Spinning around and around

The weekend before last I packed up my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel and went to learn how to use it. 2 hours later I had half a bobbin full of thick'n'thin which was apparently pretty good for a newbie and was in love! On Monday I had a child-free day and spent most of it spinning; I filled that bobbin and one other and then plied the singles together. They were a little overplied and overspun, but they're mine and I love them. After that I soaked them and the next day dyed them with Kool Aid and George's help. I have 2 skeins, one in Cherry and the other in Lime. They will become a hand-bag with maybe a little help from a commercial yarn for the base as I'm not sure I have enough to do the whole thing in my yarn.

Here's the first bobbin



Plied together

The lime

And the cherry

Went back again yesterday and I am now spinning reasonably consistent yarn that might ply up to about a 12 ply; very little thick bits which is great! I'm still in love and now dreaming about new wheels (how did that happen?). I won't be getting one for a while yet though, need to pay off the Visa first.

I've also done some knitting; almost finished the multi-coloured jumper for Ian, I'll post a pic once it's done. I've knitted it in DK Utiku Bazar from The Wool Company. It's my first ever go at cables and I'm going to do another in the same colour for George, but his will have the cable section in a plain turquoise to go with the Bazar. He'll have to wait a bit for his though as his school jersey comes first along with a hat for a friends daughter's birthday. Another thing finished is the roman blinds. They are now up at my brothers place and I've handed back all the leftovers. I'm glad it's all done and I can now tidy up the sewing room a bit. They look good and I think I did a good job considering I'm not a professional!

Also been gardening. I now have leeks, kale, collard hi crop, broccoli, cauliflower, mangelbeet, lettuces and onions in the garden as well as the broad beans. Still have bright beets and radicchio to add yet, but that'll go in during the week after I've finished sorting the garden. Should really do a green compost type crop, but don't have the room atm or the time. Hopefully this year will give me some idea of how much I need to plant so I can start a rotation for the green manure around the edible crops.

Productive Weekend

Spent Saturday morning out and about. Went to the gym for the first time in a few weeks and I'm going to get back into it as I felt fantastic afterwards! After that I walked to the Art Centre to have a look at the Spinners and Weavers Guild's open day. In a couple of weeks I'll be going there to learn to spin; can't next Saturday though as I'll be working on my Brother's roman blinds. I am definitely in love with spinning though and I haven't even started yet!
I then went to Knitworld as I'd reread the pattern I want to make with Naturally Yarns Dawn and found I had half the quantity I needed. Spent another $30 on that,but was good and didn't get anything else. Spent the afternoon looking after 2 tired boys; they'd both had a busy week

Sunday I cleaned up the sewing room ready to make the blinds and then we spent some family time building a bird box. It's up in the Silk Tree now and looks great; I'll post photo's later. We used offcuts so no spending to make it which was great.

Today I'm going to get some work done on the blinds; I've got all the fabric ready to go and the sewing room as well; I might also do some knitting for Ian, but I think I may have to put the heater on as it's quite chilly today. I'd light the fire, but I'm working at the other end of the house.