Back again.

Well it's been ages since I last wrote about anything. I have been doing fibre related things but I must say that my blogging mojo left me. I'm hoping that with the onset of the colder weather and the increase in activity in the woolroom may give me some inspiration. It didn't help that we have had a really bad internet service for the majority of the year as they are upgrading the broadband locally. Sadly we had to have our border collie Dan put to sleep in March as he was having too many severe epileptic seizures but we got a puppy to fill the gap! She is now 9 months old and is a joy to have.

 

Connie

 

Over the summer I have been doing plenty of spinning and in order to speed up the process I invested in a swing picker made by Classic Carders in Bridgnorth.

 

 

 

It has proven to be a good choice and I have munched my way through several fleeces playing with it. I just need to get on with the drum carding now! Today I took the dogs for a lovely walk along our quiet country lanes looking at the lovely autumn colours which may inspire future dyeing sessions.

 

 

 

 



Blending board adventures.

About a year ago I bought an Ashford blending board and had a dabble with making arty rolags with it and I wasn't that impressed. In fact I had decided to sell it and left it in my work room under a table. However I have watched a couple of classes over the internet which has changed my mind! Both of these are by Esther Rodgers, one is a Craftsy class and the other is an Interweave DVD. I am now hooked! My latest project uses an assortment of hand dyed locks from a range of fleeces. Some are longer and some are a bit coarser but all are the remnants of other projects or colours that I decided not to use at that time.

 I split them in to locks, flicked them out a bit and blended them a couple of times on the board. Then I pulled off a roving as Esther demonstrated and I ended up with a huge ball of multi-coloured roving. I then spun a lofty singles yarn which I am using as a weft in my Saori weaving.

 

 

I have lots of ideas for more colourways and I am currently blending some naturally dyed tops with added sparkly bits/silk and some alpaca. I am so glad to have found a use for my blending board as they are not cheap to buy and I can also find a use for all those odd bits of wool.