Inkle loom

It's a bit damp and grey here but I've had coffee, tidied the kitchen and got the washing machine on so I have a few mins to blog before tackling the next room.

I've not been spinning much for various reasons but I rediscovered the inkle loom and have been playing around with it for that last 9 months or so. I originally bought my first loom 3/4 years ago and like any serial fibre nut, played with it constantly for a few months then got distracted back into spinning.

I made myself a banjo strap a year or so ago and have recently been making ukulele straps, slowly perfecting the leather ends that have proved a little bit awkward

The original banjo strap, I then made a narrower strap to test out on my mandolin

then I started to play :-) 

 

please excuse the mess , I have tried to tidy up since !!

 

The project on the go at the moment involves using hand spun sari yarn that I spun at a demo a couple of years ago and has just been sitting around since. Exactly what this will become I'm not sure but the texture is interesting :-)

Well, its time to tackle the bathroom, wish me luck, speak soon, Sue x

Woolly Wednesday

Hi, I was going to write this last night but decided that I needed to restring the banjo, over an hour later, 3 new strings on and in tune, two broken nails I decided to quit. Never know such a stupid set up, hooks and looped wires which are barely big enough. Still, it sounds a little better, hasn't improved my playing hehe.......I've only had it for just over a week so its taking up a lot of my time at the moment and you know where this conversation is going...................

I've not done so much spinning in the last month but the green Romney is on its way to a new home to say thank you for a gift I received recently, also I've made a note not to dye that colour again as it really doesn't suit me and much as I enjoy spinning it, I really don't think I could knit with it. I did once and my niece now has a lovely green shawlette ! Anyway, at 500+yards and gradient spun from light to medium green I suspect that someone is going to have a lot of fun with this.
The Jacob has been plied and is ready to be washed at the weekend and I have spun a bobbin and a half of brown bond with quite a bit more to go!. The monthly guild meeting saw a Great Wheel turn up and a snowy trip to the Peak District resulted in some retail therapy. The book on Linen spinning was an absolute bargain, untouched with dust cover for...........£2.49 in the Oxfam bookshop in Glossop.
The latest copy of Yarnmaker dropped through the door and I treated myself to a copy of the Spinners book of Yarn Designs :-)

At the Guild meeting I was handed a small bag on Shetland x Berrichon du Cher, at least I think that is what it is !! the fleece had been washed but was still greasy so I gave it a good hot wash and popped it into the dye pot...........more truthfully, I put it in the cat litter tray ( no cats here, just a good deep tray) splashed some dye on it and chucked in into the steamer. Once cooled I rinsed it well, gave it a quick spin and left by the radiator to dry. I mixed up the colours and blended them on my combs ending up with various shades of a sort of crushed berry colour. This yarn, if nice enough, is destined to be a shawlette to be either auctioned or raffled off in aid of Teen Cancer Trust which is this years workplace fund raising challenge. In fact the crafty folks at work are hoping to put together a series of craft nights with demos and mini workshops to raise funds.
I have spun one bobbin and am now working on the next one.

My plan not to buy more fleece has failed as a small amount of Jacob/Polwarth came through the door last Saturday, very soft but very short staple, mostly less than 2 inch so this will be a challenge for the future. In the meantime it has been washed and popped into a pillow case for storage. I took a photo and then found out that, taking a picture of white and grey fleece on a grey background is not necessarily the best idea! So here is a slightly better one.

So, I will leave you now and have a wander round the other Woolly Wednesday posts to see what you have all been up to then I will carry on with my spinning.

 Have a great month everyone xx

                            

I am so excited....

I have a new toy.........

Shopping list for today..... banjo strings, banjo finger picks, banjo tuner (hubby wants his back) and how to play banjo book......Did I tell you that I have a banjo!!!!!!!