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

Natural dyeing with eucalyptus bark.

My spinning carries on in the background. I have bought a wheel and keep practising. I have finally reached the stage where I can start to dye my wool. Here is some I dyed with  dried eucalyptus bark from a tree my neighbour was felling a couple of years ago. I mordanted it with alum and am still extracting dye by cold soaking from the same bark. I am quite pleased with the colour, I may try experimenting with other mordants but my main problem at the moment is that I only have an aluminium  pan. I have found a site which tells you how to cold dye so I suppose I could have a go with that in a plastic bucket.

Dried eucalyptus bark, alum mordant

Is this a world record?

I have reached the stage where I am not sure if I am going to be able to get through all my stash before I die. By the last reckoning I had over 1000 balls of yarn waiting to be used up, add to that about 20 embroidery projects, numerous fleece for spinning, several silk items for painting, a loom I still need to learn to use, several yards of material to make into clothes, a patchwork quilt to finish, plus of course my cardmaking and a couple of rugs to complete etc and you will see why I am beggining to wonder if I perhaps may have accumluated too much, even for a craft fanatic? If anyone can beat this please let me know……….

The acid test!

Now this is the acid test for the propolis. All around me everyone seems to have the flu. It happens every year. I am due to start my leave tomorrow for Xmas. Every year, without fail I get flu the minute I start my leave so that I am poorly all over Xmas. For the past three weeks everyone in my vicinity has been doing their best to pass their germs on….my grandaughter had the flu and spent the night sneezing all over me, my neighbours asked if I had had the flu yet as they had, everyone at work has the flu, in the shopping queue sneezes abound. Its not just that people have the flu but they seem utterly determined to pass it on to me in time for the festive season. People get into the lift and sneeze copiously, I spent three hours in a meeting on Weds and everyone died for the full three hours, consolling themselves that they would be better by Xmas, whenever I am standing anywhere people position themselves next to me and cough and sneeze in my direction. I have the air of a doomed woman. This year, determined not to let them win, I am drowning myself in a sea of Echinacea, Vitamin C and Propolis! Today, right on cue I started to develop a sore throat and a slight sniffle….so far I have lurched through the day going from cold crisis to cold crisis only for it to beat a retreat…..time will tell. I calculate if I go down now I will be at my worst on Xmas Day. Why break the habit of a lifetime? I will let you know my progress, its the acid test as to whether these herbal cures really work.
In the meantime I have treated myself to a niddy noddy. Here is my first skein, up until now its always had to be a ball. I have a definate feeling that I am going to end up getting a spinning wheel. I dont have long enough to live to do everything on a spindle!

I know its not much but its a start!

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!

My 2nd ever homespun…..

Well, it took me forever and a day but I finally finished my 2nd ever homepsun item. The first thing I made was  a hat. To be honest this is hardly spectacular but we all have to start somewhere. I spun it on  spindle, I havent graduated to a spinning wheeel yet.

I am currently crocheting the worlds most boring jumper…………………………I started it ages ago and need to get it finished…………………..its made with commercial yarn, but is so dull to do!!

my main problem was getting it even but the uneven parts have evened out!

Mad about craftwork of all kinds

I spend as much time as I can spare doing just about everykind of craft that you can think of, knitting, crochet, rug making, embroidery, and so on and so on. So if you like any of those things why not join me? My other passion is BORIS ( the wondercat) He has his own blog, but just to make sure you know who he is here is his profile.

8 years old, tragically struck down with Pancreatitus (aged 3!) which gave him diabetes, plus a cardiac murmur and funny kidneys. But he triumphed over it all.  Heres his pic, isnt he wonderful?

Hes waving hallo, lethargically