Daily Drivel

More fibre!

Just took a quick photo of the 2nd batch of fibre I dyed at the weekend:

I'm pleased with how it's turned out - can't wait to do some more dyeing!

I've started spinning up the first lot I dyed - aiming for a sock-weight 3 ply:

Now I must venture out in the cold and get some milk. Brrrrr!

Cool!

I've been lusting after an EEE PC for ages. My laptop is massive and weighs about 5kg (truly leg breaking!). So - I finally got round to ordering one from Amazon yesterday and it was delivered about an hour ago (big thumbs up to Amazon for great service - I chose express delivery and it certainly was!). I'm typing this on it - didn't take long to set up. I got the Linux version. Wireless is working nicely - haven't checked the range yet as the battery is still charging up. Wonder if i'll be able to use it from the garden :-) Shouldn't take too long to get used to the keyboard. They main bit is fine but I keep missing the shift key etc. I'll take some photos later to show how tiny it is compared with the big laptop!

Going to do some spinning now I think and let my EEE finish charging in peace.

Rubbish photo...

I just spotted this chap landing on a roof nearby so I grabbed my camera and my (very rubbish) 70- 300mm Sigma (I really want a decent long lens!) and managed to get one shot only. He (I think it's a male Kestrel) flew off after one photo! Must be camera shy. He was looking straight at me - obvsiously didn't like the look of me ;-)

Dry!

My first 3 rovings are dry! I'll probably start spinning the purpley/bluey one later as I've got plans for it (although I'm really keen to see what the humbug looks like when it's spun up). The 260g I dyed last night have been rinsed and are drying now :-) The colours are a bit stronger in the new lot. I need to buy more dye now as I've used most of what I had.

The big rinse!

I've just finished rinsing the fibre I dyed up last night. Now waiting to see if I treated them gently enough and hoping I don't end up with felt! I fear it will take them an age to dry in the kitchn but I daren't put them on our wooden floor!

First - 100g bfl humbug - dyed with red, yellow & orange. I'm looking forward to spinning this - interested to see how it will turn out.

Next, 200g of BFL (from the 500g I bought at iKnit). I used purple, blue and turquoise. Hoping to turn this into sock yarn - I did 200g as I don't seem to be able to get enough yardage out of 100g yet!

Here's the 3ply I just finished (not washed it yet). I got a little under 300yds - quite a bit left on 2 of the bobbins which I will navajo ply. Pretty pleased with how it turned out - it is quite fine.

This is the fibre I used (from 'Spindlefrog' on Etsy - lovely fibres)

It's wet, cold and miserable outside today so we've decided to stay in. The fire is on already :-) I might do some more dyeing later - I want to do some more experiments with the colours and record what I've done a bit more carefully.

Steaming!

I've had a go at dyeing some fibre tonight. I bought a cheapo 3 tier steamer thingy today - seems to work really well. I've dyed 100g of humbug BFL and 200g of white BFL. Haven't dyed fibre before so I'm hoping I haven't felted it. I reckon I could get 500g of fibre in the steamer at once. I need more containers for mixing up the dye though. Will have to get some plastic cups. Anyway - it's all still really hot and steamy ;-) I'm going to leave it to cool until the morning. Exciting eh!

Spinning in church!

Today's guild meeting was interesting. Somehow the hall was double-booked for the afternoon and we ended up having to move out and across the road to the church! I've almost finished spinning the 2nd bobbin of BFL I've been working on. Might do some more this evening. I'm really taken by 3ply yarns - except they take so long to make! Mind you, I haven't been doing a lot of spinning recently. I had a quick go at weaving today - someone brought their ashford rigid heddle loom so I could have a look and a go. It was really useful as I think I've decided I don't want to get one bigger than about 25" and I do want to get a stand!

We saw 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' last night - it was a fun movie :-) We've decided to take the weekend 'off' from sorting things out at Dad's. Not sure what I'll be getting up to tomorrow - but I think it will involve a lazy morning getting up late. I'm hoping the weather is going to be ok so I can do a bit more work in the garden. I really want to have a go at dyeing some of the fibre I bought at iKnit but that might have to wait a bit longer.

A has just put a crumpet mix on (in the bread machine) so we'll be making those later. Yum! I'm deciding whether to get a curry for dinner or not - can't quite decide if I can be bothered to go out in the cold! I do like a curry though.

Right - where's that takeaway menu gone?!