Illuminations

 I have another spinning show and tell for you!   I bought some pretty roving from a UK company called Fellview Fibres.     They have consistently beautiful colorways and quality fibres to spin up. A real treat for the senses.

This roving colorway was inspired by the illuminated manuscripts from various ancient abbeys such as Lindisfarne and the Book of Kells.  Carol has three or four colour ways in this series but this one appealed to me for its softness of yarn and color.

The truth was it was a bit of a challenge to spin as the fine merino and silk liked to stay separate and it was a struggle at times to keep a flow moving. So it was a slow spin up and I would do a 50 gram amount and then do something else for a change and then go back and do another.  Eventually, when I dug for another bundle, it was all gone. 

So this was apparently the last 50 gram ball to be spun up.... and the balance shown were in various stages.   Such as 'on the rack' or noddy noddy.

All skeined up and ready for a soaking.

Washed and dried and behaving like it was never a 'problem child" 😁

I wound each skein into cakes and they store up nicely, ready for use.  (For sale in my Etsy store: Thrums Textiles)

My next new adventure?   Learning to use a Turkish drop spindle!

A friend convinced me to give them a try. They make a neat little centre pull ball called a 'turtle' and you can easily ply from two turtles.  The spindle parts all come apart for easy storage and for releasing the turtle from captivity!   🐢     Checking the mail box daily for it to come!   I hear they are addictive and you need more than one.... a whole herd perhaps?    😁

Spinning Our Wheels 🚗 🔥

First of all, let me state that this is NOT our car but it was someone's reality just yesterday.  I fully sympathize as it was on my mind on May 21st.  {although it is apparently a Hyundai car}

This is our new to us 2019 Hyundai Tucson which we bought recently and  it was done basically on the spot.   It was a lovely Saturday on a holiday weekend and I had an errand to do in Courtenay about a 35 minute drive south of us. Hub was going to stay home but I talked him into coming along and enjoying the drive along the ocean.   So we headed out and got about 10 kms south of town when we noticed smoke coming out of the steering column!  We immediately turned around and slowly headed back, through town and out to the Hyundai dealership. We had the windows rolled down, and I had tucked the insurance papers into my purse and we were prepared to bail in a hurry if need be.  😳

Long story short, it would a spendy repair and a 2-3 week wait for the parts, for a 12 year old 2010 Santa Fe. It has been very good to us, very reliable.... until it scared us and we couldn't trust it anymore. So we went and kicked some tires and brought home the 2019 Tucson.   We're very happy, even if we do have a car loan again.  I'm also very grateful that Bruce came with me for the drive that day, otherwise I would have had to buy a car all by myself!  😁   Its fun to drive and I love the back up camera!    Smaller cargo space but then we don't have a large dog like Calli any longer or her big kennel....   still miss that girl!

After the long weekend, Bruce had to go back to the dealership to get help with some of the features and was stunned to see that a large portion of the building had burnt down! It would seem that a Santa Fe was up on the hoist and it caught fire.  Our hearts sank when we heard this news, but they quickly told us it was a 2015 Santa Fe and not ours.  Our old car is actually the white car to the left of this picture.  They were only down a weeks time and in that time they had cleared away debris and brought in building materials already....

So this Hansen e-spinner has been a wonderful distraction for the past weeks as my shoulder healed.   I have become quite at home with the machine now and using it for both singles and plying. There is a difference between an e-spinner and a conventional wheel but nothing difficult. Its more about a change in technique really. I know my feet appreciate the break and so I've decided to sell off my spinning wheel.    If you want to keep doing the things you enjoy, you must adapt.  The Woolee Winder has made using the e-spinner much easier.

So, yes I am weaving but not anything fast  or even every day.  The shoulder injury is simply something I don't care to repeat if I can avoid it.  I'm easing back into things and slowly building on time spent throwing a shuttle. The spring loom has 9.5 yards of cotton for towels, and I'm up to towel number 4 of  8 or 9.   Simple 6 shaft herringbone and cheerful colours which seem to make everyone happy who see them. 

This blue version was started yesterday......

I'm also planning a shawl warp with a beautiful painted warp I bought on line so that's next up for the Megado. It currently has two scarves underway but more on those next time. 

So that's may update on the goings on and interesting turn of events around here.  🌺 🐝

Some of our gardens right now....

chest nut blossoms

Clematis

snap dragons and white iris

 

👩‍🎓 Cross Roads

 Say hello.... and good bye to this!   I just cut off the first scarf attempt this afternoon.   I wove roughly 30 slow inches and in that distance, the floating selvedge broke 8 times.  Its just not worth my time to keep on fighting with it.  

So I'm resleying and will give the second scarf a go for 10-12 inches and see how it behaves.  Its been warned and the scissors are on stand by.   There will be some changes made to the pattern and how I plan to weave it so we'll see how this pans out. It either will or it won't. 

I had such a good time weaving the recent Royal Stewart scarves and had hope to continue the fun but this has been a big disappointment.   I told my hubby it was yet another learning experience and today it was all about cutting your losses (literally) 😁✂️

So the Megado loom has a new warp on it.  Eleven yards of ring-spun cotton that fought us tooth and nail going on to the loom.   It was a bit awkward as it had a lot of over spin in the yarn and so it wanted to curl up and then cling to its neighbour.   I have 3- 3 pound cones of it so future warps will be shorter and hopefully sweeter.  Nothing much has happened there since beaming the warp as I went onto other battles on the Spring loom. 

I have mentioned before that I have issues with my feet so I have decided to make some changes in my other toys. I have my Louet Victoria wheel up for sale at Etsy and was nudged into buying a Hansen mini spinner a bit sooner than I planned due to Hansen having a brief sale last month I just couldn't say no to.   So I have been playing with this little  machine this week:

As you can see,  the introduction is going quite well and its  a lovely experience once you get the hang of the spinner and the foot pedal. The bobbins are quite large and I have put on an orifice reducer. I have a 12 volt battery pack and a folding camp table and so we're ready to take the show on the road when the pandemic is finally over. I bought a padded sewing machine carry bag with wheels and a telescoping handle to protect it and all the gear.  It even came with a plug to use in the cigarette lighter in the car.    🚗  

So besides the spinning wheel, I have been downsizing and selling off bits and pieces like weaving videos, books, yarn and a swift. I have come to realize that I'm just not going to use all this stuff I have accumulated.  Its quite liberating to move it all on.    Its leaving one parcel at a time.... 📦

Other news that also speaks to cross roads and changing the future..... is that my daughter graduated with her Masters of Arts in School Counselling last Sunday and had a new job just 15 minutes from home by Wednesday.  Its the result of much hard work and study and 4 years of her life (their life as she is married) and we are so darn proud of her! Carrie will be working with elementary school kids and she couldn't be happier!

We watched via live streaming and the ceremony was held outdoors, with a stiff wind blowing and a pause for a thunder storm.  It was a masked  and socially distanced event and the sun appeared from time to time.  I'm certain that there is a very large smile behind that mask!    I know we sure did!  😁