A little bit of Weld

Oh well, at least some grew. I have been so late harvesting what I had in the garden I almost forgot it was there. I just caught it in time for the first frost. I havent harvested the woad though, I have been just too busy. Anyway, I dont know whether the late harvest affected the colour but it was not ‘the yellow by which all other yellows are measured’ as so often quoted for weld. As I am so sick of yellow and brown I added some copper modifier with more pleasing results. If I see any more yellow or brown I shall scream. I have been really depressed recently, but this lime green really cheered me up. Its amazing the effect it had.Which just goes to show what matters in life! This was some wool for a long haired sheep, spun on a spindle as being inexperienced I was struggling with the wheel.

100% weld with copper assistant, alum mordant

Ever onward in the spinning department

Having taught myself to spin with a drop spindle I plod on and on with it. I am beggining to wonder if a spinning wheel might not be such a bad idea. I am rather ambivilent about it, a spindle is so much more portable, cheaper and takes up less space, but I only do a small amount of spinning in between all the other things I do and it does seem very slow. My hunch is I shall be shelling out in the future for a wheel.

I am very lucky as I get a fairly constant supply of fleece from freecycle. I dont mind paying for fleece but I DO mind the cost of postage, which is totally disproportionate. The fleece I usually get is from Lleyn sheep. For  a description of this breed click here

http://www.lleynsheep.com/ For a list of other British breeds or US breeds scroll down to the spinning link on the right.

I have bought other posh fleece but I actually find this easier to handle, if its too fine I find it rather slippery. Its probably my inexperience. But there is something very rewarding about starting with a raw fleece and ending up with something to wear. I need a lot more experience before I become competent.

lleyn fleece

On another matter, I have finally decided that the ‘indeterminate’ wine is apple and ginger, except its a bit more gingery than I was expecting! That will teach me to label things in future!