A Day To Spin

It's been a funny old January what with the weather so cold, we even had snow on the Island (which doesn't happen very often!). No good for doing any winter work on any of our boats. We have been giving the house a bit of TLC instead and doing a spot of painting and decorating indoors, so I haven't had a chance to do much spinning, knitting or weaving. On Saturday however it was the first meeting for IW SWD Guild so I oiled my neglected wheel and took along various rolags and tops to work on and had a super day spinning. First photo shows some mixed fibres which I plied with the blue merino -the happy result is the yarn you see at the end of this post!

A Basket of Jacob Rolags
 


A Bobbin of Merino Blue
 

The jacob rolags being spun on the wheel, I shall ply two of these bobbins together to make up the yarn.














Here is the yarn I managed to finish on the day. Merino blue with mixed fibres.
Sharing a day at the Guild and seeing and chatting about what everyone is working on certainly does me good and has fired up my creative juices!  After the decorating I shall be re organising my work room  this week and get stuck into some lovely new projects.

Our Guild has just set up a website if you want to find out more here's the link
http://www.iowwsd.org/

Winter Warmers- Accessories

Finally started writing on my blog this year! a bit later than planned as "Blogger" has been having a issue with loading photos, hopefully this worked. Happy 2013 to you all.
Well I wanted to show you some woolly accessories I've been working on. Firstly some leg warmers a custom order which I delivered last week. They are hand knitted in Aran works wool on a circular needle and I used various wools from my stash to knit the rib cuffs. they were really fun to do. Great to wear for Yoga class or just snuggling in at home.
When I create a new design I have a note book at hand and write the details as I knit along, later I write the pattern instructions up in full, sometimes I get a bit behind in doing this; as making is much more fun than paper work! so photos are a brilliant reference point. A new year means new intentions and trying to keep the work room tidy, I wonder how long that will last...

 

I knit and weave lots of different styles of winter warmers. This is a snap shot of some stock delivered to Madeontheisleofwight shop. Please click on link on right side of blog for more details.

 

Hand warmers, Socks and Scarves are always fun to make I love to use different combinations of colour and yarn types to produce unique items, so although they are knitted or woven to my written pattern each garment is special and individual.

More stock will be arriving in my online shop at folksy soon, so do pop over there when you can. 

I think I will knit up some more leg warmers too to add to the collection.

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Travels- The Silk Mill

 When the boats are safely tucked up in winter storage it's time to go exploring on land. So we jumped in the car and took a ferry across the Solent  and spent a few days pottering around the Southern Counties. On my list of places I wanted to visit was The Silk Mill at Whitchurch.

http://whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk/mill/index.php

 I really enjoy going to somewhere out of season; when they aren't so crowded with holiday makers you can take your time and really absorb the atmoshere, look closely at things and feel inspired.

  The first photos shows a tray of coloured silk bobbins, the next shows the hanks of silk being wound onto the bobbins- this is powered by a water wheel. Even more exciting for me there was a floor loom warped up and ready to "have a go"

 I was in my element! I proceeded to weave and dream that I could have a loom just like this one in my work room. Skipper had to prise me away from the loom (as we had the place to ourselves there was no queue waiting so I managed to add a bit of length to the cloth).

 Here is the main weaving room with all the looms producing various cloth. Do pop over to their website for more information.

Outside the water which powers the wheel was icy cold and you can see the branches dipping in the flow of the river covered with icicles.

Hand Spun, Painted, Knitted and Woven

 In last month's blog I showed you some of my hand spun and hand painted yarn, well here is a mini Christmas stocking knitted up with this unique yarn! It is to be a little gift for someone very special.

 My end of year event -"Christmas Crafts at Quarr Abbey" was again a very enjoyable and busy time. Thank you to all my customers who bought my hand spun, hand knitted or hand woven goods.

 A basket full of my hand spun skeins.

A box full of my hand woven rugs.

I have plenty of projects to cast on and keep me busy over the winter months.
My order book has hand knitted items to work on and I have some fleeces ready to spin. Also I'm thinking about a new range of hand woven pieces to bring out next year, as they say "Watch this space"...

Do pop over to my shop at Folksy ( just click on the link or badge opposite) to view and buy current items in stock.
 

Ashore

 Lifting Out day and Winter Lay up of our little yacht went very well. Skipper and I motored her up to Newport harbour  and rather than mooring up overnight by the harbour wall and wait for the next tide, the crane was ready to lift us out there and then which was brilliant!  She is all scrubbed down and emptied of fittings, sails rolled and stored and is now all tucked up for her winter snooze.

 So now Skipper and I are on "shore leave" until Spring we like to get out and about and explore not just "our Island- the beautiful Isle of Wight but also the "North Shore" which is what the Islanders affectionately called England and Great Britian. We took the ferry across the Solent and stayed in Somerset for a few days. This gorgeous carpet of cyclemen and autumnal leaves makes a wonderful display on our woodland walk. 

Inspiring me to have another go at hand painting some hand spun yarn. Here's a photo of it drying.

It is very nearly time for  "Christmas Crafts at Quarr Abbey"
we open Thursday 22nd Nov- Tues 27th Nov, 10.30-4.30 each day.

A group of local artists offer you a wonderful collection of unique, quality handmade work which will be available to purchase from textiles; hand knitted and handwoven to pottery and glass; handthrown and handcrafted.

This will be my third year at the Abbey where I have been part of our "Christmas Crafts" and have held my "Open Studio" events. I love being there for the week, hope you can pop along too.

http://www.quarrabbey.co.uk/

Knitting Pattern- Mini Christmas Stockings

 

 

As Christmas is fast approaching and the evenings are drawing in, it's the ideal time to snuggle in and do a spot of knitting.
If you would like to have a go at knitting these delightful little Christmas stockings you will find the instructions on how to knit them for purchase in my Folksy shop, just click on my Folksy shop link or Folksy badge on the right hand column of this blog.
They are quick to make and ideal to use as tree decorations, gift pouches for money and rather nice when filled with a chocolate treat too!
You can knit them using up festive colours in your stash and make them as individual as you like!
Happy Knitting

End of Season Sail

 

 In October every last good day for sailing is precious. So we were pleased to be able to get out for an "end of season" sail on the Solent in our yacht at the weekend. The weather was dry with a rather chilly Northerly breeze blowing in our faces as we made our way down river and into the Solent, but once out there the wind eased completely! We raised the sails and tried to sail East, but to make any headway we needed to have the motor on too. Looking up at our Main it seems I have a bit of sail repair work to do over the winter months- our sail number is now a little tattered.

 

 Of course if you are a speed boat, it was perfect conditions as the sea was smooth. I had to be quick with the camera for this shot as it whizzed by!

 

 The water and sky look so amazing on a calm October day, the sun was trying to break through and bring us a little warmth.  A woolly jumper, headband and a flask of hot coffee was keeping me snug.

 

 At this time of year Norris Castle is more visible through the trees.

 

After enjoying our packed lunch on board we headed back to our mooring, a very light breeze started to blow in from a SE direction, we left the Main up and when the wind occasionally blew more Easterly it filled the sail and aided our speed and passage home.
Even though we didn't have much of a "proper sail" as we had to keep the motor running for the day, (there wasn't enough wind to sail without) it was still wonderful to shake out the sails and give them an airing. Nearing the end of our sailing season means weather and tide opportunities to sail are much less so days like today are special.