Tag: creativity

Ready to spin

On By vikkihaffendenIn craft, creativity, fibre, fibre preparation, hand spinning, hand spun, making, spinning, Textiles, WoolLeave a comment

An hour spent blending on the drum carder has got me set for some serious spinning.

The yellow and natural are broken Merino tops that I picked up at the John arbon Open Day last year.  I’ve blended these in equal parts with a very strong ultra marine blue which I won in my local Guild raffle.

I tested this first on hand carders and it produced a very nice yarn so now I’ve done it in bulk and taken rolags of a batt from the drumcard.

The singles so far.

I’m aiming for a 2 ply hand knit weight yarn, so spun the singles trying to let in a bit more fibre than I usually do. I read once that as you become more proficient at spinning you tend to spin finer, and that does seem to have been the case. Not that I’m claiming to be brilliant at it, just more practiced than I was.

This was spun the 1:8 whorl on my Louet S95 ‘Victoria’, which is the little folding portable wheel I take out to demonstrations. I aim to ply at the same ratio although I know it will probably work out a bit less. I am looking forward to spinning and plying this.

Somerset Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Skill Share day

On By vikkihaffendenIn craft, creativity, fibre, fibre preparation, Textiles, Wool, WorkshopLeave a comment

Yesterday, Easter Saturday was the Guild Skill Share. There were many generous members who shared their knowledge and skills in weaving, knitting and spinning related sessions.

Kathy and I offered a Wool Fibre Preparation day so that members could have an induction on the Guild equipment or bring their own carders and combs etc. along to learn how to use them or just pick up some tips.

The morning was all about using swing or box pickers and hand and drum carders plus how to use these for blending. After lunch we tackled wool combing using a  pair of English Combs and smaller Valkyrie ones plus blending in a heckle.

We enjoyed running the session and everyone seemed happy. After my initial H&S talk it was me that pricked my finger on the combs!

Making the most of the sunshine

On By vikkihaffendenIn craft, creativity, fibre, hand spinning, hand spun, mindfulness, spinning, Spinning wheels, Textiles, WoolLeave a comment

How often do we have such gorgeous weather in May in the UK?

So I decided to take advantage of it by having a swim and then sitting down with my spinning wheel to spin up some Jacob’s rolags I’d carded last night. What more perfect way of spending on Friday afternoon.

Ok the garden needs attention and I’ve got plants to plant out and I should be writing and all sorts of things, but sitting in the sun and spinning just seemed undeniable.

See more about machine and hand knitting and hand spinning on my ‘Vikkikit’ YouTube channel.

Fancy yarn workshop; spinning boucle yarn

On By vikkihaffendenIn British wool, craft, creativity, fibre, hand spinning, hand spun, spinning, Spinning wheels, Textiles, Wool, Workshop, yarnLeave a comment

Yesterday I had a fab time at a workshop learning to spin fancy yarns. We only managed boucle and slub but that was so rewarding. The workshop was organised by the Brighton and Hove Textile Arts Group and hosted by Spring Farm Alpacas in Fletching West Sussex. Ann Dishman led the workshop and provided Blue Faced Leicester tops, still various and other threads for us to spin with.

Although I have spun both types of yarns before, I learned a lot and really enjoyed having four hours in which to practise the techniques. I also found out that Ann had been taught to spin by my spinning hero, Mabel Ross, which made me extremely envious.

Unwashed boucle, Blue Faced Leicester singles and loops, cotton binder.
Unwashed the boucle was a bit lively, but it balanced out nicely after a strenuous washing.

Unwashed soft slub; Blue Faced Leicester singles with a fine industrial wool binder.

I took my Louet Victoria travel wheel and at usual she spin well and reliably, it was the user who made the mistakes!

Rya weave cushion completed

On By vikkihaffendenIn British wool, craft, creativity, fibre, weaving, Wool, Woven textilesLeave a comment

Although it’s taken me a while I have finally finished this cushion.

Front of the cushion. A tufted chequer board that is very tactile and squishy.

The front is Rya tufted and woven with a British wool rug yarn on a linen/cotton warp. The black tufts are Shetland staples and the cream is a mixture of Devon/Dorset staples. Although it’s not that clear in the photo, the squares are reversed; black edging with a cream centre and cream edging with a black centre.

The reverse of the cushion is a faux waffle weave in the same rug yarn that underlies the Rya tufts. Because my rigid heddle loom is only a 20 inch wide, the cushion is composed of four pieces.

I took the opportunity to insert a zip in the centre back seam.

Instead of feathers or polyester wadding, the cushion is filled with a pad of lofty carded wool fleece. I will use this cushion to make my chair extra comfortable whilst spinning at my wheel.

Weaving today for a relaxing time

On By vikkihaffendenIn British wool, craft, creativity, Textiles, weaving, Woven textilesLeave a comment

Today is ‘me time’, weaving with a local group, mostly members of the West Sussex Guild. Although I love knitting, it can sometimes seem like work because of my teaching and writing career. Weaving however, is a new skill to learn just for pleasure. Even though I haven’t heard grasped all the basics I am having fun designing fabrics using the simpler techniques.

Waffle effect in 100% British wool. This will be the having for the Rya weave cushion cover front I have already completed.

Typically I have already acquired two kinds, both rigid heddle type, but perfect for my early steps.

‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’

On By vikkihaffendenIn books, clothing size, craft, Creative machine knitting, educational, Flechage, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting machine, knitting machine maitenance, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, making, Passap, Short-row shaping, Short-rows, Textiles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The advance copy of my new book arrived today, and you can see some pages from the book here.

Meanwhile here is a quick look at the book.

I have made a more in depth video introduction to the book, and if you would like to watch this, please keep on scrolling down the page.

Acid dyeing session

On By vikkihaffendenIn British wool, creativity, Devon, dyeing, fibre, fibre preparation, hand spinning, spinning, Textiles, WoolLeave a comment

Having acquired a Devon/Cornwall fleece that is quite similar to a Romney in feel and quality, I thought I’d dye some for blending. This fine will be great to comb for a semi-worsted spun yarn.

One of my favourite methods for safely dyeing fleece without matting the fibres is to use a slow cooker. I have a large family sized one that will dye 100g comfortably and 150g at a pinch, and a single-person one that does 20g for samples etc.

Using a pre-mixed colour I’ve used before I did a blue first. However, on this fleece it came out darker than I anticipated, but will probably lighten up once combed or carded and spun.

From the remains of the dyebath I got a pretty light turquoise.

The blue at the back, turquoise at the front

I have combed these colours as shown in this video.

Note that in this video I talk about ‘roving, but technically I am making ‘tops’. Roving is a similar narrow length of fibres drawn off a drum carder (usually, but can be hand carders) and has a slight twist added to keep the fibres together.
After combing, both colours have come out as
I hoped.

I also wanted an olive green, and have a recipe that worked perfectly on a Dorset fleece last year. I must have made a mistake somewhere, because I got a dark green instead. Maybe it is the different fleece, but I think I got my proportions wrong!

Pretty enough, but not olive green!

Once again they was some colour left in the bath, so in went 100g of Dorset fleece. OMG, the colour was bright! No idea what I did wrong, but it makes me blink.

The only compensation is that the fleece has not called at all due to using the slow cooker method.

That bright green total exhausted the dye – no surprise really! I will probably card this as the staples of the Dorset fleece are short and it is a soft fibre. Great for soft woollen spun yarn.

If you are interested in discovering the difference between different terms such as roving, tops etc, click here to read Abby Franquemont on Spin Off.