October - in pictures (mainly)

Lynton and Lynmouth, Devon:

I am rather proud of the above photo, taken without a tripod but I managed to capture the movement of the water. Smug Mode Activated. (I balanced the camera on the bridge railing and held my breath ☺)

We stopped here on the way:

just managing to get round before the three coaches of students arrived. 

There were people feeling the vibes (I didn't get any. I think they got used up):

and this crazy man kept taking pictures of me ☺

Arriving in Devon, we walked on the (very rocky) beach

rode on the cliff railway:

(very cool)

I saw a great sign:

and I may have bought some yarn...

but it didn't come from this chap:

(Valley of the Rocks)

We stopped off in Dunster, and this is the Yarn Market, dating from 1590. I approved most mightily. Dunster needs a yarn shop I think.

and that was Devon. Well, a tiny bit of it anyway ☺

We've also been back to Castle Combe for the Mr's birthday, and saw lots of this sort of thing:

and I had a bit of trouble navigating the car parking field:

In other news,  I'm progressing on the February Lady Sweater, hexapuff production has slowed but is still ongoing, and I just cast on for a new project. Because I'm a sucker for punishment.

~♥~

Woolfest 2011

I went, I shopped, I drank a lot of coffee, missed my man and did a lot of driving - 650 miles (ouch)

Worth it? Naturally ☺ So what did I get? Well, some hand-dyed tops from Freyalyn and FSUK, silk brick from Oliver Twist, carding stuffs from Wingham, some yarn from Texere, an Andean plyer from the Mulberry Dyer, a spindle from IST, some tops from P&M Woolcraft (I think) a Kucha Kucha scarf kit and some books. Result.

When I can get some decent daylight I'll take some proper pictures.

Some musings on Woolfest
They really need a bigger venue. I was queuing on the A66 to get in, at 10.30 on Friday...and it was packed inside all morning, you couldn't get near some of the stands.
They also need more places to get a drink and something to eat. The café is very good but simply can't cope with weight of numbers. Their veggie lasagne was darn tasty mind, but they were two hours late with the sausage supper :(

There seemed to be a bit more weaving this year, but no pin looms (Hazel Rose type, shame cause I wanted one), and there seemed to be less hand-dyed yarn and crazy carding / art yarn stuff. I think this is more of a change of emphasis on the part of the organisers rather than a shift in customer taste. The focus seemed to be more on sustainability, pure British wool and natural dyes. Which is all good, but a bigger venue would allow for both camps...

ANYWAY. I wanted to tell you about the book I got - The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius.

If you have any interest in wool, sheep, other fibre animals, spinning, weaving, felting or breed history, you need this book ☺ You don't need to be a spinner to find it interesting and informative, though it might turn you into a devoted "from-raw-fleece" spinner! Although it is American (what gave it away??) it covers the British breeds in great detail and explains the differences (where they exist) between American and British varieties of the same breeds. Handily, for most breeds, it shows a lock, one or more spun samples, a knitted swatch and a "weavie" square. For some breeds it shows a colour range too, and has a general description of each type of fibre, e.g. longwools.

For particular favourite breeds they go into more detail. They even touch on the interesting, and not very well-known, fact about commercial "Shetland" yarns - the term only means the wool has all been SOURCED on the Isles, NOT that it is all from Shetland breed sheep. So in theory it can be a mixture of breeds. Not a lot of people know that, and funnily enough, the wool brokers don't make a major point of it ☺

There's some interesting thoughts in the book on Down type breeds, so I thought I'd share my limited experience ☺ I have a Shropshire fleece I'm working with at the moment, and I've also had Oxford Down and Texel, which is not strictly a Down breed but is damn close. I think they're underrated as spinners' fleeces. They have good elasticity and crimp, they wash up easily as they don't seem inclined to felt and they spin up nicely into a bouncy, passably hard-wearing yarn. The downside is finding a decent one - Down sheep are mainly meat breeds, so the shearing is often decidedly utilitarian - second cuts and disorganised shearing are the norm it would appear. They're also often filthy and marked with shepherd's paint. They don't hold onto the yuk as badly as a locky longwool, but they do seem to act like Velcro for bits of the landscape. However once you get it clean, they're easy to process with cards or a drum carder, but you might want to use Viking or mini-combs on one if it has a lot of second cuts. I've even English combed some Texel and it made a lovely, floofy, crimpy top with lots of bounce and airiness. Massive amount of waste though as you'd expect.

So in short, don't ignore the Down breeds! Just don't buy all the good ones before I get there ☺

And now I'll finish off with some more pictures from Woolfest:


Breakfast


Wensleydales


Teeny Ouessant sheep


Pitiful-looking alpacas


Some of the Clyde Coast Guild on tour


Innes trying out her new Mayan spinner


Spinning in the Travelodge bar

~♥~

didn't we have a lovely day...

the day we went to London?



Yup, the Ravelry LSG UK Hoars Meet Up.

Look! Tweasels in their natural environment (the pub):







Now, I am the first to admit that I dislike London. I love some of the things IN London - the yarn shops, the V&A, the British Museum, the Doc Martens shop (is that still there?) but London generally you can keep. It's too busy, too dirty, too noisy and there isn't enough greenery. No, Hyde Park doesn't count. Really, no, it doesn't. It's a field.

However, it has some compensations.



Need I say any more on this matter? I thought not.

Also:



The coned yarns are from the Handweaver's Studio, where I met up with a few other weaving-minded souls in the morning. It's a great shop, see:



Well worth the short trip up to Finsbury Park.

I actually had a really good time, it's the first time I've been into the Smoke since I moved, and it was weird coming into Paddington on the Great Western, I'm so used to landing at Euston. I kind of felt like I hadn't arrived properly, if that makes sense. What absolutely gobsmacked me, and this is one for the railway buffs, is that the Paddington trains from Reading had slam doors. SERIOUSLY? I thought Southerners were all advanced and posh?! SLAM DOORS??!? Haven't seen them in years. Even the Clyde Coast line trains have sliding push-button doors.

ANYWAY. I digress, as usual.

There are other good things to tell you about. My date has rekindled (hurray) so I'm all happy about that. I'm not telling you any more :-)

I have a new chair! A spinning chair! You may envy me now:



Isn't it awesome? I love it. This means I can sit properly and spin, rather than sinking into the sofa and wrecking my back.

I was given an incredibly generous present. I'm still rather overcome to be honest.



That's a Don Porritt tapestry loom. Oh my. I don't actually know how to make it work yet, but I'm going to find out! As far as I can tell, everything is there ready to go, just the reed needs a clean as it's gone a bit rusty. A soak in some Coca-Cola and a going over with some wire wool should sort that out. I just need to put aside some time to devote to sorting and learning.

I think that's it, I've just been to the dentist for a super-deep clean and I feel like I've been smacked in the mouth with a cricket bat. Hopefully though this will make my gums better - I'm not convinced personally, they've always been a bit dubious, but hey, I'll give it a try and see what happens. I get a week off then go back for the other side to be done. Can't wait...at least the anaesthetic has worn off enough so I can drink without dribbling, and the bleeding seems to have abated somewhat. Ouch. Soup for dinner again :-(

~♥~

Well so much for travelling posts

didn't really have anything to post about :-) headed down south, stopped at the parentals for lunch and a cuppa, carried on down further south, stuck on motorway, got to hotel, showered, had dinner (all by myself in the restaurant, I haz a proud), went to bed, got up, dressed, breakfasted, went for an interview, got in car and drove back to parents', food and tea, drove home. 800 mile round trip :-o Hopefully find out this week if they want me or not. If they do, it's...

RELOCATION TIME AGAIN.

Aargh. Oh well, needs must etc.

Anyway, I have revived somewhat from that epic trip and have KAL progress to show you. Did I mention the KAL? quick check Oops, I didn't. Okay, Jane Thornley is running an Autumn KAL in the Ravelry group, so I decided to leap in, like I haven't got enough on the needles already :-)



and that's about it. I'm shattered so I'm off to my bed.

♥

Droid Test

Just trying out posting from mah Droid. Travelling for a couple of days so it would be nice to be able to post :-)

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