Lilys House

yarny fun

I have a new wheel, a gorgeous Ashford Country Spinner.  I’ve been quietly practicing art yarn techniques for a while now and despite having the jumbo flyer on my Traditional, there has been much frustration trying to get the bulkier yarns and puffs onto the bobbin. I spent a lot of time winding the yarn on by hand but boy, was that slow work. Art yarns are time consuming anyway, without adding to it.

I did a bit of research and took the plunge. His bobbin can hold a whopping 1kg of yarn (this wheel is definitely a boy, nothing delicate about him!) and the hooks are humungous, allowing even snaggy, puffy bits onto the bobbin with ease.

 

These remind me of humbug sweets.

 

 

At the moment my dry workroom seems to be strung with my trials and errors.

 

 

 

I’ve been into batt making recently and have done a couple of core spun yarns that have turned out really well (typically, I have no pics of them). I find core spinning so satisfying and love the end result.

I may well get some hand spun in the shop soon as I'm getting a bit overrun!

spring walk

what a glorious weekend!

We all took a walk out in the sun, away from the chores and comparative gloom of the house.

 

It really was beautiful, even Harry pranced about like a puppy

and the girls put blossom in their hair and put their sisterly bickering aside

The tide was out and the dogs had a lot of fun frolicking in the mud (!). This is looking down the Teign estuary towards Teignmouth and the open sea.

On the return loop we were right at the side of the racecourse and managed to catch the second race of the day

We had to cover Wilfs eyes with  a coat so he wouldn't bark :)

Hope you had a great weekend too!

a new sheep to the fold

Oh yes, witness the birth of a new spinner!

Lily has found the spindle :) 

Unravel was lovely.  It was our first time and we had such a giggle meeting up with fellow dyers and customers old and new.  Surrounded by serious enablers, Lily was encouraged all the way.  At the first peep of interest, I was off buying spindles and thrusting wool into her eager hands.

Our lovely neighbours, the boys from Easyknits, were on hand to get her started and help wind off the first spinnings, and even kindly donated the next ‘bag o fibre’!

Unravel was also where I trialled my new yarn tree, made by my very clever Dad. It looked absolutely lovely and did the job a treat – thanks Dad!

There’s been a lot more going on around here as always,   Behind the scenes there are studio and dye room moves, playing with art yarn making, oogling new spinning wheels to make such yarn and the general lift and new ideas that Springtime brings!

I’ll leave this as a short check in but promise to take the camera out with me this week to capture some of it.  Till then x