Gifts have been gifted and I can now reveal what became of my recently spun yarn. Fingerless mittens turn out to be perfect for accommodating the unevenness of handspun. This pair were knitted from the , they are ridiculously soft. And this pair from the . I’m particularly pleased with the Colinette pair – the [...]
When I saw Fyberspates tweet last week about adding new Sparkle fibre to their shop I was unable to resist. Pretty colours, glitter, merino & silk? Obviously I ordered two batches. It did not disappoint, I have already spun one lot. As usual, I hit no particular gauge, it’s something like a light DK. This is not my best [...]
I’ve had the spinning wheel out again, attempting to spin chunkier yarn. Exactly as I was warned when I , once you can spin fine, it’s near impossible to spin thickly. I’m not even talking particularly thick – aran weight would be great, I’ve got lots of uses for that. I didn’t quite manage it [...]
My spinning wheel has been staring at me from the corner of the room, guilt-tripping me for months. There’s no particular reason why I haven’t been spinning, other pastimes felt more appealing. As time passed, I started to dread that I might have lost the ability and it would be too much like hard work. [...]
When I bought my wheel back in April 2009, although I ordered a range of fibres, I got hooked on spinning dyed merino top because of the amazing range of colours available. With hindsight this wasn’t the easiest thing to learn with – it has a tendency to make a wirey, compacted yarn, even after carding. It’s [...]
A lot can happen in a few days in the business of spinning. I’ve been playing with the bits and bobs I bought following my spinning beginnings at The Handweavers Studio. The fibre is a dream to spin compared with the unwashed fleece used in the workshop, making the carders I bought superfluous, but I’m sure [...]
I’ve wanted to try my hand at spinning for some time – knitting a garment from scratch is pretty cool but knitting something from your own hand-spun yarn is a whole other level. There are the obvious advantages of being able to extend the creative process to yarn, getting the exact colour combination, blend and texture [...]