Dye it and spin it!

Last weekend I was invited to attend a fibre dying session with the Cornwall Spinning, Dying and Weaving Guild and Lulus was invited along too! Audrey, who ran the spinning workshop I attended, told me I should come to the guild meetings where I would meet others who could help me to develop my skills! This sounds great in theory, but my husband works Saturday mornings and I look after the children. Audrey suggested I pack Little Mannie off to Granny's and bring Lulus along and when I suggested it to her she was very keen to join in. However, before she went, she wanted to have a go at spinning, to see what it was all about.

Mmmm.... here began the snowball effect. She was good. No she was a natural! And since then I have struggled to get any time on my wheel! As soon as I start selecting fibre or take a step towards the wheel its "Mummy can I have a go?"

Then I took her to the session with the guild. She was a star! Everyone was praising her first efforts (my first efforts were completely overlooked!) and she was soon having her photo taken to be in the next guild programme as their newest and youngest member!

I was incredibly proud and it was lovely to see these ladies make such a fuss over her. We had a great time dying fibre too. Here are some really rubbish  photographs of our dyed merino (husband's camera again).

She loved the dying bit too and I'm looking forward to spinning them to see how they turn out.
I realised, quite quickly, that if I ever wanted to use my wheel again Lulus woud have to have her own and, conveniently, she has asked for one for her 7th birthday at the end of the month!

This broken and dirty thing is going to be lovingly restored and once again will sing it's happy song. I've bought the parts that are missing or broken and, once finished, it will be beautiful and have cost a snip of the usual price for this type of wheel.
The next meeting is on the day of her birthday and she has decided she wants to go so she can show off her new wheel! She added a condition to this - that she can go to the local theme park the day after! We tried to keep the spinning wheel as a surprise but she saw it in the garage - it's a bit big to hide!
Next post should have pictures of this wheel in its restored condition - hopefully!

Enjoy the rest of your week.
Becky x

Saturday Spinning

Shortly after getting my wheel it became apparent to me that no amount of practise was going to move me forward with my spinning. I needed someone to teach me the basics: how to prepare the fibre, how to feed the fibre in and get my hands to move as quickly as my feet! Then, late August, we visited a local Country Fair where I met a lovely lady who was sat at a spinning wheel idly spinning dog hair whilst crowd watching! It turned out she was a member of the local Spinner's Guild and held courses now and then teaching people to spin and would be holding one on Saturday 9th September. Before I knew what was happening my husband had swapped his shifts and I was booked up to join a group of ladies for a days introduction to spinning.
I had such a brilliant day and learnt so much. Audrey of Hawthorn Fibres is amazing. By the end of the day I had spun some of my beautiful purple merino into a 2ply yarn!

Please excuse the white cotton, it's to stop the yarn tangling when I wash it to set the ply.

I came home and repeated the whole process in the evening and produced another yarn, this time using a blended merino.

 I was soooo nervous before going, convinced I would be hopeless and need extra help! In fact I took to it really quickly and Audrey would smile encouragingly at me saying "A blind man would be pleased to see that!"
Since then, I have washed some shetland fleece that was sent with my wheel, carded it and spun some more yarn with it. I'm hooked!
I'm going to use the yarns with my felted boots once I've set the ply.
Which one do you think will work best?

At the end of the month I'm going along to the Spinner's Guild meeting where we will be experimenting with dying fibres. They have said I can take Lulus too so she'll have a great time. She has already asked for a spinning wheel for her birthday! Bless!
Excuse the terrible quality photos in the post. No sun + husband's camera = awful pics!

Hope you have a lovely weekend.
Becky x

Giveaway Winners!

Well, there were only 11 entrants in total so the odds were high to win!
For collection 1 'The Hat' selected...

And for collection 2 it selected...

Well done to both of you. If you could both email me (address on my blogger profile) with your addresses I'll get your parcel sent off post-haste!

I am so very nearly there with my scarf. It has taken longer than I had hoped but that's because I had more yarn left over than expected and I decided to make another 5 flowers with it. Saving the details for my next post and, maybe, a finished photo!
Becky x

Eden In The Summer

Knowing the wet weather was due to hit us this bank holiday weekend, we decided to visit Eden last Thursday. It was a perfect day for it - warm but not too sunny as the biomes get so very HOT! (Prepare yourself for a picure heavy post!)

It's a very beautiful place with some very important messages about caring for our planet.
Everything there is an adventure for the children and there is something around every
corner to explore.

This was a common site of my family throughout the day. Off my loved ones would trot leaving me lagging behind with my camera snapping shots of luscious plants! Little Mannie walked ran his socks off!

There were lots of things to exlore, paths to follow, objects to climb...

 tunnels to weave through, plants to touch and smell...

(sensitive fern - the leaves fold in when touched which delighted both the children)

And I drank in the colours, textures, contasts and hues - super inspiration.

I love the frilly skirts on these helenium...

... the delicateness of this pink gypsophila

...and the hairy petals on these flowers (are they a type of rudbeckia?).

Two colours I rarely put together are pink and orange, but look how well nature does it here in this echinacea flower.

 

 

There were many stunning flowers in the tropical biome.

 

It was packed with people. We had to park a mile from the visitor centre and the buses were so busy we walked in with a bit of piggy backing for Little Mannie! Somehow I managed to take a few shots of some empty areas!

 

 

 

 

Well, almost!

 

 

I literally took hundreds of pictures so I'm trying to be a bit selective! (Not to mention that I'm having to upload each picture to picasa first because blogger is being a nuisance!)

 

 

This driftwood sculpture is life size and just stunning.

 

Well, that's enough for today! Well done for keeping with me!

Next time I have an update for you on the Japanese Flower Cowl - oh so close to being finished!

Hope you have a great bank holiday weekend and that you see a little sunshine.

I will announce the winner of my giveaway on Tuesday 28th August. Still time to enter if you haven't already!

Becky x



WIPs!

Forgotten, lost and forlorn! Lying hidden in drawers or buried deep in cupboards. Why, oh, why do we spend our hard-earned cash on beautiful craft supplies only to abandon projects halfway through and move on to the next?
I must be the worst offender and this post is about prove just that! As I list them, I'm going to put a rough estimate on the cost of the materials for each one, just to see how much I have spent (not wasted - they still have the potential to be finished). I may regret doing this by the end of the post!

WIP 1:
Felted Flower Bag

Cost of materials: £20
Work to completion: sew in lining and buttons. Add handle.

WIP 2:
Granny Squares Cushion

Cost of materials: £12
Work to completion: make two more squares and crochet them all together. Crochet a back with button opening.

WIP 3:
Ripple Blanket

Cost of materials: £90 (I hope my husband doesn't read this)
Work to completion: hundreds of ripples...  aaggggghhhhhh!

WIP 4:
Felted Matryoshka

Cost of materials: £5
Work to completion: sew embellishments on remaining two and loops to hang.
WIP 5:
Japanese Flower Cowl

Cost of materials: £36
Work to completion: 3/24 to go. Why haven't I finished this? 1 flower = 15 minutes which means in the time I've spent doing this post I could have finished it!

Is that it? That seems quite a short list for the guilt trip I've been on lately!
No wait...

WIP 6:
Felted Baby Booties (yes this is the project I gave you a sneaky peak of in my last post)

Cost of materials: varies, total perhaps £20
Work to completion: 3 pairs need buttons sewing on and ends woven in. 4th pair (above) needs crochet 'cuff' and flower.

Reviewing my list, (which totals £183 of materials,) the flower cowl, matyoshka and booties will all be quite quick to finish. The cushion and bag will take a little more time and the bag will require the sewing machine to have a bit of a dust off! The one I think that is realistically out of my reach is the ripple blanket :( It's been nearly 12 months since I've added any ripples. I have thought about pulling it all out before and could perhaps use the yarn for smaller more achievable projects ;)

Or, I could make a runner from the amount I've crocheted so far.

There.
That feels better!
All organised and conscience clear. Until the next WIP anyway!

How are your WIPs?!
Becky x

P.S Is anyone having problems uploading photos? I can't upload any from my computer and have to save them all to picasa before uploading them. Any ideas why? HELP!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - ends Monday 27th August.

click to go to my giveaway post

Inspiration!

I have been visiting your lovely blogs in a vain effort to catch up on the last couple of months and you have all put me to shame, you have been so busy with your making and I have done pretty much nothing. But, in my defence, I have had little time or energy to be creative. I have thought about it lots, though, and bought many things to inspire me when I finally find the opportunity to make 'something'!
The first source of inspiration is this one...

a new book about felting by Gillian Harris. She offers some great new projects and ideas which I'm keen to try. It was Gillian's first book that really inspired me to start felting and this one is no disappointment.

She doesn't go into the basic techniques as much in this one, presumably because most people who buy this book will have already purchased her first book and have all the information there.

I love the way she has used the roses on this bag.

Sweet slippers!

I'd love one of these!

I have also replenished my supplies of merino wool tops and have bought a brightly coloured unit to keep it all in! Chances of me ever destashing are impossibly slim!

Finally, something I have coveted for quite some time...

a spinning wheel! I chose it for my birthday and my family all kindly contributed to it. It isn't new, but a secondhand wheel that I bought on ebay. It took me a while to find the right one that someone was willing to post and that another bidder didn't gazump me on! Can you believe that after looking for weeks, the day after I bought this one two were listed by a lady in Cornwall! The air was blue here for a while! However, this one (an Ashford Traveller) is in lovely condition having hardly been used and, after a clean, wax, oil and general bit of maintenance, is now sitting quietly in the corner of the lounge waiting for me to master it! Mmmmm, will take some time I think (and patience - must stop swearing at it!). Think of all the yummy yarns I can make and crochet and felt!

Next post - WIPS - this will either encourage me to finish them or depress me further!
Here's a little sneak preview of the first piece of felting I've done in months...

Becky x
P.S. Have you entered my giveaway yet?

Thank You Giveaway

A HUGE thank you for your many lovely comments on my last post. It has been a busy time, but Grandad is well and life is beginning to settle into a new pattern. Your warm wishes and kind words were so gratefully received and reminded me of what lovely people I have 'met' through blogging. Two particularly lovely people have sent messages hoping I'm well and enjoying my summer holiday, you know who you are!
So, to say a small thank you, I would like to do a giveaway. I have had this planned for a little while and now seems the perfect time to do it.
Here are the prizes:

Collection 1

'Cute and Easy Crochet' book by Nicki Trench, a set of cute teatowels, a felted sea-themed mobile case by me and some wooden butterfly buttons for your stash.

Collection 2

'25 Super Cute Animals to Crochet' by Anne Obaachan, a cute teapot cosy, a felted flower mobile case by me and some wooden butterfly buttons.

Rules to enter:
1. You must be a follower/become a follower of this blog to enter this giveaway.
2. Leave me a comment stating which collection you would prefer to win.
3. For an extra entry mention this giveaway on your blog and then leave another comment here letting me know you have done so.

That's it! Keeping it simple!
The giveaway closes at the end of Monday 27th August (bank holiday Monday) when I will draw the two winners.
I have made virtually nothing these past couple of months and feel like I've lost my craft mojo! However, fear not, for there has been a lot of thinking about it and numerous purchases of inspirational items! I'll share them all with you in my next post which I promise will be soon!

Good luck with the giveaway!
Becky x