I spent Friday spinning with Carol and Pete Leonard learning long draw/extended draw on the lovely sidekick wheel.  Not being used to a double treadle wheel and spinning long draw which is not something that I do well or often, in front of other people, well it was a challenge to say the least.  It's something I'm going to keep practising until I've got it completely right though.  It's amazing how quickly you find a comfortable way of doing something and then stick with it, it's good to have people to bring you out of that rut!

They are also doing a study of rare breeds on behalf of the Rare Breed Trust.  You can read all about it on Carol's blog, they started last month with Whitefaced Woodland.  This month, they are spinning Navajo Churro, a beautiful sheep and I thought I would take part.

Bit of a looker, eh?  Can't say the same for it's manky old fleece:

It's dirty and lanolin heavy and looks like a dodgy old toupee, apart from that I can't wait to get spinning it.  We have to report on staple length, crimp, colour and lustre, how it spins etc.  I will let you know...

In other news, my blue Josephine wool has gone on sale at Knitting Heaven in Leyland, along with the Lydia flower kit in various colours.  These have been sold in the past with beads but now we've teamed up with Lisa from Woodland Gifts.  Her buttons are just lovely and the shades she's chosen go perfectly with the flower.

Lisa's buttons are perfect for adorning knitted garments because they're light so won't weigh down your scarf etc, like other buttons can.  And she'll dye to order as well which is brilliant if you're a dyer because you can't always get the colour you want.  Here's a few of her designs and a link for you to find her.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/WoodlandGifts?page=2


Anyway, my spinning for this week has been this lovely grey with shades of lilac sporadically (!!) running through it, and a button would be perfect for a colour like this.  I've spun it as 4 ply and it'll be available on etsy asap.  Here just to show you the vagaries of photography and lighting are two pics I took within seconds of each other.  Strange huh. 

The true colour is nearer the bottom one with little blue and lilac elements.  It's on it's way to etsy as we speak.......

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lazykate

Speak soon

Saturdays Spinning Workshop

Saturday was the monthly spinning workshop and it went really well despite an extremely badly behaved wheel!  Anne and Amanda enjoyed the day and it has to be said took to spinning very well and were able to produce a few skeins of yarn each.

It's always lovely to meet people with a passion for anything textiley and I can honestly say I've never had a day teaching that I haven't really enjoyed or not got on well with the ladies who come along.

I'm looking for two second hand wheels if anyone can point me in the right direction. I'd like Ashfords if possible and something not to temperamental as they are to be for beginners.  I'll post a facebook link to get in touch, or you could leave a comment.

Over the half term we had a small felting workshop for children which always goes well as you can't get anything more enthusiastic than children with soap, water and wool!  We did have to do some damage limitation with knitting needles and young boys - not that I want to malign the male of the species but there were times when we were moments away from very distincive piercings!

I'll be running some new Spinning workshops later in March in some new venues which is very exciting for me and I hope to meet some new spinning friends in other areas, so I'll post more information as soon as it's all confirmed.

I've been following the I love Wool page on Facebook, which, if you haven't seen it, is well worth a visit.

http://www.facebook.com/WeLoveWool?ref=ts

There is a wool swimsuit to die for.  If only we had the figure that's inside it.  Sigh.

And while you're there (on facebook) please pop over to my page and say hi!

www.facebook.com/pages/Lazykate-Handspun-Yarn/150686551664405?ref=tn_tnmn

I'm back to spinning and dyeing properly this week after the half term, it's been a little quieter than usual, but I have managed to spin these skein for a local shop.  I love spinning chunky yarn and as usual I'm torn between sending them on and keeping them for myself!

Will post with more info asap

Cathy