What a Temple is . well, a temple is used in weaving to stop the selvages from drifting closer together and eventually, if you aren't concentrating (like me....), ending up with a much narrower piece of cloth than you first began to weave! Just like this one here being modeled by my own fair loom,,,,
I've managed to do quite a lot of stuff recently, I managed to wash out not only the two Ryeland halves that I want to spin up but also The quarter Cotswold which is quite, quite luscious and I just can't put down! It's been quite a time since I have been this in love with a fleece but it is simply wonderful and I will be tracking down the person who sold it to me and there will be a separate blog about it later.....
I have been keeping up on my spinning and am about half way through the Mirkwood BFL that I had from Freyalyn some time ago then all that's left is the silk brick to complement it and off I jolly well ply.
After that it might well be some Cotswold, or maybe Ryeland...... In addition, my weaving is trotting along at a pace for me, On my floor loom is the lambswool warp which is coming up wonderfully well. At the moment I'm using a manufactured merino weft, but I will be switching to hand spun for the second piece. The cashmere scarf for Aunt Connie's 100th birthday has been finished and is awaiting pix before packing. I have also measured Mothers cashmere and silk warp for her scarf on the table loom - finally! not sure why that one has taken me so long, but I shall be warping it by the weekend and then we shall see. Also by the weekend the rigid heddle will have been re-warped with Amanda's purples.
As for the knitting, I've yet to put the facing and fastenings on my Vlindervest. Again, should be done by Monday (ha! who am I kidding?), it's been washed and blocked, so it shouldn't take too long. As I found myself with no kauni colourwork for the first time in a very long time, I have of course cast on another project. Just a waistcoat. I'm half way to the arm holes already, the tennis helps of course. My other knitting projects have sort of been put on hold, as this is far more fun, but I'm hoping to take my shawl and mitts with ma when I go wawy in a couple of weeks, I should be able to make a dent in them then.
I know, it's difficult to believe, but I have been really busy over the last couple of weeks. Which is why, I haven't managed to blog, do stuff or blog, not both!!
Firstly, as a footnote to my last entry, the fleeces that Carol M brought me were Ryeland, they can be seen here in the green bags at the bottom of the photo. This was yesterday, sorting all the fleeces I had acquired in the sunshine. In addition to my 2 Ryelands there were a TexelxShetland cross, 2 beautiful Katmogets. One,white drifting into blues and blacks on the extrmities and the second, cream drifting into cappachinos. I suspect I shall sitting down one warm afternoon fairly soon and sorting into different colours for processing and spinning, as I would really love a proper Fair Isle cardy. The Ryelands have been sectioned already, so I can make myself a cute black and white waistcoat with pockets for working in in the winter. For some reason clothes manufacturers these days assume that tops and skirts/ dresses don't require working pockets! ~Sigh. By the by, I acquired the Shetlands and Texel x Shetlands on my annual pilgrimage to spin in the sheering shed of the Bath and West show. It was really great fun, but I spent the next couple of days in a bit of a state, but to meet up with good friends and come home with such lovely fleece it was as ever worth it.
Which brings me to my other outing.... Together with the lovely Nita, DH nipped off down to Dorchester a couple of weekends ago to pop into Frank Herrings.
Whilst not the cheapest place to shop, when stuff is needed in a hurry and also you need to see things in the flesh so to speak, it does make a nice day out. The yarn was vastly reduced, and matches some that I spun not so long ago, so we shall see where that leads. I now have the correct sized temple to weave Mother's scarf (long story, not repeatable here....) and the shuttle is an exceptionally light one, which I am looking forward to trying out. The Turkish Spindle is made from Cocobolo wood and is an eBay purchase at about the same time. Whilst quite heavy for it's size (8" & 58 gms). I'm hoping to take it on holiday with me together with some black and white Ryeland
bats.....
In addition, I've been busy finishing bits of knitting and weaving, including this cashmere scarf which I started ages ago. It's nearly finished now as I realised that I need it completed by the end of the month for Aunt C's 100 birthday.... oops! I'm quite pleased with the way it's turning out but I could have done with a temple at the start. Ah well, now I've various heddle sizes to choose from and the appropriate temple, I suspect I have this particular problem sorted.
More later....
