New Handspun Yarns!!!

I've finally listed some new handspun yarns on the webstore!! I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth for a few months, but am back on the scene now!

More Custom Spinning

Here are some yarn photos for Jan to peek at. This is "Tree Shadow" handspun merino yarn. Back to the spinning wheel tonight... while watching a repeat of the great TV art show "Star Portraits," with Rolf Harris. I have seen the series before, but loved it. Good spinning viewing!!

New Handspun Yarns Listed !!

New Handspun Yarns have just been listed on the webstore and etsy. "Dance of the Leaves" Bohemian Style Handspun Yarn,
"Plum Dance" Handspun Yarn
and "Purple Haze" Handspun Yarn.

Back into spinning with a vengeance!!

Custom Spinning

Wo-ho, is that the time? I seem to have totally missed October...

Here are some yarn photos for Steph to peek at. I'm finishing off some other custom spinning projects before I get some yarns and items together for the webstore. Very behind on things at the moment!

Shearing Day and Socks...

Such a long time since I last blogged!
I have been knitting these socks in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn in the purple iris colourway. They are a combination of components of socks in "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch. I have been using the wonderful stitchkeepers which I got from The Loopy Ewe - thanks to Sheri for matching the colour of my stitchkeepers with the sock yarn!! Nice touch!!
Shearing day at Alleena Alpaca Stud was VERY busy and thoroughly enjoyable. I managed to go home with bags more fleece - I only brought home really lovely quality fleece to play with -bad alpaca fleece is pretty nasty stuff to mess with, in my opinion. The shorn alpacas look funny with their fluffy heads, especially the babies.

Loopy Ewe Order Arrived!

My extravangant order from The Loopy Ewe came - lovingly undone and rummaged through by Customs, with pamphlets from Australian Quarantine and all squished up again with sticky tape - THANKS CUSTOMS!!

I ordered some patterns (with bonus pressies and samples from Sheri at the Loopy Ewe, as she does with all customers!)...

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sage - I LOVE this colour...
Indian Summer Supersock Yarn by Cherry Tree Hill, Louet Gems in scrummy Cranberry...
Blue Faced Leicester Fingering Weight Yarn by Gypsy Knits in Lavendar Blue pictured with laceweight 100% silk Schaefer Yarn Andrea in Dian Fossey colourway...
WPI Tool from Nancy's Knit Knacks - I already have one of these but wanted a couple dotted around the house near my various wheels as I use them all the time. If you are a spinner, these are great and come with a handy little yarn classification chart (You could make you own, of course...)
And stitckeepers for my sock dpn needles - these are great little doovers - much more effective than the little rubbery thingies I have been using previously, and safer for little kiddies who like to delve into knitting bags, as they cover the points.

Great service from The Loopy Ewe, and I will be returning soon (Naughty!). Postage was only US$13.00 to Australia, which is very good compared to other stores!

Lots of intellecual and writing pursuits happening as well - attended a Jane Austen Society Conference (yes, there is such a thing - it was great!) and have a NSW Writer's Centre workshop coming up soon. It is good to stretch the brain muscles.

Tonight - my son's first performance as a drummer. Proud moment...

The Computer Has Died...

...so I'll be back as soon as that nasty piece of technological incompetence is fixed. (Sigh...)

Handspun BFL - The New Love of My Life

Oh, how I loved spinning this BFL yarn! The long fibres just glided through my hands. It was effortless to spin, and is a soft delight to squish. This is my "Freedom Cry" colourway, spun 2 ply in sport weight. There is still some more left to ply, when my little one isn't so demanding due to this nasty flu THAT WON'T GO AWAY. I have had a little preschool-sized body attached to my legs for a fortnight!

Ooh! Aah!

I have succumbed. I placed a SOMEWHAT TOO LARGE order with Sheri at The Loopy Ewe for some patterns and scrumdidly yarn. Sheri has very politely been answering my 101 emailed questions, and has a nice range of yarns and other items. US$16 flat postage fee to Australia, and she offers some nice perks for returning customers. Certainly worth a lookie-see.

WILL YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SILK YARN!!! I love it. Love silk. Love sheen. Love yarn. Looking forward to some yarn therapy in the near future.

Alpacas on the Farm...

About a year ago, just as we were selling our small farm, I won a lovely female alpaca in a raffle, of all things! No, not a frozen chook, or a meat tray, but a live alpaca!! Since then, that special alpaca had a female babe, and we have them on agistment. It was a nice way to ease out of the farm (although I still would like another farm in the future!), and was obviously meant to be, as I have been interested in alpacas since they started being imported into Australia when I was a teenager.

I've been working one day a week helping my friend Jeanne at Alleena Alpaca Stud on her stunning 40 acre property in the Hawkesbury area. When Jeanne isn't looking, I pretend that it is MY FARM!! It is great to still get a chance to stomp around in boots doing the various farm jobs that need doing, especially at this time of year when the days are sunny and cool. Jeanne is one of those friends who I've just "clicked" with, and I really enjoy spending time with her. She's very knowledgeable about alpacas, so if you are looking at putting a couple of animals on your property, or even to agist if you don't have enough land, I'm sure she can help you with some great advice. Alpacas chase away foxes, so that in itself is enough reason to love them if you have sheep, goats or chooks.

And shearing time is in the not too distant future... Yay! Whoo! I'm sure I'll be there rummaging around for fleeces like a maniac!

Alpacas - up to the eyeballs...

A lovely friend has just given me mountains of alpaca fleeces, some of which are short but extremely soft cria fleeces. I had to refuse bags of the stuff, but my garage is still packed to the ceiling. There will be LOTS of carding and spinning of those fleeces soon. At the moment I am still getting through the alpaca fleeces I am spinning for a customer. I'm surrounded by mountains of alpaca fibre!!

I had a quiet day spinning today - one ear always listening out for my son who is very sick with this nasty flu that is going around. Although it is horrible when the kids are sick, it is somewhat peaceful when they are sick enough to actually SLEEP. I felt like a mother from days of old... attending to the very basics of life.

New Dyed BFL Rovings... YUM!

I have listed some new fibres from the dyepot - this scrumdidly sooper-squishulated Blue-Faced Leicester, above in the "Freedom Cry" colourway, is gorgeous, with a nice long staple. Lurvely. There are some other colours listed too, and some merino. Also the odd yarn. Listed on the webstore and etsy.

I plan to list some new handspun yarns soon - I have some lovely fibres lined up after my dye session. Stay tuned...

Dye Day!

I've been pottering around in my studio dyeing some yarn and fibres - it has been a while since I have been able to get away from the kids. Even though my studio is very well ventilated, I don't like the idea of them breathing in any of the nasty fumes.

I dyed some BFL roving, sportweight finn yarn and some merino superwash fingering weight yarn. Fun experiments!

I should be listing some dyed BFL roving soonish, and should be dyeing some more in the near future. Super soft and squishy - I love it!

Humbugs and Cardigan Action

More fibrey goodies (NAUGHTY!!!). Humbug BFL and silk roving (top left), humbug shetland (top centre), humbug BFL (top right) and humbug jacob roving (bottom of top photo). The jacob, in particular, is calling my name. I've been wanting to try the wool of this sheep breed since I was about 14 years old reading up on sheep books. (Weird adolescent?? or die-hard fibre-holic??) MUST GET SOME SPINNING ACTION HAPPENING SOON!!
Above is evidence of cardigan knitting action, a top priority due to the COLD weather and COLD house. More info soon.

Unfortunately can't make it to the Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo, VIC. Poo. Bum. Wee. Regardless of footy etc commitments, I am going next year for sure, WHETHER I HAVE TO DRAG HUSBAND AND CHILDREN 1000 KM TO GET THERE, OR NOT!!!

Quick Knitting

I realised Friday night that I had no beanie to wear while watching my kids play Aussie Rules footy on Saturday morning. The games were out at Richmond where the wind blows over mountains (and any snow that has fallen around Oberon and Orange) right into our faces at the footy field. A cold day was predicted by the weather bureau, and I remembered last time I was there on such a day it was bitterly cold. Therefore I stayed up very late Friday frantically knitting myself a beanie - the rest of the family already had one each.

In the morning, exhausted, and rugged up with layers to fend off the cold wind, I got out of the car and the kids put on their sleeveless footy jumpers and shorts (!) and ran off.

After setting up the chairs, rug, bags with everyone's warm clothes, snacks, water, etc etc, I settled in to watch the game. The winters day was warm as toast and sunny, with a slight refreshing breeze. I took my jacket off. The beanie stayed in my bag.

Hmmm. At least next time I will have a warm hat...

Fibre Experiments Ahead!

I have gone mad acquiring different wool samples to use when doing the guild spinning competence course (however, that may be just an excuse to buy the stuff...) I like the idea of working through a programme to make sure I try out lots of fibres and ideas. A nice challenge, perhaps not as much as the challenge of actually making the time to do it in between family commitments and house renovations! Anyhoo, the intention is there...

In the picture above there is oatmeal blue-faced leicester combed tops, white falkland combed tops, and grey gotland combed tops. Quite different fibres from each other. And I am LOVING the natural colours at the moment!

Some spinning...

I've done some more custom spinning of the alpaca fleeces for a customer. Rich black alpaca, spun about 8 ply, as well as one of my favourites, amethyst shade of merino and tussah silk, with sequins. I love the way the tussah silk creates ribbon-like waves through the yarn. There is some white alpaca yarn bursting off the bobbins, too, crying out for plying. Soon...

Blue Faced Leicester, Wensleydale and Alpaca

Above are some of the fibres I have been enjoying lately - the brown yarn is some handspun alpaca that I am spinning for a customer. The white roving on the left is blue faced leicester (mmm) and the white roving on the right is wensleydale, which I can't wait to see once it is dyed - such long fibres, too. More therapeutic fibres making their way here in the next week or so. I am fascinated by all the different fleece characteristics of different sheep breeds, and other natural fibres as well. Love it!!

Spin and Knit - along

I'm really enjoying checking out the fun progress of the spinners participating in the shawl spin/knit-along on this blog. If you haven't seen it, check it out! For beginner or experienced spinners, doesn't matter...

Knitting and Magazine News

Hi all.

Sahara is finished - photos soon. Yay! Got a wee bit tired/irritated/impatient with the project by the end, or was that just due to the torrential flooding storms that hit Sydney and forced the children inside for DAYS, and the sick little croupy child that has been glued under my arm for the past week, as well as the building renovations going on at our place? Hmmm, not sure. Anyhoo, Sahara is DONE... and straight on to SOCKS (again!!) This is Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock yarn in Purple Iris colourway, and I am knitting the Conwy pattern from Nancy Bush's trusty book "Knitting on the Road" - full of super sock patterns. I tried the long-tail thumb cast on which was fun, although my daughter thought I was knitting very "weirdly". According to my Mum I always knit weirdly, as I taught myself to knit and crochet from books as a child, complete with odd yoga-like hand configurations to complete stitches! Nevertheless, the finished product seems to work out OK.

I have recently felt somewhat burnt out so splurged on some sock yarns and patterns that OTHER PEOPLE MADE. Feels very decadent, but therapeutic.

Speaking of burnt out, there will be no June issue of "Spins & Needles" magazine, and probably just newsletters to those on our emailing list, rather than magazines, in the future. As this venture is a one-woman-show, my children have suffered through the enormous amount of time I have needed to spend on the magazine. As the magazine does not produce direct income, I have to reduce that in favour of other writing projects I have been working on. I will try and do some tutorials and articles from time to time, though, as I am keen to promote spinning, as always!

I’m sorry to disappoint our readers, and appreciate the enthusiasm and feedback about the magazines. I’ll still be listing goodies for sale on the website, of course.

Catch you soon,
Wen.