Red Sky in the Morning

A gratuitous shot of an early morning Isle of Wight sky to make this post more visually interesting.

The nights are getting shorter now thank goodness, and there's a real feeling of Spring in the air. That should herald the onset of snow! lol.

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At our monthly Guild meeting on Saturday we were planning the calendar for this year, talking about the Shows we'll be attending this Summer and about WonderWool Wales and Woolfest. Our Secretary announced that this year might be the last Woolfest due to funding running out - not sure if anyone has heard similar?

I'm hoping to attend both Mainland wool festivals, and building in a trip to a mill or two while I'm at it.

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Progress is slow on the knitting and spinning currently. I'm still trapped in 'Laceweight Land' spinning yards and yards for hours and hours. I need to get on and do some dyeing of my natural Shetland and knit up a lace scarf for the competitions which are held at the AGM in April.

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I'm now on the New Blogger, but haven't had time to investigate the potential for improving my Blog. I fancy a new look, but not sure if this will be easy to do or will result in much gnashing of teeth.



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Spindle Tuition

Eeeek! Last night I gave my very first pupil a lesson in spindle spinning.

A new lady who's been coming to the Guild meetings was interested in getting into making her own yarn, and a spindle was the space-saving, portable option that attracted her.

Needless to say, I had teething problems with the rather coarse prepared fleece she'd acquired, and the fleece slipped from the leader on my first attempt to wind-on. After a few false starts we were underway, and she managed to spin a few metres by the end of the evening.

Spindle spinning can be frustrating when you're a beginner - the broken yarn - the tangles - but if you can persevere through this stage it gets to be quite a relaxing and therapeutic activity. Just the thing to do when you're looking at the TV and don't really need to pay too much attention to the programme, or chatting with friends.

All I need to do now is get on with plying the spindles I've filled with merino and get something knitted up. I may even do something with my stash of Kool Aid - a bit of rainbow dyeing perhaps?




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