Busy Bee!

Wow! how much does my blogging suck right now? I can't believe that its been nearly two months since I last blogged. So in my defense I have been majorly busy, what with spinning, going on holiday, more spinning, starting my second year at college, getting my etsy-shop and branding for my yarn sorted. But I'm back now so those of you who thought I was laying somewhere being eaten by a pack of wild dogs can worry not!

So the holiday to Cornwall was fab-tastic, I took my spindle and done some lace-weight Tussah silk spindling. Also went body-boarding, NOT to be advised in September weather because both me and Liz (my sister-in-law) froze!! Hubby and Big Bro chose the holiday solely to kite buggy so in the meantime me and Liz rock-pooled. We survived a crab attack and managed to catch some white-bait, slippery little suckers!

Am now in my second year at college so am contemplating my future, mainly deciding what degree to do at Uni, I had a looooooooong think about it and finally decided to go for a teaching degree for early years. I know its going to be hard to get into job-wise but i figure Ive gotta do what I gotta do!

I haven't been blogging for you to know that I 've been through an anti-spinning wheel protest. I decided to improve my skills using a drop spindle and then go back to my wheel. I'm completely addicted to my drop spindle, and now that I'm back on my wheel I can see a massive improvement on my spinning technique :D there's always room for improvement in my case I've broken into the world of laceweight...yeeeeehaaa!

Anyhow stay tuned to see how my Rebekkaleigh Brand and my yarns are developing.......(so exciting!!!).

A Year Ago Today!

It was a year ago today that me and Hubby took "the Vows" and got married. Its come around so fast it only feels like a few months ago. Traditionally it is our 1st anniversary which means its a paper one. Hubby presented me with a handmade card, complete with hearts in the colour of our wedding theme (which was red and white). He also got me a years subscription to my favourite knitting magazine to "extend" the paper gift. I on the other hand stashed his card in the cupboard with the loo rolls in the hope that he would find it, as I kept joking that I was going to give him a toilet roll and only the night before had I gave him a complete sob story that I hadn't got him a card. Our Anniversary came and I strategically placed his card in the morning, however, 5pm came and still he hadn't discovered it but managed to tell my nan and his parents that I had forgotten his card so after enlisting his mum and dads help and completely making up a story which was aimed at him looking in the loo roll cupboard asap the card was eventually found :-)

The best thing about having an anniversary, (other than a lovely hubby of course) was that I also still have my wedding flowers. This was due to the fact that I decided to knit them. I wanted tulips but unfortunately tulips aren't available in August, so after much debating and internet searching I found the perfect tulip patter which was designed by Nora Bellows of Noni.

Here's a Photo of my flowers..





And heres a photo of us as the happy couple...


I also knitted the flowers for my two bridesmaids and the buttonholes for immediate family etc.
I decided to knit multi-coloured flowers for my bouquet as lots of bright happy colours were the theme of the day. I also knitted each buttonhole to co-ordinate with each family members outfit. Hubby however had a cream buttonhole and my two uncles , ushers and best man had red buttonholes to tie in with the bridesmaids red and white knitted roses.

I asked my two uncles to give me away as I would never have been able to pick between them both. I would have in this instance asked my big bro to give me away, but hubby had already snaffled him as his best man due to them being school friends.

Here's a photo of my bridesmaids :-)



The lady on the left is my mate Diane and the flower-hog on the right is my chief bridesmaid Liz. Its really funny because after all the effort I took to knit the flowers i think theres more photos of Liz with them than me, well I did tell her to make sure they were looked after and in all the excitement I forgot to hold onto them for photo opportunities.......Do'h!!

Last but not lease I think my fabulous shoes deserve a mention, In homage to all things romantic I chose a pair of shoes with red love hearts on them. They were by Irregular choice and I bought them at Schuh in Cardiff about 6 months before the wedding. I also bought ribbon off Ebay to bind the bouquets together to go with the heart theme. Hubby also sent me a lovespoon as a present before I left the house for the church, which was quite funny because I unbeknown to him sent him one too!

Here's a piccy of my shoes



At least the shoes also go with the cake, Hubby's mum made all the cupcakes and top tier for the wedding


Anyway in homage to our anniversary I'm also in the middle of spinning up an anniversary yarn, which consists of left over heart ribbon, sequins from my flat wedding shoes which I wore during the evening. red felt hears and sparkly beads which came as extras incase any fell off my wedding dress... stay tuned as when it's finished I'll post piccys.

Just one last message....Happy Anniversary Hubby x x x x

Laminaria progress

I'm happy to report that my lace wrap is really coming along nicely, I say this as I'm really quite surprised that I've managed to make it this far considering I've always hidden away from anything lace related. I picked this pattern as a first go as I was drawn to the colour and the pattern, although I was worried that it would end up as a UFO due to sheer frustration, I'm happy to say that it is progressing very nicely.

The photo below was taken just before I finished the last repeat of the star chart.



The yarn is Knitwitches 3ply Heavyweight 100% cashmere and the colour is called "Jungles" It followed me home from Wonderwool in April and as soon as I saw It I knew I had to knit a wrap with it so the hunt began and there, on Knitty was the Laminaria pattern.

At the moment I'm now currently working on the Transition chart so to prepare me for any whoopsies I may make whilst working the chart I have put a lifeline into place so if I do make a boo-boo I can just simply frog it back to a row which I know is o.k.

So to sum up, for someone who doesn't knit lace, rarely uses circular needles or uses any yarn below a chunky grade I'd like to say whoooyaaa!!!!!

Stay tuned for the next update........

Its arrived...Whoop!

As you can see from my recent lack of posting, you can assume that my first tour- de fleece has pretty much sucked!! I haven't really been able to make time to spin :-( which makes me a little sad, but happy as I get to spend time down the beach with hub messing around with kites and buggys. On the upside I am making progress with my lacy Wrap, which I'll post piccys of when I have a bit more on the needles :-)

Since hubby took up kite-buggying, he's realised that I don't get much time to spin whilst I'm down the beach with him, So in an effort to ensure that I'm able to have time for my hobby, he bought me a....wait for it..Drum Carder!!.

It was ordered on Monday, and after a minor mix up with the delivery address, It arrived down my nans today. Ive had a bit of a tinker with it this evening and so far so good, I'm becoming addicted to Crazy Carding :) The only downside I can see of drum carding is I may become lazy (as its definately quicker than hand-carding even though i find hand carding very calming.) Also at the rate I'm shoving fibre through it, I may run out soon!!

I had a voucher for £25.00 to buy fibre from the place where it was purchased so my order has been posted to them today...yaaaay more fibre I can hear hubby sighing as I type :)

I've got an Ashford 72pt 2 speed carder and I'm very, very happy with it, heres a few photos of my first drum carded batts

Le Tour De Fleece

Ever get the impression you've bitten off a little more than you can chew? well that's exactly how I'm feeling today. Ive recently joined up on Ravelry to the Tour de Fleece, which I'm really excited about. Basically it's a woolie version of the Tour de France only you spin instead. I've joined two teams, the Rookies ( as its my first tour) and the Breakaway's (for Art yarns) It starts on Saturday, so I'm crazily trying to prep all my fiber ready for the off.

Well thats not so hard I hear you cry? well try adding that I've also recently started my first lace wrap, oh it's not just any wrap its Laminaria from knitty, well I do like a challenge!

And if your still thinking thats not so bad either, Ive also recently joined up to Gypsy-dancers Freeform Frolic on Ravelry and have 10 weeks of freeform instructions to catch up on. I think its time for me to join 'Team hopelessly overcommitted' on Ravelry. :-)

Over the next few days I will be blogging my Tour de Fleece progress...wish me luck!!

Little Batty Muse

Back in April I mentioned that I made the journey to Wonder-wool with my mate Alison. What I didn't mention was that as well acquired Wonder-wool plunder, Alison also gifted to me some of her de-stash which, included various fibers and hand-carded batts.

Now when it comes to batts and fiber prep its hard to compare Alison to anyone so i'll try to describe her skill another way, If i was talking in Bruce lee terms Alison is the kung-foo master of the fiber world. The amount of thought and preparation that she puts into her batts really does show through not only to look at them, but when they are spun.

It's not the first time Alison has given me some of her beautiful batts, when I first learnt to spin she gave me a pretty pink batt chocked full of sparkle and silky goodness, which as of yet, I haven't spun. Every time I pick it up and go to spin it I get caught up in its sparkliness and get an idea for something else. I suppose you could call it my little batty muse!

The most recent batts that I was given were lovely natural colours, this is something that I haven't really used as yet as I'm still in my 'unless its able to be seen from space colour, then its not being spun' way of thinking.

Heres a photo of the luurvely Batts...




I love both the colours on these, so I decided to spin them all into one yarn. They remind me of the Spring and Autumn seasons. They were lovely to spin, as I was unrolling them I felt really bad as I felt as though I should have kept them to just admire them.

Here's a photo of my spinning in progress...


There was a mass of soft fiber inside of the batt, snuggled away from the outside colour, this blended nicely with both batt colours.

Here's a photo of my finished yarn...



I'm really pleased with how it came out, not only is it one of my nicest non art yarns, I'm beginning to be swayed by the idea of playing with more natural colours. I do like to tinker with dyes now and again, so I may take this further watch this space................

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

Oh I do like to be beside the sea, with my knitting in my hand, watching hubby fall on the sand, beside the seaside, beside the sea.

Ok thats the most singing you'll ever get out of me :-)

As you've probably guessed I'm at the seaside today. It's an interesting story you see because recently hubby and my big bro have decided to take up kite boarding. So this means whenever there is a sniff of nice weather me and my sister-in-law Liz get taken on a beach outing all day!!

It's not all bad spending a day at the beach, last time we decided to beach-comb for shells and do our impression of Baywatch babes running along the beach....It was very scary for the onlookers, but there's only really so much you can do, did I mention I'm as white as a bed-sheet and swim like a stone-fish? so sunbathing and swimming is a definite no no. So this time I've come prepared, that's right whilst hubby and bro are ploughing the beach with their kite flying L plates on, I'll be lurking with my knitting and my camera, poised and ready to take those d'oh moments, after-all it is my wifely duty to ensure hubby (and other various social networking sites) get to see where he's going wrong heh!

So I managed to take some photo's of hubby's and big bro's kiting adventure and even managed to capture hubby making a bid for freedom via video down the beach. But in the meantime here are some photos of them getting their butts kicked by a kite.

Big bro on butt...



Hubby admitting defeat, (either that or he's practicing the new extreme technique..... laid back kite flying).

















I think hubby put in a good effort today for his second go, although he did suffer his first battle wound....
aaahhh, bless! maybe next time he'll wear some proper shoes :-)


















Whilst all the crazy kite activities were going on I was happily say on my towel guarding all the bags, I'm working on some alligator mittens from the stitch 'n' bitch nation book and heres a piccy that hubby managed to take when he wasn't three miles down the beach :-)


















OK, so I didn't sit on my butt all the time I did get up now and then and sneak a go of liz's little learner kite. Well you can't go to the beach and not have a go can you?

By the time we packed up and got into the car, big bro was the proud owner of a buggy via Ebay. Thing is its local pick-up only. Ah well guess we're off to Birmingham next weekend!!

Corespun Crazyness!

It's just dawned on me that i've not been the best blogger this month. I've been quite busy actually, with exams, college work and of course setting up my little folksy shop.

My spinning wheel has been going non stop for the last couple of days, I've been very good! However sometimes there's just not enough hours in the day :-)

I've spun a few new yarns recently and was able to try a new spinning technique core spinning! This was mainly for the reason of trying to find a method that would secure some of my spin in's into my yarns.

Firstly I hand spun a beautiful cherry blossom inspired yarn, with turquoise and brown merino, purple and fushia coloured mohair locks, and green nubby fiber (a present from a friend). I also spun in some bronze lurex thread on the 'tree trunk' part of the yarn....Its beautiful, it's definatley one of my most favourite yarns. To top it off I also spun in some handmade Organza flowers that I made, after finding an amazing tutorial on http://teaandwhimsy.blogspot.com/2009/05/organza-flowers.html on how to make them.

Here's a Photo of Cherry Blossom.

But then disaster struck, my poor flowers could not stand the stress and strain of being wound onto my niddynoddy and having the twist set, so they started to become loose.

It's at this point that i realise that it's always a good thing to be reminded that you will never get somethings right first time, and although the flowers are coming out of the yarn I still think its fabulous. I can always knit the yarn first and then stitch in the flowers to the finished project.

So anyway I decided to try my hand at core-spinning. Now, I have always fancied having a go at this but was put off due to the over-twist that normally ends up in my yarn, but on this instance I thought why not? so after scouring you-tube for a quick reminder and tutorial on how to corespin, the best tutorial I found was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLvvW8x9mlg Which is done by Velma of Colorbomb Creations, I was then ready to rock and roll! I decided to use fluorescent pink, black merino and silver Angelina, with black organza flowers in my core-spun attempt

Here's a photo of what I've called Black Magic
For a first try there was a slight bit of overspin and I only managed to spin 25 yards of yarn, but not only is it really airy and lovely to touch, my 9 flowers are now firmly spun into the yarn with no chance of escaping..Whoop! Whoop!

I'm not quite sure about corespinning on a regular basis as I kind of feel as though I've cheated at spinning. I missed feeling the fiber between both hands and making descisions on what to do whilst spinning it. But It was nice to try something new.

However, I think that I should at least have another go before I totally rule it out of my spinning techniques. I think I may begin a love-hate relationship with this method of spinning.

Here's another photo...

















I think I may definately also retry 'Cherry Blossom' in this technique as I think it will turn out lovely, sounds like I'm hooked already!!!

Mmmmm! Fruit Salad

Its safe to say that this week has been very productive. Not only have I been trooping along with hubby's second sock, Ive managed to spin my longest skein of yarn to date and also ending up in an aching wreck thanks to the army assault course from hell!

My latest skein of yarn weighs in at 200g and is all pure merino, I've decided to call it fruit salad because it reminds me of those pre pack fruit salads you see in Asda or Tesco with a mirage of colors. Not only does it look yummy, I tried my hand at nubs and also got 42 yards for my efforts, which may not be much to some people but its quite a lot to me considering I only used to get about 20 meters.

Heres a Photo of Fruit salad



I almost don't want to put it on Etsy, thats the problem. I want to keep all my yarn, maybe it's a phase because I'm a new spinner, who knows?
To see more Fruit salad photos check out my flickr photostream

I also have some photos from my Dye-A-Thon from the bank holiday break.

Heres one of my de-gummed cocoons



And heres a few photos of the fiber that I dyed the day after the first photo is of some degummed and gummed cocoons dyed with food colourings



The next photo are BFL and cocoons that I decided to dye with kool aid



On the next photo you can kind of tell which fibers are dyed with kool aid because they seem to be brighter and the colour is consistent. I wouldn't rule out using the food colorings again as I quite liked the muted subdued colors. I especially like that the silk fibers have selectively taken up more and less dyes in each areas giving it a very random effect.





I think I may have the dyeing bug now, watch this space...

Let the De- Gumming commence!!

I don't know what it is about Bank holidays, but I always feel a need to do something completely random. In today's case because I know I have tomorrow off I decided to try my hand at de- gumming some silk co-coons that I'd recently bought on Ebay.

I've never actually done this before, but after buying some hand dyed degummed cocoons at Wonderwool I thought what the hell!

I found a really good tutorial for de-gumming cocoons on a website called pamdeluco.com so I've now set off on it and their on the hob as I type.

Here's a current up to the moment picture of what they are looking like so far..



Now according to the tutorial, it may take 30 mins to de-gum or 2 hours or even longer!! it really depends on what the species of the silk, to which I currently have no idea what mine are, oh well I didn't really have any plans for tonight anyway!!!!

Wonderwool Rocked!!!

Well the day came and went, but it was amazing. My friend Alison and I took the nice calming drive from RCT to Builth wales last Saturday to attend Wonderwool Wales. I think it was safe to say that we've been waiting for this more than last years Christmas!!
I remember when I went three years ago, at the time I was a mere knitter and did not appreciate the wonders of the 'fluff'. This year I knew what was going to happen, I knew that if I didn't have a think about what I wanted I would have ended up just standing and drooling in the doorway not knowing where to go. Lets just say I HAD a plan.....

So our journey started off on the most fabulous weather ever, and we got to roll in style as hubby just got rid of our golf in exchange for a 5yr old BMW 3 series, sweet!! armed with our cameras and lunch we set off. I decided to take my newly aquired 'Intertwined, the art of handspun yarn by Lexi Boeger' as reading material for Alison, and some of my recently new handspun for her to fondle on the way. We decided however, to take an "On the way to Wonderwool" photo on the way..

Check me out on the side of a mountain at Brecon with my wool!!

Can I just add that if I didn't realise I was standing next to what appears to be a grave, OOPS!

Anyway the drive was nice and scenic and we ended up getting to Builth around about 10.15 we got in line and waited patiently to get in. It was well worth the wait, we decided to catch up with some friends on stalls before we actually started our stash enrichment expedition.
Firstly we caught with Machelle from Chopped Tomatoes who has the most beautiful yarn I have ever clapped eyes on and Tora Aka Gypsy Dancer I fell in love with one of Tora's Yarn bowls and decided it had to come home with me. We also caught up with Eirwen from Knitwitches where I also decided that a ball of lace weight cashmere in jungle greens had to be mine. Anne our good friend and spinning teacher was also on hand helping out on Eirwen's stand.

It's safe to say that my plan went out the window and I ended up spending more than I had wanted to, but when I look at my newly acquired stash I can't help but get a warm fuzzy feeling (no pun intended). Alison was not only a fantastic navigator but she was a great shopping buddy aswell, she's opened my mind about fiber and was able to answer any of my fibery related questions when I wasn't sure about anything.

Heres a few photos from the day

Me and my silk cocoon obsession


And the Infamous Noro cardigan, that I want in Adult size



Alison tackling the Ashfords Knitters loom


To see the rest of my Wonderwool 2010 photos check out my Flickr photostream

The day was amazing and I think Alison enjoyed her first wonderwool experience, I'm counting down the days to next years event already!!

This was my first sock!

I say was, because unfortunately its been sock-napped. Yes it has honestly, now at this point I suppose I could be really creative in describing the events proceeding up to its abduction, but unfortunately I'm not really that good at creative writing so I'm just going to tell you that hubby stole it.

One minute it was being sewn up, next its disappeared! Only for me to see hubby sitting on the sofa in a gollum-esk manner talking about his "precious" (sock that is!!)

Here's a photo of hubby, "his sock" and his hairy leg:




It's not all bad I suppose, after all when you think about it how many women knit things for their partners that never see the light of day, hundreds? thousands? And then, theres the jumper curse to consider. I guess I should be lucky that he's taken an interest in wearing something that I've made, even though it was meant for me as the pattern clearly stated "Ladies sock pattern".

This is what I get for having the same size feet I guess, at least they'll be worn and appreciated. However I'd just like to point out in the unlikely event of Sauron and a Mass Horde of Orkes being summoned I'd just like to take this opportunity to say " I KNOW NOTHING!!"

I'm Deep in a goldfish bowl It's sink or swim.

Ok, I've been working on a new yarn. Since having my new Ipod for Christmas I've developed an obsession with listening to the Stereophonics so this yarn is based on one of my favorite songs "Goldfish Bowl"

The yarn itself is mainly blue and green merino wool, blended with a sliver of blue mulberry silk and green Angelina. Its then plied with a pale blue lurex thread with lots of little individual hand cut felt goldfish.

The picture here is fabulous, I must say thank you to Carwyn at Hoffi for taking the photo. "Thank yoooou!"



I'm quite pleased with this yarn, its turned out exactly as I had hoped and imagined and every time I look at it I can't help smiling. The only other problem it has is it makes me want to listen to my Ipod!!!

Thank You Debbie Jackson!!!

Ok let me give you the update so far!!!

My new flyer has arrived from Ashford, Oh yes!!! after waiting for what seems like forever due to delays in distribution it has finally arrived. So I'd like to take a moment through all the jumping around and crazyness and just thank the nice lady at Ashford in New Zealand for packing it for me, Thanks Debbie, job well done!!!

Here's a photo of my lovely new Flyer, You'll have to take my word for it but its absolutely huge.

Raiders of the lost fluff.

Today I decided to forage in my spare room, for what I hear you ask? well I've been slowly but surely increasing my fibre stash and now cometh the time to DESTASH! I know, I know nothing good can come of this, but I beg to differ on this occasion I have a really good feeling. But first, I've got to find the damn fluff!

Eventually, I managed to find a mirage of colours. Orange, Blue, Lilac, Pink, White and Grey. All merino apart from the white, which is BFL (Blue Faced Leicester).Firstly I spun two singles, and after a while of continuous stop starting plying wise, the end result is a cheerful rainbow-esk array of colours. I love the texture of the twists.


Here's a few photos of my lovely new yarn..




And here's another one..



And finally..



So to cap it off, not all destashing is a bad thing, apart from the plying part. Maybe I'll wait until I get my bigger flyer before I subject my wheel to that much art yarn again. Now comes the hard part....bringing myself to put it on Etsy!!!

Every Silver lining has a cloud.

Ok, normally when I spin a yarn I like to remain optomistic, but in this yarn's case seeing what looked like an ugly, grumpy storm cloud in a plastic bag I thought what the hell! Whilst thinking about clouds I remembered the old saying "every cloud has a silver lining" so the hunt commenced for "my silver lining" to cheer up my grumpy yarn.

Eventually, after lots of stash searching I found one. So I plied them babies together and POOF!! 38 yards of what i can only describe as moody yarn.

Heres a quick photo....



and another..



Ok, maybe it doesn't look that moody, but hey you can't always rely on the weather can you? I'm pretty happy with it, in fact I feel a celebratory Woop Woop coming on!!!

Out with the old in with the New Noddy

When I started to learn to spin yarn, I was told that there would be a few basic bits and bobs that I'd need to make my spinning life a little easier. The first being a Niddy Noddy, so I could wind off my newly spun yarn from the bobbin on my spinning wheel and make it into a luurvly yummy skein.

So after describing one, my hunter gatherer hubby hunted, gathered and robbed a broom handle from his parents shed. (shhhh! his mother hasn't noticed its gone yet!!!)

Did I mention I love all handmade things? good so keep this in mind when you see the picture below. Sure its rough and ugly looking but it's Mine, if I could only get hubby to sand it for me and make it pretty looking.

OK 3 weeks later and my Niddy Noddy still looks like this...



So in a desperate attempt to make sure that my ever filling bobbins would eventually be wound off, I lurked on Ebay and am now a proud owner of a lovely brand spankey new hand turned ready to use Niddy Noddy...



Isn't it pretty? and its all MINE!!!!! Aaah the wonders of Ebay. I wonder if they sell project finishing Hubby's, because i'm still waiting for my handmade lazy kate :-) come on hubby get back up the shed!!!!

Knitted baby booties.

I've just finished some cute pink baby booties for a mate who is expecting her first baby next month. She's discovered that she is expecting a little girl so in homage to all things girlie have knitted these...



Here's another arty shot of them.




I love the little flower button, the wool is lambs pride bulky. The yarn is a mix of 85% wool and 15% mohair so their lovely and squishy and soft. I love tiny knits their just so cute!
I'd also been dying to try out this pattern, which is from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation and is called 'One hour baby booties'. I think they turned out awesome!!

My new blog, but what should I write about...

Well its the start of a new era for me: my own blog I mean. Having been pestered for probably years by my now hubby. I finally caved in and like him have began to scribble my ideas down for all to read.

So I guess I should say a little more about me and what I do, probably the first thing I should get off my Chest is that I'm a yarn whore. I love it!!! I have nearly a whole room dedicated to my stash along with other crafty bits and bobs. Recently I began to spin my own, in fact only today I finished a skein of two tone pure merino. I haven't been spinning for very long, hubby paid for my spinning lessons as a Christmas prezzie (and also bought me some hand carders), so I think I'm pretty much set up at the moment. Hubby had a few reservations about letting me spin yarn. I seem to remember him telling me that the stash I have right now will most probably outlive me, but I can't help it! I hoard until I get an idea to use a specific yarn.

Knitting is another one of my obsessions, from my very first ugly jumper to the ever increasing UFO's that lie in the black hole that is my UFO box. (Unfinished Object for those of you who were wondering.) In my defense I do like to have a few projects on the go, so they all get an equal turn and eventually end up getting finished.

Im going to finish my first blog post with a picture of my lovely new squishy merino skein, yum yum