Sock wool

Well I have just finished a huge skein of sock wool over 200gms of rolags spun up very thinly and plyed off together yesterday.   I'm very pleased with it.

I have also received some packs of fiber in the mail earlier in the week that I am looking forward to playing with on the blending board.  There is rose, angora (rabbit) and llama fibers plus some sparkle stuff called angelina which adds some bling.

 

So the next lot to go on the wheel is another new to me blend for the latest comp.  Camel is the one I haven't tried before but from what went on the bobbin in about 20 mins it is going to be a dream to spin and is so soft.  Might ply it off with a soft blue/grey merino.

Blending and spinning

Made these rolags up on the blending board with some nylon added.  Both of which was part of my haul from the woollen mills in Bendigo.  I have almost finished spinning up 100gms of the blended rolags which will then be plyed with the plain tops that match. 

Last week I finished the machine wash/bamboo singles bobbin and plyed it off with some Sulky silk thread in mauve.  Looks fantastic and I have 150gms.

Added to the stash!

Thursday I decided on the spur of the moment to head to Bendigo to visit the woollen mills and spotlight. Nothing was bought at Spotlight that I can share yet but I did find some great fibers in the discount bins out the back.  Sadly, but understandably, the staff at the woollen mills would not send me any fiber in the mail so can only get it when I'm heading through town which is not very often.

The cones were the real reason for the visit but these other bags had to come home too lol.  The nylon will be put on the blending board with any fiber that is destined to become socks.  Usually sock blends are 70/30 blend or even lower if there is another fiber like alpaca included like 60/20/20.

I have also managed to tame a few issues I had with the blending board by putting the fleece I was using through a carder to make a batt.  Now I am able to pull some beautiful light and airy rolags off it without a whole lot of effort.

While doing some spinning today I had Merlin and Tess keeping me company.  I have finished the 2nd bobbin of lovely lamb fleece from Dani and plyed it together and am very pleased with how it turned out.  There is a lot more ready to spin up as it has all been carded now. 

I've popped the mauve superwash merino/bamboo from a few weeks ago back on the wheel to finish off. 
Well too hot for much else so will spend tomorrow spinning as well lol.

Sewing!

Over the last week I have finished sewing and quilting my Xmas tree skirt and also all the quilting for Grace's suffolk puff quilt.  Just need to get the binding organised which might require a few purples to be bought so I can make some random purple binding.

There has also been some prep and spinning with that gorgeous lamb's fleece I bought.  Because it is a short staple I am using hand carders to open up the fibers into a huge plastic tub and then I am processing them much quicker through the drum carder which is on loan from my mum.  I have also spun some up and will either ply 2 or 3 strands together.  Not sure yet.

Well a bit more processing while I do some baking and the washing and then perhaps spend the better part of the day spinning LOL.

Sheep

Corriedale

English Leicester

Merino

Border Leicester cross

Blue-faced Leicester

Mohair (Goat)

Alpaca (Suri)

 

Alpaca (Huacaya)

Crazy heatwave

Its been extremely warm here with days all being over 40 since the weekend.  We made tops of 46 and 48 over the last two days despite what the media reported so it has been very icky indeed.  37 for Saturday is going to be marvelous in comparison lol.  Due for a cool change tonight but I don't think we will get it until Saturday.  We'll see.

Last weekend I wound off these hanks of 8ply alpaca/merino blends to put in the stash for some lovely warm hats to be knitted and matching mitts. 

I also finished off this beaded/sequined black/grey merino.

I finished off a bobbin of white alpaca and began spinning up some mauve superfine merino/bamboo tops that I dyed last year.  Might end up being plyed with the alpaca I think.  We'll see what else I come up with in regards to beads etc.  Its spun almost half a bobbin in no time this morning but starting to get a little warm to be bothered now.  SO might continue with organizing all my patterns into plastic pockets and then into themed folders for much easier referencing.  No boring photos of that! LOL. 

The last three pics are of the black and white English Leicester all nice and washed with a lovely merino/corriedale lambs fleece which I also picked up from Dani through the facebook group called Australian Handspinners and Knitters.  During autumn I will have to borrow Mum's carding machine again and get some more fleece prepped.  These will be the last I will need to buy for quite a while unless a bargain comes under my radar as these English Leicesters were a steal really at $25 including postage each. 

Might need to bore you all with some photos off the internet of these gorgeous looking sheep!  With their fleeces on.

Keep cool and stay safe during this heatwave or in Radka and Monica's case keep warm!

Katherine

A finish and some shopping

Last night I put the last row of crochet on a wrap that I started New Years Day.  I don't have a pattern so have just made it up as I went along.  The wool started off as this

and after some spinning and navaho plying (chain plying) I ended up with some lovely balls to create a wrap.  When plying I should have paid more attention to my plying so I would have had a very different looking yarn with less of what I call the barber pole effect LOL.  But it was the first time I have ever tried that method of plying and of course I am still learning about spinning techniques too. 
So to the finished product a lovely warm wrap with enough yarn left over for a hat or another scarf. 

The wrap has not been blocked yet. 

This morning I also went for a drive to Tongala and picked up my copy of ply magazine.  I also did a little fiber shopping while I was there so that I would have some different fibers to blend with.
Merino/camel/silk, bluefaced leicester/soy and lastly some tussah silk top.  I think I will leave the camel one for the February comp on the Australian handspinners and knitters facebook page.  The heads up was that it had to be a fiber you had never tried before so I will have to leave the camel blend until then. 

The white English Leicester I won on ebay for $15 a kilo also arrived.  It is now smelling much better and looking much cleaner drying on the rack outside.  Its hot but perfect weather for washing fleece lol.  Must keep an eye out for more fleecy bargains as this is a steal!

Lastly these are some finished rolags I was making on my blending board over the last couple of days.  Mottled grey merino, suri alpaca, white merino/poll dorset lamb and some dyed BWM tops.  I do have a lot more too but they are now going back through the blending board because I was making the rolags too tight so it was hard to spin from them.  Much better at it now thanks to some helpful tips from some lovely ladies on the facebook group I joined.