Guilds and cardies

On Friday I attended my first ever meeting of a Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers - the Brecknock Guild, at Brecon. I have been a member of the Online Guild for a while, and find it hugely valuable (see my Links for details), but a recent correspondence online led to an invitation to come along to the 'land' (as opposed to 'online'!) Guild at Brecon, which is about an hour's drive from me. The three guild members who had invited me were all there, and it was a very interesting and pleasant day - everyone was very friendly, and I didn't feel TOO daunted, even though almost everyone there was a spinner, and obviously very competent! I saw lots of people's yarns and the things they were knitting with it, also some beautiful natural-dyed wool by Louise Boer (added bonus - Louise is Dutch, so I had the chance to practice my very rusty Dutch! I am half-Dutch, but don't really have much family left on that side, and haven't been back to Holland for about 20 years, so I rarely get the chance to speak Dutch. As a result, I am losing it, which is such a shame).

I was also fascinated to see the different types of spinning wheels in use! 7 different models by 4 different manufacturers, I think - I can see I am going to have to do a lot of homework if I am thinking of getting a wheel (as well as selling a whole lot more corsages and wall hangings to pay for it!).

As well as my spindle, I took along my knitting - I have been making a HUGE cardi/coat for a while, using gorgeous Shetland chunky wool and a garter stitch pattern both from Woolcake. I haven't done much to it recently (it was too bulky to take on holiday to Cornwall and Devon) and I urgently wanted to get it finished before we get any cold weather - I have lost a lot of weight in the last year, and consequently most of my wardrobe no longer fits, and I really do need some decent warm winter clothes! I got a lot done during the guild meeting, and finished the last bits off yesterday (why does the finishing off, sewing up etc take as long as knitting half the cardi?!) and it was finally ready to wear yesterday evening. I am delighted with it - it looks great, feels lovely on, and is warm without being stifling (wool is an amazing material). The delightful ladies at Woolcake threw in a kilt pin (it's edge to edge, so needs a pin as a closure if you do want to close it) but I also discovered that one of my felt corsages looks amazing pinned centre front. I will post a picture some time...

A day at the loom

Today has mostly been spent weaving, or in weaving-related activities. I have two projects on the go for which I have been sampling - a large seascape which I have been working up to for over a year since we went on the Balmoral from Penarth to Padstow, and I had several hours to muse on the varying shades of blue, aqua and grey in the sea and sky; and an 'all seasons' stole for my partner, who is a priest, and has commissioned a stole to wear with his robes which includes the four colours of the church's seasons: red, green, purple and gold or yellow. I have uploaded a pic of me at the loom, sampling for the stole - the sample for the tapestry can be seen on the underside of the loom too.

The other thing I did today was just a bit of fun - I have been toying with the idea of making miniature tapestry pictures, and the recent trip to Cornwall (and especially the seascapes by Sally Bassett www.sallybassett.co.uk which I saw at the Art House Gallery at St Ives and the Mill Gallery in Coverack) have inspired me to try it - here's a picture of the tiny seascape, just 3 inches by 4 and a half. Of course, a photograph can't really do justice to the texture, especially the yarns I used to evoke the breaking wave, and the colours in real life are a little more muted - the flash seems to have made them more intense.

Christmas shopping? New stock in my Folksy shop

For those of you who are trying to get ahead of the game with Christmas shopping, I have just listed some felt corsages in my Folksy shop at www.fabrikant.folksy.com. More items will be going into the shop over the next few weeks.

Spinning with cats, and the alchemy of feltmaking

Have been doing some more spinning - ably assisted (well, hampered actually!) by my cat, Sophie, who was determined to sit on my lap yesterday evening. One is not best equipped to defend oneself against a very determined tabby while clutching a spindle in one hand and a quantity of Blue Faced Leicester tops in the other! I developed a whole new approach to park and draft, with my spindle parked under the 'wrong' arm because of the cat/arm of sofa configuration! They don't tell you about this in the spinning books...she's a bit obsessed with wool, so I have to make sure that everything is locked away out of sight and paw, otherwise it gets eaten and/or nested in while I'm not looking.

I am trying to spin a fairly thin, but consistent, yarn at present. I'm quite pleased with the results so far (see pic). I have acquired a number of resources on the recommendations of various members of the Online Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and am booked into a workshop next month, so I anticipate a steep learning curve.

Meanwhile, firmly back within my comfort zones, I did an informal feltmaking workshop today for two friends, who went away with their first creations - two beautiful, and very different, pieces of flat felt, made from merino and BFL in wonderful colours (courtesy of Wingham Wool Works and Carol Webb). I think there are now two more feltmaking addicts out there! I was interested that Steph described the process as 'alchemy' - a word I often use about the magical transformation from a handful of fibres to a sturdy, beautiful piece of textile, just by the application of a bit of soap, water, and work!

As promised, pic of first yarn

First skein of Blue Faced Leicester two-ply drying in the sun!

In a spin...

For a while now I have been thinking that it is inevitable that I should eventually learn to spin - as a weaver and knitter, it's the obvious next step in the mastery of fibre - and now, suddenly, I am spinning! I went to the Creative Stitching and Hobbycraft show in Cardiff on Saturday and saw Rachel Powell of www.rachel-powell.com demonstrating spinning with a drop spindle - within an hour I was the proud owner of my first high-whorl spindle, and much of Sunday was spent turning a pile of Blue Faced Leicester tops into my very first yarn! As I write this, two skeins (one single, one two-ply) are hanging over the sink to dry, weighted down by various kitchen implements. I am now a spinning addict.

Spinning my own yarn will allow a range of different techniques to enrich the Felting British Wool project (I am posting this post in that blog too) - both as surface texture and mixed media. I look forward to experimenting! Meanwhile, the next stage in the project is scouring and carding the fleeces which are currently in the garage - the day job is taking up all my time at the moment, so that may have to wait a couple of weeks.

Pics of my first yarn to follow...