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!