I'm thoroughly enjoying my making at the moment. There’s been lots more spinning of very local sheep fleece, a new knitting project using yarn from John Arbon Textiles*, some impending flax processing, and I've also been kitting out my new dye studio to get all ready for my return to work in September.
I also recently finished Patrick Grant's fantastic book, Less, which I talk a bit about in this update too, because if you're watching this, I suspect there's a good chance you'll enjoy it as well!
*This is an affiliate link, so if you tap this and shop with them, I get a little commission from anything you buy (and it doesn't cost you anything extra)
Spinning with local sheep fleece, a new knitting project, a dye studio upgrade and produce from the garden
Hello hello!
As is becoming a bit of a theme lately, the studio is full of local sheep fleece that I have slowly been sorting, spinning and rearranging. It’s getting ever so slightly out of hand, but I am having enormous fun combing, carding, spinning and generally playing with it all.
I’m so excited to get all the good bits sent off to the mill to eventually become spinning fibre and yarn for the shop, and I also have an order of my Mendip yarn placed, ready for a restock.
Here's a quick run-through of everything that's been going on, including a brand new knitting project and a quick tour of the new dye studio, but if you like to watch the full video update, it's live and available to all my Patreons.
If you'd like to keep in touch and stay up to date with my current craft projects whilst I'm on maternity leave, Patreon is the best place to be. We have one more members-only update next month before I am back to normal programming, and you’ll also have access to the big back catalogue of previous videos, with all my previous craft projects and ramblings in the meantime.
So yeah - if you're not, but would like to join me on Patreon, you can do so just here.
I've been playing with lots of local British sheep fleece
There’s now even more naturally coloured local sheep’s fleece in the work in progress basket! In fact, there is so much local wool in the studio now that I am going to need a barn with the amount of fleece I have my name to, but I am having so much fun with it all.
I’ve been working with the stuff that isn’t good enough to send to the mill, while the best fleece will soon be sent off to be processed into yarn and spinning fibre for the shop. You can see the two skeins of handspun yarn I have been working on from 6:00.
Dilly and Whitney's leg fleece is becoming handspun yarn
Last month I shared that I had been experimenting with combing the coarse leg fleece to process, ready for spinning. I’ve made lots of progress and have one very fat skein of handspun yarn, a bobbin of singles, and a few more nests that are ready to spin.
As a country, I think we are quick to dismiss some wool as carpet wool because it is not BFL soft, but even I wouldn’t wear this against my skin. So rather than clothes, I'm planning to weave with it, perhaps into a rug or another project for the home.
I then have a second basket full of rolags with multiple layers of rejection. This is the waste yarn from combing the fleece that wasn’t good enough to send to the mill. I have been thoroughly enjoying myself, carding it up into rolags to make some lovely handspun yarn.
The Dilly and Whitney chat starts at around 9:25, and you can also see some of the Zwartbles fleece I have at 16:05.
I finished my Zwartbles DK cardigan
I’ve finally finished my chocolatey brown cardigan using my undyed Zwartbles yarn. Well, almost. I am yet to add the buttons.
I believe this is what you would call an ‘elevated basic’. It's a self-drafted cardigan based on my Quickbeam Cardigan design. I have added some applied pockets, and I love it. I am very, very happy with it. It’s very, very likely that I will be writing up the pattern for it (although not for a good while), and I may make another version, potentially in Mendip DK, so that I can photograph it and show off all the details better.
My next knitting project
I chatted about this last time, but my next knitting project is a jumper for my father using John Arbon Appledore yarn I got at the mills’ open weekend last month. I was deciding between the DK yarn held single or holding the lace weight held double, and I went for the latter, theorising that holding thinner yarns together would create a less gappy fabric.
I swatched on two needle sizes, but sadly the results meant I needed to find a new knitting pattern to meet my preferred gauge of 23 stitches. Normally, I'd much rather pay another designer for a knitting pattern, but no one has published what I wanted - one of the reasons I became a knitwear designer in the first place. So I’ve opted for a free saddle shoulder sweater pattern by Järbo Garn that I found on Ravelry.
I’m looking forward to an easy, mindful knit, which is why I am not designing it myself. If you’d like to skip to this section, I start talking about it at 23:45.
As a side note, I don’t usually do plugs, but I will always promote John Arbon because I love them and their yarn and fibre! So if you are considering buying anything from John Arbon Textiles, I would love it if you bought it via my affiliate link, or using my code MARINASKUA. Doing so will mean I get a little commission from your purchase, and it won’t cost you any extra.
I read Patrick Grant’s book, Less
I was obsessed with The Great British Sewing Bee (although I sadly missed my chance to apply by getting a sewing job) and have been binge-watching previous episodes. I just love it!
I have been meaning to read Patrick Grant’s book Less for ages, and I highly recommend it. He makes a lot of the same points I have been talking about for years about how working with your hands is good for the soul and how using local, high-quality materials is better for you.
It’s a fantastic book, so skip to 31:55 if you'd like to hear my thoughts on this.
I’ve been kitting out my new dye studio
Skip to 34:45 for a look at the dye room.
This is the kind of set up that I couldn’t even dream of just a short while ago, and it’s just so exciting. Come with me to have a look around and see the results of some dye tests which will feature in the September shop update when I’m back from maternity leave!
And finally, a tour of the back garden
And if you want a look at how the back garden is doing, you can skip to 40:35 where I’ll take you around and give you an update of everything that is growing, including my flax harvest.
That's all from me for now
Thank you so much for joining me; I really hope you've enjoyed this update. There's now just one more members-only update next month until we get back to normal programming. I'm so excited!
If you'd love to chat and hang out whilst you wait for the final update during my maternity leave, I've been posting some updates on our Patreon Discord channel. If you haven't joined the server yet, it’s easy to get started - you can find all the info on how to join just here. And if you're not a Patron yet, but would like to be, you can support me on Patreon just here.
A final quick reminder that orders from my website are still being posted out, just quite sporadically, so you can still buy anything in stock that you have your eye on.
It's been lovely chatting to you. I hope you are all well and I will catch you next time.
Marina
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