A Fibery Weekend

Well what else do you do when its raining :)
I have been feeling really tired this last week and I have been knitting more on the Blimey Limey shawl but to be honest I was lacking in concentration so frogged more than I knitted at times.I do try and knit most days as I am certain that it helps with my joints; a case of 'use it or lose it !!' now if I could get my other joints to acknowledge that theory !!
I have nearly finished it and am determined to get it done this next week before I get any thing else on the needles.It really is long enough now but I want to use as much of the yarn up as I can so it should be a great wrap around shawl when done.
One word of advice to any one intending to make a rectangular shawl with hand dyed yarns , be aware that all skeins might not match. My two skeins are ever so slightly different, not so much that it bothers me, in fact its only under that Daylight lamp that I notice it.
Did I tell you how much I love that lamp ? I can't imagine being without it now and coupled with the clamp which I have added a magnetic board and line, its just what I need to follow a 60 row pattern.

Whilst knitting away I am thinking up the next project , as you do :) and all the time my wheel is calling me . I haven't touched it it for week and I wanted to finish spinning some of the dyed Cotswold & get it off the wheel as I need it free for our Guild outing next weekend . We are dong a spinning/weaving demo at C.A.T on Saturday and Sunday and will most probably spin some of my other undyed fleece then.
So this is what I spun up yesterday. I am sorry I haven't treated this very old fleece with a bit more respect as after washing it it has come up so soft and as I have woolen spun it, it has a lovely halo .I only kept it for dyeing the curls to use with my weaving & I do have little undyed left but there is a lot of wastage as parts have cotted , so no good.


I was having such fun and then when Tony got up late this morning after his night shift , he too decided to join me for a spin, vroom ,vroom !!
He hasn't been on his wheel for while now and in fact if it wasn't raining he would have been out finishing painting the shed. But it just goes to show that spinning is just like riding a bike ; once learnt you never forget it. After a couple of attempts he is back, spinning a very even yarn; although he does have a way to go before he spins all that Gotland so that I can knit a sweater for him with it. He will get there I am certain and the idea is to dye one single and ply it with the natural grey , which should look good.

So there were are sitting and spinning and nattering away and talk came around to our holiday which is very nearly upon us. We are off to Scotland for a few weeks and then ending up at Woolfest. So I am thinking what fleece am I going to take with me to spin and although I don't like rovings I do have a fair bit that really need to be used up so I got 700gm of Bluefaced Leicester out from the stash and have dyed it for a project I want to do.
A purple lilac, pink Snake ? !! and yes we needed a fire as it was cold or I was 'nesh' but its a great way to dry my yarns etc when its wet outside.

I am definitely in a sock or shawl frame of mind and my next shawl will be with this handspun, hand dyed BFL and using a pattern from the extremely talented Anne and no it isn't me !! ( I wish ) If you haven't visited her blog then I advise you to take a peek as her designs are truly wonderful and I am going to do 'The Morning Glory Shawl' well that was the one I bought but then I saw another of her designs called 'Starlight Evening Wrap 'so I had to have that also as I have just the yarn for that one :)
This lady designs the most fantastic patterns and she is so lovely, helpful & friendly .I am just so glad I came across her blog.
I know I do spend a lot of time surfing so many knitting blogs but you know when you come across a real gem like this one its just so exciting and her photography just sets it all perfectly.
I then only found out today that she has a catalogue ; what can I say WOW , check it out. What a designer, now if she put all these in a book I would definitely buy it . All I can say is thank goodness for the www as there is so much talent and info out there for us all to learn something.

I have had two new books lately the weaving one from a guild member and the other another Amazon bargain both of which are great, although I was hoping that the 'In Sheep's Clothing' would have had pictures of the various breeds.

One of our guild members is sadly giving up spinning due to an ailment. I felt so sorry for her as I don't know how I could cope without my crafts now. She was having a few sale days so I bought some real gems including a couple of great big stainless steel dye pots , some dyes and this.
Any idea's what it is ?

I have been after one of these for a while and I have seen plastic versions but I wanted the real thing. It's aMcMorran Balance and is so accurate for yarn measuring.

Well as I said today is miserable but Saturday was lovely so I took a few photos of the garden , the first is another spot I like to sit and either read a book or knit. The Welsh poppies are as usual abundant but so many other things are very early in flower this year. The Montana Clematis's are going over now and the summer Clematis are already in flower.I can't remember the name of this red one on the back wall near the pond as naughty Skye got all my plant labels when she was a pup.


The snails are very busy also and are eating their way through my hostas.I have so many hostas as I love them and have planted a lot in the front garden in gravel but they still get them .......Little blighters !!
This one so far as escaped but not for long I bet . I don't like using pellets as they harm the birds but I do put a few under stones in the garden early in the season which helps but I am too late this year.

Ah well, off to do a bit more on my shawl but I think the Golden Hop in the garden is growing faster than it at the moment .

Oh what a Wonderwool World

Well we had a fabulous day out yesterday at the show in Llanelwedd, apart from Wonderwool being there, it was a small holders show as well which covered everything from farm animals, dog show,flower displays, farmers market with yummy organic food. In fact we didn't get to see ALL of it as I didn't have the stamina and I am sure paying for it today with my aching joints.The weather was glorious too which brought out the crowds as apparently they had torrential rain on Saturday which we did not get here .
I heard rumours that next year Wonderwool Wales will be in April and not a part of the Smallholders Show which would be a bit sad really as there was something for everyone there yesterday. Still it may be just a rumour, so we will have to wait and see.

From when we first stepped into the building we met someone we both knew and we spent the rest of the time there bumping into folks I knew or meeting up with folks who I had heard of . It was like a family gathering and the atmosphere was great. It was also great to see first hand some of the yarns I have only seen on the web like Hipknits, Fyberspates, Knitwitches, UK Alpaca and the lovely Stacey and so many, many more. We nattered with so many lovely people and they were all ever so helpfull and enthusiastic about their crafts or produce.
It was also a great opportunity to try out some new wheels!! Do I need a new wheel I ask myself ? Well no, not really but I did enjoy trying them and I liked the Majacraft Little Gem for being so portable even if it was not as light as the new Louet Victoria. I do wonder how they can justify their prices though as I do think that in parts the Gem was a little flimsy . So I think these small portable wheels are great if you do travel a lot with your wheel & are without a car but I think you scarifice sturdiness, which I guess is obvious really and I think if I were to buy a new wheel I still like the Lendrum as it does fold up well for storage in the van etc. DH did say I could have a Little Gem if I wanted it but I said I would have a think about it , bless him for spoiling me though , which he did any way :)
So this is my haul of goodies



I bought some alpaca tops with 10% nylon for spinning into sock yarn and yes Kath there is some there for you too :) That was from UK Alpaca,they are going to start selling sock yarn very soon too.

The big hank of white yarn is so,so soft that I had to have it to knit something for Emily with .I had never heard of this breed before its called Bowmont Braf, I will dye this and I will certainly look out for some more in the future.

I then got a hank of lace weight Bluefaced Leic and 100gm of Suri Alpaca as I have never tried to spin with that and these I got from Prestige Yarn

The pinks are, one small hank of kid mohair and Bluefaced Leic and silk tops from Fyberspates. Not sure what I am going to do with this, probably something for Emily again as it's all so soft..




Last but not least from KnitWitches I bought some cashmere ,one is called Autumn Leaves and is heavy laceweight with a whooping 975yds in the skein & the other is called Orchard and is 4ply and 750yds . I bought one skein originally and the went back for another as their prices were very competitive and they are not at Woolfest ; although they do sell on the web .



So a great day out and lovely goodies to keep me occupied as most of these are designed to end as Christmas gifts , so I can say I have started shopping early this year :)

The one thing I would have dearly loved to bring back home with me though was a beautiful black alpaca called Ebony. I have never seen alpacas close up before but they are the sweetest animals with great brown eyes and they make the most unusual sound. The gentleman with them was so informative about them and I was astounded at how deep the coat was when I sunk my hand into his coat with no lanolin at all in it. So if I win the lottery I am going to have some alpaca's , although I don't fancy trying to grind their teeth down with an angle grinder as I have enough problems trying to clip the dogs claws !!

I can't finish without showing you two other photos
We have had a surprise in the garden today :)
Tony called me out and said we had a nest , now this is not unusual as we always have birds nesting in our garden but this was different because of where it was .



That is one of the benches we have in the garden and we have just put the boxes , buckets etc there to hopefully deter our two dogs, who pointed them out to us, from jumping up.There are a few building blocks left there behind the bench with pots of plants on some of them. The nest is on the far right where there are no pots and if you peek in the brick,chicks pop up skwaking with their beaks open. I can't believe this bird has made a nest there and has four chicks in it. As yet I am not sure what they are as I don't want to frighten the mum away but its usually Robin's that nest in funny places and I did see one making a nest a few feet outside the kitchen door in the wall the other day and they are always coming into the house. But I think these may be Blue Tits ; we do have another family of Blue Tits in the nesting box in the garden so this may be the next best option for them !!
So we will have to wait and see , Tony is busy painting the shed at the moment not too far away from them but maybe tomorrow I will find a spot and sit quietly and see if I can find what birds they are. I do hope they make it, as it would be so easy for a cat to get at them there.



It gladdens my heart to see things like this and make you see what a wonderful world it is just outside your door but also how fragile life can be at times too

I give in what do you want to know ?

I have been tagged by Angie re 7 random things about myself and by Audrey re 8 random things about me !!

I wasn't going to do this as I am sure you really don't want to read drivel about me but then I thought , what the heck ,although I am not going to stick to the rules and tag folks ,so feel free to either pick this one up if you feel so inclined.


1) Before we got the motor home I used to get homesick after a weeks holiday away but now when we are in the van I really don't want to come back to the house at all and wish I could just travel around permanently with DH and the dogs and visit family occasionally.

2) As a child I lived right by the edge of the sea and we were all brought up to swim as soon as we walked as well as handle a boat. But when I was about 8 I was knocked into the sea by the boom as we changed tack (sorry for sailing jargon)I didn't follow Dad's strict rule about always wearing a life jacket when sailing, as in those days they were those awful 'Mae West' life jackets which I hated wearing.
Well even though I was a good swimmer,I was so shocked and panicked and I very nearly drowned ; as I came up for the third time I was thankfully grabbed by a friend but I remember going up and down vividly and thinking how clear and beautiful it was & I wasn't at all frightened until I was pulled aboard and then was violently sick . That image of being under water and watching my own air bubbles has stayed with me and although I will still swim in the sea as opposed to swimming baths which I find suffocating and noisy and avoid, I do have a deep and slightly fearful respect for the sea. It has left me with no fear of dieing though & I have had another near death (out of body) experience ; again when I nearly died on the operating table in Turkey of all places & it was so peaceful .

3) Again a childhood thing!! I was one of five children, the only girl and was a true tomboy. I always prided myself that whatever the lads did I would do too and go one step further. I always thought boys had a better life and could do what they wanted and I really wished I had been born a boy , until my late teens and it all changed :)

4) I'm Welsh through and through and was born in Tremadoc ( 2 miles from where I spent my childhood) over the road from where Laurence of Arabia was born. I think he was born before me though ;)
I never learnt to speak English until I went to school at the age of 5 and then we were punished if we spoke in Welsh. Thankfully things have changed these days.

5) I love music, all music apart from some jazz and have lost count of how many records, tapes & cd's I own. I would have loved to have been a Blues singer and Tony reckons I sound like Bessie Smith LOL. My brother sings professionally and has been trained for opera but now does more 'popular 'songs; he too has a deep voice and is a bass baritone which surprises folk has he doesn't have the build for it. I put my deep singing voice down to the years of heavy smoking and drinking , neither of which I do now :(

6)I used to love food and love cooking & entertaining but since I developed Crohn's Disease and have found that so many foods cause me problems I no longer entertain as much apart from family & friends who know me well and in truth, I have lost that passion I had for cooking . I still buy cookery books though. I once went for six months living entirely on liquid food supplements as I couldn't keep any thing else down and I weighed less than 8 stone and looked awful.


7) I still believe despite all my health issues that I want to act my shoe size not my age !! Well maybe a tad older than 5 but I dread being old in my head !! Although some might say I have already stepped into a 'Grumpy Old Woman's' shoes. Well I do hate litter and I hate folk who speed past in car with that 'boom boom' noise and I can't abide bad manners , so who knows ?


8)I have long searched for peace in my life and for the most part have now got it as near perfect as one can ask for but I have learnt an important lesson & that is, to find peace in this world you have to be at peace with your self . So no wonder that World Peace is hard to obtain but we still have to keep trying .
There are many things I am sorry that I have either done or not done in life & spent way too much time soul searching and have found, that the only way is forward.

needles & things !!

I thought I would give feedback re the Knitpicks set which I have recently had, and thought I would use them to make another lace shawl. I love their lightness and the cable is great but as for doing lace , give me my Boye set any time as they have a far better point, so have gone back to using them for this project. I also like the way the Boye needles bend where they join the cable,which for me are comfier to knit for long periods . I do wonder at times how many needles I need as I have complete set of Addi Turbo circulars and a full set of bamboo circulars but these two sets are useful for when we are travelling .Shame you can't try before you buy but I did try the Denise ones and they were definitely not for me at all, plasticy and awful, but then some folks love them;we all have our favourites and what suits one person another dislikes
So in a nutshell, for me,the Knitpicks are great;they are very much like Addi's but take far less space but I didn't like them for lace knitting and no I won't be looking to buy the Addi lace ones LOL.
Not great photos today I am afraid but then this lace will look so different when its blocked



This is a pattern from Elann but I have upped the size to make it more of a stole than a scarf and of course its Posh Yarn 'Key Lime' or Blimey Limey as it is now known. I am enjoying doing this apart from a glitch in the beginning when I was trying to knit and chat at the same time as it has a 60 row repeat pattern but now I am well into it and have done more since this photie was taken. It took me ages to make my mind up re this yarn as I didn't want a triangle and I wanted a more contemporary style that the Victorian Lace Today book had. I think this will be a quick knit as well which is great as I want to get on with the 'Waterlily Top' to go with it and Kath has found some lovely fabric to make a skirt to match.
Talking of quick knits I had meant to ask Kath,whilst she was staying here to take a photo of me wearing this but forgot so this piccie will have to do.




The yarn is soft and warm and I used very little of it but it does pill and I have only worn it twice so I am glad it was a cheap yarn.

As I mentioned we did 'Shibori for Texture' at our last Guild meeting and it was great fun and something I would do again . This is just one of the pieces I made ,and see, I can't get away from my limey yellowy shade at the moment.



Remember the loom that was too big for our house ?
This is it now



This has been a great ending for it,as the lady I gave it to has managed to put it together and my Uncle made some new wooden pieces for it, and guess what, it is being set up in a Community Hall not too far from me and I, amongst others will be able to learn how to use it. Now isn't that the best ending or should I say re-birth for it :)

Well this last week has been chaotic and all my plans seems to have gone awry
We had planned to go to Wonderwool Wales on the Saturday but Tony has to work so now it will be on the Sunday so I might not get to meet up with as many folks as I had hoped. I guess it just goes to show life does not always go to plan ; fingers crossed that we will make it there !!

Look what the postie brought today

Had to post this as I have been waiting for them for some time.


A very kind lady who was going to the US got them for me and they arrived this morning. So far my first impression are ,they are very light and and the wires are good . So we will see how they compare to my Boye set which I do love as much for their easy colour identification and good points, plus they also have more needles in their set than these. I will cast on my next lace project to give them the test and let you know.
Just noticed the silica sachet was in the photo shot too !!!
I am in such a rush this morning and am off to the dreaded dentist in a few minutes

A total chill out

We had a lovely few days at Vyrnwy and stayed at a site in the Camping & Caravan Club called 'Brook Mead'



We hadn't been there before and indeed hadn't stayed at the south of the lake either but it was just what we wanted,peaceful and scenic and our hosts Rose & Colin made us most welcome. We rather go and stay on the smaller sites as much as possible as it's a more relaxed atmosphere and later we were joined by other campers after this photo was taken . It's so interesting to chat to the folks you meet along the way and the young couple who pitched up next to us worked in a complex in Kath's village and it was their very first camping trip which they seemed to enjoy.
So after settling in and having the best night sleep in a long time we decided to walk to the lake on Friday.
It was a very warm day and it was up hill for a while and on our way we spotted this memorial in the field.



There were a lot of Quakers in this area at one time and indeed we know a few Quakers through the Guild but this memorial seemed poignant in some way to me .Life must have been very different in this lovely valley in 1685 when the first record of burial was noted.

Onward ever upward and then we saw our first glimpse of the lake and the dam. It was a very hazy day so the pictures don't do it justice.



We than dropped down to the village of Llanwddyn were we had a lovely lunch in the cafe there.



As we were eating outside with the dogs I spotted a spinning wheel in a shop so HAD to go and investigate . It's a Gallery & Shop and it is run as a co-operative by local crafts people and I had a long & lovely chat with Angela who was working there that day and hopefully we will meet up again as she wants to come to our guild when Winghams are visiting,we both also knew mutual friends from the guild. There are some really lovely things in there and truly inspiring, just as well I had left my purse at home as there were some gorgeous jewelrey tempting me.Amazing when we crafty folk get together how we could natter all day but we had to leave as she had customers and we wanted to carry on with our walk and then think of the climb back !!




We carried on up to the dam . It is an amazing structure and very Victorian Gothic I think. It was built by the Victorians as a source of water for Liverpool .You can just see the hotel to the very right of the picture. Now I recall a long standing story told by my father that apparently if Germany had won the war that this is where Hitler was planning to use as one of his summer residences, no idea how much truth there is in that tale !! This area is steeped in Welsh history and legends, some involving !!Owain Glyndwr who some of us believe was the last true Prince of Wales.The hotel is lovely and does bar snacks as well as evening meals with a fantastic view over the lake; maybe next visit !!






Views over the lake from the dam, again hazy, and a view of the Sculpture Park below. The trees looked lovely in all their hues & shades and the park is amazing. I could just keep adding pictures as we took so many but I don't want to bore you !!
Then we turned and came back over the dam and back through the village and up the hill and down again to the camp site.



Last look of the dam on the way back.


Then through the dark forest.


By the time we reached the van, it was time for a well earned cup of tea and Islay & Skye were well and truly tired after their day out and picked their own spot for a sleep ; note how they love to use cushions. They always do this :)I have never seen such comfort seeking dogs in all my life !!


















We spent Saturday at the site,doing nothing much but enjoy the scenery and bird watching and I did a bit of knitting. We heard a cuckoo which was the first one of the season that Tony had heard . I had heard one a few days earlier at home. There is an old Welsh saying that when you hear the first cuckoo of the season and you have a penny in your pocket then you will be rich for the rest of the year. I didn't :( but Tony did !! guess I'll have to especially nice to him this year ;-)

Where we were staying they have goats and sheep and the little kids were just so cute and after chatting to Rose she kindly allowed me to get closer to take a picture and one was only ten days old and no bigger than our little dog Skye. I didn't get a very good picture as they didn't stand still long enough but they were so adorable , so this picture is for my granddaughter Emily.



Rose and I started to talk about the goats and the sheep (they have Texels) and I asked if she used their fleece for spinning or rug making etc and she said that she had had a try but hadn't been able to follow it up & indeed was throwing her fleece away !!! as the 'Wool Board' are not interested in small quantities.I have heard this from other folks with small flocks & I think its awful and hardly supportive of the small holders in this country.If you are reading this Rose I KNOW you won't be throwing them away in future :) So I told her about Angela Hawkins at the craft shop over the hill that was in the SWD Guild in Powys who I am sure would be happy to give her more info.
As we had enjoyed our visit so much we had planned on visiting their site again this week when Tony finishes work if they had space , which they had. So after going to see my dear friend Jenny on Friday we are going back on Saturday taking both spinning wheels , as much fleece etc as we can carry and hopefully between all of Rose's duties (I'll help feed the kids :)) we will get a chance to do a bit of spinning.
It so lovely to meet up with someone who is as excited as I am still, about learning all about spinning etc so I am really looking forward to next weekend.
In the meantime, this week I have the dentist who is starting on my crown tomorrow to look forward to , NOT !! I have a SWD Guild meeting on Thursday when we are doing 'Shibori for Texture' with Pam Ryan; I am still looking for a 12" plastic down pipe for that; don't ask me what for !!? It's also little Emily's 2nd Birthday on Wednesday :) I have also finished my long cardigan , just need to sew it up but I think I will leave that piccie for another week as I think I have overloaded you this post and THANK YOU ALL that have read all this way down, I know I am tired after writing it and trying to sort out which pictures were the best

Time out

We are off in the motorhome tomorrow for a few days R&R. We are not going far only to the Lake Vyrnwy area . Hopefully the weather will be as good as it has been for the last few days but to be honest I am not really bothered as when I am in the van I tend to sleep a lot for a day or two and then I am totally refreshed. I don't know how much knitting or spinning I will be able to do as I have done something to my right wrist and its swollen. Do hope its not knitting related :( I used to get tennis elbow in my squash playing days but this time I think I might have knocked it against something. I tell you I feel as though I am falling apart these days !!

So I thought before I go I would show photo's of the beaded yarn spun up.If you click on the photos you will see the beads a bit better.

















I so wish I was better at photography like the talented Jo as I really can't get the beads to show up that well and also I think I could have done with adding a lot more beads but I ran out, so I am going to do another skein in another colour and I have a lot more beads that will go with it.

I was given a bag of fleece a while back from on of the guild members and in it was a label which said Cotswold 1976 . It has a very long curly staple and felt soft but I wondered how good it would be after all this time. Still, I thought I would dye some up for my weaving and also gave some to Kath to dye as well. It's amazing really as its the same age as Kath and still very much usable (dare I say a bit like her LOL.She'll kill me for this comment !!) She has been spinning with it to make some sock yarn so I thought I would give it a go .



I just handcarded some of the dyed locks & it does spin up really well but I have been over enthusiastic about how long a draw I can get out of it so mine will now be lace weight I think unless I Navajo ply it.

Lastly I have yet another spinning wheel object off E-Bay a pencil sharpener which cost me 25p. Tres dinky and a great pencil sharpener ,also the wheel and the foot peddle move .







Do you think that I am becoming obsessed with all things spinning ? Well yes a bit:) I was going to line my wheel and Tony's and then these three together but didn't have the energy !!

Catch up with you all next week when hopefully I am feeling well energized by our break