And now this weeks.....

Now I'm getting to the exciting ones, this week it's 50gms of silk/angora/merino mix yummy stuff! Again I will spin 1/3 and ply to itself, the following 2/3's will be plyed with the Green Great fine wool tops you see them resting on here.

Already there is far more lustre, but a lot paler, so it will add a welcome contrast to the previous 2 I think.

Another Section Finished.

Feeling really pleased with myself at the moment! I finished this phase of my project off yesterday, a little later than planned, but nevertheless not that far over deadline. (yep, I really do try to set and hold to deadlines!)

It's been really quite fun spinning straight fine wool tops at the same time as comparing them to the merino/silk mix of last week.

The fibres behaved in a pretty similar manner, although the merino/silk was slightly easier to draft. The colours have turned out again pretty similar in tone although, less bright. There is however far more lustre than I thought there would be. Right then, for the boring stuff: there turned out to be

128m of the Northern Lights plyed to itself, and 409m plyed to the Green Great. Proving what we all knew, that the finer the fibre, the further it goes!

On my wheel this week.

So following on from last week, I have sorted the next batches of fibre.

This is the first 1/3 of the fine wool tops dyed in the NL colourway. (The third that I intend to ply to itself).

And then the second 2/3 NL will be plyed to equal amounts of Green Great.

I'm looking forward to comparing the differences in spinning (same ratios) and how different the lustre on the finished yarn will be. It should be more dull as it will have no silk in it. There will also be the question of drape.

See you later, I'm off to spin!

Been busy this week....

It's lovely having my wheel where I can get at it, and as a result yarn is beginning to appear at a pretty satisfying rate! This, fabulous Northern Lights Merino and Silk fibre from Freyalyn was divided into 1/3, 2/3 lots. The 1/3 was spun at a ratio of about 32:1 on my Majacraft Suzie and then plyed to itself. I did the same with the 2/3, but plyed them to the "Green Great" colourway that I had spun at the same ratio. And this is what I got!!

The colours are actually far richer than they look here, but the contrast between the 2 batches is about right. I ended up with 124m of the Northern Lights plyed to itself, and 466m plyed to the Green Great fine wool.

Now then, on to the next part!

Next on the wheel.

Bit of a dark picture, but I was trying to avoid too much reflection without taking it out of the packets! Some time ago, I decided I would like to experiment with different fibres in the same colour scheme so that, once they were spun, I could design and knit a shawl showing off the different textures and lustre's within the discipline of spinning to the same weight of yarn and dying them the same colours. Well, my good friend Freyalyn was kind enough to help me out, so here goes! The Fibres are as follows clockwise: 100gms Silk/Merino; 100gms Fine Wool top; 50gms Silk/Angora/Merino; 50gms Baby Camel & Silk. All are in the same hand dyed colour way - Northern Lights, and they are resting on 500gms of Fine Wool top dyed in Green Great colourway. I plan to spin each fibre the same way, 1/3 plyed onto itself and 2/3 ply with the green. I shall also spin at least 100gm of straight Leaf Green. I suppose whilst I am spinning I shall have to put my mind to the best way to show off the combinations and colourways in a shawl of my own design. I've got some ideas, so this should be fun. If all co-operates, it should all be finished to show off in about 3 months at Wonderwool Wales on Freyalyn's stall.

Finished - Wheee heee!

Well I've finished the Mam a Mi fibre and I'm very pleased with the yarn. It's lovely and squidgy, soft and lustrous. All in all it turned out very well. There is 117m of the handpainted plyed to itself (on right), and 454m of the handpainted plyed to plain merino (on Left). Plenty for the snood I wanted to knit and maybe a pair of fingerless mitts to match!

'Fessing up!

As I haven't posted here for a bit, I thought I would just write a couple of lines to explain why I haven't been spinning recently: It's still bitterly cold down here, which is very unusual for Somerset, it rarely gets cold and stays cold down here. When I went down to my workshop this morning it was still -2 degrees! I stood it for an hour, but then I just had to admit that even with heating down there, it is just too cold for me. So after chatting with DH I shall be moving my wheel into the house until March or so and shutting up my workshop. The alternative is, that I will end up getting very poorly very quickly, as whatever we do, we can't get the temp above about 12 degrees and I have to be kept above 18! Bloody annoying, but that's the way it is! The good news is that from Thursday I shall be able to get back to spinning daily, so there really is a plus to everything!!