Carding and Spinning

Today week two of the very interesting Sheep to Hat course and we learnt carding. We grouped into two pairs for using the roller drum carder and the hand carder. The hand carder was easy to card the fleece with moving it to and fro one carder to the other and then lifting it all off. This will be used to spin with. We swapped to the drum carder you turn the handle and little pieces of fleece get taken under the roller and round the drum so you then get a wider amount when you are finished. These can cost anything from £250 said our tutor but she was lucky she said she got hers from Ebay for £150 We went back to the table with the carded fleece and learnt to use the hand spinner turning it with the right hand the left holding the piece of fleece higher than the spinner winding round the spinner letting it fall off with each turn until it was an even thickness. We were shown a colourful book of different sheep types sheep and their fleece, long and short and one sheep who doesn't need to be sheared because it looses its fleece naturally. We can take the hand spinner home and decide what to make and finish spinning the fleece. A lady there brought in a bag of Alpaca fleece she had given to her and said we could help ourselves, which we did the fleece was soft with colours of brown through to cream. We can use any wool to add to what we are making and next week we will learn to use a spinning wheel. There is a break after that for half term.I haven't decided what to make yet! Here you can see a youtube video A Navajo Weaver

Fleece and yarns

I attended a craft class on Friday entitled Sheep to Hat. The course lasts six weeks and I will learn all the stages from fleece to hat or make what I choose. I will probably either make a hat, slippers or a bag. We washed fleece using washing powder and rinsed a few times. There were knitting books and lots of colours of dyed felt and types of wool knitted including the lovely soft Marino wool and the silken Tussah. There was a coloured chart of the types of sheep and my cream and brown fleece came from a Jacob sheep. We took our fleeces home to dry and next week we will learn how to do carding,then how to use a spinning wheel. I always wondered what it would be like to use a spinning wheel and I am soon to find out! I have started knitting with this pretty blue speckly yarn and will make a purse with it. I came across this colourful mix of yarn half of it is wool and I will make a gadget case or something nice with it.

Finished crochet bag and two knitted bags

I finished the crochet bag. Knitted Bags These pieces were stitch together from a selection of knitted pieces I've made and added calico on the back which I dyed with fabric paint also the lining. This bag was knitted from left over knobbly textured wool I had. The front tab with button hole was crocheted.

My April Makes

These are the items I made in April. I am doing a craft fair on Saturday at Mylor Cornwall The Ord Statter Pavillion from 10 to 1pm Here is bunting I made for the craft table at the fair. I am very please with it.

Almost finished crochet bag

I have nearly finished the crochet bag just need to add the lining and stitch on the handles. I will finish it next week. On the weekends I do other things than crafts especially sewing. I serve in a charity shop on Saturday morning and relax on a Sunday and usually go car boot, though I still do crochet or knitting. I have made and listed two fabric bags in my shops.

Patchwork and squares

I have been knitting up oddments of wool that I like and I now have a selection, I thought I would stitch these together into a patchwork of complementary colours and make a bag. I have also started on a crochet bag. It will have four granny squares in the middle and a gusset of double crochet stitch around sides and bottom.

Shoulder Bag Knitted

I have made a shoulder bag with the burgundy acrylic yarn with specks of colour that I bought a little while ago. This is my own design. It is knitted in a garter and stocking stitch making a pretty ridge pattern. The lining is cotton in a tan colour with calico for added strength and two pockets red and blue matching the colours of the bag. It has a tab with a button hole this is lined as is the shoulder strap and there is a button to match the bag. Length 9" Width 12" Shoulder Strap 28" PostScript My husband Gerry says to me "Can you block this scarf it rolls into a tube"? So I did. This is it pinned ready to have clean wet tea towels spread on it. I think it will look better!