Compare and Contrast

 I realised the other day that I tend to use the same half dozen or so hat patterns whilst we are travelling and restrict the amount of yarn packed in the van. Consequently many of the recent hats are simply dark brown and white as the yarn has been Wensleydale/Zwartble and white Shetland.

On our last trip I had some slightly thicker yarn spun during Tour de Fleece, Light grey Jacob,  darker grey and white Ryeland with me and the same pattern.

I'm now trying to decide which version I like best .I still have to wash and block the grey version but having tried both of them on I do like it.

                                                                      Which do you prefer ? 

Different yarn, different needle size, same pattern, I may have to try this again on our next trip.

Tour de Fleece day twenty, ( I think )

 I finally finished the Argonaut spin !

I plied it up this morning, gave it a bath and popped it on the line. No idea what this will become so it will sit in my stash waiting for inspiration.

The colours are stronger in real life, the sun is bleaching them out a bit in the photo.

Tomorrow I will weigh and label this weeks spinning, I'm not sure if I will do anymore, we will see how I feel.

Tour de Fleece day nineteen , and a taster of Field to Fashion Exhibition

 Wednesday saw me up early to ply the Texel and get it on the line before heading out to catch a train.

I've added it to the TDF bag which is now weighing in at about 1500gm so I've made a small dent in the stash but I really need to keep this up for a while longer especially since the weather is so goo for drying yarn as some of it is destined for the dyepot.

I headed over to Derby to see the Field to Fashion exhibition at the Museum of Making. I did cast on a headband whilst waiting for the train. I'm still trying to use up my oddments so this is mainly polworth left over from some hats knitted up last year.

I really enjoyed the exhibition and will re writing a post on it over the next couple of days. I will also be retuning to the museum as there is plenty more to see.

Tour de Fleece day Seventeen and Eighteen , Argonaut takes a trip to Southwell

Day 17, Monday was my usual knit group meeting so no photos but I did take my Argonaut and carried on spinning the Polwarth as I really want to finish it by the weekend.

Once back home I carried on with the Romney, finished the second bobbin and plied them

                                      

                                                     I then did the same with the blue fluff

Both of these were washed and dried on Tuesday and are now in the bag awaiting labels.

both are darker in real life, the camera isn't reading the light very well as its so bright even with the blinds shut.

On Tuesday I went over to Southwell, mainly to visit the sweet shop so you can imagine my shock when I found that it had closed down. It was our nearest place for buying Dutch salted liquorice so it looks like I may have to buy on line in the future :-(

Breakfast was in the cafe at the Minster although its under temporary management at the moment and I'm not a fan of paper/plastic cups for coffee especially when they make your coffee taste sort of plastic. Hopefully new owners will be in place before my next visit.

as usual, I can't resist taking a few photos

Ooops, nearly forgot, another four bobbins of Texel ready to be plied in the morning.

Tour de Fleece day sixteen, a day of contrasts

I've been spinning in-between visiting a couple of craft fairs today. First up was plying the White face woodland bobbins and getting the skein on the line to dry.

                          nice and squishy, ready to be measured and labelled later in the week.

Then I started on some Romney, 50 gram so far today, definitely a much finer spin so we will see what we get once the remainder is spun and plied.

Between the craft fairs I spent an hour or so on the Argonaut and Pete's Fibre Studio bobbin no 2

Then when I returned home I grabbed some of the World of wool carded fibres and quickly spun 25gm not really worrying about the texture, thickness etc.

All in all, not a bad day :-)

Tour de Fleece day fifteen and a big chunk of iron

 First we have todays spinning, I've plied and washed the Shetland, it is lovely and soft and I'm pleased with it.

I also spun 100 or so gram of white face woodland, a really quick, rustic spin which will be popped in the dyepot at some point and probably become a hat.

In the middle of the day we headed over to Bennerley Viaduct otherwise known as the iron giant. This viaduct has been saved from demolition and now serves as a walkway within the area which will become a country park. As today was the opening of the Visitor centre, we thought that we would pop down and have a look at it.

Not the easiest thing to photograph with so many people around, we have decided that we will go back mid week sometime and take a closer look.

Tour de fleece day fourteen and week two round up.

 Somehow its already the end of week two, how did that happen? Today I've been rewinding and labelling skeins from this week now they are dry.

The good news is that the kitchen cupboards are back on the wall in spite of their age and we have some new lighting as well.

This weeks spinning, three texel skeins and one zwartblexwensleydale. I then popped out for coffee and finally finished the first bobbin of the dyed polworth.

and started on the next one, I'm really hoping to finish this before the the tour finishes.

Once how I did a little house work (haha) then finished up spinning the Shetland. This was an oddment so there is around 40gm on each bobbin. This is a useful amount for a hat with another yarn as the background colour.

Plans for tomorrow are a little different but I will try and ply the Shetland if I get time.

Tour de Fleece days twelve and thirteen

 Day twelve was fairly uneventful spinning wise as I wanted catch up with my sampler stitching before the next part drops on Saturday. Just a small amount of ryeland spun on the Ashford.

The next day (Thursday) saw me start the day in Neros, which you have all seen before, spinning on the Argonaut. I have bought a smaller phone charger to save weight and I'm just seeing how long it lasts. The one that I've been using lasts for a week or so but is fairly heavy.

I've nearly finished the first bobbin of this fibre from Pete's Fibre Studio and I'm impressed with how easy it is to spin.

After the compulsory morning coffee I jumped on the tram to Hucknall. I had intended to take photos but my camera battery was dead when I picked it up this morning so we will have to make do with the phone camera today. Not my favourite choice.

I scoured the charity shops, looked at the church and decided that I need to return on a Saturday when the church will be open and the market will be on.

I finally stopped for a cuppa at Mrs C's Vintage Tea Room although this nearly didn't happen as they are cash only and I only had a handful of change on me but a managed enough for a cup of tea, This was one of the friendliest cafes that I've been in recently and will definitely go back.

I will return to Hucknall with my camera as a few things caught my eye as I walked around the town.

Tour de Fleece days ten and eleven

 Very quick update today as I've been super busy sorting out the crates of stuff stashed in the house, I did take my wheel to the knit group  but forgot to take any photos . I did, however, spin up the remainder of the wensleydale x zartble and another 100gm of texel. Both skeins have now been plied and washed.

Tour de Fleece days eight and nine.

 Its been a busy weekend so I've rolled both days spinning into one post. We have had to empty the camper ready for its service/mot/hab check so now I don't just have a lounge full of the kitchen contents but a spare bedroom full of the van contents as well

Fortunately I've got away (so far) with just one box of stuff in my workroom so at least I can still retreat here when needed.

I've also started on the list of replacing bits and pieces that have come to the end of their life, the kettle that won't stay open when filling, the buckets with broken handles etc.

Anyway, back to the spinning.

Saturday, 50 gm wensleydale x zwartble, lovely dark brown fibre that  I have used many times in my knitting. I think that this is the last of the fleece that I bought a couple of years ago.

I escaped for a couple of hours in the afternoon, grabbed a coffee at the castle and spun an unknown amount of an unknown fibre.

Today I've had a routine of spin a bobbin then spend time cleaning out a kitchen cupboard which resulted in another 200 gm of the never ending texel.

Hopefully I'll get this washed and on the line tomorrow before I head out to knit group.