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A lot of yarn, but not really

A lot of yarn, but not really

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I like to spindle spin. I am slow at it, and it is just a fun, relaxing thing to do at a social or demonstration. I don’t knit or crochet. I have what seems to me to be a lot of small balls of 2-ply handspun. I know it’s not a lot really, I don’t suppose there is enough for even one sweater. I do use some in my felting. I never used a lot of it,  but since I don’t really sell anymore, I use even less. I thought about trying some pictures using yarn. I could needlefelt it down a bit and then wet felt it. I have several large freezer bags of yarn. I thought it would be best to see what I have and sort it by colour.

I had 4 bags and some part bags of yarn.

There should be more. I went searching. I think they must still be packed. I did find my bin of short-length mini skiens that I used to sell. More about them later.

I sorted them into colour groups: greens, red/pinks, blue/purple, yellow/orange, grey/brown and mixed. I had no idea I had so much pink.

 

I need to rewind some of the balls. Not sure what happened to them.

 

These are the miniskiens. They are 12.5 yards(11.4m) in each mini skien. That’s enough to do a pretty dense design on an 8-foot (2.4 m)by 1-foot (30cm) silk scarf blank. Enough to add a couple of accent rows to a knit hat or use for a bit of colour in punch needle or rug hooking. I can’t find a picture of them nicely displayed in a basket for sale. I bet Jan has one, but I don’t want to bug her to find it. This is what they looked like when I dumped them out of their box with all the tags on them.

 

I took all the tags off. The are all sorts; thick and thin, and some that are both. I will add the gag of them to my class supplies.  I plan to make some more small skeins from the newer handspun to add to it, so there is more colour choice. I know I saw my 1-yard niddy noddy recently.

 

and all safely back into ziplock bags

 

All in all, not a lot of yarn. I have a commercial yarn stash too, it is a real mix of fibres and styles, and a whole other story. I don’t know if I will try a picture completely out of yarn, but maybe I will make more of an effort to use some of it in pictures and other felt.

And lastly, I have to thank Jan for doing some blog posts for me lately. I have been run off my feet baking to get ready for our 2 Farmes Market Christmas sales. The last one was Saturday. There is a small one that my daughter will go to with my husband. I will be teaching.  Anyway, here is a picture just before opening on the 15th.  No snow this year.

Oh ye, the comment button is at the top of the post.

 

 

finished my fairy tail spinning….almost

finished my fairy tail spinning….almost

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A short spinning post today. We have a social on Mondays at our guild. When I am there, I help Jan with the Library. We are going through our archive book boxes and deciding what to keep and what to sell. A big Job. Once that is done, I spin on my spindle. I am not a production spinner. I like to slowly spin small quantities of fibre; I just enjoy spinning and chatting.

I got a sample bag of fibre from World of Wool. It was called Fairytail, 67% merino; 33% stellina. It is a lovely fibre with sparkle. I know it is almost as bad as glitter for getting everywhere, but I can’t resist sparkle. Sadly, they have discontinued this group or fibre. The Stlina is much more expensive than angelina or trilobal nylon, so I imagine it was not as popular. However, it is soft and spins wonderfully.

There were 8 colours. The yellow disappeared, but I did get a picture of it spun.

The teal red is still a single and I will probably ply it on Monday. The last one is the problem child. I did try to spin this, but it just ends up dull and muddy. There are just too many opposing colours in it. The stripes are too small to let you separate them out, so it will have to be used for something else.

I have managed to do some more work on my workshop. I have discovered a mistake in my instructions. It makes me grateful for my computer and word processing. I can easily go through the document and change it. I am old enough to remember retyping things because of a small mistake.  And not being able to use white-out because it would look bad.

My Wheels Keep Spinning

My Wheels Keep Spinning

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It’s been a minute since you’ve heard from me.

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2024/11/27/learning-to-spin-at-john-c-campbell-folk-art-school-part-2/

Just looking around my crafting space, I realize how many things I’ve started and completed, in these past 6 months. I think it’s a byproduct, of becoming comfortable with my neurodivergence; working with it, rather than fighting it all the time. As I sit here, looking around the room, I’m feeling quite proud! I’ve completed a couple quilt tops that are ready to travel off to be  long-arm quilted. I’ve finally found a pattern for knitted socks, that fit my wide feet and ankles, and made 2 pair in record time. For this article, I plan to follow up on the progression of my spinning, and new acquisitions.

I included the link to my last article above, so I can refresh you on where I was. To recap, I was having issues with twist holding my spin together. I mentioned signing up for a Long Thread Media annual subscription, and how the included access to online spinning courses helped me greatly, and saved me money in the long run. I have learned so much, right from the big screen TV, in my home crafting space. This saved workshop/retreat fees, and the travel expenses that accompany such trips. I am posting a link here for this resource: http://spinoffmagazine.com/subscription

These yarns were spun between November and end of December 2024. Photos shown in date order left to right. The video courses made a difference and gave me confidence to try different things.

My Christmas gift from Brian was all fiber dyed by the incredibly talented nuns at Inglenook Fibers. If you’ve not heard of them, look them up. Their regular work consists of painting frescoes on the walls of Greek Orthodox churches. But, they use their talents of mixing paint colors to create colors in the dye pans. I still feel a little green, to spin their works of fiber art, but I have plunged my hands into a few of those batts. We took my spinning wheel and fiber on vacation with us, and I spent a few days spinning on the balcony overlooking the water. Next year, I will bring double the amount of fiber, and plan fibers that can be plied together. I was enjoying my spinning so much, the fiber was gone in no time. Unfortunately, the bobbins were full of fibers that were never intended to twist together. This encourages the next lessons in spinning: forward thinking = planning ahead.

I was noticing that my spinning was becoming thinner and thinner, which is what happens when your spinning improves. But, I don’t enjoy knitting with thin weights of yarn. What am I supposed to do with all the thin yarns I am spinning? So I began studying YouTube videos, of those spinning thicker Art Yarns. I found, as with most fiber pursuits, it’s related to your tools and preparation of fibers. I started with the easiest one I could fix right away. Rolaggs are the way you can blend fibers, colors, and make texture. I found that if you want to spin thicker yarns, you need to begin with larger diameter rollags. Instead of wrapping rollags around 2 quarter inch (6.3mm) dowels, I started using US-19 (15mm) knitting needles.

I pretty much knew, after watching all the YouTube videos, I wanted an Ashford Super Jumbo e-Spinner. I began checking Facebook Marketplace several times a day. Surely, someone had to have one they didn’t care for, and wanted to get rid of it? Nope: not one available. The US tariffs were looming, and I knew I would kick myself if I didn’t get one now. So, I used Etsy shop funds, to purchase this beautiful giant sized e_Spinner. It’s a lot bigger than I expected. The bobbin holds a kilo (2.5lbs) of spinning! I am not a bit sorry! It’s whisper quiet, and there is a toggle switch to choose S or Z twist. It has a huge 1 inch orifice to accommodate Art Yarn. However, it comes with 2 smaller, nesting orifices’, that make it capable of spinning any weight. The best feature for an Art Yarn spinner, is the ability to start and stop spinning immediately with the included foot pedal. That allows a spinner to stop, adjust fibers, and such: start right back up where you left off. No delay getting back up to speed.  You can’t do that using a wheel you treddle! Brian insisted that I get a couple extra bobbins, as I am always running out of them. Honestly, I don’t feel like I needed them or the extra expense. But I love that toggle switch feature to change spinning direction. Before I used the e-Spinner to spin anything…I used it to ply off 2 of my bobbins from my regular wheel. Gotta love a machine that helps you in ways you never imagined!

A little Progress on the Workshop and Some Nice Yarn.

A little Progress on the Workshop and Some Nice Yarn.

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I have finished the first draft of the resist workshop. 6 pages, and I haven’t added any pictures yet. I printed it out, and I am working on the first sample. I will add notes to the draft and add in anything I missed. The first sample is a circle resist.

stack of wool resists
All stacked and ready to go
stack of resists and rubbing tool
Time to start rubbing

That is how far I got, one set of all the surfaces rubbed. I am going to have to find my studio microwave and set it up so I can reheat these when I get back to them.

 

The only other fibery thing I have done lately is spin on my drop spindle. I do this mostly when I go to guild socials. It’s a nice, portable way to work.

Here are some balls I made earlier,

 

The dark pink has some silk in it, I think it came from Louet a long time ago.  The light blue and purple is from a batt I bought at a fiber show. The other three I made on my blending board. They are meino and sari silk. I like the pops of colour and slight slubbiness it gives the yarn.

Now, I am working on a sample pack from World of Wool. I got it last year. I am just getting to it now. They no longer sell this wool. It is Merino and Stelina (metallic-coated nylon). The Stelina is very sparlkely.

                       

 

I did the yellow first, mostly for a change. I don’t do much yellow. It is hard to get the sparkle with the camera but there is lots of it.  As usual, I found it stuck to several things when I pulled my laundry out of the dryer. It really does get everywhere.

That’s it for my fiberiness for the last little while. I hope everyone is coming out of the winter blues and into the joys of spring. I am looking forward to being able to sit in the garden, in the sun and enjoy my felting and fibers among the flowers and bird song.

What Would You Have Done?

What Would You Have Done?

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I have a confession to make…. Actually 2 confessions, if I am totally honest….

The spinners among you will know all too well that spinning wheels are a lot like sheep, if you don’t get the tension just right they can be a little skittish, they need feeding (with fibre) and of course they are always happiest when gathered in a flock. 🙂 I suspect you already see where this post is headed….

My first, beloved wheel is an Ashford Traditional fitted with a jumbo flyer. She is a lovely wheel. I have spent many happy hours learning to spin and making some (prize-winning) art yarns on her but I have been hankering for a e-spinner almost since the first time I plied 2 singles together.

Mr TB likes a good engineering challenge, so he offered to design and 3-D print an e-spinner for me. Three years later we are surrounded by various iterations of e-spinner parts but nothing that could function as an e-spinner.

Sexy eh?

In January a friend posted on FB that she had signed up to the Electric Eel Wheel Kickstarter for his newest e-spinner, the Fold. As the name suggests it is a decent size but folds down to make it much more convenient to travel with. I had to have one! So I signed up but soon realised I would have to wait until March 2026 for it to be shipped! Oh well, I’ve already waited 3 years for my first e-spinner, what’s another year? So I resigned myself to having an only child (wheel) for another year.

Phew! that’s confession #1 revealed, that wasn’t so hard but Mr TB was rather disappointed that I had given up on him producing an e-spinner.

Earlier this month was the annual Pukekohe Spin-in, I was trading at the event, and overheard a conversation about an e-spinner on the pre-loved equipment stand. The other traders were still setting up their stands and the doors weren’t due to open for another 30 min. I was just going to have a look, there’s no harm in looking right?

Ten minutes later I was happily putting the e-spinner through her paces in the hall kitchen, I was in love! I knew I was breaking the first rule of selling at craft fairs – “don’t spend more than you’ve earned”, but I didn’t care, she was coming home with me! 🙂

Next, to “sneak” my new purchase into the house….

Mr TB just rolled his eyes at me.

The first few evenings I had her sitting on the coffee table but it was a little too far away for comfort, so I started looking for a height adjustable trolley and came across various tables that are probably meant for people who are bed-bound. I ordered one and braced myself for the inevitable barrage of jokes from Mr TB, but as yet he’s not made any comment. I suspect he doesn’t realise what the table is…

It’s perfect for spinning with my feet up on the Lazy-boy in front if the TV and the castors make it a doddle to wheel out of the way when not in use.

I’ve only had the spinner for a few days but this was the first skein she has produced for me:

I am delighted with my purchase, she wasn’t cheap but e-spinners seem to keep their value on the second-hand market here. I will probably sell my Ashford e-spinner once the EEW Fold arrives. Mr TB thinks I’m crazy buying 2 e-spinners just a few weeks apart, do you think I made the right call?

A rare view inside Ashford Wheels and Looms, New Zealand

A rare view inside Ashford Wheels and Looms, New Zealand

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As textile folk, many of you are familiar with the New Zealand company Ashford Wheels and Looms. In fact some may own an Ashford product as they also sell hand carders, drum carders and many other tools and accessories.

They sell all around the world.

Me, I am the proud owner of a set of their hand carders and a drum carder, they are invaluable tools when it comes to my felt making.

Here’s a question:  what have Lego and Ashford Wheels and Looms got in common?  I will tell you at the end of the post.

Back to my story.  You probably have experienced one of those rare moments in life where the planets aligned – a real ‘right place right time’ moment.  This happened to me earlier this year.  Last February, we did a once in a lifetime trip to New Zealand.  At this stage I can’t tell you how many time zones we traversed but, travelling from Ireland, but were a long time in the air and we covered over 18,000km.  I loved every minute of the trip and we factored in time to spend at the Ashford store in Ashburton on the South Island.  So for anyone who has or is thinking about purchasing anything from the store, here’s some photos and a story that might fill in the blanks on your lovely pieces.

I was so excited when our hire car pulled into the car park.  I jumped out and started talking to the first person I met.  By sheer stroke of luck I was talking to the company’s owner Richard Ashford.  My second bit of luck was that he and his lovely wife Elizabeth were about to lead a factory tour for an American group.  He introduced me to the group (which I thought was very courteous of him) and off we all headed into the factory.  The couple’s charisma and energy shone through during the tour.  They were both about to retire from the family business making way for a new generation of Ashford’s to take over the business which has been on the go for over 90 years.  I wish them both a happy and healthy retirement and I want to thank them both for making the morning I spent in their company so warm and memorable.

So if you are the proud owner of one of the 900,000 Ashford products which have been made so far in Ashburton, give us a shout and let us know what treasured item you own.  If you are thinking of buying, the slide shows may well whet your appetite.  Enjoy this rare view inside the factory.

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Stockists are all over the globe.

My next stop was a wander around the store.  Think kid in a sweet shop in this regard.  The only issues that held me back were the fact that there’s only so much that would fit into the suitcase and the realisation that I can buy from one of many stockists in Europe – happy days! Here’s a sneak peak of the interior of the shop:

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I hope you enjoyed these special holiday photos. Please feel free to reach out and tell us what Ashford pieces you own (or what is on your wish list)

Answer:  both are highly successful companies who started out making wooden toys.

Textured art yarn made from locks on a skein winder
A bit of this, a bit of that

A bit of this, a bit of that

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Hello! The writing of this blog post comes to you on a day where I am quite sleep-deprived, so you will have to excuse my possibly being a little off my writing game…

Allow me to start by showing you some art batts I created a little ago. I love art batts in general, there’s so much texture and colours to look at. I do so enjoy the batt-making process as well, looking at all my fibre and deciding what goes where, and how much… Anyone else feel this fascination when creating textured fibre sandwiches?

Speaking of textures, I recently spun an art yarn using some Leicester Longwool locks in their natural formation and I swoon every time I look at that texture…

Textured art yarn made from locks on a skein winder

This will become a weaving of some sorts, I am handing over the yarn to a fellow Edinburgh guild member so he can create some magic. I told him I wasn’t sure whether I was handing him treasure or a lemon (I believe textured weaving is new to him and I also have some plying inconsistencies on this skein), and he replied saying he would think of it as a pomegranate instead. I thought that was quite funny.

It is one heavy skein, as you might attest by the silly photo I took of it on my head.

Eleanor holds a massive skein of art yarn on top of her head

Finally, I also have news on my needle felted raven! The photos aren’t the best, forgive me, but this chap is almost complete. Unfortunately my customer didn’t like his blue eyes (a colour only present when they are young) so I have ordered some new ones to replace these. Once I do that I think he is complete. What do you think, is he finished? Would you change anything? Feedback welcome.

That’s it for today, let me know your thoughts and have a lovely week!

Working on my new blending board.

Working on my new blending board.

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I finally bought a blending board. I have wanted one for a while and was hoping for a second-hand one. One finally showed up, Yay! Patience pays off, well, it’s more being frugal(cheap) than being patient. I wanted one because rolags are my preferred preparation for spinning. I took it to the guild one day, along with a big bag of fibre some sari silk and some sparkle.

I started with some purply blue and lilac purple. I added some pink and purple sari silk. I think it’s called royal robes. I think I added some sparkle but not much. Here it is on the blending board. I added more of the blue-purple on top before rolling it off.

purple and pink fibres on a blending board

Here is what the rolag looks like

And here it is spun up as a single. I will wind it off and ply it.

Next was some red with yellow sari silk blend and some pink sparkle

This is the rolag

Next is some dark blue-green. It’s one of my favourites. I have some dye in this colour called mallard green. I don’t think that’s what World of Wool calls it though. I forgot to take a picture of it until I had taken one rolag off. I get 3 from the board per colourway. I was enjoying myself, hence forgetting to take a picture. It looks like I added some yellow and a different green. I am not sure I haven’t spun it yet.

At this point, I was having too much fun and I forgot to take any more pictures until the end. Here are the rolags all together

The light blue and the light purple are pretty close to being opposites. I just switched the base colours.

You saw the blue/purple and light purple above but I have also done the light blue light purple one. I am not very fussy about it when plyed. Partly, I think it is because “baby” shades are not colours I like much. This mix looks muddy to me.  I was trying to go outside my usual colours.

I am currently working on the opposite one. I like it well enough in the single, it is much less even on the colour split so I think it will be nicer when plyed.

I don’t know if I will do the red or green next. First I have to finish this one and do the plying.

 

Spinning some very dirty wool

Spinning some very dirty wool

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Last time I told you about our demo at the Log Farm shearing day. When they seared the first sheep they brought over the fleece and laid it out under the tent so people could see it. I used some dog brushes to make small rolags from the fleece and then used my drop spindle to spin some yarn.

Being me, I didn’t take any pictures of the carding or rolags so when I went to the guild I took a bit from one of the fleeces still waiting for a new owner and made some more and both Jan and I took pictures.

 

a drop spindle and some small carders and some dirty wool

You can see all the debris from carding, so much falls out. Then my sort of rolags. The dog brushes are small so it’s hard to make a real roll.

a drop spindle and small carders and wool rollags for spinning. and a lot os little bits of dirt that fell out of the wool while carding

 

I added the wool to the yarn on my spindle, then I plyed it and wound it off to be washed.

 

a drop spindle with dirty wool spun on it

A nice close-up so you can see how dirty it is.

close up of dirty wool on a spindle drop spindle and dirty skein of wool.

At the demo, people had lots of questions about how to wash it, when to wash it and did we have to wash it. The answer to when is at any stage along the way or not at all. I don’t suppose a fisherman in the North Atlantic is too fussed about his waterproof sweater smelling sheepy.

About how to get it clean.  These fleeces are dirty and full of hay bits and other dirt. Carding them takes out some, spinning it takes out some and washing it takes out more.

I wash in a dishpan with Dawn dish soap. It is a good degreaser and most of the dirt is stuck in the grease ( lanolin).

Here is the water after the first wash

a tub of dirty water will wool soaking in it.

and the second wash

second wash of the wool , less dirty water

Then I rinsed it and let it dry. Once it was dry I shook the skein over the dish pan to see how much more would come out. I was surprised by the amount that just shook out.  There is hardly any debris left in the yarn and what there is would pick out easily as you were knitting or weaving.

Little bits of debis shaken out of the clean dry skein

 

Here is the result, with a small amount of unwashed yarn I kept for comparison.

clean skein of wool with some dirty wool for comparison. close up of some clean and dirty wool.

 

Spinning in the grease is enjoyable on a warm day. The lanolin helps it slide. It’s not so fun on a cold day when the lanolin gets sticky and doesn’t like to slide. Washing fleeces is not one of my favourite things but a little yarn is fun.

 

 

 

 

Glengarry Pioneer Museum, Blacksmiths, Moose Toungs and a bit of Spinning

Glengarry Pioneer Museum, Blacksmiths, Moose Toungs and a bit of Spinning

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First let me wish all of you Happy Solstice, with the excessive heat today I can tell the sun is working extra hard to celebrate! I hope you can take advantage of the extra Daylight to get in a bit more felting or fleece washing!

Today I want to take you back to last weekend (Father’s Day) and invite you to join me as we visit the Glengarry Pioneer Museum. I know the sign looks a bit less fibre-ry than you had hoped but just think about those muscular arms and have hope that I will eventually get to something relevant. It has been mentioned, I can be a bit verbose and have an obscure vocabulary to make up for the lack of spelling.

blacksmithing sign with shirtless blacksmith drawing1) Sign for the smith in with a muscle-y drawing of a blacksmith, there is something odd about the shoulder rotation, and thumb and wrist rotation but it does get the idea across. (Although this depiction will have you disappointed when you get there  by the lack of shirtless working smiths.)

Glengarry Pioneer Museum is having their annual Father’s Day blacksmithing Smith-in or Hammer-in (like a spin-in except differently aromatic and louder) on Saturday there are vendors, including one that had alpaca roving and one that had a support spindle and a couple of hand beaters. There will be just the blacksmiths on Sunday.

Spontoon project in various stages of production2) stages of this year’s project, a spontoon. Parts and various stages of the project are displayed on a wooden pick-nick table, there are two spring swages just out of the picture (you can see the handles).

This year the Workshop was to make a type of spear used for military parades (spacing people in columns and rows), but it can also be used as a spear. This is based on a historical piece and figuring out how it was constructed. It requires forge welding of very thin pieces of mettle.   I don’t want to overwhelm you with all the steps and the use of Borax to assist in the forge welding. Let me show you a few shots and then we will move on to a more on-topic, topic.

If you are really interested in the history of this weapon please check this or enjoy a browse through Google. (https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/halberds-and-spontoons/)

a series of picrures showing the curling up of the fan shape to creeat the coller, also using borax to forge weld it.3.1) montage of making the collar for the Spontoon, Borax is used to forge weld, since the area being welded is so thin we don’t want to see the magic Cross shaped sparks. The last image is one of the spring swages that will be used in this project.

2 samples of a Spontoon being held by visitors to the museum3.2 These are two of the samples being admired by other museum visitors

 (you can find more information on the museum at: https://glengarrypioneermuseum.ca/about-us-2/ )

I wandered over to the main office building, they have a washroom that fits a walker. While there I discovered they have a new to them CPW (Canadian Production Wheel. This is a fast-spinning wheel, popular in Quebec,)  it is waiting for the local Twistle guild to assess its spin-ability. A new great wheel is also waiting to see Gord, who is an expert on one of the local great wheel manufacturers. I unfortunately did not get a peek at the great wheel. This CPW has a Tilt Tension, it is missing its Footman and needs to have its treadle attached. It also is missing its drive band but that is an easy fix!

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4.1 –4.4)CPW new to the Museum it needs a new footman and to have the treadle attached

As I wandered back to the open sided area the blacksmiths were set up in, I spotted some of the local wildlife (yes I did see the deer running in the field across the road but this time I was looking up. the field behind the museum had been mowed recently and the turkey vultures kept circling the field eventually coming in to land in a little group. I am not sure what their impromptu meeting was about. Maybe who was going to order dinner? and did they want Chinese or pizza tonight?

These are truly odd birds, you can see them wheeling around enjoying the thermals. When they get closer you will recognise them by their red heads.

3 photos of tureky vultures, top flying in blue sky, middle 2 about to land, bottom 3 on the ground red heads are noticible on 25) turkey Vultures circling, coming in for a landing and then in conference, possibly discussing dinner?

I had brought my latest moose with me. But I could not find my reference photos when I got there. Oh, they must have been in the other moose bag…. So I focused on the lower jaw and inner mouth since I can work on both without checking the photos. (I had spent quite a while looking at Moose’s tongues when I was collecting reference photos. Google image search can be very helpful.)

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6.1-6.3) I was distracted by photographing the blacksmiths and forgot to photograph the moose tongue!!

I spend most of the day working on the mouth and taking (217 –day 1) photos of the blacksmithing workshop. Then it was time to drive about an hour to get home.

Sunday!!! 6 am wake up to get ready to get on the road for day 2 at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum. Today I had my felting but also brought my Lendrum Rook spinning wheel. She is such a sweet wheel but still needs a bit of repair. One of the blacksmiths made some suggestions. I will investigate that after the guild anniversary is done.

first a few shots of the Smith-in and then on to fibre.

 7.1-7.2) Glenn getting answers to some of his questions

I took a stroll to the red building, with the textile and fibre display. There is equipment for weaving spinning and flax production. The great wheel on the floor has an interesting tensioning system with a garden tap-like nob. It also has a miner’s head or accelerator that increases the speed at which the spindle turns.

Red building top pictue also 2 vews of great wheel with tilt tention and odd nob to set the angle. looks like a bit like a garden tap.8) great wheel with interesting tilt tension.

 The flax tools are in a glass cabinet. The glass seems particularly thick and is very light reflective so hard to get a good shot.

tools of flax production hackles Skutching knife and flax with teasales9) Flax Tools, Hackles, Scutching knife, Flax and teasles

small saxony flax wheel with distaf infront of coverlet and blanket10.1) Small Saxony style flax wheel with distaff. Note the coverlet in red black and white behind the wheel.

close of of coverlet, looks like an overshot pattern in read black gray and white (the Gray may be the mid tone)10.2) Close-up of the coverlet 

There are also gardens, the roses, and peonies were particularly photogenic. I hope they will inspire you.

a few of the flowers in the museum garden, roses, peonies and a small purple flower i dont recognize11)Roses on top, unknown Purple flowers and Pink Peony

Lendrum Rook, small castle wheel made in the 1980's has an intersting tentioning for the flyer. this is a Canadian made wheel near Kingston ontario. 12) My Lendrum Rook spinning wheel from the mid-1980s. there is Cashmere on the bobbin, I will have to ply it to empty the bobbin

I had oddly only one bobbin with me, I wonder where I put the other 2, I will have to search later.  Since I had brought a braid of Bluefaced Lester (BFL) with me I had to remove the cashmere blend I had on the bobbin and ply it. I could not find Glenn’s book so tried my phone as something to wind a double ended ball around. It worked but was a bit larger than I would have liked. (it gave the yarn the opportunity to tangle if I wasn’t paying attention.) I took the inside and outside strands and spun them the opposite direction to ply a nice relaxed skein of yarn.  It was a bit fussy but it did eventually work out.

Now I can start the BFL braid, I split it into a thin section so it would be easy to draft.   I quite enjoyed spinning this braid and wish I had bought a second!

Combed top of Bluefaced lester my hand holding the fiber and my lendrum Rook wheel with some of the fiber on the bobin.13) Starting to spin the BFL

Through the plying and spinning my wheel had been unusually quiet…. Then the Blacksmiths started to pack up and stopped hitting mettle….. my wheel is a lot noisier than I remember the last time I spun with her. I think it may be coming from the footman. I guess I should start to pack up too.

Oh before you head out I just wanted to show you a display in the main building. You probably want to use the washroom before driving home (some of you will have a very long drive!)  there was a display of figures of rural life that I thot you might like to see. They are quite cute.

a figure with a knitty knotty and a man holding a skain figures Read Coat and lady winding a ball from her spinning wheel14.1 14.2) A display of figures, I have taken pictures of the fibre-related people

At the end of day 2 the blacksmith students brought their vehicles to load up their equipment.  Now I am sure this will make you feel that your wool horde is so much lighter than you did a few minutes ago.  You can have a lot of wool for just the weight of the anvil! Think how much more fibre you could get to equal a leg vice and forge!!!!

Packing up blacksmithing equipment, top photo blacksmith uses moving hand truck to move equipment. lower picture this blacksmith is takeing her forge home on the roof of her hatchback car. she is getting help from anther blacksmith to get te forge on the top of the car.15.1-15.2) Students packing up their equipment.  There were pickups, transit vans, a trailer, a cube van and a little hatchback car.

  At the end of day 2, I had taken 148 more blacksmithing photos (365 total)! As I mentioned that sign was very misleading, after watching, all weekend, none of the blacksmiths were shirtless.  I hope you enjoyed the weekend and will have a lovely Solstice today!

on far left small hand beater and suport spindle16) Oh I almost forgot to show you my perches from Saturday! a support spindle and a small beater for weaving