Handspun Harvest

I was amazed when I put all the yarns I had spun since the beginning of August together and this is not all of them as I have spun at least two items which have been gifted.One was the bamboo scarf and the other was a lovely soft suri alpaca shawl which I think I only took one photo of and posted on Rav but never put in a project !! before giving to a friend. I will have to make another of those as it was the softest yarn ever and the pattern was a quick easy one from Spin Off.

These are all the dyed ones . Some are laceweight with over 400 yds , some will be for socks and some for cowls,


My alpaca fleece collection . I have done another two skeins of brown since I took this photo. Most of these were small amounts of fleece which I had collected for some time and hadn't spun but seeing as I now have quite a lot of alpaca fleece to spin up I thought these would be ideal for small knits for Christmas.

My project spinning
The brown is Corriedale fleece which I bought at Wonderwool Wales this year and the white is tops of silk/merino which I bought last year at Woolfest !! They are really big 200gm hanks. Another plus on this wheel as the bobbins hold 100gms


Chunky spun Shetland shearling destined for a manly cowl and the lush, lush kiddie mohair from Cecillia's Katia. Looking forward to going back to this fleece again at some point. That's another reason I love fleece; get a really good one and its like visiting an old friend when you go back to do some more.


Did I tell you I love this fleece ? see the shine ? Go on,have a closer look...


Of course I have been spinning more this week. I did that yummy batt which was fun to spin and it will make gorgeous scarf, perhaps one of Anne Hansons's little beauties. That means I will have to get my needles out !! But I want to spin, I must spin , I can't cope a day without spinning !! ? My goal is one full bobbin which I can do most evenings.
I need more hours in the day; how can this be done ? Well the essentials of life are warmth and food so if I cut out the cleaning and the ironing mmmmmmm Also here I am again at 3 am wide awake perhaps I can go for a little spin ? Who knows I might fall asleep on the wheel !!

Bye for now and Nos Da or is it Bore Da ?

The gift of friendships

I truly am a bad blogger and have been seriously thinking about giving it up but then I would miss the friends that I have made and met through it. So before I begin I have apologies to make, especially to three friends who have awarded me these past few months and I have still not posted about them they are the amazing Amber who nominated me for 'Arte y Pico' , the wonderfully multi talented Ange awarded me 'Brillante Weblog' and if there is one blog that has me drooling with spinning goodies it has to be Cyndyand she has given me another 'Arte y Pico' award. Now I am sorry but I haven't done the cut and past bit with pics of these awards or forwarding them on either . Time and energy being what it is with me at the minute I have to forgo some things and please dear friends I am sorry but also I am so grateful for your awards and am humbled that you would even nominate me, Thank you .
Also I would like to thank the lovely Sarah who named me one of the blogs she loved to visit. Gosh I am really touched that folks go to so much trouble in naming me for stuff, when lately there is not much content on here !!

I have made tons of acquaintances in life but one of the greatest gifts I have had in life are great friends and as I said I have made a few very special ones through this blog and have met up with a couple this year and its as if we have known each other for years . Amber is a special one and the other is Cecilia. We have met a couple times in the past and again at Andy's open weekend in September . It was a great weekend with much nattering and laughing going on plus a bit of wool buying of course;)and a bit of spinning sadly no pics, too busy talking !! I met up with a few more folks and friends there too and again for me these gatherings are more about the people and the crafts and skill sharing!!
Amber and Bob then came back with us for a couple of days and then Cecilia and Graham came over to see us. Cecilia gave me some of Katia's curls and as usual with any new fleece I have to get it washed asap and get a bit on the wheel to try it out. Technically this is not kid mohair but boy its lush, so soft and shiny and I promise I will take photos in a few days time to show you.
Then October came and with it my birthday , would you believe I really, really had to think how old I was ; when did age cease to matter ? or is it the onset of Alzheimer's ? Do I care ?
I was taught to spindle spin by my spinning guru at the guild but never really did much as the wheel is so much faster but then I came across ZebisisDesigns . Oh boy she does have some gorgeous spindles and what a sweetie Maiysha is,plus we have a Welsh connection too :) So I ordered a spindle and then saw another so Tony said I could have it for my birthday. In the meantime Maiysha and I had been messaging back and forth and then she said that there would be surprise in the first order ,plus in the second parcel there would be a birthday gift !!
I have had to take all the spun yarns off these so that you can see their full beauty as the shafts are just as stunning as the whorls.
This was the one I ordered ........

....and then this came with it plus lots of yummy silk to spin.

Then came the next parcel and what a parcel!!
This is the green opal which so far has to be my fav apart from the fact that opal is my birthstone it spins forever

It also has abalone shell on the shaft

Also in the parcel was this one, great for laceweight.

and these stunning batts which I am so looking forward to spin

and this fibre which turns out to be carbonized bamboo and is so very soft.

Plus yet more silk !!talk about generosity, I was absolutely overwhelmed and quite emotional about all she had done for me, with such thought .
I am getting quite a collection of spindles now and have even learnt to spin from the point on a lovely African supported spindle. Also I can now actually spin angora (rabbit) so much easier on the spindle than the wheel !!
There are also a couple more spindles winging their way across the ocean as I speak ;) Ah, the temptation of Etsy !!but then I did say that selling stuff there was a way of enabling me to feed my habit didn't I ?
I have been doing so much spinning lately , and again I will take a photo of the ones I have yet to knit up; but this spinning was mainly for Christmas gifts and on the whole tops/rovings. I have to say that rovings are a quick fix as they are pretty mindless spinning and I did even buy a couple from other Etsy sellers to try but they really don't do much for me as I far rather spinning fleece .LOL shouldn't say that should I ? as I sell the stuff but hey different strokes for different folks and not all of us have the luxury or need to get down and dirty with a fleece ;) plus they are handy for guild meetings etc
So now my chore spinning is over I can go back to my pleasure spinning and I have a lot to finish too , plus I have added a few choice fleece these last few months.I am spinning alpaca at the moment to make a waistcoat ; hopefully I will have enough of the fleece left to do it .The trouble with me is I get another fleece and I get so excited to see what its like spun up (no way does roving give me this buzz ) but I am going to be organized and get one spinning project finished before starting another. I must look on Ravelry to see if there are any spinning groups that just use fleece as that would be interesting and maybe have fleece swaps !!? If any one knows of one can you PM me ?
Before I finish my thoughts on friendship can I just say how grateful I am to all the friend's I have made in life . Friends are there for us though good and bad and we may not always see eye to eye or even like the same things but we stay friends through thick and thin . I hope that I am as good a friend to others too , I certainly try to be and I guess that's all I can do. I have a very dear friend who is ill at the moment and in hospital again ; she has fought for the last three years with an awful illness but still she thinks of others. She is a true inspiration to me and may I ask that you please have her in your thoughts at this tough time ?

I have done a fair bit of knitting too but most I can't show as they are gifts but this is for the Solid Sock Kal on Ravelry and although I wasn't sure of them at first as I thought they were too bright I now love them and they cheer a dull day:)

They are in fact not as bright as this pic but I liked the posed shot as the pattern was Clementine !!

So folks bear with me, I might not post as much as I would like or be able to or show all the stuff that I make or do but I try ,and I will plod on with my blogging at my speed.

Thank you :)