ART YARN

I have tried many different media in which to express my creativity.  I think the fact that I have an urge to do this is a given.  Even when working with something like metal.  I’m using this as an example, because it isn’t a medium that I have a natural feel for.  But if you put the tools in metal in the same room as me, sooner or later I will gravitate in that direction and start making something.

I think buying a spinning wheel and learning how to use it has been an absolute catalyst in my life,  and it has changed how I look at my life.  Yes, that is quite a bold statement!   Absolutely true though,  because I now live according to my creativity.  When I create yarns, or when I help to make a new spinner in my classes.  I am living by what I love doing, and that is a blessed place to be.

Auto ply super chunky thick and thin merino

Hyper texture. A huge array of wool, silk, fabric scraps, thread, to make a crazy batt to spin just how it presents itself.

Pastel coils resembling little seed pearls.

Bulky squishy super coils with all the colour

Loose and wild Masham locks in a tailspun yarn. Currently being woven into a scarf.

Inspired by Laburnum trees in bloom. Silk rods, yellow silk, shetland and felt inclusions. Textural joy.

Beautiful Teeswater tailspun on a Corriedale Core. Wisteria now lives somewhere in Maine with a happy new owner.

thks

Advertisement

Creative Hiatus? Not quite….

Seeing the potential…

I love what I do. So then why am I feeling a little frustrated with myself at the moment?  I am so excited about working towards an exhibition with two other artists, I have wool, skill and ideas. I am not creating… This is my present debacle.  Well.  Not entirely true – I am busy knitting myself a jumper out of hand spun yarn and it will be chunky, beautiful, warm and mostly green.  I am also in the process of knitting up some socks from my hand spun.  I’m testing out Dorset Down wool.  I have quite  a lot of it, and will dye some for selling to spinners specifically those who want to make sock yarn. I am also spinning some awesome soft yarn for bedsocks for myself, out of a merino camel blend that I hand painted.  This is purely a luxury item.  And an absolute treat to spin – I splashed out on a little Snyder spindle last year.  Great spinning tools really turn a pleasure into something totally luxuriously delicious! But still I’m feeling a little antsy…  I’ve been mulling this over in my head, wondering whether I’ve finally encountered creative block.  Then suddenly I realised that I simply have no time at the moment!  It isn’t lack of creativity, it is too many other tasks that are getting in the way.  It is ‘that’ time of year.  Fleeces of all descriptions are coming my way, and I have about 50kg in fleece that I have to wash and card before I’m going to have time to spin too much up.  Yep, and then there’s all the dyeing to be done… (poor me, eh?  I love dyeing!)  And then there will be more fleeces on the way.  Plus the house is in an unholy disarray due to all the fleeces.  The hallway is lined with bags of fleece and my box-room door won’t shut anymore.  Ok,this is a real problem.  I may have to call on some friends to help when the fleeces are clean… I had a huge push towards getting some of my fleeces washed and out of the way today.  Realising that I can get back to spinning some art yarns as soon as I’ve made some space had given me huge incentive to work my way through the wool, and I am planning an awesome tailspun yarn with super-duper long Lincoln locks. And the thought of that gorgeous yarn has wiped all of the doubt from my mind, I’m feeling the inspiration, and impatience to get started.  Plus, my mind has jumped to the exhibition, and I now have a whole host of projects.  Every fleece I’m washing has a purpose or potential. I love what I do!

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.

 

Honeycomb Jumper Pattern

It has taken absolute ages to check, double check and write this pattern out, without any typos.  But at last, here it is.

In the mean time, I built myself a whole new website and shop for my patterns:  clovetree.org is where you will find all my available patterns now.  There’s more to come too.  Hats, wristwarmers and a little wraparound top in Angora.

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?

 

 

 

Photo’s, rain and philosophy

Today has been a fascinating day, full of learning new skills, turning acquaintances into friends, talking, talking, whilst the rain’s drizzle couldn’t dampen spirits, or the dreams that will come true if there is enough support around.  Yay for good people.

 

I’m also doing an online photography course at the moment, but it has not taken my full attention for one reason or another.  So back to basics – looking at colour, contrast, proportions and texture.  What is the story behind the picture – is it obvious?  Well, this one has a lesson – 4 year olds don’t stand still for too long!  I know it’s a bit blurry, but I love it.