New Femmes are on their way

New femmes are on their way, currently you can see the beginnings or nearly finished Forest,

2. "Be wary of Lovers who come from the Greenwood" title of this one comes from a Riven Inside CD by Carolyn Hillier and Nigel Shaw. Fabulous CD,

Summer

more to come when I can upload pictures:)

On spinning

Thanks for all the kind comments. I know the yarn isn't perfect but it is much better than when I first started:)
BW I always predraft, a good friend who spins recommended it. It does help to stop the fibre breaking for me. I can't predict at all what the yarn will come out like especially as I ply the 2 threads as they come. Another friend has recommended that for a more predictable yarn I spin all the fibre the same way and also if you navajo ply that keeps the colours as they are on the bobbin I think.
I also found out that if you split the fibre in half before spinning that ensures you will have 2 bobbins holding more or less the same, I didn't at first:)

I have shiny yarn:)

I started with shiny fluffy batts from Laal Bear
Colourway Happy hippy.

I fluffed it out even further and predrafted it.

Started to fill up the bobbins. Plied the finished yarn and ended up with this gorgeousness:)




I ended up with 245yards from 100gm which in my book is good.
Doesn't it look pretty?

Handspun magic

Knitting with hand spun is totally different to knitting with ordinary yarn.
It has a heart, it is alive. It moves in harmony with you and the needles . There is an electricity to the stitches you make. An eagerness to become "something".
I realise now that other knitting yarn has been dead in comparison.

Hand spun wants to weave magic, to transform and become something special.

By that I don't mean my knitting is particularly special, but what I create with this yarn can be.
Maybe it is the transformation from fleece to garment. Most especially I am sure with fleece you dye, spin and knit. Putting intent within each action, focusing on the item and the object.
Turning lanolin soaked sheep's coats into gossamer thin clothes that wrap themselves around you as you don them.
That would be a hypothetical gossamer at this stage of course.
Working a sympathetic magic the pair of you, the fibre and yourself.
Trapping within all good thoughts and well wishes for the recipient.
Then,
take it further.

Choose the phase of the moon to do such things.
Did the women of old do such as they spun and wove?
Is that the basis of magic stories and fables?
The pricking of finger on spindle to put a heroine into a deep sleep.
The witches chanting spells to weave into their fabrics as they wove.
But yet,
from that we can harness the mystery and ritual too.
As we prepare and use the fibre we can put into it all our hopes and wishes for the intended recipient.
Surely if we do so the magic will transform a greasy fleece into an object of beauty with a little hint of otherworldly mystery.
Prayer shawls after all do so much good for the people who receive them. They know they have been made to help.
Can they perhaps feel a little of the great mystery travelling down through the ages?
Do they feel the power of good hopes and wishes the creator of the shawl sends to them?

I believe everything we create is for a purpose, not just fibre items.
If we put within them good intent we are honouring the gift we have been given also.
We are also honouring our contact with the muse of creativity.

There can be nothing better than harnessing an idea and seeing it take form within our hands.

What I'm spinning now

As I mentioned in a previous post my current spinning is using batts from Laal Bear.
They are rather bright and have the name Happy Hippy:)
This fibre is a mix of mohair, merino and trilobal nylon and spins beautifully. I love the way the colours flow onto the bobbin as I spin.

Isn't it lush? Like a cloud of silk

A close up of the bobbin although a little blurred. I've now almost filled the first bobbin.
Can you tell I like this fibre?

Of fungi and trees

This time of year I adore being among trees.
Or by water, and if you mix the two of these I'm in heaven:) All these pictures were taken just a short journey from home.
I love textures and the way lichens form on stone and wood.
This bridge is very similar to ones on the Lancaster canal and brings back happy memories of days spent cruising under them while the sun shone overhead. The chill was a delight when you knew you had hotpot or soup bubbling away on the little stove that also heated the boat.
This reminds me of Japanese pictures of temples by lakes.
The inhabitants of this tree root only come out when the people have gone.
This could be an entry to the otherworld don't you think?
This tree has been well trimmed over the years by the look of it.
Strange temples among the trees.

I like to look for paths as always, to other places or other times.
I can visualise so many things when I gaze into woods
This seat was extremely chilly as it is solid stone.
And as the title of the post suggests, there were fungi in abundance on our journey
Around tree roots, under benches, it seemed as though there weren't any places that hadn't been blessed with fungi.

This creature watched us taking pictures and took it all in.
Some fungi preferred a lonely existence.
While some took pleasure in the company of like minded souls.
Tiny clusters all around
This park is built on rock as you can see.
Colours still if you look carefully.

Despite the falling leaves.

Samhain giveaway

I decided to have a giveaway for Samhain to celebrate the turn of the wheel.
This shawl is the prize. Hand dyed mohair and a large shawl to keep you warm during outside rituals.
The colours remind me of misty skies and the way that mist mutes the colours of the trees and plants. It is very soft and very light to wear, yet warm.
If you would like to win this shawl leave a comment for me. I'll draw the winner on Samhain.
A close up of the colours.

Elsewhere and handspun

I've finished my Winter Solstice Elsewhere. I love the colours in this. I wanted something that reflected winter skies in all their glory. I think I've captured that:)

It still needs blocking but I made this slightly larger to allow me to layer something under it for winter.

I love knitting with bluefaced Leicester aran yarn. I purchased it from Bluefaced.com and recommend them for undyed yarn and fibre.
I've also been spinning, so has Mr Mog but that is another story altogether.
This is some Falkland tops from FeltstudioUK, that I purchased in a ravelry destash. My first spinning of Falklands fibre and it was so easy. It practically spun itself:) I'm still spinning thick and thin in parts but it is getting better I think. I love Daniella's colours. They are very muted for me but a delight none the less.
This was before I set it, it is now on the line drying.
I got 334 yards from 200g which I'm inordinately pleased with:)
Currently on the wheel is some glittery fibre from Laal Bear, my first glitter yarn. Laal Bear's batts are so soft and she dyes such luscious colours. Today the sun is shining and it makes such a difference to my spirits. I'm awaiting a parcel of fibre then I hope to go and take the air on the promenade.
My next blog post has a giveaway for Samhain so stay tuned:)

Quote look upon

Quote by Johann Paul Friedrich Richter

Look upon every day as the whole of life, not merely a section, and enjoy and improve the present without wishing, through haste, to rush on to another.

Curator of ideas

I am a curator of ideas.
Some I work on
Others I just look after.
Yet others I cook and marinate then pass them on to be worked on by others

If Luck

If luck had a colour it would be red. Fire of enthusiasm and vitality that makes luck work for you.
If inspiration were a colour it would be blue, blue of the sky as you search it for ideas.
Blue of the sea as the tide comes in to shore.
And if I had a colour I'd love to be RAINBOW shades to colour my life and colour my day.
Yellow to light up the day to come,
orange glow as energies rise,
red as I grasp the day and ideas.
Green to go out and create.
Blue to calm the night to come.
Violet as I look within.
Purest white sends love into the world.
A rainbow of energies swirl through and through.
You have to learn to use them wisely and with love.
Not to overuse and drain your spirit.