I've just finished plying my latest bobbin of my wool/flax yarn, a very long standing spinning project I have been documenting on YouTube (skip to 3:12 if you want to jump straight to the chatty bit!). Join me for a chat about my spinning plans, an almost finished handknit cardigan worked up in my undyed Zwartbles yarn, an unreasonable quantity of fleece, and the garden finally beginning to come into its own.
Handspun wool and flax yarn, spinning plans, an almost finished handknit cardigan, lots of local sheep fleece and another garden update
Hello hello! I have just finished plying up the second skein of my wool/flax blend, and now it's time for a spinning snack. For reasons, the studio is full of lots of lovely local fleece and, of course, I've been spending lots of time in the garden, so I thought I'd give you a full tour of both the front and the back. Here's a quick run-through of everything that's been going on, but if you like to watch the full video update, it's live and available to all my Patreons.
If you're interested in keeping in touch and staying up to date with my current craft projects whilst I'm on maternity leave, Patreon is the best place to be. I'm continuing to share regular video updates, but there's also a very large back catalogue of previous videos there, so you can catch up on previous 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'm working on my hand-dyed, handspun wool/flax blend
As I mentioned, I've just finished plying another bobbin of my handspun wool and flax blend on my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel onto jumbo bobbins.
The handspun yarn needs winding into a hank, but then I'll have 2 full skeins of this naturally-dyed wool/flax blend. I then have the same amount to spin in an ever so slightly different colour, and then it'll be time to decide yarn becomes the warp and which will be the weft of the weaving stage of this long-standing craft project.
It's time for a spinning snack
Last time I told you I had plans for some naturally dyed green fibre from my friend Lorna at Thread and Yarn (a blend of Shetland, blue-faced Leicester and Cheviot), along with some fawn coloured Shetland from Wingham Wool Work.
However, things have developed since last month, and I have some new local British wool to spin! I've made myself some little rolags from the skirts of a very local Suffolk X Dutch Spotted fleece that came my way recently, and I love it. They’ll make for a joyous, textured and slubby long-draw that I’m very much looking forward to spinning up.
The studio is full of local sheep fleece
As I alluded to, I've been acquiring many fleeces thanks to a WhatsApp group I have for the kids. Someone mentioned sheep fleece, and within a couple of hours, I had bought two fleeces, which I'm very excited to work with. Tune in from around 7:11 to see Dilly and Whitney, two therapy sheep!
I've sorted Dilly's fleece, and eventually, both fleeces will be sent to the mill to be processed into spinning fibre for the online shop.
And that's not all! I was so close to getting the wool room looking lovely, and now it's full of even more fleece. I collected a ton bag of Zwartbles and Clun from a lady called Ellie about 5 miles away, most of which should eventually make their way to the mill.
I talk through everything I've acquired recently - yes there is even more. I hope you can keep up because there is now a rather unreasonable amount fleece with my name attached to it!
I've almost finished Zwartbles DK cardigan
I'm so close to finishing the dark brown cardigan I have been knitting using my undyed Zwartbles DK yarn.
I've mentioned before that it's a self-drafted cardigan with construction and shaping based on my Quickbeam Cardigan design. It still needs buttons and pockets, and the ends need to be woven in, but I’m loving the Zwartbles DK yarn so much!
Flowers in my garden
Skip to 28:25 for the garden fun. Come with me on a proper tour of the front and back garden.
I’m obsessed with everything that’s growing at the moment; roses, lupins, irises, foxgloves, flax, potatoes, fruit. I’ve been spending hours digging and sowing and planting and growing, and there’s beginning to be something to show for that work.
Thank you so much for joining me. I really hope you've enjoyed this update and you are excited about the fleece madness - it really is worth watching for!
If you'd love to chat and hang out whilst you wait for the next update from me, 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.
Thanks for joining me, and catch you again next month,
Marina
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