignore them hard enough do you think they'll go away?

Spinning a Yarn proudly announces the launch of a new mitten kit.











Now which colour shall I knit my own mittens in?

... or in my case mittens!

Sadly I wont be going to Woolfest this year as there isn't room for me :( I was looking forward to seeing customers and friends again but we'll have to meet elsewhere :) Maybe at St Abbs at the end of February? I am exploring other possibilities but in the meantime I decided that dyeing must go on and I'd like to share my most recent project with you :)

I have been test knitting a new mitten pattern and it's nearly ready for release as a kit for the online shop and also through RingaRosie in Whitley Bay. RingaRosie for those who don't know, is my local yarn shop and the place where I work 3 days a week. It s a wonderful shop with everything a knitter needs and is owned by the lovely Barbara who is the most supportive employer a yarny could wish for :)




The kits will be available initially in the following colours :)































































































I have also been knitting for my daughter and finished the jumper she was supposed to be getting for Christmas - ooops - ah well cobblers children have no shoes and knitters children have no handknits! Here are the photos, the jumper is from 'Best of Lopi' and the yarn is 'Full o' Sheep'
a great yarn I will use again no doubt.

Nope.

At least cold weather makes for pretty steam railway photos, because that's were we've been today. Tanfiled Railway is one of DH's favourite haunts and there's a lovely atmosphere there, it's entirely staffed by volunteers and the enthusiasm shows, I highly recommend it if you get a chance, a very good way to spend an afternoon and you can ride all day.




















The added bonus for me is the knitting opportunity this presents :)
Katy gets to draw and play and everyone is happy. Wish it were a little warmer though. That shawl is coming in very handy.














Tanfield is higher up than where we live so although it feels like the thaw has set in at home, up here it's still snowy.

 

















I tried to keep warm enough to knit, even took a blanket with me. But despite trying to knit mittens whilst wearing mittens, I had to give in and head for the cafe/shop.


















It wasn't much warmer inside but warm enough to mist up my lense!
















And finally, as they say, I have finished the spinning for the KAL - 116gm and 545yds (not entirely metric here yet lol) of gorgoeus merino silk 80/20 blend - I am pleased with the results and looking forward to knitting up my Holden Shawlette. This one will be a summer shawl I think and I am adding beads :)

Firstly, I do know that today is not Wednesday lol :)

Secondly, for 2011 I want to do more spinning and as the spinning group I go to meets once a month on a Wednesday, then Wednesday seems like a good day to make a date for spinning every week throughout the year.

I did manage to do some spinning last night and I will try to take some photos tomorrow, hopefully I can fit in another session tonight to finish off the fibre as I want to join a Knit ALong for the Holden Shawlette with it. I chose some beads yesterday at work to use.


These photos are of the fibre and the first half of the spun yarn that I need. It's a gorgeous merino/silk blend which is a dream to spin, yum yum.




You're welcome to join us for the KAL if you'd like to and most people are using millspun yarn so don't worry if you're not a spinner :)

Another cold walk but this time a great excuse to photograph the first  completed project of my 2011 UFO Challenge - this shawl has taken a year to  complete, I knew I was going to run out of yarn and put it away in the  hope that some magic would happen but having to admit that there are no  yarn fairies I had to improvise. And today the sun shone on the photos  so it must have come out alright :)Here's the modelled shot so you can see the size of it - I decided not to block it and the garter stitch is soft and warm and suggly.I actually wore it today wrapped around my head to keep the drafts out! It was a lazy wind, couldn't be bothered to go around so just blew straight through me, brrrrr.Much to Katy's delight there was plenty more ice and snow in the furrows. Some photos of the scenery - you may recognise the walk, although the last time we were here the fields were full of bales of hay and it was a good deal warmer.


















Even though it was very cold and I couldn't feel my legs by the time we got back to the car, it was worth it for the sunset!

Oh My It Was Cold

but it was beautiful.














And there was ICE.























Our competition on Ravelry has a worthy winner and the hat is know christened - Yukon, congratulations Moni :)

Beyenburgerin has a lovely new hat on her blog and she's writing up the pattern. But the hat has no name so we're running a “Name the cap with no name Competition”

Brigitte writes

> Looking for a name cap or hat
>
> I like the new caps with ear flaps, so
> I thought it was time to knit one. And
> as it turned out nicely and I want to
> give something for my 500.000th
> visitors celebration I am writing this
> pattern.

Spinning a Yarn will donate a prize for the person who suggests the name. Post your suggestions in this Ravelry thread - chat about the hat should be over on the Finished Object (FO) thread please. The suggestions need to be posted here by Christmas Eve and Brigitte will choose the winner.

The prize is a braid of fibre or a skein of yarn of your choice from the Spinning a Yarn Fibre and yarn shops. We have one more update before Christmas and you can choose anything from the website yarn and fibre range which I will post out after the Christmas holidays. Brigitte will also get a skein or braid as a thank you from me.

I like competitions and plan to make then a regular feature throughout 2011, so help make this first competition a good start, what would you name then new hat?

  

From the back door step across my yard and out into the back lane over the wall. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Everyone wrapping up warm and keeping safe? Keep an eye on your elderly neighbours and be good to each other.We actually had parcels delivered today! First time in a week. Poor postmen.

The sun was shining brightly this morning.But by the time I'd done the jobs I needed to the front was coming over and the clouds were here too.






Nevertheless I needed to go to the bank and decided to walk the long route to go through the park. I set off along the unattractively named Willington Gut and took some photos anyway even though the light was not ideal.






It's nice to see the new bridge which involved reprofiling the slope hasn't killed off the sledgers. These ones had better watch out! If they don't stop soon enough they'll be in the Gut, brrrrr!
















The walk through the snow was very lovely despite the sun going in.




















There was even someone skiing through the park!
And the trees are beautiful in the snow.

Meanwhile there has been spinning on my new wheel. DH finally noticed the latest addition to the 'family'. Hang on, says he, have they been breeding!



Baked beans for Christmas dinner anyone?

Keep safe and warm this winter.

Brrrr! It's cold outside.

These photos were taken yesterday, we've had another inch of snow overnight :) I love it!

Snuggle up and do some spinning.

I'm working from home today and tomorrow. Shopping is ordered online for delivery on Wednesday and the local shops have emergency chocolate available should I need it. I'll be labeling new laceweight for RingaRosie in Whitley Bay later today which I will take in with me on Wednesday (thank goodness for the Metro). The knitted items I've been working on for weeks are ready to post to Treacle Wool Shop in Morpeth and I have a lovely order to post off to Germany. My dodgy feet and I are seeing the Biomechanics man later today (weather permitting), they're much better since I started using the inserts in my shoes but might be improved further with a little tweaking, fingers (or should that be toes?) crossed. Once all that is done I shall be collectingDD2 from school early as they're closing to let staff get home. Teenage DD is still in bed as the first thing she did this morning when I woke her up to get ready for school was to check the school website on her phone and thrust the message saying they're closed under my nose in triumph before collapsing back under her duvet. Heavy snow showers forecast for today!

Enjoy the snow, keep warm and safe and get lots of spinning time in until there is a thaw!

xx

Lots of lovely fibre :) in the Fibre Shop

Recently I've been dyeing custom orders on super sorted BFL (Blue faced Leicester), yum yum yum. A few braids also made it into the shop but I kept back a braid of 'Bluebells' colourway for me. I've been spindling!

As I have a sitting room full of spinning wheels, and with time in short supply, I tend to wheel spin whenever I get the spinning urge. I feel as if I'll get more done, and I probably do, more photos to follow of last nights plying escapades later but ...

Lately I've been wanting to spindle and I'd forgotten how much you can get done in the little bits of time you have between other things. This spindle has been spun whilst DD2 has her bath. She likes me to sit in there and chat about her day whilst she bathes and plays. Often I take my knitting but this is also ideal spindling time. I'm plying on the fly having learnt how to do this from this you tube video. This means I don't have to take the yarn off the spindle and ply it - I will have a finished 3 ply yarn when I'm done. I may be tempted to take the other braid out of the shop too, but at the moment I have no plans for the yarn, I'm just enjoying the spindling.

I'd love to get a spindle gym... or maybe I could make one?

New things coming for Spinning a Yarn


Over the next few weeks things will be changing, (hopefully for the better), here at Spinning a Yarn. New base yarns and fibres are being ordered and there will be changes to this website too as I bring sales onto the site rather than hosting them at Etsy and Folksy. This will take some time as I learn the new setup and the wrinkles are ironed out. In the long run I hope it will be a revamp which will make it easier for you to find and buy the things you are looking for without having to hop from site to site. :)


I have been thinking hard about which direction to go in and putting a lot of thought into how to improve what I have to offer. If you have any ideas please feel free to use the contact form to make suggestions. I will do my best to accommodate good ideas.


Whilst these improvements are implemented the two shops continue to be available and I am always happy to dye custom orders, again use the contact form. There is no additional charge for custom dyeing, usual fibre and yarn prices apply.

Our walk begins in Meldon, parking next to a post box and public telephone.The first lesson of the day is a geo-political one about the riches of the developed world and the inequities of distribution of food resources. We have so much that it is piled up outside whilst in other places price rises due to poor harvest in Russia and Canada mean demonstrations, riots and people being killed in Mozambique. Reflecting on how fortunate we are and how unfair the world is nevertheless we set off for our afternoon walk. I wondered where the birds are but DH says they're too stuffed on seeds to be able to fly and have gone for a lie down!Just through the first gate and we find deer tracks in the mud, we have occasionally seen deer too but not at this time of day or on this walk. Somebody is too noisy to creep up on anything!Just in case you were wondering there were sheep this week but not many and not as handsome as last time's. These, I believe, are Mules, and they're very obligingly posing for their photo before moving out of our way as we set off uphill  to walk along the skyline. The ewes are mainly Blackies around here. The initial section of our walk is obviously not well trodden and has become so over grown with nettles that we had to take a short detour. Up here however the stubble in the field is easier to navigate.Folklore would have it that a heavy crop of berries forewarns against a hard winter but perhaps this tree clinging to the edge of our path just tells us this has indeed been a bumper year for all in this country.A windswept untended former  hedgerow stands on the ridge, bent by the westerly wind. Today is was pleasant, though windy hence the Calorimetry, in the last summer sun but in the winter this section of our walk is bitterly cold.Always at the edge of a 'safe distance' she's running ahead as we make our way downhill towards the river. It's good to be somewhere where that boundless energy can be relatively free running.It really is a big step for a small girl. From here on it's relatively flat walking until the very end. A great place for throwing stones in the river and now that they've replaced the bridge no more fear it might fall in!Half way there and time for a rest and a snack then catch me if you can!An important aspect of any walk is the collecting. We always come home with a bag containing momentos of our day. Important lessons about what can and cannot be picked and why, the relative merits of a special stone, the number of ears of wheat left after the combine harvester which would be needed to make a loaf of bread. Is this wheat, barley or oats and what do you make with them? Katy has her own theory about why this field full of weeds and parched areas had not been harvested and what the farmer was doing by leaving areas fallow.Sometimes we play the 'what if we lived here' game. If we lived here there would be plenty of space for the football posts and I could have a studio in the outbuildings. On reflection though we thought it might be too big for us and Katy didn't want to be so far away from the blue shop where she gets her bouncy balls!This sign points the way to another lovely walk in this area which we have done in the past. Visiting the same area several times means we have been able to see lots of different aspects of this place, it's riddled with footpaths and it's lovely to go back time after time yet rarely cover exactly the same ground. I am beginning to see how all the walks fit together and where one crosses another.Before leaving the short road section of our walk we had chance to 'speak' to a horse curious over whether we might have a treat hidden in our bag. Sadly we did not.Soon after leaving the road we walked along a Public Byway. On the map this led from somewhere insignificant to nowhere important. Was it an access road for something grand? Or to take stone from a quarry perhaps? A made up road with bridges and embankments; a railway? No sign on the ground or the map of it's original purpose. The farmer we asked said it was just a 'Green Lane' and nothing important.But I think I want to dig a little deeper on this one.Under the strangely elaborate Public Byway there were several culverts, a lot of trouble for a 'road to nowhere'.And by the side of the Byway were some unusual fungi which were variously described as 'dinosaur eggs' and 'stones' until she tested them with her finger and oops they weren't as hard as she thought they'd be!Further along we came back to a familiar part of our journey and rejoin the path on a section we have walked before.The dilapidated pump means we're on the last leg of our walk. Phew, nearly there!Not sure but I think this stubble is Oil Seed Rape - very pretty and in the last of the sunshine the field glowed red.At the top of the hill, in the last field there are 8 trees in a line. By now we are tired and I am ready for a sit down and that flask of coffee I left in the car! What's the best way to get a small girl along this field as quickly as possible? Why have a race of course! She's getting pretty quick and I am pretty slow, wont be long before she beats me every time instead of most of the time like now.Have a good look, this may be the only photo you ever see of me running :)

What a beautiful day! I really feel very lucky to live on the doorstep of such a wonderful county and to have a DH who wants to show me all his favourite places. Today we went back to a walk we've done before, not far from Mitford and Meldon in Northumberland about half an hours drive from our home.The sun shone, the sky was blue and the day started with lots of sightings of butterflies.The fields are full of ripening wheat which is a sight to behold, so much more pleasing than the oil seed rape of earlier in the year! We could hear the Combine Harvester in a neighbouring field. I expect all the farmers were making the most of a dry day after all the recent rain, they were still hard at it when we were leaving to make out weary way home.So nice to be out of the city and walking along the footpaths and bridal ways :)Everywhere are colours I'd love to capture in dyes and fibre or yarn :) But today wasn't about work it was about making time for family and to let the past few weeks hassles and stresses evaporate.

Even the daisies are on top form when the sun gives it's glow to everything around us.This little guy was happy enough to be singing in the sunshine and DD2 was fascinated by him and the other insects. She ran along spotting things for DH to photograph and he took full advantage of the excellent light conditions. This was the only section of our walk today which was on the road but it was one of those quiet country single lane roads - so quintessentially English with the fields on either side and large untidy hedgerows full of life and colour.A walk full of butterflies and bees - just what the doctor ordered!I counted 5 different butterfly species.The spiders were busy too!There were pretty sheep and hens of course.Into the woods and we found fantastic alien looking fungi growing on the trees.Look at the texture on the top of this! It looks as soft as a peach.Now these I know are Texel, I asked the farmer :)There were also blackies and mules :) which I recognise now since Agusta and I went up to see Julie when they were shearing.As we walked past a shed where they were shearing earlier in the year we saw abandoned fleece! This was like torture but I didn't stuff it in my rucksack and run away LOLI was tempted!There were green lanes and lanes of green.It was a good day :)

My DD2 has a favourite toy so when I asked if she's like to do some sewing this morning it was no surprise that she wanted to make another Spotty.Fabric was chosen, a pattern drawn, and sewing ensued. I just happen to have toy stuffing, like you do, so it was only a couple of hours between thought and finished toy. Here are Max and Spotty together, making friends.Ah, that's better, Max is going to be Spotty's mummy, every dinosaur needs a mummy, don't you think? :)

The second fleece came out looking cleaner and I'd say the whole thing was a qualified success. Qualified by the fact that the fleece absolutely reaks to high heaven and even when rinsed really well still has a considerable and foul wiff! Qualified by the fact that although now white it still has dirty-ish tips and is still very greasy with lanolin.Years ago people learnt to spin with fleece, they mainly spun from fleece, they made their own fibre preperations and carding is hard work. Spinning in the grease was a lot more common that it is for new spinners now. What I have after the FSV may be a perfect preperation for spinning in the grease, I don't know how to assess that, I don't have the experience or skills. But I do know that I learnt to spin using prepared tops, tops in many rainbow colours or white naturally coloured tops. Tops free from lanolin. This is where my comfort zone is, this is how I like to spin. I do not want to get my carders or wheel dirty, I do not want to spin greasy fleece. So from now on it's hot water and detergents for me :) Tried it, decided it's not for me. So back to the white clean fresh lovely fleece I'm used to. Back to the lovely colourful tops hanging in my hallway :)


This is my current spinning, beautiful BFL Tops from Wildcraft in Mont Blanc colourway.


In other news Sock Club is very nearly ready to ship. Today will be spent tweaking the new sock pattern for this months colourway. I need to grab DD1 to get a modeled photo to put on the pattern before she leaves for the day :) Once the parcels start to arrive I promise there wil be photos here too but for now it's a secret so shhh! No spoilers today.


But every bog post should have a photo or two so I'll go photograph some BFL locks I am going to dye for the shop - before and after photos, here's 'before' today, and 'after' will follow when they're ready :)

Here's the rinsed Polwarth fleece that I used to start the FSV all wrapped in mesh bags and draining in the yard. This fleece was very dirty and had a small anmount of vm and a lot of lanolin, the vat has been soaking and brewing for 8 days. This fleece still needs washing with warm/hot water and a detergent to clean it of the lanolin. I need to let it dry first so that it wont felt when I put it in the hot water  but DH wont let it in the house because of the smell so I hope it doesn't rain tonight lol



The stinky FSV in the box, all the water from the draining fleece went back in here but no fresh clean water was added. This smells like liquid sheep manure (I'm not sure it's anything but - to be honest) but the fleece is very white apart from the tip and still feels full of lanolin.





This the Romney before it went in the Vat beautifully skirted and free of Vegetable matter and ready to go into the disgusting mucky water. This is the real test of the Vat's powers. I still need to wash the Polwarth it's very white but the tips are still disgusting and the smell of the FSV is disgusting too. Theis fleece is a Romney Shearling and it's beautiful but quite grubby so if the FSV does it's stuff it should come out nice and white after a 2 day soak and should just need rinsing (several times) and drying to be ready to spin.

(Click on photos for bigness!)

I’ve been reading about this all over Rav and on lots of blogs and I have cough several fleeces from last year and now from this year and all that washing / rinsing / soaking and all the hot water washing up liquid etc are taking time I do not have so I thought I’d give it a go.

Some people say rain water but we have a soft tap water here so I hope it will work with this.

I filled a box half full of room temperature water and put my half of the Polwarth fleece that Stashdiva and I shared at Woolfest into it. I chose the Polwarth because it if full of lanolin and I read somewhere you need a lanolin rich fleece to start off the process

 So now I leave it in the back yard (with a lid on - not clear if it should have a lid or not but it isn’t air tight) and come back in a week to take this first one out and rinse it. Then the following ones go in for 2 days each. The theory seems to be that the difference things in the fleece react togehter and form soap and that this (maybe combined with heat from fermentation maybe not depending who you read) will clean the fleece so that it will then need only to be rinsed (several times) to remove the dirty water. No heat required other than that provided by nature :)

Time moves on quickly towards Woolfest :) I've been dyeing up a storm and these are some of the latest to come out of the pots. They'll all be added to the etsy shop later this evening. Hope you like them :)

If the Alpaca makes you sneeze then how about some Walker Sock Yarn in new colourways?

Beautiful soft lace weight yarn with 800m per 100gm in 70% alpaca and 30% silk, such a lovely yarn with a great handle which will drape beautifully! See more in my shop.

Harumph! Here is a photo of Audrey, she is a none knitting related photo, enjoy!


I've got that between the good knitting projects feeling.

Just lately I have been busy knitting samples for Woolfest, socks, shawl, kits, cardigan and so on all in my own yarns. Now don't get me wrong I love my yarn. I love spinning with my own fibre. But it feels like work. All my knitting feels like work just now. Isn't this supposed to be fun?

So - starting just as soon as I finish the blanket I am sewing together, I shall be blogging other people's yarn and fibre, if that's OK :) I need some R and R!

So many lovely things to show you. :) Some wonderful spindles and other spinning tools and some lovely fibres but my favourite for today is the new 100% laceweight merino with 725m for 100gm perfect for knitting lace. Now all I need is more hours in the day to knit in.






 

Enid Scurfield is a talented local wood turner who I met at a craft fair last Autumn. Enid will be making spindles and other spinning equipment for the shop very soon - here, to tempt you are a few of the first batch of her gorgeous spindles. They'll all be for sale soon in my etsy shop very soon. Meanwhile enjoy the photos, and if you see one you'd like to reserve, contact me for details ;)

Beautiful English Wool Blend Tops dyed in the inaugural Spinning a Yarn colourway for February, Purple Patch.

Next months fibre club will be a different fibre and preparation in a new colour, looking forward to it already :)

I had a visit from Enid, the lovely lady who makes the wonderful spindles I will be selling soon. Photos to follow!

Looking forward to the end of the month when we will be visiting St Abbs for the Wolfish Wool Festival. 27th February in the community centre.

A great little knit with quick results for a beginner, comes with instructions for knit ting flat or in the round and requires knit, purl cast on and cast off in it's simplest form. Kit contains full instructions and enough yarn for 1 pair of mittens and is £5. Will be listed in the etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/jammam after this evenings knitting group.

Spinning a Yarn is visiting several groups over the next few weeks and months. Stocksfield Community Centre for the Weavers Spinners and Dyers meeting 3rd Saturday of the month (10 - 4pm), Knit and Natter at Treacle Handknits in Morpeth1st Tuesday of the month (7.30 - 9.30pm), and the Spinners drop-in in Stanhope every Wednesday at the Community Centre (11.30 - 3pm) also the Spinners Gathering in Stocksfield in May. But our big news is that we will be at Woolfest in June. More details closer to the time, we're planning lots of special offers and give-a-ways.

For now things continue as usual over at the etsy shop with tonights update of spinning fibre and tomorrow I'll be adding some 4ply/fingering yarns. We continue to offer free postage and packing to anywhere in the world and are happy to make custom orders to your specifications.

When I went to St Abbs in November, Jenni from Fyberspates had a beautiful jumper and a great jacket, both knit from her yarn. Hmm I thought that looks great!

I came home and dyed some beautiful aran BFL in my favourite colour, purple and started to think about a 'show coat'. Actually it is going to be a cardigan. A basic, bottom up, knit in the round, seamless, semi solid purple cardi.

But the pattern? Well, I've had a great time choosing a pattern. Should I use a familiar, popular favourite from Ravelry data base? Should I design my own? How many knitting books do I have in my library to choose from? Some might say too many! It's taken me an age to choose a pattern, and I'm still not sure I'm really decided.

Knitting from the bottom up means I can change my mind about the yoke design and neckline shape many times before I get to the time to knit them. I was going to go top down and try it on as I knit, sensible, but it would have required some decisions before I could cast on. I can worry now about running out of yarn of course, but this way I can also have flexibility to change my mind a hundred times before I get to the point of no return.

What are you knitting for 2010? It's cold here, I need to get this cardi finished so I can wear it. Meanwhile here's a photo of my most recently finished item, a Cobblestone jumper, modified with a V neck and knit ... in the round from the bottom up. Hmmm I wonder if it's contagious?


This is knit in Summer Tweed and is not a nice yarn to knit with, luckily Chriss had used it before and brought her Cobblestone to Stitch 'n' Bitch for me to see how it softens after washing and it is much nicer. Despite not being a sift yarn to knit with it does make a nice fabric which is just as well because I have more of it in my stash, but no plans for what to do with it yet.


Knitting with the lovely round squooshy aran BFL is much nicer and I am really enjoying the variegation in the fabric it produces. I'll take some photos tomorrow when it's daylight so I can show you :)


Whatever you have cast on, enjoy the knitting and spend the time being happy to create, OK?

A very peaceful and joyous new year to everyone.

New stock in the etsy shop today and sale items too, why not do see what you'd like to begin knitting with in 2010, new year new projects and exciting developments at Spinning a Yarn.

Beautiful jewel colours in smooth well belnded luxury fibre, a joy to card and I'd love to be spinning these ones myself but they're off to the Sudan which is another reason to smile as I think of my fibres in far flung corners of the globe :)

Agusta and I have been having a tonne of fun thinking up crazy colour and fibre combinations for our new Art Batt Club Visit the shop for full details and sign up for art batts - learn something new for 2010, we'll be spinning Art Yarn, why not join us?

If you prefer a smoother more blended batt and luxury fibres then our other batt club is for you. We will also be running a Luxury Batt Club with a more conventional approach to hand spinning and fibre preparation. Details to follow :)

This beautiful cowl is available now in our etsy shop.

On sale for $3 / £1.80, the pattern is also available free with any of our Aran yarns. Please add 'free cowl pattern' in the comments box and we will email your pattern as soon as possible.

Beautiful spinning is always a pleasure so I thought I'd share some spinning by Chriss.


She bought this batt from me at a Stitch n Bitch meeting a while ago.

Isn't it pretty? But of course whilst we love to stroke and admire our fibre we also love to spin it and Chriss has been taking this back and forth to Guild for months. Making good progress, I was impressed with the singles.










Aren't they beautiful? So fine and so even! But if you think the singles are good wait until you see the finished plied yarn!














Chriss got 655m from 109g of BFL, Falkland, Camel and Sparkle. and managed to get a 28 wpi laceweight yarn.

So beautiful, well done Chriss, well done. The perseverance really paid off. It's stunning and whatever you knit from it will be wonderful.

Woolfish hosted a Wool Festival in the beautiful village of St, Abbs and we went along for our first show.


This is how the hall looked when Ros and I arrived, we were the first there :)


The stand looked very smart once we'd set it up and wrestled with the flat pack shelf LOL Ros organised the sock yarn by colour famies.


I gave several spindling lessons and we ran out of 'beginner spinner' kits again. I love teaching people to spindle :)


Mainly it was a knitters show though and we even had a celebraty among us. I turned round to se her photographing the Ishbel draped near our stand a knitted from Walker Sock Yarn.


Here is Ysolda photographing the stalls, see the lovely Owls jumper and the beautiful beret?


She was there to support the pattern launch with Yarn Yard of her new mitten pattern. Ros got to show off her hat/scarf from one of Ysolda's patterns.


The show was fairly steady all day just quietening off as the day closed. It was a beautiful sunny day too, but we didn't get chance to walk on the beach because by the time we'd packed up it was dark. One of the lovely things about doing a show was the opportunity to meet and talk with other sellers. Right next to our stall was Jenni from Fyberspates. She was wearing some beautiful handkits too.


Here's Jenni with a queue. Ros says she can't believe I didn't buy anything. Well the beautiful Scrumptious was looking at me all day but I managed to resist :)


My next show is a Craft/Christmas Fair in Stanhope at St Thomas' Church Hall on Front Street on 28th November. I'm doing some sewing over the coming weeks in preparation for this so look out for project bags and needle rolls :)

And, we'll be going back to St. Abbs the last Saturday in February, so wrap up warm and come along :)

A locally produced A4-sized notice was spotted at the City Pool today,

'Tony McKenna (Head of Leisure Services) will be available at City Hall on Monday 26th October 2009 from 11.30am onwards to answer any questions or queries customers may have in respect on the Myspace (sic) project'.

This was apparently posted at the beginning of the week though no-one seems to have noticed it. It was also apparently intended that display boards and leaflets would be available in the entrance hall of the City Pool showing details of the proposed My Place project and the consequent pool closure. Perhaps this should have been done six months ago. However, the boards and table were still empty at midday today (Saturday).

It should be noted that, coincidentally, the Head of Leisure Services, Councillor McKenna, is also the driving force behind the My Place project and pool closure. Notwithstanding any obvious conflicts of interest, it may be safe to assume that any presentation may be somewhat less than balanced or objective and thus of little interest to those opposing the Project and pool closure. However, to support the Project it may be suggested at the Council Meeting on 4.11.09 that a 'consultation' with the pool users has been carried out.

In view of events at the last Council Meeting where the Project received a less than friendly reception, a cunic may suggest that the purpose of the Head of Leisure Services meeting those opposed to his project may simply be to prepare for the next meeting.

The 4.11.09 meeting has been arranged to discuss whether to call in the My Place Project proposal for independent scrutiny. 7 Councillors are asking the Council to allow this project to be assessed again. Please support this re-examination by attending the meeting on Wednesday 4.11.09, meet at 5.45pm at the Haymarket Main Enterance to the Civic Centre.

Ring a Rosie are selling my sock yarn, so if you're in the north east of England why not visit Barbara's lovely shop and check out the beautiful yarns?







The Sock in a sock continues to grow, I have about 2" more to knit before I start to do the toe shaping.








Last weekend we went to the Alwinton Border Shepherd Show 2009. Wow, what a fantastic day!

Shepdog trials, cumberland wrestling, pipe band demonstration, stalls, craft tent, farmers market, competitions for every possible class of vegetable, cake and knitting and many other crafts and I even met a fellow Raveler completely out of the blue :) After the show we went to the Drake Stone and blew the cobwebs away before the drive home. A really good day out and I'm already looking forward to the next show. Oh and lots of sheep.


The next day I forgot to take my camera when I went to collect StashDiva from the railway station. Agusta and I have chatted for a year or more on Ravelry and when she came from Iceland to London for the Ally Pally show this past weekend she decided to take a detour to come up here and see us. It was a brief but very enjoyable visit and we will hopefully do it again when she can come to stay for longer.

Two socks at once?




I have second sock syndrome - I can knit one sock really well, I just can't seem to manage to knit it's twin. So I have decided, before I give up on socks once and for all, that I should try the technique developed from double knitting to knit one sock inside the other at the same time on the same needles. Yes, I may be mad. Truly bonkers, but it could be fun, right? and it might work, mightn't it?




I have some semi solid sock yarn in the shop so I am going to use two different colours in a hope that this will help me keep track of what is where and I am going to cast on tonight.


Wish me luck LOL

ETA so far so good!

I had meant for these to go on tomorrow night but I couldn't figure out how to delay the Folksy listings LOL so it's all live now. Happy shopping :)

It's been a wonderful day. Life's a little strange at the moment. So many changes and I'm not into a new routine yet. But the sun shone all day and everyone was happy. The shop update wasn't a disaster, funny how nervous I was.

Yesterday was pretty special too as we sewed up the charity blanket we've been knitting - thanks to the SnB ladies and to the Posh Knitters group on Ravelry. You can still make a donation to Macmillan by texting 'coffee' to 70123 and give £3.

















Thank you to Ros for the photos and for finishing off the crocheting on the blanket and to Chriss, Kiz and Claire for their help too, it would have taken me ages to do it by myself and you're all a lot faster crocheters than I am :) Thank you also to everyone who contributed squares, we had over 60 squares in the end and raised a little money to send along with the blanket to Macmillan.

I've had a lovely day over at the Stocksfield Weavers Spinners and Dyers Guild Open Day. I took some 'Beginner Spinner Kits and some Luxury Fibre Batts and they sold out :) Here's a taste of what there was, and I will be doing more of both so watch this space...









I designed this lace scarf/stole pattern a while ago and it is now available as a free download with a request for donations to MSF.



You can read all about the p/hop project here. Please feel free to make copies of the pattern for personal use and to donate a little or a lot to this really worthwhile charity.

A custom order which got a little out of hand! Seriously, I love the batts I was doing for Claire so much I decided to do a few more. A couple of them have been snapped up but the others will be available to buy over in my etsy shop.



























I have samples available in the Fibreholic boxes which is a great new scheme to let people sample the products of many different fibre artists before going on to buy larger quantites from those sellers whose fibres they like. Check out the names involved and you'll see lots of sellers you have probably heard of through Ravelry but maybe you haven't tried their fibres yet. A box is a reat way to do so.

OK back to the carder, got to make lots more batts to fill up the shop ;)

Two things today the first shop related and with pretty pictures :)

Ros bought one of my Summer Holiday Batts sets at the start of the school hols. Katy helped me make them and they had a lot more sparkle than I would normally put in LOL- 6 yr old girls like their pretty pretties.



Ros did an excellent job and as well as adding her photograph of the finished skein of yarn to the readers gallery I wanted to showcase the yarn on the blog, Sometimes, especially if you are a new spinner, it's hard to imagine how a batt might spin up. In truth there are different yarns you can make from any one batt. Anyway Rosii made this yarn and I wish this were feelyvision because what you can't see is how very soft and squooshy this yarn is. Love it! Thank you for bringing it along to SnB and for agreeing to let me have the photo here :)

The second thing is unrelated. Newcastle City Pool is the subject of a Voting Meeting at the Civic Centre on Wednesday 16th September at 4.15pm. The Save Our Pool campaign would like as many people as possible to attend the meeting to press the council to reject the proposed change of use of the small pool at the City Pool. I did a longer post about the changes here and here it's not too late to come along and help stop the closure. In the past times of meetings have been changed without warning allegedly to discourage the public from attending so you may need to be prepared for a wait. And, just because it is an excellent picture and I am a proud mum, here is Katy's drawing about the pool again.

Working on a commission for batts is wonderful. Sophie's brief was to make a set of batts which shaded through a range of greens for her spinning friend's birthday. Having asked about likes and dislikes and possible allergies to different fibres and, of course, for her colour preference, I set to work. Beautiful well blended batts with a multitude of luxury fibres. Green is a lovely colour to work with too. Once the colour choices were made I worked on getting the batts to look good together as well as alone and for there to be enough contrast between the lightest and the darkest for colourwork whilst keeping them close enough for a shaded transition. The idea was to give the recipient the maximum number of possibilities when she comes to spin them.


Fibres used included Falkland and Shetland with BFL and Merino, softened and enhanced by Angora, Alpaca, Camel and Silk. Oh and just a little sparkle, for some birthday 'bling'. They went through the carder several times so that they can be spun fine if that's what the birthday girl chooses to do. They are so soft I'm sure she'll love them.

If you'd like some custom batts contact me at jam_mam2004@yahoo.co.uk :)

It must be going to my head, all this warping. Successful scarf and I'm bidding on eBay for a 4 shaft table loom! What? I know! I know but I won and last night I warped up my new baby. A Leclerc Table Loom and I'm
weaving my first twill pattern.


Of course books have also been purchased, Learning to Weave' by Deborah Chandler chief amongst them.













DH says it would be quicker to go buy some fabric and 'is it meant to be wonky?' but I am not listening lalalalala I can't hear you. Learning to weave has the same buzz as when I was learning to spin. A whole new vocabulary, a new skill, an adventure and a whole lot to learn :)






Before warping the Leclerc I finished another scarf on the Cricket Loom using a pick up stick to create texture.








And Finally... there has been a little more spinning of the 'Love over gold' but singles this fine take time and that's a comodity I just don't have enough of.

Sadly there are not many of us who make a success of jumping in at the deep end. I would dearly love to give up the day job to concentrate on the fibre. But there are many buts. Would it pay enough to replace my other income? Would I grow tired of it and what is a pleasant hobby become a grinding chore? Would people find my products good enough or would they find them at all? There is a world of difference between selling a few batts to the girls at Stitch n Bitch and setting up a store which can retail the volume needed to support us.

Of course I consider other avenues to run alongside the batts, handmade goods to sell or giving spinning lessons. Spindles are always pretty as a suppliment to the batts, what about niddy noddies and yarn guages? A multitude of possibilities and little decision making.

Meanwhile the time available is still tiny and does not allow for all the plans I have to become a reality. Wouldn't you like to turn your hobby into your livelihood? Maybe you have? How did you do it? Was it a good step? Did it spoil your hobby for you or enhance it?

Whilst I ponder the pint pot quart jugness of my time and it's ability to provide scope for creativity here's a photo or two of the scarf made on the cricket which I showed you the warping up for a few days ago.

Ok, a little hiccup yesterday but so far today all is going well. Time to consider moving/linking the blogspot blog over to here. So while I ponder that, here's a photo fo some of the roving whch I've sold in the past through etsy.

Wondering, trying, testing and learning.

please come back later for more :)

Meanwhile here's some weaving I have been experimenting with.