Off to Pastures new.

There's going to be some changes with Lazykate over the next few weeks and months and I thought that a change of blog would be in order so please follow me over at my Lazykate Handspun Yarn blog here

                             http://cathylazykate.wordpress.com/

See you there

Things have been changing around here over the last few weeks, it's all very exciting stuff!

I've been concentrating more recently on my teaching and workshops, spinning is so popular at the moment and my time is taken up by that, so I've not been able to devote the time I need to on my website.

As a result it is a poor little neglected space and so it's sock pulling up time.  I've created a new blog - I'm off to fresh pastures where I'll be posting all that's going on at Lazykate and dates and events will be on there.

So it's bye bye to Blogger, thanks for everything and I'm off to (whisper)  Lazykate Handspun Yarn blog -

http://cathylazykate.wordpress.com/

Spinning to Weave

I love all the different parts of my job, but teaching is a real buzz.  I like to be prepared though and so when I'm doing a new workshop, I like to have a run through to check timings, materials and general smooth running of the day.

So when my friend Suzi said she would be a guinea pig, I jumped at the chance.  In terms of preparing for my forthcoming dyeing day on the 15th February, I could have paid more attention and leant more....but in terms of having a great day gassing with a friend it was a huge success!

Suzi's blog entry of our day is here, her blog is extremely interesting anyway, especially for creative people who suffer with health problems so please take a look.

http://sensitivesoulsrequiremorebeauty.com/

So with my own dyeing, I've been recreating my Delphinium fibre which is on the website and spinning for a very special item - a gift for my daughter.

I love the petrol blue of this dyelot with hints of purple, looks like this in the pot - a huge collection of intestines!  I often post on Instagram and ask people what they think of my dyes, I really should learn (intestines, baked beans, a big pot of brains)

I've spun it to lacewieght to be woven for a bear, what I hope will become an heirloom.  It's incredibly exciting spinning for something so special.  I can't wait to post the finished article.  I need another shade of yarn to compliment and lift this one, so I'm toying with this shade

I think the golds in this fibre will provide a brighter contrat to the bears body.  I'm itching to get spinning it.  Will post as soon as I have a skein, which could be sooner than I thought (daughter sent home from school sick). Am on nurse duty - which of course involves an afternoon of Night at the Museum

Happy spinning

Always Learning

Yesterday's workshop went without a hitch, the ladies and gentleman who came along were lovely as usual. In all the workshops I've done, I can honestly said I've never had a person come who's been awkward, people who spin are generally lovely.

I always learn something though and yesterday was no exception.  Andrew and Carol came all the way over from York, quite a journey to Ormskirk, Andrew because he wanted to learn to spin and Carol because she loved learning new things.

Andrew kissing his yarn (a la fly fishers)

Andrew is an extreme knitter and was probably the only student I have ever had who wanted to spin thicker from the beginning, normally were all determined to spin thinner and thinner until spinning more thickly is a huge task. I kicked myself when I thought I should have checked if there was anything they wanted to learn and then I could have brought along a jumbo flyer! 

So I will be asking you, if you come along for a workshop if there's anything in particular you'd like to focus on and then I can teach you what you need.  Always learning.

Thanks also to Ann and Joy for coming along but who are shyer spinners and shun publicity. Quit right too ladies!  

Knickers and Natters

Last night was a return to Heddles & Treadles, my local(?!!) Guild of Spinners Weavers & Dyers.  Their venue has changed due to hall refurbishment and they now meet in a village hall almost an hour away from where I now live.  It was a heck of a trek but we had a great meeting.

Some learnt Dorset buttons, I, well it was mostly a chinwag for me. It was a worthwhile discussion,  I discovered how some people space dye their knickers, something I confess had not occurred to me, but I believe Kirstie Alsopp was doing it before Christmas. Something I can't find any evidence for bit I wouldn't be a bit surprised. 

Dorset buttons in progress, no knicker shots I afraid, being dyed or otherwise 

It's well worth leafing through old books and updating ideas, giving the old a new lease of life.  Think of that when you next put on your old grey pants ladies!

I also caught up with Ambermoggie from ravelry who is in our guild and was using a Hanson mini spinner, something I hadn't seen before, but it saves her knees (having been operated on). It's a brilliant machine, with different speeds and she highly recommended it.  It reduced her plying time considerably. 

The bobbin is larger than a standard bobbin and so would hold a sizeable amount, which would be needed as more would be spun in a shorter time.  I was impressed with it and would definitely recommend it to friends or students who wanted to spin but had difficulty with their joints.

X

New House, new beginning

Well we moved house in the week of the 16th December, exactly a year since we last moved. We took a week to completely leave our house in Hilldale and transfer all our worldly goods to Ormskirk but we are now done. 

We're living in an old farmhouse that used to be a pig farm, it's full of quirks and oddities, just the kind of house we love.  We're hoping to stay here for quite a few years - if I have to move again soon, I will just leave everything behind!

During the move Iacked up my wool room, I have so much 'stuff' it's untrue. I came across some alpaca fibre, in this beautiful shade so I started spinning it up over the Christmas holiday

Alpaca is such a beautiful fibre to spin and as I was spinning to 4ply I didn't really need to think at all.  Sometimes mindless spinning is the best!

I have to admit I might have gone a little bit awry during Sherlock but who wouldn't!

I love this Kelp Scarf pattern on ravelry by Ben Millett, so I think I might give that a go

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kelp-scarf-2

     

It better not be too difficult - I'm still in a brain of a jelly mould.  Off to Wickerwool this afternoon to see how their move is going on!

The workshop at Knitwise in Ormskirk on the 18th January is full now but keep an eye on the website for upcoming events

X

It Was A Disarster Darling

With getting ready to move house I was behind before we'd started today.  I was supposed to clean my new loom up so that we could get started first thing.  But the loom had stayed in the shed for the week while I'd packed and in the couple of hours free at night I'd spun yarn in preparation for all the weaving I was going to be doing.

    Extremely dirty loom in need of love and affection

The loom was so filthy.  Heather and I rubbed it down with wire wool, we wiped it over with a damp cloth (Heather did more work that I did). I really don't know where the time went but we seemed to be at it for hours.  

We decided to use up some cheap acrylic yarn first in our weaving just to make sure that we didn't dirty our precious handspun.  Heather showed me how to use the warping board. I'm so embarrassed to say that I couldn't wrap the wool under and over and count at the same time! I felt like such an imbecile.  Finally, it did click, and to be honest it shouldn't be difficult for anyone, I don't know why I couldn't do it.

     Threads (all 112 of them) on the warping board

So we knotted the thing to within an inch of its life, place it on the loom and immediately the threads all stuck together and tangled up.  The yarn (which an old friend had kindly given me for free) was useless, all messed up and knotted.  We gave up.  We were tired dejected and the enthusiasm from the morning had disappeared,  so we all went home.

No image of loom tangled, threads cut and put into bin. 

Lesson learned - check the yarn for your warp thread before you start.  I can feel all you weavers shaking your heads and pursing your lips in my direction.  I can even hear a tut or two.  But I plan to make every mistake there is to make, I might even do them twice. 

I will go back and have another go, but just at the moment, I'm not speaking to it.

Eclectic Dye Day

Yesterday was the trial run of our dyeing day and it went better than I'd imagined in my dreams when people were horribly burnt and everything felted.

We started off with coffee and cake so priorities were maintained.  This cake - which needs no words.

We began with acid dyes, everyone chose their colours, we soaked yarn and fibre and then we painted.  Some chose delicate shades, others were bold but we were all pleased with what turned out. It's interesting how spinners, knitters and weavers will paint their yarn, or fibre with their chosen project in mind.  

 

Here Heather shows her two skeins, Heather was dyeing with a view to weaving her yarn.

We then dyed using natural dyes, mordanted with copper and alum.  I don't like copper but I had some from a sample kit so we had a go.  I preferred the yarn mordanted with the alum, the shades are delicate and beautiful, I've stolen these images from Jennie (thanks)

The day was busy but productive, we've got ideas for the next workshop and we're hugely excited.  So you ladies who said they're coming at the beginning of Feb, get your creative juices flowing, we're ready for you!

Thanks to Heather, Jennie, Tamzin and Ginny for their images!

Moving House again.......

I'm so pleased to be able to report that I'm moving house again since it is one of my favourite things to do..... (Jeremy Paxman voice) ..' In the world'.

Here is a photo from the last time we moved, almost a year to the day.  This was half an hour in, stolen from my daughter's Instagram page. Poor Ginny, no-one should make their mother look like this.

So I've begun by hitting the chocolate, followed by the dregs from the alcohol cupboard in an attempt to keep my chin up.  This may result in my new Blog Regularly mindset to be slightly knocked off course, but I will try!

So tomorrow we are back weaving at Wickerwool. My new loom will arrive and hopefully Heather will be able to set me off.  I've been spinning crazily all weekend, I stole some of my own fibre - the Pollyanna dyelot and have spun as thinly as I could because I'd like a delicately woven scarf.

As I've said previously, I'm a complete novice so I'll be interested to see how Heather uses it.  The single looks like this which is slightly affected by the kitchen lighting but you get the effect.

I'm waiting for Spin to Weave by Sara Lamb to arrive so I can check what I'm doing is right but hopefully tomorrow I'll be making my own tentative steps as a weaver.

We're also dyeing tomorrow for our own yarn to weave, it's an open invitation, pay for your materials but come and share your knowledge for a donation of £3 (for scones and cake). We're there from 10am

Wickerwool

Cedar Farm Galleries

Back Lane

Mawdesley

Lancs

L40 3SY

01704 822088

Warping and Weaving

I was back at Wickerwool at Cedar Farm today, our loom collection has now grown to four with the addition of a table loom courtesy of Jackie from The Cedar Beaders who is unable to weave any longer due to arthritis.  It's so sad when that happens, but we will certainly use her loom to the full!!

Heather was able to show Ginny how to thread up the loom and begin weaving.  We started by using the Inkle loom as a warping board to get started, I was in and out of the room (I had forgotten wool and had to nip home)

Heather took Ginny slowly through the stages up to which she was able to start weaving.  For a more detailed explanation of what happened ( I have to be honest, at the moment it's all a blur for me as beginner), follow this link to Heathers blog http://tinywoodlandfibres.blogspot.co.uk

Heather is so talented with her weaving, she explains things clearly and I'm sure we'll be creating amazing scarves soon! This is my plan anyway, possibly in the style of this time next year we'll be millionaires.

In the meantime, I'm going to spin some singles to use on Jackie's loom. It has plastic Heddles so it will be great for handspun. This book by Sara Lamb is amazing and I will be ordering it ASAP, it has all the info needed to get going if you plan to weave your handspun yarn. The colours in her scarves are amazing and certainly gave me ideas and inspiration for our dyeing day next Tuesday.  

We'll be starting at 10am and trying different methods of dyeing and talking colour theory too. We're at Cedar Farm, if you fancy coming along, please get in touch so we can prepare.  We'll also have the looms and spinning wheels there too.  

You can contact me on cathy.lazykate@gmail.com

Pendle Stitches

We (Ginny and me) were at Pendle Stitches in Clitheroe for a workshop yesterday. Clitheroe, if you've never been is a beautiful market town in the hills of Lancashire and well worth a visit.

We met Emma, Liz and Lucy who worked their socks off and each achieved an impressive skein of yarn.  It's not easy to learn to spin, especially if you've never been near a wheel before but there certainly was determination in the room!

As well as yarn, books and worshops, Pendle Stitches also teaches how to shabby chic vintage furniture and how those tins of paint came in useful as our wheels moved across the carpet. Even though they were supposed to be Traditionals, not Travellers. Hahahahaha. (Almost Bruce Forsythe standard joke there!)

I'm sure the ladies went home and had a well deserved glass of wine, it was lovely meeting them, I hope they continue with their spinning, - they'd better!

An Introduction to Weaving at Cedar Farm

We bought a loom! Ginny and I bought one from Lancs and Lakes Guild of the Spinners, Weavers & Dyers who were selling a couple and we thought why not?  So, it has sat for a little while with no-one to love it until now.

We went to Wickerwool at Cedar Farm to meet Heather and her Ashford Rigid Heddle loom.  As complete novices we have absolutely no idea what it was all about - I imagine that will become clear from the rest of the post.

So firstly we took all the little bits n bobs out of the bag, which turned out to be 300 heddles.  Heather showed us how to attach them to the frame (don't know if that has a name

So what we realise we need now is a warping frame.  Man, are they pricey! So before we jump in and commit ourselves to the £100 layout, we may be searching for a way to do it ourselves - quite a statement considering, well, we don't really know what we're doing.

Just that little introduction has wetted our appetite for wanting to know more - we're so excited about using handspun yarn to create a scarf. You can follow Heather's blog of her spinning and weaving here at http://tinywoodlandfibres.blogspot.co.uk

So, if you've ever wanted to see what's involved with weaving, if you're inquisitive and want to have a mosey or it's something you've always wanted to do, come to Cedar Farm in Mawdesley every Tuesday and we'll be there with our looms, we really want to meet people in our local area who want to get together and weave, spin or knit. Please feel welcome to join us.

We finished the afternoon having a go on Heathers Schacht Loom, which was so sparkly and new, we were scared to touch it.

For the weekend, I' making a workshop at Pendle Stitches in Clitheroe. I love Clitheroe and don't need much of an excuse to trek over there. Please pop in and say hi if you're a Pendle Stitch regular.

Pendle Stiches

10 Moor Lane 

Clitheroe

Lancs

BB7 1BE

Latest Workshops

Workshops are keeping me busy at the moment and they really are my favourite thing.  When someone comes along to spin and loves it, it's the biggest buzz going.  So, last Saturday at Knit Wise in Ormskirk, I met Marion Diane and Julie and we spun together for the day.

Marion and Diane had both used a drop spindle before and that is always a bonus because it introduces you to the drafting process, so they had a little bit of a head start.

Julie had brought along her own wheel, an Ahford Traveller which is quite a quick wheel for a beginner but she did so well and by the end of the day had mastered it enough to produce a beautiful skein of yarn.

It's one of the things that I try and let people know when they come to spin, that they will learn at different rates,  it's easy to say but hard to convey, especially if you're the one who doesn't seem to pick it up as quickly as others but there can be many different factors that will affect your ability to learn. And some of those maybe out of your control.

So, if you learn on say, a Traveller, it will be a faster wheel and may take you a little while to master it,  but a Traveller is a wonderful wheel, so stick with it. We need to learn not to be so hard on ourselves, we expect so much!

All the ladies were wonderful, I'm sure they'll continue with their spinning and hopefully stay in touch, I have a feeling we'll stay friends and there isn't a greater reward than that.

If you're interested in Spinning Workshops, take a look at my facebook page for all the events that are going on in the near future.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lazykate-Handspun-Yarn/150686551664405?id=150686551664405&sk=events 

Torn ligaments = blog update!!

Well oh my word I haven't posted anything for simply AGES, you know, sometimes I have things to say and sometimes not.  Then summer holidays get in the way and you start to lose yourself in order to entertain your children.

Dog....

Garden....

Baby rabbit in garden, what could possibly go wrong?

So, it took a small rabbit, a maniac dog and torn ligaments to get me to sit still and catch up. I've spent the last day or so walking with a stick and wondering how come I turned into my nan so soon.

Coming up over the next fortnight, which is filling me with panic/excitement is Yarndale.  I'll be sharing my table with the wonderful Nic from Feltipedia, my very talented friend and we'd love you to come up and say hello so we can meet people with a passion for textiles like ours.

I'll have my wheel so if anyone wants to have a spin they're very welcome and both Nic and I will be offering our workshops so please do say hi.

I will try and blog more often, but seeing as I'm crocked I'll probably be back tomorrow!

International Knit in Public Day

We enjoyed Knit in Public Day yesterday at Cedar Farm, Mawdesley, Lancashire.  The day was incredibly hot so the knitters were truly hardcore.  I was joined by Stacey who came to spin and we moved around throughout the day depending on where the heat was perfect.

We joined Tamzin and Ruth to knit sections of a scarf which was raffled off at the end of the day, the money going towards two charities, Queenscourt Hospice and SKCV (Street Kids Community Village, India)

Stacey with the first of her three skeins

It was a wonderful good natured day with all, from young to old(er) joining in.  Knitters are good natured people and I enjoyed my day with Stacey who is a knitter but who came to spin (and was a natural).

Today, (Sunday) I headed over to Burscough Wharf where Colin and Carole Wareing from The Wool Boat were hosting an event.  The weather was stunning yet again and as only mad dogs and knitters would go out in the noon day sun, well, here were some of Lancashire's best.

The Wool Boat are now stocking some of my yarn and fibres, so if you see them on the Leeds Liverpool canal, be sure to pop in and say hello to them.  They post regularly on ravelry or facebook where they'll be, click on the link to like their page.

https://www.facebook.com/thewoolboat?ref=ts&fref=ts

Over the past few years, we've moved house quite a bit.   We lived here for a while

and then we lived here

and now we in Parbold.  We love it here.  It's in the secret beautiful countryside of Lancashire, halfway up Parbold Hill, it's gorgeous.


The main difference with regards to spinning is that this house has a halogen cooker.  It's thrown me a little, I can tell you because the way it heats the fibre is so different from anything I've been used to.  And because of that, I have slightly felted quite a bit of merino fibre, I can tell you.

The upside of this is that I'm keeping it for myself to spin, which as I've said on many a blog, I really want to do with all the fibre I spin because a) I love it and b) I want to spin all the fibre I dye.

So this little lot I chose to keep for myself and spin which I was at the Medeival Fair in Ormskirk last week.  I spun it thinly so I didn't have to think too much about wpi and if any children came along they could have a go at treadling the wheel and I could spin without too much worry.

I inteneded to keep it for myself in any case and so I've kept it as a single for experimenting.  I'm really looking forward to finding a project that will suit it, any suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

I think I've mastered the old cooker now, but until I completely do, I'll be keeping all merino fibre to myself!