Back again!

It has been ages since I’ve been here. I have been exploring the world of wool, and I’ve upgraded to the new Aura spinning wheel. And now I can spin however I like. Keep an eye out for some gorgeous art yarns. I’m about to go and play with some hand dyed silk rods, shetland and hemp with occasional bits of silk maybe… I’ll post some pics when I’m done. These are the silk rods pre and post dyeing, and for now I’m just planning to use the green, but of course I might change my mind. I want to spin a tree.

Silk, HUZZAH!

Just a quick note, too much mayhem for photo’s and long diatribes, but my excitement cannot wait: I have my first spinning silkworm. More later.

Peace Silk

My little silkworms are not so little anymore, and I am looking forward to these hungry little creatures to start spinning lovely silk. Most silk is produced when the cocoons are boiled, whilst containing the chrysalis. This seems rather cruel to me, and after much research, I found a method that will allow me to harvest the silk whilst keeping the chrysalis alive and unharmed. I can’t wait for my first batch of peace silk, although I am yet to discover how much, or how little silk I will get from about 350 worms. Although, by the time the next cycle of worms come about, there will be thousands!

Wool of the day.

What a day! (week?)

Did my first craft fair in ages, and decided to show some of my handspun and hand-dyed yarns along with my felted goodies.

Of course colour is my first love, and I had a blast dyeing, mixing, re-dyeing, dip-dyeing, splashing, pouring and spinning. I discovered the trick of core-spinning and Navajo plying my yarns – a process that makes my poor old spinning wheel groan under the strain of super-chunky yarns. So, I will have to look into some new spinning accessories. It seems to me that my growth as yarn-maker comes with a price-tag… every time. (Groan!)

I’m particularly chuffed with my handspun silks. The graded colours are lovely, random and the silk just sings. Very difficult to photograph silk’s secrets – it seems to throw light at my lense, although the naked eye doesn’t quite perceive the silk in that way.

I’m contemplating selling these on Etsy. What do you think?