Tag: Spinning

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Wool Show Fun

Posted on by Jackie B

There was a clash of events in Newcastle the other week. I ended up attending both Novum, the arts festival, to sing with my choir who were supporting Cirque Bijou (as I described in the previous blog post) and also the North East Wool Show

This is the second year of the Wool Show – I thoroughly enjoyed it last year so was glad it’s back again.

On the Saturday I joined some fellow members of the North Northumberland Spinners on our stand and spent a very enjoyable day demonstrating spinning.

One of my fellow spinners, J, in front of our stall

Our stall looked fantastic, with loads of lovely handspun and hand knitted items on display, some of them hand dyed too.

A, who runs the group (originally set up by her mother many years ago) was responsible for all this amazing work, including her lockdown project, a Fair Isle jumper (the handspun yarn is hand dyed too.

These sheep samplers attracted loads of attention. Each one represents a different sheep breed and is made from handspun yarn from that breed, with a needle felted head.

This was my first experience of demonstrating spinning and I absolutely loved it. Of course at a wool festival you are preaching to the converted! Spinning is a bit of a natural progression if you already knit or crochet – what could be better than making an item from yarn you have spun yourself?

Between us, we had three completely different spinning wheels: a traditional one, a modern folding treadle wheel and my e-wheel. A lot of our visitors had never seen an electric powered wheel like mine before and were quite intrigued. Without the need to work the foot treadles, e-wheels are perfect if you have limited movement or co-ordination in your feet and there was quite a lot of interest from disabled visitors.

We also operated a ball-winding service, for those who had purchased skeins of hand-dyed yarn at the show – there were so many to choose from in every colour imaginable. For a small contribution to charity, we converted the skeins into ready-to-knit balls of yarn.

I really enjoyed explaining the principles of spinning and showing people how my e-wheel works compared to the foot-powered ones.

At the end of the day I changed out of my handspun, hand-crocheted jacket and into the sequins to return to singing with the circus!

I was back to the Wool Show the following day for the shopping! I saw so many people I knew, including friends from my knitting and spinning groups and Amble Pin Cushion, so it was quite a social occasion too.

Of course I had to buy some fibre to spin! I bought more of this Siri alpaca and merino blend from Bettina of Tine and Floyd – I love that she always adds a lavender bag and tea to your bag! – I bought a skein of this colour way (it’s called Blackberry Fool) last year and was spinning it the previous day.

I also got some black Shetland tops from Adelaide Walker. I’m thinking of plying it with the pink/purple to make myself a jumper.

I also fancy making something in shades of green and I saw this. It’s hand dyed Leicester – look at those beautiful locks! It will take some preparation before I spin it but could make some gorgeous yarn.

As I said earlier, there was a massive selection of had-dyed yarn available from lots of traders, but I particularly loved the deep rich shades on Yarn Tings stall – this is a merino/yak/silk blend, sock weight and it’s so soft – this shade is Firebird.

There were some fabulous tools and accessories too. I bought some of my favourite Knit Pro Zing needles. I got the interchangeable circular set some months back but I needed some extra small ones for a couple of projects – the interchangeables don’t go below about 3.25 mm.

I got this wraps-per-inch gauge from Threshing Barn. I’m thinking of attaching it to the orifice hook on my spinning wheel, so it’s easier to find if I drop it.

Then there was this needle case. isn’t it pretty?

There were all sorts of kits and patterns available too. This shawl pattern caught my eye, though when I’ll ever get around to making I, who knows?

When I got home I downloaded a couple of other patterns that were made up on stalls . I certainly have lots to be getting on with.

What a weekend!

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Retail Therapy at the Racecourse

Posted on by Jackie B

I had a lovely day yesterday. I went to the first ever ~North East Wool Show with two friends who are also keen knit/crochet/sew/crafty people. The event was held over two days at Newcastle’s Gosforth Park Racecourse. The main building is full accessible. I’ve been to events there before so I had no worries about getting round on my disability scooter.

Inside the building we found dozens of stalls, full of yarn, spinning fibre and all sorts of woolly paraphernalia .and spent several very pleasant hours, browsing and buying, with pauses for refreshment. As we went on the Sunday (Saturday sold out) we missed the sale of sheep fleeces, but it was not hard to guess this has been held in the tunnel at the back of the building that retained a distinct sheepy odour…..suspicions were confirmed as a stray wisp of white fluff wafted by!

I came home with quite a haul, though I think I was quite restrained when you consider all the lovely items on sale….and it was all so colourful, with all those gorgeous skeins of wool on display, There were also kits of every type (knitting, needle felting, hookwork, embroidery….you name it) and some beautiful knitted, woven and crocheted garments and softs furnishings.

We all end up with magazines and books we no longer need or want and a rather nice idea was the book swap table – people had donated their unwanted knitting/crochet reading matter – items could be taken in return for a donation to a local hospice. I donated to get this book about Fair Isle knitting – it’s full of information, pattern and design ideas, and even full instructions on methods of steeking -when knitting in the round you have a continuous pattern, but steeking enables you to cut into the finished knitting to create an opening – at the front of a cardigan for example – The idea of it has always sounded terrifying to me but this could give me the confidence to try.

My next purchase was this natural dye starter kit from Blotz Natural Dyes– something I’ve wanted to try for ages – it includes small quantities of three dye plants and three mordants along with protective gloves and a mask and items to measure out the materials . While I was buying this the loud reversing beep on my scooter may have drowned out a tiny bit of the stallholders’ interview on local radio. Sorry Blotz!

There were several stalls selling fibre for spinning in all sorts of sumptuous and soft blends and colours. It was a very difficult decision but I ended up with these:

  • From Adelaide Walker A Merin0/Shetland/Corridale blend in shades of green and teal with sari silk adding little pops of red – This colourway is named “Rainforest”
  • From Wooltops some undyed Corriedale roving – I’ve never spun sheep from this breed before but hear good things about it. I had an interesting chat with the stallholder about the lineage of the breed, which includes Merino for softness and Lincoln Longwool for lustre and staple length.
  • From Tine and Floyd, two braids , one is in a merino/suri alpaca blend, in shades of pink and purple, the other is merino and bamboo, in vivid pinks with streaks of shimmery white. There were some little thank you gifts in the bag too – herbal tea and a lavender bag.

I enjoyed a lovely long chat with Tine from Tine and Floyd. That’s one of the things I love about events like this – you get to meet the traders and ask questions, handle the wool and fibre – it’s essential with something so tactile. Online shopping is really convenient but nowhere near as much fun.

I also bought some knitting accessories – a short circular sock needle and some stitch markers – you can never have too may stitch markers – both were bought from Knitting for Fun

Finally, I couldn’t resist this. It’s a set of markers on a shawl pin – very pretty, and useful too, purchased from The Cocoon Tree.

I bumped into several friends from my knitting and spinning groups too so it became quite the social occasion.

With a sellout first day and great comments from the traders about how successful it has been, we’ll all be keeping our fingers crossed that the event will be back again next year.

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On the needles. The Jacob Jumper

Posted on by Jackie B

A while ago I ‘rescued’ some Jacob fleeces, that proved to be quite a challenge even before I began to card it ready for spinning – you can read about that here. I recently decided what to do with it.

I’ve been going to a couple of spinning groups and through one of these I did a day course on English Long Draw spinning. To the uninitiated this creates a fluffier airier yarn. It’s also perfect for fairly short fibres (around 1.5 inches) with some crimp. We practiced handcarding to make rolags before learning the long draw technique. The carding process opens up the locks of fleece and organises the fibres so they lie parallel across the carder, and are then rolled off the teeth into a sausage shape or rolag. We were provided with samples of wool from 4 different sheep breeds to learn with and I finished spinning and plying them at home (pictured top to bottom,Portland, Shetland, Ryland and Zwartbles).

There’s nothing like a big project to hone your skills so once I realised that the Jacob fleece was perfect for long draw I searched for a suitable pattern. I wanted to separate the black and white fibre and spin it separately to make a black and white patterned sweater, but nothing too complex. I found the Lata sweater on Ravelry – the pattern has a very simple 4 row repeat and resembled a houndstooth check …..

…..or even, as a friend reminded me, the Northumbrian tartan!

I got carding to make those rolags and soon was able to start spinning….

…and plying to make a 2ply yarn. It’s quite soft to the touch.

The sweater is nearly complete – I am halfway through knitting the second sleeve. The cuffs, round neck and waist are worked in knit2 purl2 rib in the black yarn, which sets off the pattern perfectly. I’m really pleased with how it’s going.

Not bad for some dirty fleece that was destined for the bonfire!

Have you ever rescued something from being thrown away and made it into something nice and new?

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Amazing Alpacas at Northumberland County Show

Posted on by Jackie B

As I mentioned in a post last week, we went to the County Show last Friday, the first time this event has been held for three years. I spent quite a while watching the alpaca competition.

Since the last time the show was held I learnt to spin yarn and was lucky enough to be gifted a large quantity of raw alpaca fibre, much of which has been prepared, spun and knitted up into various items. For this reason I’ve developed a bit of an interest in these charming animals so it was really interesting to watch some of the classes.

It’s always fascinating to hear an expert share their knowledge and that certainly happened here. The judge took to the microphone after giving the results of each class and explained the reasons for his choices in detail. He described the good (and less good) points on each of the animals. He began by saying what he thought of he conformation of the animal (its basic shape and proportions, as with all animal judging): he wanted to see a straight back, strong legs and good build for the age of the alpaca (youngsters will still be growing). He was also judging the alpaca’s fleece: its length, density, fineness and condition. Some animals seemed to like the process better than others. some were happy being led into the ring by their owners and stood beautifully still while the judge felt their body shape through that lovely thick blanket of fibre. Others protested a bit!

I got chatting to one of the exhibitors who had won an earlier class. Her small herd is a fairly recent venture. She was absolutely delighted to get such a result at her very first show and didn’t quite believe it when the judge placed her animal first.

I have been spinning and knitting with Suri alpaca for a while since some was given to me by some lovely friends of my brother and his wife – it’s quite different in texture to the much more common Huacaya alpaca. Having got to know the fibre well, I was delighted that there were some classes for Suri – I had never seen one of these alpacas in the flesh so I waited around to watch them in the ring.

A couple of the Suri competitors

They look quite different from the fluffy Huacayas, . The locks of fibre hang down like dreadlocks. The Suri breed are quite rare, making up only about 10% of the population.

The Suri class

My other reason to visit the alpaca tent was to pick up a fleece. I’ve previously plied hand dyed alpaca singles with black sheep wool and I love the effect when it’s knitted up. At some point I’d like to do a bigger project like a sweater on similar lines in pure alpaca. I have used black acid dye but it seemed a better idea to use a natural black fibre. A couple of weeks back I picked up some grey alpaca for one of my online knit and Natter Group from someone who keeps a small herd near here. She had no black fibre herself, but put me in touch with Debbie Rippon from Barnacre Alpacas. There is a large established herd of some 300 at Barnacre, including black animals. Debbie was exhibiting at the show and agreed to bring a couple of fleeces with her for me to have a look at.

A corner of the marquee was set up with a few stalls selling knitted items in alpaca, made by some of the exhibitors. I’d arranged to meet Debbie there and she showed me what she’d brought – two gorgeous fleeces, one brown-black and a stunning blue-black which I chose. This came from a female names Hippolyta, her first fleece as a youngster.

Hippolyta (photo D Rippon)

I’m looking forward to prepping and spinning this beautiful black cloud of fluff!

Also located in the alpaca tent were members of the Tynedale Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, demonstrating their work. It was lovely chatting to some fellow spinners and they invited me to come along to a future meeting, which I hope to at some point over the next few months.

Considering the alpaca were only one small part of the show, I certainly got a lot out of spending some time there.

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Knit and Natter Round Up – September 2021

Posted on by Jackie B

Our online Knit and Natter Group members have completed a number of projects over the last month

Y is such a prolific knitter. She completed this commission – an adult sweater in a deep raspberry shade, with a complex cable design

She’s also nearly finished making this man’s sweater – just the neck and the side seams to go….and probably finished by the time I write this.

She’s also been working on a Childs sweater – it’s a project from her Knit In A Box subscription.

If all that wasn’t enough, Y has been spinning too and recently made this beautiful black (Welsh Black Mountain) and white (Dorset) yarn. She spins in the grease and it looked quite yellow when it was first spun but now it’s washed the white has come out really bright. It’s stunning!

R has been making squares for a blanket. These are knitted in different designs, either textured or multicoloured, using a palette of red, green, gold and white

L finished a crocheted blanket for her step granddaughter, in black and grey with a touch of sparkle.

A has been working on a waistcoat for herself in this lovely soft grey yarn.

I finished the scarf I’ve been knitting on Friday. I used my handspun, hand-dyed alpaca yarn. I wore it over the weekend and it’s lovely and warm.

I also started spinning some black Shetland wool.

It’s always fun to see what everyone is working on.

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A Jacob’s Fleece Challenge

Posted on by Jackie B

A while back I had an email from a friend – someone she knew had some Jacob fleeces available. She knows I spin and wondered if I was interested. It turned out that the lady in question’s daughter was house sitting and looking after a small flock of Jacob’s sheep. They had been sheared and the fleeces would be thrown away or burnt if nobody wanted them.

I asked for four – two for me and two for my friend Y. The fleeces were at the other end of the country but another family member was visiting and brought them back so I could pick them up locally.

I didn’t know what to expect really. I have read about premium spinning fleeces where the sheep are coated to keep the fibre clean and free of vegetable matter (VM). I certainly wasn’t expecting that but when I unpacked the fleece I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge.

It had been packed away wet and absolutely stank. It was pretty dirty, with discolored tips, lots of VM and a fair amount of second cuts (very short bits of fibre where the shearer had gone over the sheep twice).

I took it outside and put it on the skirting rack to remove the dung tags and as many second cuts and bits of VM as I could before washing it in the sink with washing up liquid and boiling water. Urgh! The water turned the colour of builders’ tea!

After repeating the process three times the water was running clear – hopefully I’d done enough to remove the lanolin from the fibre too. I hung it up to dry and thankfully the dreadful smell had disappeared.

I’ve recently acquired some fibre combs and these have come in handy to prepare the fleece for spinning. There is some wastage (those pesky second cuts). I’ve separated out some of the black and white fibre and combed it separately. Where the colours can’t be separated they blend to a rather lovely grey. The fibre feels quite soft with a lovely crimp……I’m looking forward to spinning it.

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From An Alpaca’s Back to Mine!

Posted on by Jackie B

If you read my round up of recent Knit and natter group projects you’ll have noticed that I finally completed my striped alpaca sweater.

It’s been a long process – I washed and carded the fibre, then spun it until I thought I had enough (with plenty to spare) I chain plied the singles to get a more consistent thickness. It stands to reason that the more strands you ply together, the more even the final yarn will be as any variations will average out – I find plying with more than two bobbins a bit fiddly so chain plying seemed like the way forward and my technique certainly improved plying enough for a sweater.

The next stage was to dye the fibre , also something of a learning curve (you can read more about that here)

I was trying to reproduce the colours of a bought sweater I had years ago but always loved. I almost got it right though the coral pink should have been much paler.

I chose a simple V-neck pattern with set in sleeves as I didn’t wasn’t to worry about matching up the stripes where the sleeves meet the front and back. Unfortunately I hadn’t noticed that there was some shaping there and when I completed the first sleeve it looked totally wrong (and was too long). I fell out with the project for several weeks, then bit the bullet and did some calculations to get the sleeves to the right length and match up the stripes.

This time it worked just fine and it was soon finished.

I’m really pleased with the result. It fits well and the V-neck is just right – not too deep.

This is my biggest handspun project so far, and the first where I’ve dyed the yarn. it’s even more satisfying that I made it from scratch from the raw fibre.

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Knitting With A View: Burnmouth

Posted on by Jackie B

Today we ended up in Burnmouth, a coastal village just North of the Scottish Border, that nestles at the foot of sea cliffs.

The sea was rough but there were a few birds sheltering among the rocks: greater black backed and herring gulls, oystercatchers and a lone heron.

While K took Buddy for a walk I got on with my knitting – I cast on this scarf earlier in the week. It’s the Ox scarf by Angela Mühlpfordt and I’m using 100% alpaca yarn that I’ve spun and dyed myself.

K is interested in geology and informs me that the rocks here are about 345 million years old, from the Carboniferous Period. He and Buddy made their way south towards where a rockfall had come down from the cliff.

They came across this bed of fossils.

These are the remains of burrows made by an ancient worm-like creature.

There’s always something interesting to find on this coast!

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Dyeing to Cast On

Posted on by Jackie B

Since my first attempt with acid dyes the other week I’ve been immersion dyeing some of my handspun alpaca fibre. The plan is to make a striped jumper for myself in pink and blue shades. had one in these colours years ago and although it was acrylic and mass produced I always loved those colours so I tried to copy them. I’m using a Drops pattern for the sweater but changing the stripe pattern – I worked out the total yardage needed for the pattern and divided it by the number of colours (6 including natural/undyed to get the amount for each batch (plus more of the colour I’m using for welt, cuffs and neckband). I hope I’ve been generous enough with my estimates!

Never one to throw anything away and always trying to find a second life for single use plastics I cut up plastic carrier bags to loosely tie the skeins of undid yarn using a figure of eight – this stops the strands bunching together so the dye reaches them.

Each batch was weighed to calculate the amount of dye needed and soaked for an hour in plain water.

Immersion dyeing seems to give the best solid colour. I I followed the instructions in the dye kit I have from DT Crafts to mix 1% dye solutions with citric acid. The dye baths were prepared with about 4l water plus the dye solution measured out for each batch of yarn dry weight and heated in the hob to just under a simmer for 20 minutes or until the dye cleared.

The pan was then left to cool and then the yarn rinsed, gently squeezed in a towel and hung to dry. I hook the skeins over the back of a clothes peg so it dries easier and without kinks.

The first batch used Hue and Dye blue, in a 1% solution 100mls for every 100g dry weigh yarn and it gave a lovely cornflower blue – exactly what I wanted. The navy dye in the kit had a hint of purple and I wanted it bluer so I mixed my navy and blue 1% stock dyes 50:50 – the colour needed to be darker so I used twice as much (200mls per 100g dry weigh yarn)

For the deep burgundy colour I used 5 parts red to 2 parts blue with a tiny drop (less than 1ml) of 1% black, at 200mls per 100g – the double strength gave a good deep colour.

The blush pink needed to be very pale – I mixed 5 parts red to 1 part blue and diluted the mix to 0.1% (a tenth of the original stock solution this came out rather deeper than expected, almost salmon rather than pale blush

The final dye lot was supposed to be a fuchsia pink with a violet hue – I experimented with different proportions adding a drop onto kitchen paper to compare samples. In the end I mixed 9 parts magenta to 1 part violet. – it looked perfect on the paper but came out more of a cerise pink – it seemed that the red pigment took to the yarn more intensely than the blue pigment.

My only worry was the two pink shades (I’m very fussy about colours). I could have spun more yarn and done another batch with a more dilute dye mix to give a paler version. I could have overdyed the cerise pink with a dilute blue/violet to give the desired result. I actually love both the pinks I dyed, so I decided to keep them and just make sure that the knitted stripes of these shades are not adjacent to each other. After trying various combinations I decided on this sequence, starting with the navy for the ribbing.

And now I’m cast on! With sweaters and other large items I tend to knit them on and off over several months so it will be a while but I will post updates, This will be the first Item I’ve made for myself from the raw alpaca I got last year – I have done several small Items as gifts – it’s also my first hand dyed garment – so quite a landmark project.

Have you made something from animal (in my case friends’ alpaca) to finished garment? I’d love to hear about it.