New weaving

So after a cold weekend in Upper Tean with Stacey Harvey-Brown, this was what I had produced. I would not have chosen these colours, but they do show the different threadings across the sample. It may not look like much, but I am so proud of it and I really learned so much over the weekend that my confidence was boosted to an all time high!

Close up to show the threading

It was nice to get back home, but I just couldn't wait to get going and get a new warp wound and on the loom. No sooner said than done and this is the new scarf which has become a minor miracle of sorts !  I used some rayon yarn left over from a previous project to warp up my little Louet 8 shaft loom.

Not only did I manage to wind the warp, but I also got the loom warped up in less than a day all by myself and no tangles! I used the same broken twill threading across the  warp, but tried out a variety of lifting sequences, some of which turned out very nicely indeed.

However, progress was a little bit slow and although I had hoped to weave a long enough scarf to tie it in an elegant draping knot, there simply wasn't time to do that and get the scarf ready to take to Harrogate last Sunday. So, it is recognisably a scarf, and it does drape, but it doesn't make that elegant double knot I wanted! I am also a bit doubtful about the sett of 32 epi as it does appear to be a bit loose, but I have made notes for next time, but not with this yarn!

That pioneering spirit is still alive and kicking

And so to Harrogate on Sunday with Edna, Alison and Ann from Bradford Guild for the Knitting and Stitching Show. It was our turn to man the NASWD stall and also, hopefully to get another look at the show without having to pay!

We had had some snow and our lane was quite icy, but the sky was blue and although snow was forecast we didn't think there'd be a problem getting home from Harrogate. After all, it's only 12 miles! Only!

We spent some time arranging our scarves, gloves, shawls etc and by the time the show opened it was looking very good. Here we are having a quiet moment before the rush started.

There were fewer visitors on the Sunday, possibly due to the adverse weather, but maybe because it is always quieter on the last day. However, we were kept pretty busy and were pleased to see so much interest in joining the guild from some younger people. Time was when we were the youngsters, but now sadly we have become the wrinklies!

We all had a wander around the show and the day was going well until someone mentioned that it was snowing heavily. Oh dear, it wasn't just snowing , it had been snowing hard and as the roads hadn't been gritted, Harrogate town centre was gridlocked!

The DH had left home at 3.30 to pick Alison and I up at 4.15, but didn't arrive in Harrogate until 8.30! Ann couldn't get her car out of the car park, so Edna offered her a bed for the night as there was no possibility of her getting back to Brighouse. Alison and I waited at the conference centre for a while, but the regular mobile phone calls to and from the DH were not encouraging and all the while the chaos continued outside. So we decided to head for Edna's which meant walking up the hill, past Betty's and across The Stray for around a mile or so through ankle deep snow and slush, carrying our bags and the spinning wheel! We got some pretty strange looks!

Edna made us a very welcome cup of tea and also some soup and we sat in front of her lovely wood burning stove until the DH arrived! The journey home wasn't too bad and by 10. 15 we were curled up on the sofa watching the cricket highlights!

I had hoped that I could show you our stand, but Blogger won't upload the photos! Perhaps next time!

The good news is that I seem at last to have mastered the art of spindle spinning. The question is will I continue now that my back and foot have recovered enough to encourage me to try using the wheel again. We'll see!

Getting it all together

So, another dismal November day on Wednesday, but at last I made it to Armley Museum to meet up with Spinners of Aire after a very long gap! We were having a jacob's joint lunch to celebrate Gwen and Russ's golden wedding anniversary. Well done them, and they're still on speaking terms!!!!

Usually these lunches turn out very well with a nice selection of different things. This time though, everyone bought quiche! Well everyone except Alison and Betty. Betty treated us to her usual coronation chicken, which I have to say was as delicious as ever. I took the camera, but, forgot to take any photos!

As I had yet another argument with some steps resulting in a bruised bottom, I am still not spinning on the wheel. I had bought a spindle at Masham from P&M Woolcraft and have been trying to get to grips with spindle spinning. How hard can it be! Well even after twenty years experience spinning on a wheel, you have to learn how to do it all over again! It's slow progress and my spindle spinning coach from spindlers2 finally decided to come to my aid and loaned me one of the new crop they had just got from the USA. The problem it seems is that my spindle was just too light so I now have a borrowed one that is heavier and altogether more successful. Of course, the technique still leaves a lot to be desired and I'm making the fundamental mistake of letting the twist into the roving. However, I will get there!

No photos of the efforts with the spindle, but here is one taken at Masham showing me and my DGD!


Another dismal day on Saturday, but off I went to Bradford guild for a spin and chat meeting. I spent a lot of time chatting and not much time spinning, but I did get some practice with the spindle. Sadly, this was the last meeting Lucy,our webmaster, would be attending as she is off to China for at least two years to do research into Ordovician fossils! She will be missed, but is hoping that she will be able to keep in touch via Ravelry provided the powers that be don't block it! I'm not sure why they would because chatting about knitting and crochet are hardly likely to bring down the regime, however, they are a funny lot!

On the weaving front, we have some progress. A new warp is on the eight shaft Louet and a nice little sampler is underway. This warp went on without any tangles or threading mistakes and has given me confidence to start an actual project, but probably not before Christmas.

Next up is a visit to the Knitting and Stitching show. Let's hope it's not too hot!

Where has the year gone!

I'm ashamed to say that I have been very bad on the blogging front, but in my defence, there has been a lot going on. There have been a number of trips to Somerset and Cornwall to visit the aged relatives and although we haven't had an actual holiday, there have been other treats.

However, I've still not been spinning because as soon as my back got better, I fell and hurt my foot and treadling is a bit of a problem. So, I bit the bullet and bought a spindle, but soon discovered that even with twenty years spinning experience using a wheel, you have to start from scratch to learn how to spin with a spindle! That is on the back burner for now, but perhaps I'll pick it up later.

My big news though is on the weaving front. I decided that I wanted to weave an IKAT scarf and as I was booked to do an indigo dyeing workshop with Magie Relph, I thought it would be nice to use it to dye a cotton warp.  Why did I decide it would be a good idea to make a five metre warp which would use most of the 24 inch weaving width of the Harris loom? All I can say is that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The yarn is cotton 3/14, sett at 32 epi. It is a little soft, but will drape nicely and I hope it would take the indigo dye very well. So the warp was wound, the cross securely tied and strips of plastic carrier bags tied around in what I hoped would be a pleasing pattern. It did take the dye well, but I hadn't realised just how much a bunch of yarn would resist the dye even in the gaps between the plastic bags. So there was nothing for it but to get the hands in the bucket and wiggle the yarn around to get it throroughly soaked.

If I had known beforehand how many problems I would encounter, I think I would have had second thoughts, but I don't like giving up! It is staggering how ignorant I was of simple weaving techniques. I just didn't know how much I  didn't know! So here it is, warts and all!

So, after the traumas my DH and I suffered getting the warp on the loom, we decided we needed lessons. This is how I came to be spending last weekend with Stacey Harvey-Brown learning the basics and some not so basics. Stacey is a very well known weaver and is an excellent teacher. She helped me get to grips with all the arithmetic you need in planning a project, something I confess I  didn't pay enough attention to! Never again will I take my warp to the loom, only to discover I have more threads than heddles and no idea how to prevent a horrible tangled mess!

My IKAT warp is still on the loom, but is now waiting for me to finish it, but as I have warped up my little Louet with a nice warp, that is taking priority at the moment!

It's a knitting frenzy

Not able to spin because of a bad back, I'm into a knitting frenzy! I have no less than 5 active projects on the go and am giving them each a turn every time I sink back into my chair after little forays to stop my back seizing up altogether!

It is taking me several goes to update my projects on Ravelry, but I will get there and include photos.

The camel and silk sample has been navajo plyed and despite all my efforts to make it really thin, it's not really as thin as I wanted. Still, I have only used around 20grams, so will have plenty left to experiment. Quite what I will make with the 250 grms I was given as a present from the Guild I'm not sure. I would like to make a very lacy beaded shawl, but I ask myself, "Is life too short?" I will consider!

Bits and Batts

My latest yarn has been spun, plied and washed and is now waiting for me to decide what colour to dye it. It is a 50/50 blend of cashmere and tussah silk bought from Adelaide Walker of Otley. I was lucky enough to have been given a voucher to spend there as a present from The Bradford Guild following my year as chairman. The fibre is lovely and has a wonderful sheen, but is not all that easy to spin evenly. I decided to spin before dyeing as I feared it might felt. I chose to spin it on my Timbertops Leicester wheel using the slowest ratio (8:1) as I was aiming for a soft yarn that would drape well.

The yarn has turned out to be a bit uneven. I was aiming for a laceweight, but I have ended up with something nearer a 4 ply. Even so it does seem to drape well and isn't over twisted and the beautiful sheen seems to have been preserved. I have found a lovely pattern for a shawl and I think it will do very well although I'm not sure it will be good enough to have the "Wow Factor".

The next step will be to dye it and I have decided to use the Kemtex easy dyes as they are very easy to use and there are some lovely colours.

I still have another 150 g to spin, but I think I will use a higher ratio to make a thinner and hopefully more even yarn. I doubt that it will be strong enough to use as a warp, you never know! The sheen would show off beautifully in a twill weaved scarf.Yum!

Sadly I missed the guild meeting on Satuday, so didn't get an opportunity to make my piece of half felt to use at the Jackie Lunn workshop next month. So I got out my drum carder and had a go at some batts. I have a huge bagful of Merino tops in all sorts of colours and ended up with some really lovely colour blends.

So, my next job will be to get out the bubble wrap, bamboo mat, rolling pin and soapy water and get the elbow grease going! Watch this space!

New tricks for an old dog

You know you're getting on a bit when you sit down to watch a tv programme and wake up to find that you've slept through most of it. Thank heaven for the I Player, although watching day time tv remains my dirty little secret! So, I've taken to knitting while watching tv, using the theory that, you can't fall asleep while your hands are busy. It may be that science will want to undertake an important investigation of this in due course, but  meanwhile, I can report my own results. It's not true. I can and do fall asleep while knitting, Indeed, it can happen mid stitch, until roused by some loud background music to illustrate splitting the atom etc, when I  awake and carry on as if nothing had happened! Something had to be done, but what?

I saw an advert from Interweave press for a email newsletter called Knitting Daily . This is really just to get you to subscribe to various magazines or buy products they are advertising, but there are some free patterns and some really useful hints and tips. One of their recent  emails was all about "Old Nowegian Cast On"! Until recently, I thought there was only one way to cast on stitches, but that was before I became a Knitter rather than just someone who knitted! There were diagrams, but even standing on one leg and closing one eye, they seemed impossible to follow, and then there was the video! Wow, having watched it several times, and tried to follow it with yarn and needles at the ready. I just couldn't do it! How could I ever go along to Thursday knit night at Baaramewe when I was so ignorant and inept!

Although it is possible to spend hours watching knitting videos on You Tube, some of which are so bad that you end up rocking with laughter, there is no substitute for practise. So that's what I did., and now after a week of screaming frustration, I can do Old Norwegian cast on, longtail cast on, contintental knitting, [knit and purl including yarnovers etc], cable cast on and magic loop knitting!!! All this in just one week!

Would this solve my problem? I decided to put it to the test. So last night we started watching dear Jim Al-Khalili telling us all about man-made elements and the Periodic Table and I made use of the newly acquired talent and cast on for a sock with a result any Old Norwegian would have been proud of and guess what? Yep, woke up to find I'd slept through most of the programme!

Anyway, at least now I don't feel quite as inadequate in the knitting department. I just wish I wasn't sleeping through so many tv programmes about important scientific discoveries. I wonder if there are any videos I could watch on Youtube? How to make your own nuclear bomb for instance!!! I wonder what the Old Norwegian method for doing that is!

It's a long time!

I have been busy, so haven't posted here for a while. Well, more than a while, but I thought it would be good to start blogging here again.

One activity that has taken up a great deal of my time, is being Chairman of the Bradford Guild .  My term of office came to an end last weekend and I have to say that it is a relief! Acting as Chairman and speakerfinder was a real strain and I discovered that I am not really a committee person. Some of my fellow committee members were very helpful, but some were not and as I am so inexperienced in the way of these things, mistakes were made! However, everyone was very complementary and I got a lovely present so no harm done.

Having acquired a lovely Timbertops Leicester wheel, I feel guilty that I have done so little spinning over the summer. So I'm making up for lost time now as I'm spinning some wonderful Cashmere/ silk blend that I got from Adelaide Walker. Their service is excellent and their prices are very reasonable. I decided that it would probalby not be a good idea to dye the fibre before spinning it, so will spin first and dye later. I'm trying to spin it into a fine laceweight so I can knit a lovely drapey shawl! Photos will follow in due course!