Fibrecraft adventures

Jamie | knitting, spinning, dyeing replies & follows from alicelalaith

[jamiesansible]

Trying something new today. I bought a colourful braid in my local yarn shop - something I never do. But the colour was too fun to pass on, so I’ll be making star ornaments as Christmas presents. (Stjärna by Karolina Eckerdal)

I really don’t like the barber pole effect you can get as colours mix - especially when it is high contrast. So, separate out the colours, then blend so the sections are more homogenous.

The idea is to have three different yarns:

- Red with gold

- Green with white and gold

- White with green and red

Here’s a quick test of the red and gold. [1.5mm needles, 4sts per cm]. I chain plyed it and didn’t blend it (hand carders are three hours away) but I think it could work.

[jamiesansible]

Recent spin: I lost the label but it’s something like 100g of flax, wool and tencel. It’s lovely and drapey - I’m just glad it’s done. I need to start making things with a purpose in mind because it’s gone straight in the yarn box.

And a recent knit: The colour really is that bright! It’ll be a Christmas present - never too early to start making things!

[jamiesansible]

I taught my friend to knit about three months ago. When I saw her recently, she showed me her work. It was all lovely, really even tension, but there was a rough bit about thirty rows down. Turns out she didn’t know how to join a new ball of yarn, and instead of looking it up (or asking me??) she tied a knot, SUPER GLUED it, and then cut the ends super short. Insane behaviour.

[jamiesansible]

Closeups of the Great Tapestry of Scotland, Galashiels

I spent a long time looking at it. And while the skill of the artists overall is incredible, I found the rocks particularly enchanting.

[jamiesansible]

New warp on the loom. Looks a bit like water!

[jamiesansible]

Same warp, different colours. No idea what I’m going to do with it!

[jamiesansible]

New warp on the loom. Looks a bit like water!

[jamiesansible]

My drive band snapped yesterday. Which, fine, but I’m in the middle of a move so my stuff is everywhere and I had no suitable replacements.

After a trip to tesco gather my thoughts (and buy chocolate), I decided to tie the snapped band back together and swap to the smaller whorl. I’ve not spun flax before and these were not the circumstances I wanted to practice under, but I ended up with three lengths of linen yarn.

I’ve waxed them (I don’t know where I saw that) and the one I’m using works great! With luck, I’ll never be in the situation again.

I’m also not sure I’m in love with flax spinning but I’ll try again when I’m less annoyed. Now back to the spinning I wanted to do.

[jamiesansible]

I’ve not touched my crafting supplies since November and am trying to pick up old projects. But my hands seem to remember what to do.

Ply back test for the 25g Shetland I had left. Eventually chain plied it.

[jamiesansible]

Weaving continues to amaze me. It feels pretty magical to be able to make fabric that looks like fabric.

This is a secret Christmas present for my flatmate. There is no way to hide my the loom from her in my tiny flat, so I’ve told her it’s for my sister.

[jamiesansible]

Thank you! I am fortunate to live in an area with a strong textile tradition. You can find cones of weaving yarn in charity shops for ~£3 or there are dedicated second hand craft shops scattered around. A lot of the weaving yarn I’ve picked up comes from a specific mill near where my parents stay, but I’ve also acquired discount yarns from a different mill directly in the past.

I’ve been collecting it for a while to use when learning to weave, however finding ways to use it together has been a challenge. There is a lot of variety in the amount, fibre content, weight and colour, and not a lot suitable to use for a warp (I didn’t know what I was looking for at first!) But I find that working within limited perimeters forces you to be more creative. This also makes it affordable for me to pursue this hobby!

[jamiesansible]

Weaving continues to amaze me. It feels pretty magical to be able to make fabric that looks like fabric.

This is a secret Christmas present for my flatmate. There is no way to hide my the loom from her in my tiny flat, so I’ve told her it’s for my sister.

[jamiesansible]

More weaving for Christmas presents. I still need to wash / finish the more colourful scarf. I think I’m getting more of a handle on warping and tensioning though.

[jamiesansible]

My spinning from the last two months.

I’m trying to clear out my stash and try new things - chain plying, contrasting 3-ply, flax spinning (though I have nothing to show for that), spinning with different ratios on my wheel. The last experiment snapped my drive band unfortunately.

Bonus highland cow I saw yesterday.

[jamiesansible]

100g BFL, Gotland and Teeswater that I picked up at a fibre festival last month. Spun contrasting 3ply and will hopefully become socks.

I love the colours so much, but it was definitely staining my fingers as I was spinning. I washed it until the water ran clean though so hopefully it’s fine now. I don’t often spin fancy dyed fibre so that was a new experience for me.

[jamiesansible]

These look fun so I’ve caved and made a poll. Steal something from me (please):

Broken castle spinning wheel that sat in a shop window for 10+ years

Vintage bobbin winder with a small wobble

Three washed fleeces of undetermined breed

800g discount yarn from a nearby spinning mill

Collection of dyeing and foraging books, specific to my area

42L plastic tub of weaving yarn

Copper dye pot

Vintage umbrella swift without a clamp

Voting ended onOct 19, 2024

[jamiesansible]

I am learning to weave. Slowly. I love how the colours come together, but one day I would like to do a craft where tension doesn’t matter.

I have I few things I’m going to change with my next warp to see if I can improve my tension issues. But you can’t expect to be perfect when you’re learning!

[jamiesansible]

My flat has moths. They are eating my yarn and my fibre and my clothing and I am losing my mind trying to freeze everything in my tiny freezer and shove it into moth-proof plastic boxes.

On the up side, it’s forcing me to go through my stash. I have several things I want to make - some Christmas presents, some for me. I have also given away a lot of hand spun yarn after de-mothing it.

I’m starting with 100g of blue Shetland cobweb lace yarn that has either been munched on by moths or doesn’t have much structural integrity. It was given to me by my aunt when she was destashing (it is tangled and she doesn’t have the patience to deal with it). My plan is to run it through my wheel and then knit some socks for her Christmas.

I’ve also knit some more stash busting socks that I personally hate but everyone around me likes. I keep saying that I won’t knit anymore socks but I just can’t stop making them.

[jamiesansible]

I finally mostly spun my 400g black Shetland into a 3ply DK. I love the colour and it’s beautifully squishy. I can’t wait to knit with it. I’m thinking of making it into a button up vest.

I have another 100g I bought from a local yarn shop (while enquiring about renting their drum carder - fingers crossed that works out) but it’s for a friend’s historical reenactment costume.

I’ve also given my spinning wheel a good clean and oil, and finally made myself a little bag for my spinning tools. It’s from last weeks attempts at weaving.