A Novice Spinner

When I was 16 or so, I had a go on a spinning wheel. I thought this is fun and would love to learn, and thought one day! Then 30 years ago while travelling through England, came across an affordable spinning wheel in kit form that I could s...end back home..... and I did just that.

So I had a dabble with it and spun up some very chunky uneven yarn, and managed to knit a back and 1 sleeve of jumper..... then I married and had kids and one day found that some bugs had found my fleece and made it there home.... so into the bin it went. My wheel then made a fine ornament in the house.

So almost 30 years later, I had a play and found it was very squeaky and bits were missing, so off to the spinning hospital!

It is still a little squeaky, if you do not find the sweet spot, but I have managed to spin up some (still chunky and uneven) Alpaca/Merino rolags and made myself a Cowl.... yes I know it has just turned Summer, but it will be great when Winter comes around all too soon.
(By the way the buttons are some of my home made gum tree buttons - so I am feeling very 'River Cottage' today!)

So my early New Years resolution is to really dive in and get the hang of this spinner caper!

A Busy Week!

These are my completed items from 'Ladies in the Shed' this morning. Buttons, a Diz, a 35mm crochet hook..... and a very sore sanded finger ...not all done in one day though, over a few visits!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ladies-in-the-Shed-Chelsea/352699021553633

Some time ago I came across the knitting tool 'Fix-A-Stitch'. This, I thought, was a brilliant tool and bought a set.

This was some months ago and while I rather not make a mistake, last night I was knitting garter and with 2 strands of y...arn together. Since I knit away without looking I will always find a stitch that has only had one strand knitted in. So I finally got to use the new tool..... and it is 'brilliant'!

Well done to the inventor! Now fixing garter or moss stitch will not be accompanied with words not befitting a lady!

Here is a link to the website.http://www.fixastitch.com/

As mention in my last post, my trip to the 'Ladies in the Shed' resulted in a sore sanded finger.... well what a blessing that had been!

While I am a 'Thrower' (English style, yarn in right hand) this was proving rather annoying as it hit my sore finger every stitch. So time to perfect 'Picking' (Continental style, yarn in left hand). I was shown this some years ago, and thought this would prove faster.... alas a few goes, kept going back to throwing.

So I persisted and am now happy that I am as fast with a knit stitch 'picking' as I am 'throwing' and I am also happy with the tension. Perfecting the 'purl' stitch will have to wait though, as this is still very slow for me.

Interestingly enough the 'World's Faster Knitting' is a Scottish 'Thrower'. http://news.stv.tv/video/1593917786/

Also, after researching Fair-isle knitting, they often use both methods to speed up the colour changing, and this is next on my list to perfect!

 

 

Tryphena Storer

I am flat out working at the moment, so while I am still playing with textiles, sadly they are not for me..... so I will share a little piece I have from my Ancestral collection.

This previously hung in my Nanna's house and I only vaguely ...remember it then. However, I remember my mum getting the framed piece, and removed it and replacing it with a mirror.....which is hanging in my lounge room now.

Seems a little odd, but It was not the right frame for this piece, so I will soon be off to look for a suitably sized and styled frame, so it can get back up on the wall.

This was made by my Great Grandmother, my mum's, mum's, mum. I think it is nice to have something that has come down through the girls in the family, especially as she was just a girl of 12 when it was made. (I do not have a photo of here at 12, pictured here is one looking every bit the young lady that would embroider!)

 

 

 

Quilting

Well I am just back from a crafting long weekend. This was with my sister-in-law and her CCC group (Coffee, Chat, Craft). This was my second time. Last year I had to work so took my work with me and knitted the weekend away, as
I watched in envy, all the other women sewing up a storm! Sewing in the form of Quilting.

I have found over the years that quilter's are a breed of there own, so I opened the door and had a dabble!

Mind you this is not really the first time, I had started a traditional hexagon patchwork quilt years ago, in Blues and Pinks... started while expecting my first child, and when a boy popped out, packed it neatly away. Until I was expecting again a couple of years later. So out is can and more progress was made.... and what did I have... yep another boy... so back into the cupboard it went. 4 years roll on by and expecting again. So out it came and it grew.... but... yes you guessed it another boy.... so back in the cupboard. 18 years on, it is so close to being finished, but not a girly reason in sight to motivate me... so back to being a UFO.

Inspired by last years group I bought myself a 'Jelly Roll' and some 'Fat Quarters'..... and look quilters even have a language of their own... and it does not stop there either, but alas I am a newbie to this so will have to battle on and smile and pretend I know what they are talking about.

So my small purchase sat patiently til this weekend, and now here is my quilt top, inspired by a quick search on 'Jelly Roll' ideas on the net the morning I left. I just have to quilt it and bind the edges now!

So any quilters out there??? Does this pattern have a name?

 

And here is a snippet of my UFO!