I am very lucky to be in possession of some very luxurious fibres so what better than to spin them and ply them all together!!!!
Being this close to Christmas I will put it on Etsy. The three plys are Yak, Cashmere and Baby Camel and Silk. It's just gorgeous!!! There is 251 metres or 274 yards of yarn, weighs 110g or 3.88 oz, 18 wraps per inch. In Australia terms that is about a 4-5 ply type yarn.
Yak on the bobbin
Baby Camel and silk on the bobbin
Baby camel silk, Cashmere and Yak during plying.
During plying.
Tah Dah.....done!!
It is very soft and there are no breaks in it at all, unlike store bought. Not to mention, there is no wool like it anywhere.
We have quite a lot of concerts coming up over the next couple of months. So many I feel like a concert hog but before you judge, consider this. In NZ the likelihood of frequenting the good shows are slim and slim unless you live in a major center (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch).
So anyway...we went to Pearl Jam the other night, first time we have been to the Etihad Stadium. We were in the mosh and unfortunately didn't get there early so we were not right up the front. Bad move when you are 5ft nothing in feet. Add to the experience, a bad back (woe is me). By about 10 o'clock we had had enough, especially the smokers in the mosh and no water at the bar. Up side is we had a near empty train on the way home.
That was the lows of the night, the highs were there too!!! Pearl Jam was pretty damn good for ole fellas!!! Being around a long time I knew their music a bit but can't confess to being a drop down fan. The lead up on the other hand was more up my ally. Started with Liam Finn and Jimmy Barnes' daughter EJ. I have seen them both at the Rock Wiz Xmas show last year. The highlight for me was the next act, Ben Harper and the Relentless7.
FANTASTIC!!!! and I have a pic or two. The lead singer of Pearl Jam Eddie Vedder, came out and sang Freddie Mercury and David Bowie's duet, Under Pressure. Bloody Marvelous!!!!
Next week is Rock Wiz's Xmas show again. Keep coming back to this post as I'll put up pics etc of all the shows we go to from now till ACDC in Feb!!
Rock Wiz's Xmas Show24/11/2009 Last night was Rock Wiz's Xmas Show at the Palais (24/11/2009). We went to their last Xmas show 2 yrs ago so we had to go again. As usual there is a whole lotta guests I have no clue why they are. But there are usually a couple I do know. Tex Perkins was back, he guest hosts when Julia is away. John Paul Young did a duet with Vikka (nup no clue), Kasey Chambers and her Dad did a song, know who she is so that was a treat!! And Joe Camalleri finished off, he was there last time too.
The pics really suck as we were kinda down the back a bit for this one..
Brian
First Act
Julia talking to the first guest.
Kasey Chambers and her Dad
Tex Perkins doing an Elvis song
John Paul Young and Vikka
Joe Camalleri
The finale. Great show, got the shirt (bloody sight cheaper that Pearl Jams one and better quality), will go again next time!!!
I thought I might add some photos of my wheels and things. I started out mostly restoring old clangers but I have moved up a bit with some newer models which I must say are very nice. Now I am not alone in having more than one wheel and for the most part each wheel is used at some stage. Each wheel has it's own uses and name. Not as strange as it sounds. Here are my girls......
The Ashfords firstly a clanger I restored for the kids to use, she's a lovely Ashford Traditional wheel, about circa 1970's.
My girls, Gertie and Bianca, they are Ashford Travellers, circa 1980's, fully upgraded and pimped
Now to a couple of little beauties I got just cause they are pretty.
The Phillip Poore Saxony wheel. Nicely made but not in production any more. I think Phillip was based in Auckland NZ.
She's the cutie in the front there.
And the John Rappard, Wee Peggy, she was in a shocking state when I got her and I had to completely rebuild her flyer as it was badly broken. She was made in Dunedin NZ.
She's the one on the left, I affectionately call her Princess Piggy, she is what you call a castle wheel, double drive instead of scotch tension.
OK. Onto the Majacrafts, another well made New Zealand Wheel. Firstly, my wee work horse, the Majacraft Suzie, called Jemima, on account of her looking rather like a duck.
That is her sitting next to Princess Piggy but here she is all pimped up...and no wheel is worth it's salt as a work horse without a cup holder
And here is my latest indulgence. Jemima was getting a bit dinged up going out and about so I got a more portable travel wheel. Introducing, Lucy Goosey, the Majacraft Little Gem.
Maja's are hugely interchangeable. Jemima is sporting a Rose whorl so she doesn't over spin and Lucy has the Suzie whorl on for the same reason.
I also made an electric spinner, just cause I could. It has an Ashford Jumbo flyer unit on it, powered by an old sewing machine motor with a foot pedal for speed control.
And of course no spinner can really get by without a drum carder. Of course this is the bane of my life as it caused my arm injury...
This is my brand new Ashford carder coming out of the box. I am currently banned from carding until my arm heals.
A few months ago now, I visited a very dear friend who has an organic farm and got some merino cross fleece. I dyed this fleece and proceeded to card it on my drum carder so I could gift it to a very dear friend in the US. Big Mistake!!! I am usually a frequent visitor to my chiropractor and after that he applied acupuncture to my arm as well for RSI. That was 10 months ago and I am still tormented by the injury. Knitting is OUT, I have at least 3 unfinished projects for knitting and everytime I do a row, it hurts. SOOOOOOO depressing when you like to knit anything..
So after 10 months I am very depressed at my limited knitting abilities. Thank goodness I have discovered weaving...I will post some pics and info on my weaving adventures as well..but not now...I need to go to the chiro and have my back seen too, minus insurance, which will hurt...money wise, but since I can barely walk.............................bleh......
m1 = make 1(usually by picking up the loop in the middle)
I used hand spun which was about 6-8ply thickness and 4.5mm needles.If it looks a bit big around the neck you can always take a couple of sts off each section or add on if you wish.My cardi’s fitted Pip and her sister Kam aged 3 and 5 but could easily fit up to 7yrs.
Continue increasing either side of the markeruntil bodice is the desired length, adding button holes evenly (about every 17 rows).
Dividing for the body..
Knit to the marker, put sleeve sts on a holder or spare piece of yarn, CO 7 sts, k across the back to marker, put sleeve sts on a holder, CO 7 sts, k to end.
K and P 2 rows keeping the band sts intact.
Start body pattern.
You can make the bodice as big as you need simply by carrying on the increase till you attain the right size.You can also put as many button holes as you wish.
Row: 8 * Knit the knit stitches; purl the purl stitches; purl the yarn over loops, repeat from *
Row: 9 * p1, ssk, yo, k2-tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, yo, k2-tog, p1, repeat from *
Row: 10 * Knit the knit stitches; purl the purl stitches; purl the yarn over loops, repeat from *
Repeat Rows 3 - 10
Carry on in pattern, keeping the band sts at either end and adding button holes as you go.Do as many rows of garter st as to make it an even width with the bands and cast off.
Sleeves.
Pick up 7 sts under the arm, k up the sleeves sts.
If there are any holey gaps, you can fix them now.I usually pick up a sts then knit it together with the next st.
If you wish you can do the pattern on the sleeves too.Just add what ever sts you need in the next 2 rows of plain stst.
I did plain stst sleeves and decreased one st evenly about every 6th row, then 3rd for 6 rows just to taper it a bit.
To finish off do the same amount of garter st rows as on your bottom band and cast off.
Nb you can adapt the size and use any lace or pattern that you desire or adapt it to any size needle and yarn.
Welcome to my very first blog post. I am a fanatical spinner and I am trying all the different fleeces all over the world, that I can get my hands on of course. In some cases I have to buy in bulk, so I am able to offer samples to others through my Etsy Store.
Thus far I have spun..... From New Zealand
NZ Half Breed****
Polwarth****
Gotland**.5
Merino****.5
Merino/Possum blend*****
From Australia
English Leicester**.5
Border Leicester*
Merino****.5
Corriedale****
Polwarth****
Romney **
Mohair (from Angora Goats) ****
Angora (from Rabbits)*****.5
Cashmere (from goats)*****.5
East Friesian Milking sheep***
Finniah Landrace***.5
Perendale**
Alpaca*****
Silk****
Baby Camel*****.5
Texel**
Hemp*
Cormo****.5
From the UK and Northern Europe and Asia (and one from South America)
Blue Faced Leicester***.5
Black Welsh***
Icelandic**
Norwegian*
Yak Down*****
Tussah Silk****
Egyptian Cotton *****
Jacob*
Wensleydale **.5
Teeswater**.5
Falkland***
Shetland***
Camel (in a blend)*****
Alpaca (in a blend)*****
South American***
Merino/bamboo****
Superwashed BFL****
And from the USA, but only in small amounts so far..
Rambouillet****.5
Targhee****.5
Blue Faced Leicester***.5
43 down 37 to go....On the wish list is Navajo Churro. I don't actually know how many other breeds I have to go. Some fibres have been soft, some medium some coarse. I think I will do a simple * system, with 1* being coarse and ***** super soft. Some I have given a .5.
There is a slight difficulty getting fibres into Australia. I have no problem with it at all but I miss out on seeing what the wool is like straight from the sheep. All wool bought in from OS must be processed for Quarantine reasons, fair enough.
Right, so if you haven't guessed, I am one of the growing numbers of people who are looking back to the old ways, where hand made gifts were appreciated and valued. In this day and age, where disposable products abound for minimal cost, you must ask why one would go back in time?
The simple answer is, no store bought product can shake a tail at my home made goods in either quality or uniqueness. All my FO's (or finished objects in long hand), are one of a kind products. You will not find any yarn or goods, anywhere to match mine, even if it is done by another spinner. She may come close but it will never be exactly the same.
Better stop for this post... This is just the tip of the iceberg and I will go through my achievements and daily trials from now on......Welcome to My World...
.JPG)
