Day 9 tour de fleece

Well the day of rest on the tour and yes I have rested. In fact didn't spin on Saturday or Sunday..

Saturday saw me on the waverley for a day trip with the Gourock Stitch and Bitch. What a wonderful day and thanks to all for great company and especially Kimberley for organising it.

I wish I had taken some photos but unfortunately I don't have a small manageable camera at the moment one day soon hopefully...I managed to knit a sock for robs camera lense I used some fibre that I had been given by the wonderful Alitee and had spun it last month. Again no photos...hm boring post this one isnt' it.

Sunday so Rob and I out for a trip to Oban via the real food cafe lovely food as always.

Night night

day 7 fleece journey begins

Well today is day 7 of the tour de fleece I admit to not posting any pics yesterday but time got away with me. However here are some pics of more on each bobbin or shetland humbug and of course some more of my swap partner fibre which is so lovely and luxuriouos....



I also spent some of yesterday picking over fleeces. Ali managed to procure 2 scottish mule fleeces and a BFL and kindly offered me half so as she was working I have started on some of the preparation.

Here are some photos of the mule on the table and freya and I trying to work out which end is which...lol




The BFL but well we shall see about this one










The BFL in the soaker hmmmmmmm yuk yuk 3 soaking so far and lots lots more to go I fear. Hope the carding helps cos this here fleece is full of bits yukkkky

















The mule back end only in soaker/barrow this is its 3 soaking and it is looking good...

















close up of both clean area and dirty area of mule, this looks so lovely already can't wait to start carding and spinning this one...










In true nana style I also had a wee soaker for Emily and she did enjoy collecting the bits and washing them... whether they have managed to not felt well that will remain to be seen but she lo
ved getting into this lovely squishy mess I provided...lol










This is going to be a big learning curve for me and of course Emily I want to thank Ali for the sharing of the fleeces and of course the wonderful bath to use as a soaker too...

day 5 tour de fleece

Day 5 of the tour de fleece and I started with lots more shetland this morning pictures further down.

Then this evening I decided to have a go at the lovely fibre I received from my swap partner for Dragon fly in Amber. It is lovely and shiny and so green scrumptious...what do you think I have only done a small amount.







This is some more shetland it is going really well and seems to be quite even most of the time don't know yet what ply it will turn out but finer than anything done so far

Hi well it has been really hot and muggy here and well my health is not its best but I have been doing the Tour de Fleece with Ravelry and thoroughly enjoying what I am doing I aim to spin an hour a day so here are some pics

Day 1

Well first I decided to do some Yarn Yard lovely merino/silk fibre here its not that smooth or consistant but the colours are wonderful.






Day 2 saw me doing some more of the same fibre but this time I had carded it all into lovely rolags (first ever carding experience) also first time I had spun from rolags too what do you think?







This one shows edna getting into the cycling mode!




DAY 3

Today I had to free up some bobbins so I had a go at navajo plying the first attempt was with some bfl spun months ago so very uneven but now plied.



then I plied the day 1 and day 2 spinning here are the photos




this is day 3 spinning not that good today very tired..




Day 4 and that is today I got up and did my spining much earlier and it felt better I got some shetland humbug and after a wee tricky time it came along much better what do you think?



I don't think I will win any of the prizes available but then it isn't about the prizes its about setting myself some goals which involve spinning and improving and learning new skills so this is the start of a bit of a spinning marathon and I will try now to post daily too. If you are interested in the tour de fleece it is a group on Ravelry and well some of the spinners are so inspiring..take a look

long time no blog

Hi just a quick hello to say sorry been a really bad time health wise but also been a really busy bunny the last 3 weeks will catch up once caught up with my washing. But been on a wonderful retreat at woolfish and down to wool fest. More to follow

concussion and parcels

Well it is a long time since I last posted on m blog. Lots has happened. We have been biking in the lake district and also at Glentress. However the biking didn't damage me I managed that all on my own with an unthinking standing up under the sharp corner of the roof eaves. Hmmmm after an uncomfortable night at Milton a dash to the hospital and then a stay in inverclyde hospital I am now back home with a load of tablets and bad concussion. The lovely thing about this sort of accident is it gives you time to remember what and who are important in your life. I got a bit of a scare this time as I needed a C.T. scan and while waiting I did consider that this was a wake up call. Anyway here are some pictures of the lovely flowers I got from Ali, gorgeous pink roses, jo the beautiful yellow roses and Heather and Mac got me flowers sent via interflora wow they are amazing to. So my lounge looks great at the moment. Mum and Rob have looked after me so well and both Jo and Ali keep popping in to visit me how lucky am I,

















So I have been re thinking my life and found that there was so much I am so grateful for the good friends and family I have and that I live in this most charming cottage which likes to keep me in my place. Now another wonderful treat I have had this week is my swap parcel has come from cursedgreenswtr, I am so so lucky. I love the Diana Gabaldon outlander series. So when the outlander group was found on the lovely Ravelry I just had to join. I am in clan Beauchamp the claire clan and I was allocated the lovely senoag Mckenzie for my spoilee. Well her parcel came today and wow was I spoilt. All ten yes ten parcels were wrapped and numbered and a wonderful letter included which asked me to show restraint and follow her instructions. Now senoag is a gaelic speaker so each instruction was numbered in gaelic. I think this was a lovely idea and so I am going to present the parcels in the the same way to you.

Here are all the parcels at the begining of this wonderful voyage.



So after a lovely greeting of a graidh (my dear) and how she has loved to get toknow me and of course cu ruadh (red dog). she offered me to sit down with her for a parcel aon (on)

the lovely tin is full of gorgeous yummy stuff like strawberries, hibiscus and passion fruit. The smell is really fruity and yummmy.










The next instruction was you will probably find it easier to drink the tea if you open parcel DA(ya)...


The lovely cable knit mug from starbucks.. wow I hadn't seen these and now I have one..

The next instruction was tea needs to have a wee bit of parcel Tri (tree)..

These wee lollypops or suckers as my spoilee called them were made at her local chocolatier and are in caramel, latte, butterscotch and chocolate..I have had one and they are gorgeous. Very restrained due to my nausea at the moment.


My next instruction was now I have had a drink and treat I need to pull out Edna my spinning wheel and should open parcel Ceithir (cay-hair)






just look at the lovely sheen on this gorgeous roving









Now seonag knows me too well and thought I might want to be able to cast on straight away so provided parcel Coig (coik)...





This is baby merino in lace weight it is just so soft I am actually itching to cast on this yarn even tho I am afraid of lace.



Now to parcel Sia (Shee-uh) ...a pattern for the lace oooh it is gorgeous I so want to start this project..look










Now so I don't have any excusses not to start the lace seonag provide parcel seacdh (sheckt)....



This pocket book is full of different size post it notes some that can be written on and some to use as flags. They are really gorgeous and will be so useful.


plus lovely stitch markers and a dragonfly brooch...wow I just love them thank you








Now parcel ochd(ohkt) oh how I aspire to be able to spin this consistant. The colours remind me of the sea on the west coast of scotland and I must admit that this 100 0/0 romney is gorgeous and I am torn with lots of ideas. I am thinking vase covers so I can see the lovely colours in my lounge, or a felted bowl so I can see it all the time on the coffee table. Or the cranford mitts from the yarn yard. Wish I knew how to magic link those things. The yarnyard has a blog here
http://www.theyarnyard.co.uk/

Here is the lovely homespun that senoag did for me




Now I will be needing a crazy trip out according to senoag and so parcel Naoi (noi-ee)this was a lovely hand made cabled bag in gorgeous purple colour I know that senoag has been looking in my projects pages and profiles to find all this info about me too. Now somehow I have mislaid the photo of the bag so when I find it It will be here......





Now after such a busy day seonag wants me to draw up a bath and relax with this gorgeous lavendar sachet curtesy of Mr Raymond and for you who don't know about Mr Raymond please start reading the books they are brilliant.
.


So you can see I have had a lovely set of parcels from my wonderful swap partner from the outlander series.

I am also excited because I am going on a retreat to St Abbs in june the wonderful louise and trudy are running it if you want more info look here. www.woolfish.co.uk

woolfish goodies

Hi there,

Well I am late with this blog update but the world has been a bit busy. So thought I would just post some pics of my new yarns and fleecy stuff all bought at the woolfish festival. This is a really lovely festival and the three of us are counting down the days to the next one in November.

So here goes some fleecy stuff first.

This is a lovely bundle of merino/silk mix bought from yarnyard. I love the colours of this one cant wait to try spinning it.



Now by the same wonderful woman a lovely merino/silk mix in gorgeous pinks and peaches...For my clan sisters this looks like it could be a clan yarn when spun...




Can you see the lovely sheen from the silk content yummy bliss.

I also got some in a blue combination and so here is a picture of all of them together.



Now here are some pics of skeins I got out of her bargin basket. Some silk merino sock weight and some lace weight. (for a project in the future)






Drat can't download the others at moment so here are the two lovely items I got from fibrespates on the Sunday morning..

Firstly some lovely lace weight which I just fell in love with.




And this is scrumptious in a gorgeous rich jewel red

I bought even more from woolfish but can't download at the moment so will finish there and try to include those goodies when I catch up with the rest of the news from this last two weeks.

new yarn and new projects finished..

Well this has been about two weeks since I last posted and I am not sure all the things I have done but here is a few.
I managed to treat my self to some yarn and fleece from Auld Maiden Aunt valentines sale very yummy not got photos yet but will try to get them sorted very soon.
I have now finished a small capelet in James Brett Marble DK. This maybe acryllic but it does feel so nice when knitted up.

The Bear is called Harris and he doesn't seem to mind wearing a lovely ruffly capelet. Harris was a lovely gift from my D.H. before we were married and he came with us on our honeymoon to the wonderful tour of the Hebrides and so visited his name sake Harris. Ahhh bliss the thought of the wonderful beaches on Harris.

I have also done some lovely socks Called Bremen socks these are gorgeous.. .

I did these when I came across the pattern on Ravelry and I had visited the lovely city of Bremen last September to a friends wedding. Red likes them too..lol






Now if any of you haven't been to Bremen I can highly recommend a visit it is a lovely market town in germany with the most efficient trams. They tell you a tram will be in in 2 minutes and of course it is spot on time. It is such a lovely town with amazing architecture and some lovely shops.



This was the church that Jeremy and annetta got married in it was so beautiful. On the Sunday they also had an art exhibition in there after the service and we were treated to some lovely wooden sculptures what do you think?





Aren't they amazing I just love looking at them.



Didn't come across much in the line of wools shops but one wee shop did have some lang sock yarn which I am just starting to use for darling hubby as I am writing this...lol I know another wip. But these are plain stocking stitch so just for those times when my wee brain is feeling sore..lol.