Can't stop spinning

Blogging taking a back seat yet again and Ravelry is eating my online time !!

Plus,since I bought my new wheel which has been named 'Lara' I can't stop spinning . The fact that I am more comfortable spinning has given me the incentive to spin for much longer periods at a time. Now I wonder how I coped using the Ashford Trav;of course my joints are the biggest problem and anyone fit probably doesn't have any problem using it, but boy it was much harder work to treadle and clunky compared to this smooth running wheel. So I am still very much in love with my wheel and a saying of my fathers keeps popping in my head 'proper tools for the job '. He was a most talented man and amongst his talents was model boat making and the detailing was superb and all handmade . His model boats are in a few museums around the world and his workshop was immaculate, a tool for every job and his view was get the best tool which suits you and the job in mind. He would most probably have been fascinated by my hobby and would have most likely tried to build a wheel just to see if he could.You are sadly missed Dad.

Well I am still spinning the Shetland shearling but I am not sure if its the fleece I need for what I have in mind. I have bought the book ' A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd' and it had lovely patterns in it and the cardigan called I want to make would look better in a less stripey yarn .The Shetland having a few colours in it , lovely though they are is not the effect I want. So I have dug out the Corriedale I bought at Wonderwool which is beige with blond tips and I think that will look better . We will see when I have plyed it together which one I rather . Either that or knit a jumper from the book !!

I have also bought a book called 'Intertwined by Lexi Boeger' which is a fun book on spinning art yarns. Now I have no idea what I will use some of these yarns but they are such fun to do and I think if you learn a craft then you should explore all avenues of it ; plus its a break from spinning miles and miles of yarn for garments. So these are a couple of my efforts . I have called this one 'Welsh Black Blues' as its Welsh Black fleece and dyed Lleyn fleece






This is a go at spinning coils and its again the Lleyn dyed in various colours and spun in random and the single then spun on a core yarn .I am thinking of doing a couple more skeins of this and using it to weave with.








I have also been doing a fair bit of dyeing lately too ; both natural and acid . Kath and
Christina came over and we had a day of dyeing. A bit chaotic but fun :) Sadly I didn't take a photo of the whole lot of yarns dyed that day , way too busy but there were some yummy ones created.
I have to say my favs were the natural dyed yarns and inspired by that day I bought some Earthue dyes from Debbie and dyed up some of my handspun to make the Danish Shawl from the last issue of Spin Off. I had managed to get a lovely vibrant shade of green at my first attempt with bought yarn but sadly I didn't reproduce it quite the same with my handspun. Still I love all the shades I got .


This shawl is such a simple pattern but none the less lovely and I think that is the theme of this post. Variety is the spice of life they say ;-)

Wonderful Wonderwool Wales

We had the most fantastic weekend at WW last weekend and I have to say the best fibre fest I have been to so far, bigger that Woolfest , well there were over 140 stalls there.It didn't feel as cramped and frantic as Woolfest either as the aisles were wider which was a blessing for me but then its a much bigger building so they have room to grow. Okay there was no Winghams or P&M but who knows, next year? I heard that Ruth from Winghams was there ;-) I have to say they weren't missed by me this time as I had bought stuff from them recently and I do love to see the smaller more diverse sellers at these shows. The likes of Freyalyn and Fyberspates, Forest Fibers (which I have bought off from E-Bay ) and so many more which get better each year in the range they sell.
The weekend started on Friday when we arrived at the show and we, and friends of ours were parked so close that it was an easy walk (200 yds )from the van. We were also lucky that we bumped into Wye Sue who told us to look authoritative and just walk in , which we did so we had a 'preview' of what was on offer when the doors opened the following day . So it was mad dash the following morning and in fact before the doors we officially opened that we were standing at Posh Yarns stall. It was amazing to see so much of that lush yarn and to be able to pick just what you wanted without it all having been sold . I haven't been lucky enough lately with their Sunday sales for yarns that I really wanted so it was a treat to get just the right shades I was looking for.



I have enough to keep me busy for a bit now in the shawl department;) and in fact I have cast on and nearly finished a Forest Canopy shawl after Kath was nagging me at what an easy pattern it was and boy it is. Totally mindless which is nice as I have just finished 'Laminaria' which wasn't difficult but needed concentration for the last part. Concentration is not my strong point at the moment due to this new medication but more on that later.
This is my haul, well apart from three bags full of fleece, which are still in the shed waiting for a sunny day and energy to wash them.



We had a few bargains like the 2.8 kilo of black alpaca pencil roving from Andy at Blueface.com. 5oogm of undyed 4ply superwash Shetland wool from Scottish Fibre for £12, Two skeins of alapaca laceweight for £3 from UK Alapaca . I bought a few skeins of undyed laceweight including a lovely one , again from Andy which consisted of baby alpaca., silk and cashmere. I needed a few shuttles to go with the inkle loom which I bought a few weeks ago from someone at our guild , a book on weaving using the rigid heddle loom ,latest copy of Yarn Forward which is really good, one of Prudence Mapstones book which she signed for me. So many lovely things for sale and so many talented folks out there. The atmosphere was really friendly and again more laid back than Woolfest due again I think to being more space and I saw so many people that I knew and so many Ravellers and Bloggers as well. It was also lovely to meet up with new folks and make new contacts as well . The only downside for me was the Hogg Roast which was disapointing with hardly any meat at all and in fact they ran out of hogg :( but again the company was wonderful and we topped up with food later !!
A group of us went to Prudence Mapstone's workshop and it was brilliant. What a lady she is , always smiling, always gracious and generous with her time and I just wish that the workshop lasted longer , maybe next time. I bought another of her books which she signed for me, along with the other book I had brought with me and I also bought a handbag form to make my own funky bag.
I am glad that we were there for the two days and being on site I could retire when I was tired but even so I still didn't get to see it all thoroughly as I kept getting waylaid with chatting to various folks and going in the opposite direction I intended to. Then that is the fun of these events I think , the meeting and chatting with folks which is like a big family gathering and if we do go to Woolfest then that is what I will go for, the meeting up with folks .I certainly don't need any more 'stuff' as I have more than plenty to keep me going for years. I am really, really trying now to buy just what I need as I have arrived at saturation point with 'stuff' I have been really good and have organized my stash of yarns and Tony has built me a cupboard which covers a wall in the small bedroom and now I can see what I have which is a great help as things got 'lost' before and I forgot half the stuff I had .
One of the interesting observations I have made in these fibre fests , shops etc and indeed in my own stash is the increase of exotic fibres like alpaca , cashmere , silk etc and how we all lust after them I do wonder how ecologically sound they are when we have lovely 'homegrown ' stuff . I did read on Ravelry how one stall holder overheard someone commenting on how she thought the yarn was expensive and there were replies that said, rather nastily,that if she wanted acrylic then she had come to the wrong place. Now I too love these luxury fibers but that is what they are , luxury,and there will come a time when I can no longer afford them and indeed a lot of folks I know and admire in their handicrafts grew up in a time were things like this were unheard of but their skills more than made up for their lack of material choice. It seems as if there has developed a snobbery about yarn as in other things in that what you have been able to 'get' somehow classes you as better but these yarns are just another acquisition of what you have and not what you are and indeed some never get used or see the light of day again. What a waste and how sad a world we live in and I too have been just as guilty of it and of course the Internet feeds this 'must have' mentality as each new pattern yarn etc is released. My excuse was 'it's a bargain ' well I am afraid its only a bargain if it gets used and so from now on I am committed to buying only what I need.
Right end of grumpy old woman rant and lets talk about what I 'needed' LOL.
I wanted to spin my own yarn from my teenage years after seeing photos of my Hen Nain (great gran )spinning and I guess its in my Welsh blood ;-) but I could never afford it whilst the children were growing up and so now is 'my time' My ambition was and still is to be able to spin all my own yarn , something that has got a little lost lately . When I see garments that some of the guild members both male and female have made from scratch I am in total awe. So when I bought my Ashford Travellar I was thrilled , a dream come true at last . Now I had tried lots of wheels but there was one I hadn't and the very week after I bought my new wheel I knew I had made a mistake . The wheel was a Lendrum and it was the smoothest wheel to treadle that I have ever used. You don't see that many of them but those you do all the owners are thrilled with them. True I have created lots of lovely yarns on my Ashford but there were things that always annoyed me. I kept knocking my legs of the bar , it really isn't as portable as all that but it does 'travel' well when spinning at speed !! I also could never find a comfortable enough chair to spin in for long periods . Well the opportunity presented itself when in passing I mentioned to someone that I was thinking of selling it and she said she would buy it . Thankfully I didn't lose much on it as it was just over a year old and the lady is well pleased too. So there I was without a wheel apart from borrowing Tony's . So I phoned P&M Woolcraft and spoke to Martin and said I wanted a Lendrum but that I also did like the Majacraft Suzie and he said, go for the Lendrum and that I would not be disappointed .I thought that was really good of him as I would have spent more if I had gone for the whole deal on a Suzie. So I bought the deal where you had the jumbo and fast flyer as well and I also bought the bag to carry it all. Now I have the perfct wheel for me, that does it all and packs down brilliantly for taking in the motorhome and guilds. The fast flyer is superb and I have never been able to spin yarn so fine and have I said how smooth it is to spin, so easy ;-)? Oh and I can spin whilst sitting on the sofa watching TV which I am so happy about . It is also very quiet unless I am spinning at speed then the flyer humms and as Kath says , it sounds like a bee . The one thing I have had to get used to is to slow down my treadling as I was used to treadling more on the Ashford so now I can spin for longer without the aches and pains. I also love its solid clean , uncluttered,contemporary look which is far more solid than the Ashford and the bobbins are so much smoother. Have I convinced you yet that I love this wheel ?
Here she is


I have had a spinning frenzy of course since I received her a couple of weeks ago and we have already created some lovely yarns which of course I haven't photographed (must get more organized )

This is 100gm of merino/tencel tops which I have spun 2ply and there is 385yds so enough for socks but sadly not enough for making the shoulder version of Laminaria which is what I had hoped. Talking of Laminaria here it is



I do have other FO's which I haven't taken pics of or put on Ravelry either so will try and remember to at least put them on Rav for my own record at least.
Next week we have a dyeing (acid) day with the Meirionedd Guild which should be fun and I am taking loads of lovely soft homespun to dye up. Then two weeks later it will be Ziggy, the famous lucet tutor at the Lleyn guild. So many things to learn and look forward to.

Health wise I am still up and down . I inject myself every 15 days and now that it's down to one dose I don't get the headaches as bad but they still last about four days. Not sure as yet if this treatment is doing me any good and I am trying to weigh up the pros and cons of it. As far as my joints are concerned as it is originally a medicine for arthritis,it hasn't shown much improvements which is a shame as I was hoping for more mobility and boy I need it after Wonderwool . I have paid for all my hyper energy at the weekend!! Still I will keep at it for a while longer as I really don't want to go back on steroids if I can help it Oh and the nurse came to visit me the other day to make sure I was injecting myself correctly and said that each dose cost £400 yikes !!