Drop Spindling for fun

I know have my favourite take along project in its own little carry all.

Remember this bag I created for the Woolybutt summer challenge. It's just perfect to contain my drop spindle and current bit of beautiful fibre.

The drop spindle is just fun and I love this beautiful dyed tussah silk top from Fibreworks.

The spindle is made from Banksia and I bought it at the Australian Sheep and Wool show in Bendigo. It spins just nicely.

You can see how much I've done! Yes, sadly, yesterday at Rose St. was not very successful. In fact it was a very dispiriting day. It was a quiet day overall, however, the two other textile stalls went along OK, I just seemed to be very uninteresting with few lookers, much less purchasers. Unfortunately, it happens. That's the life in a market and I have to respond by looking at what I had and where it can be improved.

Let's see, not enough variety in the neckwarmers and I suspect all the 'fashionable black' wearers were not interested in dots of bright colour, so more 'subtle' colours are required. Not enough fingerless mittens and I suspect the lovely young ones who did stop by are a bit more price sensitive, so some more of my new design, the lace up fingerless mitten. And more shawls! I really made these for the summer, but they seem generally popular.

So there's my to do list for the next to weeks, when I try again at the Craft Victoria's Craft Hatch in the city library.

Found the camera at last!

I really did think that we could get through this house renovation without much disruption. Yes, I am a glass half full (well, three quarters full!) type person. Subsequently, I'm now in a state! Part of this resulted in my misplacing the camera. Needless to say, I've finally found it!

I've been busy today, sewing on buttons on my latest batch of fingerless mittens - 60, to be precise. I'm off to Rose St. Artists' Market tomorrow, hopefully the rain will hold off for us.

So, I thought I would just show you some of the work of the past two weeks.

These are the articles I finished for last weeks Ivanhoe Makers Market.

1. Blue fingerless mittens made from the beautiful wool roving I bought on my weekend away at Tarndwarncoort.

2. New design of fingerless mittens, very simple but laced up down the back of the hand. Just using the yo,k2tog at the beginning of each row and using the resulting 'loop' to lace up with a twisted cord.

These both sold last week!

3. A funky simple beany using three different yarns together.

4. A black and white, feather and fan scarf, knitted lengthwise. This is the first of the upmarket footy scarves. Know a Collingwood fan out there?

These are the mittens I've just finished.

1. Two more mittens using the last of the Tarndwarncoort rovings. All that handspinning is just wonderful for my sanity.

2. The purple mittens use the pattern 'Stars and Stripes'. The grey mittens use the pattern 'Twist and turn'. Both these patterns are from the No.5 Vogue Stitchonary on Lace, that I just recently received. More on my purches in another post!

3. The hat is using some hand-dyed 12 ply from Morris and Sons. I managed to make their sale and picked up a few more cream wool packets. There's a little feather and fan pattern and the rim is stocking stitch which rolls up. I've got a hat like this and it's fun using the natural curl of stocking stitch.

All I have to do now is put the price tags on and I'm off tomorrow to market!

I know why I spin!

As I was gathering all my latest spinning up to wash it and let it relax and set, I just looked at it and thought how wonderful to have these yarns that are just mine! Thought I'd share them with you.

Tarndwarncoort

'Tarndwarncoort' is now indelibly marked in the hearts of the six of us (Snb Rosanna) who ventured to the Western District to stay at the National Trust Property, Tarnwarndcoort. The property has been in the Dennis family for around 150 years and Wendy, Dave and Tom Dennis are wonderful hosts.

We stayed in the historic homestead, where we could sit on the verandah and knit, taking in the view and the sounds that surrounded us.

From our kitchen, breakfast room we sat and

knit around the fire with the most wonderful view of the shop! It was a real trial to make the trek across the yard and decide what purchases we 'needed' to make. Made worse by staying from Friday afternoon till Sunday afternoon, by being able to go back and make that 'extra' purchase.

As this was mostly self catering we managed to provide a wonderful feast each night and the 'leftover' lunch on Sunday was magnificant. We even managed to make S'mores - Graham crackers, Hershe chocolate and toasted marshmallows. Even my sweet tooth could only take two! But we did giggle.

Here are my purchases!

And, I did manage to get some spinning done. I finished the extra yarn from the puff yarn, spinning a single and navaho plying. It now goes into the stash to wait with its' partner for inspiration!

The blue is some Wendy Dennis rovings, plyed with blue cotton.

I must admit that both were plyed when I got home. I was tired and on a roll!

It's so busy!

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but isn't this year strange? I can't seem to get on top of everything and then there are all the weird changes that seem to be happening......my favourite shop changing hands, people selling houses, us building....the list does go on.

So that's where I've been, worrying about building (getting up early and moving the car for the builders!), all my classes, starting a new market (the Rose St. Artists' market) and just getting on with living.

Rose St. Artists' market is a work in progress. My second market was a distinct improvement, but there is a way to go. I realised that much of the difference comes down to not having a group of wonderful regular customers/friends who either buy something or bring their friends and family along. That's what happens when you've been at a market awhile. So I just have to perservere!

I did want to show you what I did yesterday! In a class called 'Workshops', we have guest artists who come along and show us a technique or way to work. For two weeks we have the wonderful Junko who is teaching us Japanese calligraphy techniques. Quite obviously the tip of an enormous iceberg.....she practiced bamboo for six weeks, we did and hour and a half. However, it was lovely. A very different approach, the actual painting is quick, but because it is about single strokes, you really need to focus on what you are going to do and the act of carrying it out. It's very meditative.

As part of the course we have been given these wonderful tools.

And here is my first bamboo!

Oh! and here's the house without the last couple of days, they've been bricklaying and electrifying!

Here 'tis and where am I?

I did manage to finish my puff yarn and I'm quite happy about it! I did have one of those, 'gee I'm glad I bought that' moments, when I'm sitting at my lovely little poly wheel, happily plying without any hitches, and still not quite filling the very large bobbin.

English Leicester, being what it is, a fibre that has the loveliest lustre, that dyes beautifully, but is a strong wool, which means it's not going to feel nice against the skin. This yarn is not going to make a scarf or neckwarmer, so I'm going to have to think about it a bit. Therefore the yarn is going to sit around a bit more, I think it's used to it!

Now, as for me, I've just been accepted into the Rose St market for the next two months, the first market being this Sunday. Yes, I know it's Mothers' Day, well I did after saying 'Yes' to the stall on Sunday, and checking the dates......

I'm just about to update the blog page with the dates, etc. So come and say hello, come out for a trip, it's Mothers' Day!

On the edge of a disaster?

These two bobbins have been living with me for quite a while and it's time to finish things off.


The first big bobbin is full of the first half of a puff yarn. I learnt this yarn from the HWSG Country Conference and really like it. It consists of wrapping a fibre, in this case some dyed English Leicester fleece, around a core yarn. At intervals it is wrapped much more thickly to create a 'puff' ball.



The resulting single is then plyed with a fine binder yarn. In the process the 'puff ball' 'puffs' out as it is untwisted in the process. Lovely.

In my wisdom, I've decided to spin the binder yarn in the same fibre...I have plenty! However, there has been no effort to colour match, how could I? and so, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out, could be the worst barber pole ever!

To add to the difficulty, because, the bobbins have been sitting around for awhile, apart from the last bits that I've spun, they've settled, which means that I might have to second guess the plying.

Oh well, that's tonights problems, now I'm off to Snb to just sit and knit a rib band.....no thinking!