Dyeing Day 2015

It was much better weather the following week and a few of us got together to have a dyeing session at Ann's. In particular we wanted to have a go at dyeing some self striping yarn, as our resident expert was unable to join us (we missed you Jayne) we followed the book that the group bought recently.

 

So the book came out and off we go - yarn and roving soon filled every sink and bucket Ann possessed to soak

Robyn had some roving to dye it was a grey/beige mix from Leo and it will be interesting to see how the colours come out over the subtle colour of the roving and Hilda had some alpaca she wanted to dye to spin and make something for her grandson

The book suggested winding an extra long skein using parking meters but we couldn't find any of those so Ann used chairs!

And used a dipping method to make a tricolour yarn

She then finished with her own method of squishing the dye along the yarn to blend - worked a treat!

I wound long skeins on a warping frame

Here I am with yarn laid out, debating what colour to start with

and I'm off, using a painting method and rolling in plastic to keep the colours separate as I go

I finished with a splattered effect

Ann painting some hand spun merino, graduating the colour as she goes

Another painted self striping skein, I want to weave these yarns so I dyed one skein with long sections for the warp and shorter sections for the weft - what could possibly go wrong!

As ever I am too impatient to wait 48 hours so I steamed my yarn, rinsed it and here it is hung to dry

Back on the frame to skein up

This is a 3 ply merino, I measured and dyed it to weave but looking at the skein it would make lovely socks!

This is a DK merino to be woven

 

I painted this merino roving in a rainbow - it takes ages to dry, to open the fibres back up I found a button to diz it into a pencil roving - I can't wait to try spinning this - if it ever dries!

  

Robyn's roving is cooked and ready to dry

Ann's wool, hanging to dry

Dry and skeined

Ann's wool in a beautiful range of pinks and purples - the new squishing method has produced a lovely blend

The pinky, sunset colours in Ann's hand spun merino

 

And the finished skein - just gorgeous - pretty enough to leave as a skein!

 

It was a great day as always, we just got packed away as the rain started and my plans of being home at lunch time soon went out of the window - I got home after 5!

Spinning Day at Valerie's

We had planned a dyeing day at Valerie's today but the weather didn't play ball so we sat by the fire, spun, wove and chatted and chatted - it was a lovely morning

 

 

 

Barbara showed us her shrug and we were intrigued as to how it was put together. Barbara used a commercially produced NZ merino yarn

So she folded it differently and all became clear - clever

I love things that a nice and simple but look so effective

She also finished another sweater, she has been a busy girl!

This was in a beautiful heather colour. It was spun from two shades of grey alpaca from Southern Alpacas blended with red silk - so soft, gorgeous

And a close up of the lovely colours

 

Hilda made this little beanie to try it for size for her new little grandson - so cute

 

 Today had to be the day of the Sample It, several members have really taken to this little loom. Here Emily is in the process of weaving her first ever scarf - a houndstooth patterned scarf using a cotton/bamboo mix to make it really soft. It is a really effective colour combo.

Ann has woven a gorgeous autumnal scarf using the rest of Jessie's yarn - a self striping sock yarn, so Jessie will now have a scarf to match her socks!

 

Hilda made this lovely textured scarf using a self striping yarn in blues and greys

 

 

 This is another of Ann's scarves, this was made with a self striping sock yarn brought back from Scotland - I love these colours

  

And I have been making scarves too, the top one has some alpaca in it making it light and fluffy and the bottom two are cotton yarns.

The Sample It really is addictive!

Voila, Emily finished the scarf, another triumph and another Sample It addict in the making!

We wrapped up the day with our raffle being drawn by Val's neighbours - Thank you Jim and Dee

The raffle was a club fund raiser to keep our sub's down and was a great success enabling us to hopefully keep them down next year too

A big thank you to all of those that contributed to the prizes and those that supported us by buying tickets - The lucky winners

The toiletry hamper went to Louise Singh of Kirwee

and the craft hamper went to Emily Wright of Darfield

 

We then had a delicious shared lunch with plenty of food for the whole of Waddington!

 

March Home spin at Ann's

A few of us recently demonstrated some spinning and weaving at the Malvern A & P show, The group has an Ashford Sample It loom and I was using that to show some weaving. It is a great wee loom, very easy to travel with and always popular with the public too

 The striped scarf is made using a self striping sock yarn and the blue scarf is made using some hand spun perendale

 

 A couple of close ups of the sock yarn, I like the way the self striping yarns work

 

 This is some of Jayne's own cria fleece, taken from Radar - she has washed, carded and dizzed it herself - it is amazingly soft and we are all in awe of the beautiful quality fibre and yarn that she produces. Can't wait to see what she makes with it!

Anne is making a hat for her granddaughter and has found a yarn that comes complete with instructions and pompom!

 Anne also found this hand woven jacket in a charity store, it would be nice to think that the weaver who made this would be pleased that it had found another weaver that appreciated the amount of work that would have gone into making it in the first placeA close up of the weave

 

 Ann recently was sorting through her family home and found this hand knitted top made in 1956 by her mother along with her Scottish YHA membership card. The top was worn for YHA parties and is still looking beautiful today - just proves that wool stands the test of timeThe fineness and number of beads must have taken a huge amount of patience to make at the time

This blue skein is alpaca and silk - I think it was Pat's fibre, spun by Fay (I should take notes!)

Beautiful colours

 

 The high school are raising funds for cancer by shaving heads and selling beanies, here is one made by Valerie for the cause

 

Hilda's teddy has reached her grandson, Levi - ahhh