Finished pOdcast hat and kickstarter project news

First of all, the podcast hat is finished....

I'm pleased with the result, especially as I spent many hours at the Harrogate knitting and stitching show today. I'd forgotten how warm it gets in there and I dressed for the outside weather. Still, I got what I went for, extra 2.5mm double pointed needles to replace the ones I keep sitting on and breaking! I also got a pattern for a waistcoat and a cord for my interchangeable needles to hold my daughters wedding shawl. I also saw several vendors I was friendly with from previous shows, so it was nice to catch up.

NEWS - ABOUT - KICKSTARTER

I'm currently applying for kickstarter funding to set up knitting and spinning beginner groups to help those with anxiety and depression. You can find out more about it here:      

 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/5565008/spinning-a-knitting-yarn

It's a very exciting time, and depending on how funding goes, I hope I will have more news soon. Watch this space...

My podcast hat.

Hi there. This week I am on holiday and suffering from a bad back. So what do you do when this coincides? Well, knit of course!

I can't spin much right now, and I'm hoping my back improves soon as I have fluffy to continue with, but I decided to knit up some fibre that I'd spun from Leading Men Fiber Arts (whose podcast I listen to) in the glacial Colourway. I had spun it up in 4 separate colours and then plied them together.

I got 240 metres of Aran weight yarn from this. I have decided to knit a hat by another favourite podcaster of mine, Laura Linneman from the Knitgirllls podcast. As you can see, the colours are all over the place, but...

It does remind me of the colours of the glacier I climbed in 1982, but that's a story for another time.

I'm in the process of having a rethink of my short and medium term plans for Knatters Knits. I've decided to launch my own yarn label for hand painted British wool. This is in its infancy right now, but watch this space. 

Another project is in the planning stages, and I'll announce that fairly soon, but it's an adjunct to the sales, and is very exciting. More on that next time. 

I've also been participating in a knit along for Woolly Wormhead's latest hat knit along. Hopefully I'll be able to show you my finished article in the next week or so. You can find more out about that project at www.http://www.ravelry.com/groups/woolly-wormheads-hats. I chose to use Titus yarn in the beautiful maroon Colourway from baa ram ewe, particularly as it's made in Yorkshire.

Fibre prep is time consuming

Continuing the preparation of the fleece named fluffy is the order of the day. This is my first day off from my paid employment in what seems like ages.

Up until now I've been carding the fleece but the staple is so long that it makes it difficult to card using carders, so I've decided to comb it instead. Combing is great because you get such airy lofty fibre, however it is sooooo labour intensive it's quite a task!

Pictured here is the latest batch in progress. On the left is the washed fleece, and in the blue tray is the combed fibre.... Doesn't it look lovely?

I hope Fluffy's owner likes the fibre, as it's taking so long to comb, but I believe the end product is worth it....

Canadian exchange

Here's the story. I belonged to a Spinners Guild that did a swap with a group of Canadians earlier this year. The idea was that we received a skein of yarn and created something with it and then returned the finished item. My yarn was sent to someone in Canada who did the same thing. This is the story of my yarn exchange journey.

I usually work with DK weight yarns. I also tend to work in colour in a big way, so when I received a very fine oatmeal coloured handspun, I was stumped as to what to do. I started making a scarf. I got part way and decided it didn't suit the yarn so I ripped it out. I then started another, and ripped it out. At this point I fell out of love with the yarn and it went in the sin bin (a basket for all projects I get frustrated with). 

I was reminded recently that the project needs to wing it's way back to Canada. The lady from Fraggletops Studio would be in the UK to collect the projects and exchange the items. So last week I set about trying to design a pattern to show off the yarn. I decided upon a shawl as you can never have enough of them, right? I wanted a pattern that would highlight the variation in colour found in the fleece. I also decided to use a gradient of needle sizes to add a little more interest. I finally finished the shawl yesterday and washed it. It is pictured below, after a little light blocking. It would probably take more blocking, but I need to find my blocking pins to do that, so I might suggest to the recipient that they try that.... What do you think? Should it be blocked more?

Part 2

Today I completed the first skein of Fluffy yarn. It's now washed and hanging to dry in the drying area. I have also started the second skein, which is almost complete. I have been a busy girl because I have started washing the second batch of fibre. It's on the second soaking. It has a fair amount of lanolin in it, so I'm thinking it will need a fair few soaks before it's good to go! 

 

The first full skein of Fluffy Yarn.

The whole process is taking me longer than I hoped as I am working full time for a large retailer as well as running this business. 

The two jobs are so very different and yet utilise a lot of the same skills, from customer service to sales promotion, planning and media work. The difference is that at Knatters Knits I get to make something, to create something from raw materials, to design knitted items and after that, when someone buys them, I get to see the delight and joy on their faces. It's this satisfaction of creating and seeing others enjoy my creations that gives that satisfaction that you can't get with any other job, I take something raw and to some people useless and turn it into yarn, fibre or something to use or wear and that's something really special, satisfying and unique. How many people can say that about their jobs?

Rolags, Rolags, Rolags

The next phase of Fluffy's fleece being made into yarn has begun. After a short interlude when I was in Swindon celebrating my daughters impending marriage, I have now begun operation Fluffy with a vengeance. 

The fleece is now in the process of being carded by hand and made into Rolags. Next comes spinning later this evening. That's the part I love the most. As Fluffy's owner and I have agreed to make the yarn purely fluffy, I am spared the extra blending ... Carding combs the fibre and puts it into alignment and adds air, making the yarn more bouncy and springy. The thought of all that carding makes me wary, but I know it will all be worth it, because you can tell, you can really tell when preparation is good or not. I want this yarn to be the best I have ever made, not because I'm being paid, but because knowing the creature it came from makes it personal in a funny kind of way, more real and important in a way getting fibre pre-prepared from a mill doesn't. 

Lovely day for drying fleece

Fluffy all grown up

Fluffy as a baby

It's taken 5 washes of my first fleece sample before the water comes clean, so today Fluffy is hanging out on the airer in the back garden and I am about to was some more. This could take some time, but Fluffy is coming up a beautiful colour. I'm really getting excited about spinning now, just one more stage after the fluff dries, carding. 

More next time on the further adventures of Fluffy the fleece!

Brief pause in the proceedings

I had hoped to be able to post pictures of dry carded fleece made into Rolags by now, however I have needed to put the fleece through several more soaks than planned. This seems odd to me as the fleece was amazingly clean as you could see from the pictures in my previous blog post. All I can say is that Fluffy is good at hiding their dirt... 

The weather is currently amazing here, so it should not take long to dry and I can wash another batch. 

I also undertook a small test and spun a small piece of yarn to see what it spun up like. Very interesting...

The long staple makes it easy to spin, and the yarn has quite a halo on it - fluffiness coming off the yarn. This will make it quite a warm yarn, which is good, knowing the use that is intended for it. I decided to knit this small sample up too, to show what it would like as a finished item. 

Sample knit up.

Fluffy gets a wash

So this is day 1 of the 'Fluffy Project'. 

Yesterday I collected Fluffy's fleece from her owner. I had a lovely time finding out about the sheep, their story of being raised on a Lancashire farm, and what was planned for the fleece. As it was pouring with rain, I left Fluffy in the car overnight. 

Today is a lovely sunny summer's day, so I got Fluffy fleece out of the car and laid it out to inspect it. 

Now comes the hard bit, being patient and waiting for the water to cool. 

What a beautiful fleece this is. It's so soft and so clean. What an honour to work with it. Having laid it out fully, I have decided to prepare it in chunks rather than all at once. 

Next to assess the wool. I know it comes from a cross bred sheep. There's some mule, blue faced Leicester and who knows what else in the heritage. The staple ranges from 4 inches to 8 inches.

 Picture shows 8" staple.

There is some crimp in the staple, which I will look at under a microscope to ensure I know what twist would be best for the fibre.

Next comes the cleaning. Using my regular cleaning materials (hot water and washing up liquid with a drop of vinegar) I put a section of the fleece in to soak, taking care not to agitate it too much, I don't want it to felt. 

Next comes the hard bit, waiting for the water to cool before a series of rinsing cycles occur. Once clean, the fleece will be left to dry naturally before I card it into Rolags (cylindrical tubes of fibre containing lots of air). 

Once I have lots of Rolags I will be able to start spinning. The next instalment of this blog will pick up the story where I've left off.... 

The adventures of Fluffy the sheep

Once upon a time there lived a very special sheep. Fluffy was named this way because of how she looked, one big ball of fluff. When she had her annual haircut, the fleece weighed 4.5 kilos. That's one big fluffy sheep. One day, the lady who looked after Fluffy decided she wanted to use this 4.5 kilos to make something special... That's when I met Fluffy and her fluff. This evening I collected the fluff and brought it back to my studio to start the magic process of helping to make that something special...... All I can say is watch this space for the next instalment of the amazing adventures of Fluffy.  It's going to be a great adventure to see how this beautiful long haired wonder becomes a beautiful family heirloom. Pictures to follow...

Summer loving...

This year has been good to us as far as the weather is concerned. Last weekend I went to Woolfest, and helped out on the PHop (http://p-hop.co.uk) stall. I met two lovely ladies who ran the stall, and have decided that this is such an important charity, that I'm making it Knatters Knits charity for 2014-2015.

Phop offers knitting and crochet patterns in return for donations and suggest that you donate pennies per hour of pleasure knitting or crocheting gave you. What I love about this, is the fact that the doctors who work for MSF (Medicins sans frontieres) do so for a non-political, non-religious organisation and make such a huge difference.

I have made contact with Ros Clarke, the designer of the cricket tea cosy which she donated to phop who has agreed I can make these to sell in aid of phop too.  So look out for these amazing tea cosies when I'm out and about this year....

I'm busy busy busy right now, with commissions, demonstrating spinning and knitting. This is so exciting. I'm off to Great Eccleston show in the next couple of weeks, and the Fylde Artisan event, and rounding off the season with Yarndale in Yorkshire!

Who said winter was knitting weather, eh? Just goes to prove that all year round is knitting and spinning time!

You can't make anything with one skein of yarn!

How often have I heard knitters telling me that my yarn is useless to them as I spin only one or two of a kind usually? Well, I like a challenge, so I'm trying to make a selection of samples with my hand spun to prove them wrong!

Over the last few days I've been knitting with a dk skein in pinks and coffees. I decided to do a Ravelry search to find a baby jacket. I settled on Mignon by Loop of London The pattern is easy to follow, a pleasure to knit and very simple, but effective.

 The spun yarn

 Partially done

 the finished cardigan

My next challenge is to find another pattern for my one skein challenge. What would you make with one 100g skein? Any suggestions on what you'd like me to make or design? 

New fibre

So, having got the bug for dyeing again, here are my latest offerings, to be found for sale at www.knattersknits.co.uk

 Summer Berries Sherbet Dibs    

 Tyrian Scarlet  

 



Not only do I enjoy dyeing these fibres, but because they are so soft, I love spinning them too. This fibre has such a lovely sheen, it almost sparkles.

Life is becoming busy at last! Not only have my fibres been well received by Fibreholics box recipients, I have been asked to run my spinning classes again at the local college, and also to demonstrate spinning at their open day. Things are definitely on the up. I just llove my job, I think it's the best!

I'm now planning some more patterns for release in the coming months, and I will announce more details here as things develop. One is a child's dress, another is a cowl and the rest are hush hush right now. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?

Right, as it's nearly 02:00 here, I'd better get ready for the Guild meeting tomorrow, and then go to bed. So much to do, so little time....

New yarn and fibre

Well, the silence from me hopefully has been worth it. I have been a busy little bee! My website www.knattersknits.co.uk/shop has loads of new stuff for sale, from fibre for spinning to yarn and knitting kits.

I am so excited to be able to tell you that I am also part of the Fibreholics group, where you can purchase small samples before you decide to buy larger amounts of fibre or yarn. This is such a good way to try out new dyers and spinners. Before contributing to this box, I tried them out myself, and was so pleased with the contents. Why not sign up for the newsletter so that you can find out when the boxes will be released? You won't regret it!

Below re a few pictures of what I've been up to:

 Grapes of Wrath

 Raspberry Ripple

 Hydrangea Inspired

 Indian Summer

    Sparkle         

  Rusty Gate    

 Cloudy Morning Fibre

The miracle of dyeing

I did some dyeing  a couple of days ago and was worried when I saw this:

This sight was what greeted me in my drying area. Ok, the lighting isn't great, but it was quite sad that the time spent hand painting my hand-spun yarn had been wasted. I carried on regardless and rinsed it, dried it and skeined it. Imagine my joy when all of this activity was complete, to see my yarn looking like this:

Even more exciting is the news that my yarn will find its way into the  Fibreholics boxes from April 2014. Not only that, but my fibre will be there too! If you fancy a selection of samples before you try yarn of fibre, then the box is definitely the way to go. I love the products I've had from the box in the past, and I'm sure you will too - give it a try!

More yarn... Quick note

Just a quick note.... This is my latest yarn, blue faced Leicester in colourway Indian Summer. It. Spun up like a dream and has a beautiful sheen to it. It's currently on sale in my etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/knattersknits 

It was Navajo plied to achieve this gorgeous yarn. There is approximately 120 yards of this DK weight yarn in 100g.

Fos, WIPs and other things.

Well it's been a busy old week, what with Doctors appointments, work and general household stuff. I decided not to swap my car for that particular van as it was too large to get in most car parks I go to _ a bit of a problem! I'm sure you'd agree? I am now thinking about a smaller van, but I'm not in any hurry to change.

I'm currently spinning like a mad thing, having bought loads of fibre from Sara from www.sarastexturecraft.com here are a few I've spun up. They are different. One is Tussah silk and merino (bottom picture ) and one has silk noils in it, making it very textured (bumpy). 

I've also completed the shawlette in Sara's KAL on ravelry and I'm rather pleased with it.

  

It did take several attempts to knit, and a lot of frogging, and I have to admit to getting very frustrated at picking up 240 stitches after the border, but with a little mathematics and a lot of stitch markers, it came out fairly evenly in the end. The colours are a little deeper in reality, but I'm very pleased with it. It'll make a nice evening shawl or can be worn as a neckerchief. 

I spun the fibre (exmoor blue face) from my friend Sara. Her colour ways are gorgeous, I have several more on the table waiting to be spun up and hopefully I can show you these next time....

No Woolfest, but new van on the horizon.

No Woolfest stand.

So I've heard that I haven't got a stand at Woolfest which makes me sad, however, I am on the waiting list, so we'll see what happens between now and June. I do have a stall at Yarndale in September, so I am excited about that. 

I swap my car for the van next week. This means no more squeezing my stock and spinning wheels into a tiny Fiat 500! It also means I'll have more room in my tiny workshop to work, which has to be a plus! To say I am excited is an understatement. 

I am currently participating in a craft along on Ravelry, in Sara's Texture Crafts group. I am spinning up some of Sara's exmoor blue faced. It's quite a nice fibre to work with, but I won't wash it until I have finished knitting the shawl, so I don't entirely know what it'll be like, but I admit I like it up to now....

Craft4Crafters

Craft4Crafters stand 88

I'm finally home from Devon. The 3 days of Craft4Crafters was a whirlwind event that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I met some amazing and lovely people and was introduced to some new crafts, or extensions of current ones. I met Ingrid Wagner and saw some extreme knitting. I would love to do this, if only to make a rug for my baby brother's van.

I also met up with Sara from Sara's texture crafts. It was great to see both Sara and Darren again. The stall looked amazing, and Sara was again selling some amazing fibres. Her dyeing has started up again, and I have to admit to being a fan of her colour ways and fibres, they are such a dream to spin or felt with. I missed attending her workshop, which was a shame as attendees came away excited and full of enthusiasm for the craft.

So I have exciting news. I am swapping my little yellow car for a van! This is huge for the business as it means I can attend events further afield, and take more stock with me, which has to be good for all my customers!  I have definitely got a stand at Yarndale, and I'm waiting to hear about Woolfest.

I'm entering some yarn and a finished item into our guild choice for the national exhibition that's to be held in Norwich later this year. I am thinking of submitting a bag too, that I've recently completed. I love being part of the guild as it challenges me to push forward and advance my skills all the time.

The exhibition Yarns in the cathedral is being held in Norwich from 15 May until 1st June 2014.

Next installment of pictures from dyeing project.

In the last post you saw my pictures of my dyeing day. Now the fibre is all dyed and dried and plaited into braids. I thought you'd like to see how they look now. Once some are spun up, I'll post more pictures. You can buy them at Craft4Crafters, and if there are any left after the event, I'll put them on my Knatters Knits website in the shop.

I just love my job! It doesn't feel like work at all.

Next craft event

My next yarn event is going to be at the end of January in Exeter, Devon. It's called Craft4Crafters. See more info at www.craft4crafters.co.uk.

Today is fibre prep for c4c.

         Presoak

Colour choice

 dyes made up 

The inspiration for the dyeing palate today is the following picture:

Here is the pan of fibre with dye applied

FOs

I have been finding knitting and crafting a huge stress relief over the holiday period and have managed to finish a few items....

I made the felted handspun bag, my first ever colour work - a hat, and have several works in progress...

I'm really proud of them, as I tackle new techniques and patterns. I have joined the Sara's texture crafts group on ravelry which has given me a lot of inspiration. I have also joined the spin and knit along, where we swapped our handspun and created lovely Christmas gifts out of it.... I love my mittens which I created with yarn from my swap partner too....

 Hat from Wooly Wormhead KAL

 Mittens with yarn from my swap partner

 Angora hat with animal print

 First ever felted intentionally project

 The start of the Malachite Cowl....