A Spin and A Splash!

Here is my latest spinning.

 

 

It’s a merino and silk blend batt from Wingham Wool. Each year they come down to Cornwall and bring with them a huge lorry of fibre, hire a community hall and set up shop. I walk around dribbling at all the lush fibre! I’m sure they stop at a lot of other venues on their return journey - always worth checking out their website.

It is a large batt and will take me some time to spin! But after spinning the first bobbin I couldn’t help that it might be a little bland and need a bit of spicing up. So, I added a bit of this…

 

 

and it looks like this…

 

I need to ply the two bobbins together now and hopefully the colour will add just a hint of interest. I’m also hoping it might be strong enough to use as the warp thread for my first woven project.

This is where I’ve been enjoying a spot of spinning in the sunshine.

 

Don’t be fooled by the tranquil setting… look what was in front of me!

More than a few splashes came my way!

Hope you’re enjoying some sunshine too.

Becky

A New Direction

I've had a break, recharged my batteries and feel ready to take my blog forward. My interests have evolved over the last 18 months and I have had time to focus on new crafts and skills. I have been very busy and, along with some major changes in both my home and work life, have needed to stop and re-evaluate things. Change is healthy, but too much at once is stressful and I have had to ride out the wave. The waters are calmer...

So, time for a few introductions. Firstly, my drum carder. I don't think I've shown you this before.

It is really useful when carding clean fleece and also for blending fibres. Charlotte and I carded this batt recently. I love the sparkly fibre on the surface.

This is my triloom. I tried to purchase one but they are hard to find in the UK and shipping one over from America is costly so I made my own using instructions found on the internet.

On it is my hand spun yarn woven into a triangular shawl. It has now been removed from the loom and I need a crochet trim to finish it off. It will make a lovely summer shawl so I need to crack on and finish it!

This is my floor loom. It has four shafts and six pedals and was a bit of a bargain.

I have only had it a couple of months and have lots to learn. Using the warp left on it by the previous owner I have had a bit of a play.

Weaving is fast, but warping takes an age! Hopefully, I’ll get quicker with practise.

Lulus has been playing on a loom too. This is a rigid heddle loom and perfect for children as it is not too complicated. It also means little fingers are busy and away from my loom!

I have been reflecting on the reasons why I blog. I love reading other people's blogs, but found I was constantly comparing my crafts and life with theirs. Without realising it, I had put myself in a competition, which then drove me to do more, but for all the wrong reasons. So I stopped... and now I'm blogging again because I want to. I have learnt so much about my recent endeavours through some very generous bloggers and I want to share what I'm learning and continue to learn from others who are accomplished in those crafts. This blog will serve as a record of my journey and a link with others who share the same interests and hopefully can help me to develop my skills. ;)

Becky x