Saturday 15 October 2011

Sheep!!

This blog needs pictures of sheep!! I hope to add some soon.Some wool has come back from the spinning mill transformed into beautiful soft yarn & some 'rovings' are back from the mini-mill for handspinning. The rovings are from the 'special' sheep living at Silverdale,a North Country Cheviot/Bluefaced Leicester X has produced the nicest fleece I've ever worked with! I'm very tempted to keep it all for myself but must be practical --------- besides I would like other people to discover how beautiful it is too!!I will keep a little bit for me though.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

more about wool

I've now collected & despatched all the fleeces I've bought, some have gone to be millspun into yarn & some are being prepared for handspinning. Produce has gone to my outlets & after the excitement of Wool Week goes away I'm going to have a bit of a break --------- might knit myself a jumper ready for the Autumn!!

Monday 22 August 2011

Handspun wool & Morecambe Bay

Ta-Dah !! At last a picture of some handspun wool.I'mnot very good at this yet & need help at every step of the way ! I've also got a picture of the 'conservation grazer' sheep to go on but that will have to wait until another day.I'm busily spinning & knitting ready for Wool Week so blogging will be taken up again later!

Thursday 4 August 2011

pictures of wool

So now I've got pictures of the natural millspun yarn & the hand dyed yarn,beautifully done by Debbie Tomkies to reflect colours  & features of the landscape of the Silverdale & Arnside area & also the superb throws woven by Jane Flanagan I ought to try to put on some pictures of my contributions! Next pictures will be handspun wool + some handknitted items,but I'm starting to think about Wool Week now so it may be a while before I struggle with technology again!

Thursday 21 July 2011

spinning a yarn

Today I've been spinning some Cheviot/JacobsX wool.The fleeces come from a farm in Silverdale on Morecambe Bay & are a lovely soft pale grey.I buy  most of my fleeces from the Arnside/Silverdale area & last week I collected some beautiful Masham fleeces from a farm in Yealand Conyers,I've sent these off to be millspun into knitting wool & they should produce soft white,lustrous yarn.Most of last years fleeces were handspun & knitted up as usual but some were millspun & hand-dyed into shades that reflect the landscape of the area & some millspun yarn was woven in cosy checked throws. My only other source for fleeces is a farm animal sanctuary & this year I'm handspinning fleeces from my sponsored sheep Fergus & Tim.
I'm still learning about this blogging thing & hope to get some pictures sorted out soon.

handwoven bag

handwoven bag