31 May 2013

Spinning for Bendigo

Over the past couple of weeks I haven't been able to indulge my fibre arts as much as I would like to, mainly due to my impending assignments and other study related tasks. So I found myself drawn to spinning more than knitting and crochet at the moment, especially when time is short, I can easily fit in a few minutes of spinning here and there without having to think about where I am at. And when I get into a rhythm when my wheel hums and the fibre just flows through my finger tips, ahhh, it's sheer bliss :)

Stormy Night: this is a blend of baby wool, alpaca and mohair. All dyed with food colours and hand carded, it's a 2-ply, roughly DK weight.
Virgo: this is a top from World of Wool in the Virgo colourway, a merino/silk blend. I love merino silk blend, such a fabulous combination, the resulting yarn is so soft and squishy. This is also a 2-ply but a fingering weight, I actually spun 2 skeins.
All these handspuns are stock contributions toward my friend's booth at the Bengido Sheep & Wool Show in July. I'd pledged 20 skeins so there are still quite a few to make up, back to the spinning wheel!

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

24 May 2013

A Felted Hat

Welcome to Fibre Arts Friday :)  Today's post is short and sweet, I'm showing you a felted hat. You might have heard me say before, I don't wear hats because I look hideous in a hat. So why am I making another hat? Maybe I was thinking of our trip to England and USA later in the year, who knows! But here it is...
The pattern is available for free on Ravelry, pattern page is here. The knitting was easy and it looked like this before felting:
Then I just threw it in the washing machine and washed it with some towels, then shaped with... you guessed it - a mixing bowl! But I'm not too happy about the brim, it looks a bit flimsy, and it feels a bit flimsy. I don't know what to do about that. Also, I'd like to add some embellishment with needle felting, but I can't decide on a pattern, or possibly I'm just too chicken to make a mess.

Remember Tricky Tricsi the little cardigan I was making for my goddaughter? I frogged it because it came out a bit small due to the thinner yarn than recommended and me messing up with maths.... well I started it again and I am almost done with the sleeves shaping, so hopefully I will have something to show you soon. Stay tuned...

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

17 May 2013

Expecting Little Grace Special... no, I'm not having another baby! ... not the human kind anyway ;)

Today I am very excited to announce that I am officially expecting Little Grace Special. If you are a spinner you might have heard of it, if not, please allow me to introduce this little beauty:
These wheels are individually handmade by Mr. Mike Keeves of Wakefield, New Zealand. I have been on the lookout for a second wheel for a while, after much research and deliberation I settled on the Little Grace Special because I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on a forum in Ravelry.

Here's a picture of Mr. Keeves in his workshop: (photo credit: GrannyCraft.com)
Mr. Keeves doesn't have any online presence, luckily he is contactable by email. So after some email exchanges I am now officially on the waiting list, currently stand at five months. I feel very privileged to be on the list as Mr. Keeves has been making the wheels since the 1970s and he is now in his advanced years.

There is a very interesting interview with Mr. Keeves on GrannyCrafts.com which can be found here.

I am so excited!!

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder and Natural Suburbia. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

10 May 2013

Prize Yarn, Handdyed Silk Hankies & a Handspun Dog!!

Hi! How are you this Friday? I'm in a happy mood today, the sun is shining, the sky blue, and I have just submitted my assignment, woohoo!

Sometime ago I entered a giveaway on Paula's blog, guess who was the lucky winner? Yep, it was yours truly! A packaged arrived this week and contained these gorgeous skeins:
The yarn is 100% certified organic merino and the colourway is English Lavender, you wouldn't believe how squishy and soft it is, and in my favourite colour! It is a fingering weight and about 396 yards, will need to find the perfect pattern worthy of this yummy yarn.

I didn't do much yarn crafts this week due to my assignment, just a little knitting and spinning but not much for showing. But I did have this stack of handdyed silk hankies to share with you:
I'm calling this Sunset, it was dyed with two packets of Orange KoolAid and dabs of Americolor Violet (food colour) cooked up in my crockpot. The colour came out surprisingly rich.

A lady from my spinning group brought in a dog made from handspun, I couldn't help but taking some photos. So please meet Bluey the red dog:
... here he is wearing a felted coat his owner Frances has made... that's Frances in the background in the photo above giving a demonstration in needle felting :)
I love fibre arts, don't you?

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!

03 May 2013

Hats!

Happy Fibre Arts Friday! Today's post is all about hats. First up is the Hand Dyed Rikke Hat that I started last week, it's finished and I'm really happy with it.
My tension is larger than the pattern called for, it stands at 19sts/10cm as opposed to 22st/10cm, so I only cast on 86 stitches. Which was just as well because I nearly run out of yarn!
I need to get a hat model at some stage, but for now you will have to be content with my mixing bowl ;)  This is a really simple pattern and knits up quickly, I'm not a hat person normally but I love this one. If you are looking for the pattern it can be found here.

The second hat is a baby one, another quick make. The Aviatrix Baby Hat has been in my queue for a long time and finally I got to make it.
I love it because it's made on two needles. To use an Aussie term, it is Easy As!
Please excuse the kitchen roll, I couldn't find a more suitable prop. The hat is intended for a friend's new baby boy, just hope I get to meet the little chap before he grows too big.

Oh I can happily report that the trial is finally over, yay! Now I can spend more time with my needles, hooks and spinning wheel... but wait, I've got one assignment that is overdue and another due in three weeks' time... oh bother! At least I can knit while reading ;)

In case anyone is interested in finding out what is like to be an interpreter, I just started An Interpreter's Diary here.

Thanks for dropping by, there is more fibre arts fun at Wisdom Begins in Wonder. Indulge your creative side and join the party!