A change of scenery

 Hi,

Our last trip away was 16 March so we thought that we had better start to make up for lost time. On Friday we packed the van with nearly everything we needed and set off. We found out that a couple of things were missing once we got there but that always happens after we have emptied the van for its annual checks.

 This is Ferry Meadows, we sometimes spend Christmas here as its not too far from home. I must admit that after staying at home for so long , I was a little apprehensive about going away but being in the van made it easier as we we can hideaway if we want to. The other good things about this site are that its a Caravan and Motorhome Club Site so the pitches are clearly laid out and distanced, the facilities are spotless and a lot of the time empty as majority of vans and caravans have their own. Also the site is next to Nene country Park and on a footpath/cycle path to Peterborough.

As Ian took his bike, I had some time to myself on Friday afternoon to sit in the sun and spin the first bobbin of the Jacob fleece. This time I had brought the E Spinner with me and sat outside with it on a table, cold drink to hand and a Radio 4 programme  about the seaside playing on the headphones.

When I eventually fancied a cup of tea, I discovered that we hadn't packed an essential item, the milk !! Ian rode in to the the rescue and dashed off the to campsite reception in his mask and bought some, phew

On Saturday I wandered out for a walk /hobble ( did I mention that I bruised my toes on Friday morning ). I was originally intending to walk back up towards the main road where I had spotted a coffee stall to get a caffeine fix but I didn't fancy it when I got there. I had noticed a sign at the railway saying that they were doing drinks so I headed back and was relieved to see only 4/5 people spread out amongst their tables. A hot chocolate and a few mins with the drop spindle followed.

The train arrived at 11.15 , I love steam, the smell and the sound. My Dad was a big steam engine enthusiast and passed the love of them on to me.

The rest of the weekend turned overcast and then very wet but it was really good to get out and about again even though I'm still very cautious about things.

On the craft front, I've spun the first skein of Jacob and I'm thinking that it would make a cozy cardi sometime if I ever pick up the courage to knit something big. Its a dk/aran weight so I may have a look at how much is needed.

I'm also working my way through this book again to brush up on my rather rusty lace skills

I find the written instruction and the diagrams very clear and I'm on pattern three at the moment.

Pattern one.

Pattern two.

Pattern three.

There are mistakes but I am learning from them and I could do with a softer gimp (thick) thread but I'm trying to use what I have and not buy any more at the moment.

Finally, a rare photo of me, Saturday morning waiting for the kettle to boil again.

Have a great week xx

spinning fatigue?

Hi, 

I've had a quick count up of this years spinning so far, over 40 skeins  (most is in the photo but I've knitted some and any with a break in them go in different bags for my own use) and at least 12 different breeds or crosses.

I'm having a short break from the wheel and finishing some knitting that have been hanging around.

I also wound the yarn off the spindle and plyed it from a centre pull ball. I do need to put more twist in it but 10gm gave me 56 yards which isn't bad.

I'm going to be sorting the van kit ( which will take me ages ) and probably make a start on sorting out the workroom cupboards as I'm really not sure what is in them.

Guess what ? I've finally finished the lace bookmark. I had to have two attempts at the bottom of it as I simply couldn't remember how to do it. Turns out that I had worked a row too far down and once backtracked I could work it out.

I've been sorting out my book shelves and , of course, this has made look at the books and want to revisit inkle weaving as well as more lace. Definitely not enough hours in the day. thinking about this, I used to blitz the housework on a Saturday morning but now have a daily routine so instead of 3hrs it takes me twice as long!! But the house is actually getting and staying cleaner.

On the job list for next week are:- shortening and hemming work trousers for hubby, making masks as the caravan club have said that they have to be worn on campsites in shared facilities ( loos, shower are etc) and trying to figure out a good storage method for my DPNs, I have something in mind but need to work round the different lengths. I have some full length ones but I'll keep them separate as rarely used at the moment.

That's about it for this weeks round up, we have the gardeners in turning the wilderness in the front of the house into a maintenance free area, the noise has been quite loud so I'm shut away at the back of the house. The weekend forecast isn't too good , I think I will be spending it knitting and sewing.

Take care xx

Tour de Fleece, and its Over.

Hi,

I stopped spinning on the wheel on Friday and continued on the spindle. So now I'm calling it a day.

1.452 Kilo of yarn, 2561 yards of 2 ply that will replenish my stocks nicely !

TDF spinning 2020 PW = pre washed

Date finished	Breed	PW Weight		Wash weight	Wash length
28.6.20	balwen/texel	105		103	168
28.6.20	Balwen texel	115		113	188
29.6.20	Jacob	109		105	280
30.6.20	Cheviot	110		109	119
02.07.20	Zwartbles	105		104	240
05.07.20	Zwartbles	120		119	239
05.07.20	Zwartbles	116		115	218
06.07.20	BFL/Swaledale	56		55	84
09.07.20	unknown	105		103	160
12.07.20	unknown	107		105	160
12.07.20	Kent Romney	125		120	150
15.07.20	Portland	110		109	280
15.07.20	Manx	53		52	120
16.07.20	Jacob	140		140	155

Total 15 Skeins 1.452 kilo                  2561 yards       1.45mile.

The spindle currently has 7gm on it and I will continue with this a s a summer project.

Its been fun but I now need my time to concentrate on other things and the house needs sorting, I still have the lace to finish!! So I'm packing my wheel away for a few days, the spindle will still be around, and will return with the mixed weekly blog next weekend.

Stay safe everyone xx

Tour de Fleece day 20 & 21

Hi,

I'm not sure whether I'll get chance to spin any more over the weekend so I'll do a proper round up of the TDF on Sunday.

I the meantime, here's the spinning from the last two days,

All washed and clean, 109 gm Portland and 52gm  Manx.

and 140gm of Jacob which is still waiting for a wash,

My TDF stash currently looks like this

and with the Jacob stands at around 1.45 kilo, plenty of yarn to play with :-)

After Sundays post, this blog will revert to weekly round ups of general crafting and life stuff, basically trying to record my retirement or as it feels at the moment, extended lockdown !

Take care, have a great weekend xx

Tour de Fleece day 18 & 19

Hi,

Another update, first bobbin of Portland spun up 60gm and the second is on the wheel and should be finished later tonight as I've only about 10gm to go.

I threw some dye at a mule fleece and I'm blending it with the undyed remainder, its looking a bit like the old fruit salad sweets :-)

The ugly hat is finally finished

and I sort of like it !

The spindle now weighs 24gm but its difficult to see any difference so I'll report back on that one next time.

One other thing happened over the last couple of days. Tuesday afternoon I went shopping, well just one shop but it was the first time I had been in one since the start of lockdown. I suspect that I won't be going near any others for some time, weird and uncomfortable experience.

That's about it for now,   take care xx

Tour de Fleece day 17

Hi

A rest day, yep , I had a list that included finishing some bobbin lace. Did this happen? of course not !! but I did do some knitting and a little spinning.

First, an update on the spindle spinning, I did weigh this spindle when I got it and it weighed in at 17gm. It now weighs in at 20gm so there is 3 gm of Shetland/Romney wrapped around it and its taken me ages. I'm going to weigh it again once empty just incase I got it wrong !

Mind you, I am looking for a lace weight yarn from this so I can have a practice at some lace knitting.

On the needles is a simple hat in hand dyed, hand spun Balwen/texel, I usually knit fair isle in 4 ply so this makes a change :-)

and on the wheel there is some Portland as I happened to have some already prepped.

audio listening today has been MASH by Richard Hooker, this is the book that the TV series was based on.

That's about it for now, tonight I will probably put my feet up and knit some more on the ugly hat . The colours should have been stronger but both attempts to dye this fleece have been unsuccessful. I know the dyes are ok as they dyed the wool that I tied the skein with without any problem, just not the spun yarn.

Take care xx

Tour de Fleece day 15 and 16

Hi,

I had a busy weekend doing other, boring , housework type stuff but I managed to spin and then ply the remainder of the unknown fleece. The two skeins are actually the same length with one weighing 105gm, the other 103gm. I love the subtle variety of brown and greys but the yarn is a little hairy but may knit up ok. We will see what happens.

Do you remember the filthy Kent Romney from an earlier post? If not, here's a reminder

and here is the first finished skein, the fibre was still sticky and not so easy to draft but its washed up nice now its spun.

looks like I managed to split the fibre pretty evenly between the bobbins this time !!

and this is the finished result

This is the result, 125 gm fresh off the washing line.

Other than this I've been spinning on my spindle but its so fine that you can't really see a great deal of difference yet, patched a pair of jeans for hubby, made a bag for our walking poles to live in and also made a bag for my sharp knives (bread knife etc ) that I keep in the van.

Its been a good weekend, I hope you have all have an enjoyable one as well xx

Tour de Fleece day 13 & 14

Hi

I've been having a bit of a nightmare getting my camera and computer to talk to each other so I've rolled two days into one and will post now even though its still the middle of the afternoon.

I finished a skein of the unknown breed, 105gm now waiting to be washed

and I've spun another 60gm, just need to process a bit more and start on the next bobbin.

Whilst moving things around earlier, I found some Shetland/Romney fleece which had been hiding from me for the last 3/4 weeks ! I'd been wanting to try it on my new Turkish spindle.

That's about it for now, tomorrow I have a couple of drawstring bags to make and a pair of jeans to patch, I've cast on a simple hat to start work on over the weekend, just mindless knitting for when we are watching a film.

Tour de Fleece day 12

Hi

Its been another dreary wet day, I've not really had the enthusiasm for the short manx so I just finished the 60 gm and left it at that. I will get the drum carder out tomorrow and attempt to make some more batts.

I'm going to add a few photos in a future post about this fleece and the results Whilst I had my camera out I took a photo of a small corner of my desk, would you like to see it ?

Details of the fairy doll at the bottom can be found here Take it further challenge  . The doll in the middle was made on my embellisher. The lizard at the top was a present :-)

Back to spinning, here is the best staple length I could find on the manx

and this is the mystery fleece that I'm spinning this afternoon.

I'm not sure what this is, I was given it last year whilst in Scotland but the person who gave it to me didn't know either !

My first thought is Herdwick but it's actually quite a bit softer than the Herdwick I've spun before, reminds me of Jacob but not quite if you know what I mean.

looking at this, I'm swaying back towards Herdwick.

The only other thing I have to show is my new mug.

Take care, speak tomorrow xx