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.

Final TDF prep 2026

 Here we are, poised to start spinning on Saturday morning. Most of my bobbins are empty, just one on the Victoria that I need to finish and ply but I will be ready.

My fibre choices are  a little different this year, I have the usual selection of Ryeland, Jacob, texel, Shetland etc all combed and ready to go.

I also have some more commercial fibres ( I know, so not like me ! ) including this selection from world of wool as I couldn't resist the colours. 50gm of each to be spun as a 4ply weight for some fair isle knitting.

I also have a selection from Petes Fibre Studio on facebook just because I love how his dyeing has progressed over the years. These may end up as a holiday spin later in the year if I don't get round to them during TDF

Usually we end up with a couple of festivals in July but this year they are later in the year so I will be looking at local locations to spin. I will be getting my senior bus pass halfway through so I may be heading out a little further around Nottingham.

As usual posts will be either daily or 2/3 days depending on how busy I am, wish me luck :-)

am I still knitting?

 Hi, Sorry I've been quiet but we've had a bit of house drama which I will fill you in on in another post.

Back to the fibre crafts, I have actually been spinning and knitting and more importantly prepping fleece ready for or next trip.

There's a bit of everything in here, Romney, Shetland, Jacob and some of Pete's dyed fibres. I'm not sure how much will be spun up but it doesn't weigh much.

On the Argonaut I have some Portland, one bobbin down so far and its nestling on a rather colourful hat that I'm thinking of embroidering with tapestry wools that I've been hanging on to for years.

On the needles I have mitten, I'm still using up a lot of old hand spun that been lying around for years.

My last spin of Jacob and white faced woodland has now morphed into a couple of hats ( nearly) and there should be enough yarn left over for another one.

Also on the needles is something rather unusual for me, some commercial yarn which I will review in another post as I have had a few thoughts about it. This is the first time I've knit with anything other than my own yarn for a good long time but I'm knitting these mitts as a KAL with some friends as they venture into stranded knitting.

I will gift them once finished and that has dictated the colour choice. The pattern is Starla Mitts by Traci Scott, a free pattern on Ravelry.

very quick yarn update

 I needed some yarn for an upcoming road trip so I cimbed some washed white face woodlens and some jacob, spun the fibre ready for a hat.

wait for it ....... Jacob and the Argonaut

 I've been waiting to use that heading !!

Anyway, both bobbins of jacob are spun and replaced with an empty bobbin.

This meant that I could have another go at plying with the red beast but this time with a commercial yarn. The technique is, for me, definitely  a bit different to using the Ashford e-spinner.

It does work but I'm much more at home on the Ashford.

The end result id 105gm, 250 or so yards and waiting for a wash. I may buy a few more bobbins before my next long trip so I can avoid the ply as much as possible :-)

Thurs 8.01.26 and we have a snow warning

 I'm always a little excited by snow warnings as we don't normally get much where we live and over the last couple of years or so we've see more snow when visiting the coast or north of the border than we have here in Nottingham.

Still , I popped out for a walk and made it back whilst it's still light although the temperature has dropped to around freezing.

I have an appointment at 9.30 tomorrow which I may or may not be able to attend depending on the state of thing in the morning.

Today I've stitched a bit more of the hem and I'm working on one of the items on my craft list, knitting the hat using hand spun Jacob and ryeland.

later .......

it might be snowing, will update you tomorrow as to whether it hung around overnight.

The last spinning and knitting of 2025

 Hi,

I had a bit of a break from the knitting needles in September but since October I've slowly got back into the whole spin/knit thing.

The Nano still has a spin on it. This is hand dyed Polworth gifted to me by Petes Fiber Studion.

I had actually emptied the other wheels although the Argonaut now has a bobbin of Jacob on it. Did I mention that I now have another e-wheel?

Here she is.

border leics cross in progress.

So the last of 2025 spinning looks like this excepting the 2/3 skeins being knitted into hats.

plus this one fresh off the wheel

                                                                     not too shabby :-)

Knitting recommenced slowly, I have noticed that I seem to be developing a bit of arthritis in my thumb so I'm trying not to overdo things.

  

Next year may be more stitching than knitting, we will see how things go.

Final Tour de Fleece 2025 figures.

I knew that I wouldn't spin as much as usual this year as we were away for nearly half of it. I've not included any half bobbins that are hanging around, just full skeins.

I had prepped around 1300gm of fibre, some is still in the bag but we have another trip or two planned so at least I have something to take with me.

All waiting to be washed, total 1.097Kg or 2.418 pounds, breeds.. Cheviot, Ryeland, Romney, Jacob, Shetland, North Country Mule.

The Cheviot and Jacob are from the Isle of Skye and will return there. The rest will probably join my knitting stash in the van.

I now need to continue washing and prepping fleece both fine and coarse for both of the e-spinners.

Tour de Fleece day ten

 Here we go, another day, another skein of yarn. I promise that we will have some different photos by the end of the week.

Day ten spinning, the nano went out for coffee and for Tangled Threads knitting group at our main library.

Coffee, fruit and trying to sort out the tension at breakfast time.

When I got home, I finished the bobbin of Jacob.

and plyed them....this is getting very repetitive to document but I will spin everyday at some point.

Other than this I caught up with my knitty friends, had a good look at my lace books for a simple pattern to go on one of my pillows. I think I've found one that dates back to the 1800's, not many bobbins so should grow quite fast.

Tour de Fleece day nine, spinning and some gentle lace making.

Day nine (Sunday 13 July) was a home alone day. Ian is over in Wales for a couple of days so I was up early as he made an early start.

First challenge was to spin the final bobbin of the Ryeland and ply the four bobbins. Two, two ply skeins completed ahead of some gentle housework and fleece washing.

Sunday also tends to be bobbin lace day as I have a zoom chat in the afternoon with other lace makers. I carried on with my Downton lace strip whilst we decided which patterns to tackle next.

I also spun a bobbin of Jacob ( 55gm) and made a start on the second one

a random day in the life of a fibre crafter

 Well, that was the plan but the clocks changed and its 8am and I've only just got up. So its coffee time !!

 The weather is overcast and windy so other than the usual clothes wash I'm going to wash some fleece, prep fleece, work on a hat, take part in a bobbin lace zoom and I'm not really sure what else although at the moment its coffee, Facebook and YouTube for the next 10 mins whilst I wake up properly.

Whilst on Skye, I was given a bag of fleece, not a big bag due to being in a small car with all our gear but we got a lot of fleece stuffed into it!! Jacob, Dutch spotted and Cheviot, I'll hopefully get a skein or two from each.

Jacob having a soak in very hot water and detergent. In-between the timed soaks/washes I usually challenge myself to get on with the house work so I'm hunting round all the rooms for dirty washing and dirty mugs :-)

Why the mad fleece washing? two reasons really.

1 I have a lot of fleece to clear out, I'd ideally like to empty the shed ready for fresh fleece at some point.

2 I have a couple of road trips planned so need fibre to spin whilst away along with yarn to knit

3 Since I no longer have a single 100gm skein of yarn, only oddments, I'm getting a bit desperate. 

Midday and I'm having a drink. three bags of Jacob on the line, two bags of Ryeland in their final rinse, kitchen tidied, dinner in slow cooker so I deserve a break for a few mins.I have my Sunday YouTube vid to watch now. During lockdown I followed quite a few knitters and crossstitchers on YT, I now only regularly watch one channel. MommalovesyouGB mainly because I like her presentation style, she's a teacher in real life and she has an interest in historical samplers especially welsh ones.

Next, whilst watching the vid, I start plying the two bobbins of Shetland that were spun on my nano during the week.

and make a skein using my niddy noddy before giving it a good wash.

The big question now is do I comb fibre or spin for the next hour ? I think I'll comb the remainder of the Ryeland  which I washed a few days ago. That will give me an empty pillow case for the fleece that is on the line. Its turned into a windy and sunny day so I'm hopeful of getting things dry.

I managed to get the Shetland washed and dried, 60 gm , lovely and soft, destined to be part of a hat.

The Jacob is actually really fine, may try it on the nano at knit on Monday.

and the oddments of Ryeland are now combed and on the wheel, sort of :-)

The day finished with a 2 1/2 hour lace chat zoom, I actually got some lace made amongst the chat.

Alas, no knitting was undertaken !

The last of February spinning and knitting

 Today is sunny, cool but its also the beginning of March. Feels so much better than most of February when the country appeared to be trapped under a layer of cloud.

This is a quick round up of spinning and knitting from the end of February, I honestly cannot remember what else I've worked on but here we go.

This is the remains of some of the shetland fleece spun on the nano. I also have some light grey so may use this for something lace once I've checked the yardage.

These mitts are a Shetland / Dorset cross and feel really warm, I like the added texture in the body of the hand.

The hat is knit from oddments of fine spun Shetland held double.

200gm of Jacob, This will be car knitting on our next long trip, plain or textured hats, aran weight. around 135 yd in each ball.

I think that this just about rounds up the end of the month. We are busy this month with different adventures so possibly not too much in the way of spinning and knitting but there will be some lace and possibly embroidery to come. x