I've finally gotten a brand spanking new website which includes a blog on it, therefore I will not be using this blog anymore
you can read about my woolly and chicken related escapades on my new website
www.rebekkaleigh.com
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Welcome to the Thomas residence
Yesterday as an early Easter present and in keeping with my mad chicken ways hubby took me to a nearby farm and treated me to an Eggstra special present. Can you guess what it was?
No?
Well take a look at this picture....
Its one of three sweet little 2 week old Buff Sussex hens that will eventually move into Cluckingham Palace when their old enough. Their staying indoors with us at the moment all snuggled in their own little box in the warm. Their sweet little peeps and cheeps are just so cute.
Now the only thing left to do is name them, not as easy as it may seem as I need to wait and see what each little cheeky chicks personality is like first. What I do plan on doing is taking pictures as they grow to show how their doing....now off to observe and coo!
No?
Well take a look at this picture....
Its one of three sweet little 2 week old Buff Sussex hens that will eventually move into Cluckingham Palace when their old enough. Their staying indoors with us at the moment all snuggled in their own little box in the warm. Their sweet little peeps and cheeps are just so cute.
Now the only thing left to do is name them, not as easy as it may seem as I need to wait and see what each little cheeky chicks personality is like first. What I do plan on doing is taking pictures as they grow to show how their doing....now off to observe and coo!
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Bwark!
Gosh! is it a New Year already? It seems as though I was only just thinking about the build at Cluckingham Palace and then WHAMMY! its built, the chooks old and new are in and we're getting eggs like no ones business!
I'd be fibbing if I said that it was an easy build. Hubby however, has excelled in his woodwork building type skills but, I still wish I had somewhere proper to sit with the girls when I get a chance to spend time with them.
Anyway enough with the boring blab about building, I bet you want to see the how the girls are settling in and also their new friends that have moved in with them.
Here's the palace in all its glory with Dotty, Betty and Mildred who were its first residents.
and here are the newer residents all settled in after their two week pecking order ordeal back last October, which was dubbed "The fortnight of torture" by me as just watching my girls fight was upsetting especially when Mildred launced a scathing attack on poor little
Firstly the Amazing Olive who is a Magpie Chicken
Then there's Florence the Bluebell
Vera, who is also a Bluebell
And lastly but by no means least, Deirdre the little Speckeldy who, incedently is the baby of the bunch as she was only 10 weeks old and clearly not at point of lay, as indicated by her seller.
And here's one of what I like to dub as "the usual suspects"
Clearly she who is amazing is not camera shy!! can't think where she gets it from......
I'd be fibbing if I said that it was an easy build. Hubby however, has excelled in his woodwork building type skills but, I still wish I had somewhere proper to sit with the girls when I get a chance to spend time with them.
Anyway enough with the boring blab about building, I bet you want to see the how the girls are settling in and also their new friends that have moved in with them.
Here's the palace in all its glory with Dotty, Betty and Mildred who were its first residents.
and here are the newer residents all settled in after their two week pecking order ordeal back last October, which was dubbed "The fortnight of torture" by me as just watching my girls fight was upsetting especially when Mildred launced a scathing attack on poor little
Firstly the Amazing Olive who is a Magpie Chicken
Then there's Florence the Bluebell
Vera, who is also a Bluebell
And lastly but by no means least, Deirdre the little Speckeldy who, incedently is the baby of the bunch as she was only 10 weeks old and clearly not at point of lay, as indicated by her seller.
And here's one of what I like to dub as "the usual suspects"
Clearly she who is amazing is not camera shy!! can't think where she gets it from......
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Cluckingham Palace, It begins.....
So we've had our chicken's for 10 weeks and their all laying and settling in nicely. At first we weren't sure how we would take to looking after our feathery friends but, we have no regrets and a day hasn't gone by where they haven't kept us amused. So with this in mind and after a long discussion me and hubby decided to move the current coop with our ladies in over onto the lawn and build a newer, bigger chicken coop and run which we've dubbed "Cluckingham or Peckingham Palace".
Now with the bigger build in mind comes the question are we going to have more chickens, well of course we are :D the question is what kind? well we're not really sure yet, however we've got our hearts set on having 3 little chicks and raising them, then when their old enough they can join the other ladies out in the palace. The only drawbacks of chicks? they may all turn out to be roosters, in which case we can't keep them all and I know that my brother would happily solve that problem for me, but the question is, could I stand aside and watch one or two or all three of my hand raised babies go to that big chicken coop in the sky? no probably not!! but then again the chances of them all being girls are the same in which case yaaaay!
I haven't really managed to take many photos as yet but I DID manage to take a photo of the space that we're going to build on (which is where the coop is in the "our new friends have moved in" post stood originally).
I'm really looking forward to posting week by week updates on the build is progressing right through to our current ladies moving in and to whatever we decide to do about their three new potential friends....keep tuned for more Chickeny updates :D
Now with the bigger build in mind comes the question are we going to have more chickens, well of course we are :D the question is what kind? well we're not really sure yet, however we've got our hearts set on having 3 little chicks and raising them, then when their old enough they can join the other ladies out in the palace. The only drawbacks of chicks? they may all turn out to be roosters, in which case we can't keep them all and I know that my brother would happily solve that problem for me, but the question is, could I stand aside and watch one or two or all three of my hand raised babies go to that big chicken coop in the sky? no probably not!! but then again the chances of them all being girls are the same in which case yaaaay!
I haven't really managed to take many photos as yet but I DID manage to take a photo of the space that we're going to build on (which is where the coop is in the "our new friends have moved in" post stood originally).
I'm really looking forward to posting week by week updates on the build is progressing right through to our current ladies moving in and to whatever we decide to do about their three new potential friends....keep tuned for more Chickeny updates :D
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Fleece Washing 101
Ok, I know I've been absent for a really long time. It was mainly due to a horrendous study schedule, exams and whatnot, but now that I've officially finished college I'm BAAAAACK!!!
So I thought I'd kick off the summer in style and cover one of the most mundane jobs that we spinners either love or hate, washing a fleece. A few of my spinny friends sigh at the thought of washing a fleece, and although they want to do it sometimes to put it plainly they just can't be bothered to do it.
Now me on the other hand, I quite like it. it's down to personal preference I suppose, after all not every spinner wants to do the the entire "from sheep to knitted garment...bla bla bla" some of us love the convenience of just buying already scoured fleece or plain tops.
My first fleece washing experience was back in april where I bought a particular lovely fine white Shetland fleece. I'd previously looked up how to wash fleece and figured I was up to the challenge and so after scouting the fleeces I came back with the above mentioned lovely white fleece, and also went halves on a grey Shetland fleece with my travel buddy Snowberrylime.
I then got into a discussion with the lady selling the fleeces who was a wealth of knowledge, she happily went over the do's and don'ts and what you need and don't need.
So without any further blabbing on my part, here is my handy guide on how to get a fleece processed in a matter of hours....enjoy!
Firstly your going to need something to soak your fleece in, and by the way if your thinking "my bathtub or sink will do" HELL NO!!! just think of all the rubbish including poo and pee and god knows what else that's accumulated in your lovely fleece, not to mention the muchos amounts of dirt and lanolin. Now ask yourself, do you really want to use your sink or bathtub?....thought not!
What you need in order to proceed
In this picture I have 3 gorilla buckets or Truggs as their called, Rubber gloves ( are optional, I don't tend to use them as I'm not fussy)
Wool wash, I use Ecover Delicate wool wash, It costs £1.57 from Asda and tends to get my fleece really clean, I don't use fairy liquid as its a degreaser and makes fleece sticky, You need a detergent not a degreaser!
Plastic bag for putting the skirted bits of fleece in to throw away
Hottest tap water, (I have a hose from my sink in the kitchen outside to my buckets for convenience, not to mention its back friendly as I don't want to be lugging around buckets of water.
A pillow case to put the clean fleece in to spin cycle in your washing machine (check that your washer does a plain spin cycle as a rinse and spin cycle will be disasterous!!)
Step 1
so you've layed out your fleece and skirted it accordingly, any really trashy poopy bits and kempy parts of the fleece need to be discarded, this is what the plastic bag is for....
so heres a picture of my skirted fleece, its a Dorset horn cross Texel fleece...yummy!
Next you need to fill 2 of your buckets with hot tap water and a nice big squirt of wool wash detergent, once you've done this plop in your fleece and press it down into the water, then leave it soak for 10 mins
Mmmmm! look at that lovely stinky water....
Here's a close up....
So after about 10 minutes the water should still be hot, It's really important that you don't let the water cool as the lanolin will reform and reattach to the wool taking the dirt with it. You then need to put more soap into the third bucket and fill with hot water again, then you pick up the fleece from the water gently squeezing the water from it and then transferring it to the clean water.
Oooh! look at the grundgy water :D
Once you've done this empty the water from the bucket, refill and repeat with the second gorilla bucket full of fleece.
I tend to give my fleece three hot soapy soaks and one plain water rinse.
Check out my fleece in the rinse bucket, see how much cleaner the water is?
after the rinse soak, I then take out the fleece and squeeze out as much water as I can, I then place it into a pillowcase and then put it into my washing machine on a spin cycle.
Que the cheesy washing machine picture....how cool is my pillowcase?
Once the spin cycle has completed, lay out the fibre onto a clean blanket, (or whatever way you like to dry your fleece) and leave it to dry..
Et Voila!!
And a close-up of my lovely clean flufftastic fleece....
Lovely fluffy clean fleece, ready for carding, dyeing, spinning e.t.c.
Hope this helps, feel free to leave comments or questions, happy fleece washing :D
So I thought I'd kick off the summer in style and cover one of the most mundane jobs that we spinners either love or hate, washing a fleece. A few of my spinny friends sigh at the thought of washing a fleece, and although they want to do it sometimes to put it plainly they just can't be bothered to do it.
Now me on the other hand, I quite like it. it's down to personal preference I suppose, after all not every spinner wants to do the the entire "from sheep to knitted garment...bla bla bla" some of us love the convenience of just buying already scoured fleece or plain tops.
My first fleece washing experience was back in april where I bought a particular lovely fine white Shetland fleece. I'd previously looked up how to wash fleece and figured I was up to the challenge and so after scouting the fleeces I came back with the above mentioned lovely white fleece, and also went halves on a grey Shetland fleece with my travel buddy Snowberrylime.
I then got into a discussion with the lady selling the fleeces who was a wealth of knowledge, she happily went over the do's and don'ts and what you need and don't need.
So without any further blabbing on my part, here is my handy guide on how to get a fleece processed in a matter of hours....enjoy!
Firstly your going to need something to soak your fleece in, and by the way if your thinking "my bathtub or sink will do" HELL NO!!! just think of all the rubbish including poo and pee and god knows what else that's accumulated in your lovely fleece, not to mention the muchos amounts of dirt and lanolin. Now ask yourself, do you really want to use your sink or bathtub?....thought not!
What you need in order to proceed
In this picture I have 3 gorilla buckets or Truggs as their called, Rubber gloves ( are optional, I don't tend to use them as I'm not fussy)
Wool wash, I use Ecover Delicate wool wash, It costs £1.57 from Asda and tends to get my fleece really clean, I don't use fairy liquid as its a degreaser and makes fleece sticky, You need a detergent not a degreaser!
Plastic bag for putting the skirted bits of fleece in to throw away
Hottest tap water, (I have a hose from my sink in the kitchen outside to my buckets for convenience, not to mention its back friendly as I don't want to be lugging around buckets of water.
A pillow case to put the clean fleece in to spin cycle in your washing machine (check that your washer does a plain spin cycle as a rinse and spin cycle will be disasterous!!)
Step 1
so you've layed out your fleece and skirted it accordingly, any really trashy poopy bits and kempy parts of the fleece need to be discarded, this is what the plastic bag is for....
so heres a picture of my skirted fleece, its a Dorset horn cross Texel fleece...yummy!
Next you need to fill 2 of your buckets with hot tap water and a nice big squirt of wool wash detergent, once you've done this plop in your fleece and press it down into the water, then leave it soak for 10 mins
Mmmmm! look at that lovely stinky water....
Here's a close up....
So after about 10 minutes the water should still be hot, It's really important that you don't let the water cool as the lanolin will reform and reattach to the wool taking the dirt with it. You then need to put more soap into the third bucket and fill with hot water again, then you pick up the fleece from the water gently squeezing the water from it and then transferring it to the clean water.
Oooh! look at the grundgy water :D
Once you've done this empty the water from the bucket, refill and repeat with the second gorilla bucket full of fleece.
I tend to give my fleece three hot soapy soaks and one plain water rinse.
Check out my fleece in the rinse bucket, see how much cleaner the water is?
after the rinse soak, I then take out the fleece and squeeze out as much water as I can, I then place it into a pillowcase and then put it into my washing machine on a spin cycle.
Que the cheesy washing machine picture....how cool is my pillowcase?
Once the spin cycle has completed, lay out the fibre onto a clean blanket, (or whatever way you like to dry your fleece) and leave it to dry..
Et Voila!!
And a close-up of my lovely clean flufftastic fleece....
Lovely fluffy clean fleece, ready for carding, dyeing, spinning e.t.c.
Hope this helps, feel free to leave comments or questions, happy fleece washing :D
Monday, 11 July 2011
Our new Friends have moved in......
During the last three weeks, hubby has been working hard on building a chicken coop. We're not sure what made us decide that we wanted to keep chickens, maybe its because we're making an effort to grow our own fruit and veg and be a bit more self sufficient...who knows!
Hubby has worked for the last three weeks on designing and creating the perfect coop so that we would have very happy hens, he based his design on a triangular coop that he saw online and sized it up so that our girls would have plenty of room to roam.
Heres a look at the finished coop before our friends moved in....
We went out today after our next door neighbour who keeps an Aviary in his back garden advised us that he had been to a local pet centre where he was getting canaries saw chickens and thought of us. We were going to go to Mr Welshegg in Caerphilly but we decided to check out this pet centre in Glynneath first, without any real intention of getting chickens, just having a look....
Well it was love at first sight when I saw them, hubby knew there was no way of us leaving without chickens. The salesperson who sold the chickens was actually the farmer that raised them on his parents farm and then brought them into the centre, he advised us about lots of various things and advised if we didn't want too many eggs at once Calder Rangers are good because they spread out their laying, and also light Sussex's were good for this also.
So I had to choose the chickens, there were two brown and one white nestled together, how could I separate them? so decision made, we bought some sawdust, layers pellets and mixed corn and we were on our way.
We seat-belted up the birdie boxes and carefully drove home, there were lots of clucks and cackles on the way. I think hubby should drive with chickens in the car at all times as it was a much calmer, smoother ride :D
When we got home we put in the feeder and drinker and then let our babies loose, however Dotty and Betty our calder rangers were happy to be picked up and put in, Mildred our Light Sussex made a bid for freedom and jumped out of the box into hubby's hands....the bigger of the birds she was very nervous, so we then let them get used to their surroundings and settle in, watching from afar.
Heres a few photos of the Girls that I have taken.....their soo cute!!
Heres Dotty, If you look at her lower beak its longer than the top, so this is how I can distinguish her from Betty.
Heres Betty, she's the other Calder Ranger like Dotty.
And lastly but by no means least, here's Mildred our Light Sussex
Oh and what sort of person would I be if I didn't show me having a Dotty snuggle?
I hope our new friends settle in and enjoy being part of the family, I think its safe to say that their definitely NOT going to end up on the dinner table, but they are going to be the most spoilt chickens in South Wales, If I have my way :D
Hubby has worked for the last three weeks on designing and creating the perfect coop so that we would have very happy hens, he based his design on a triangular coop that he saw online and sized it up so that our girls would have plenty of room to roam.
Heres a look at the finished coop before our friends moved in....
We went out today after our next door neighbour who keeps an Aviary in his back garden advised us that he had been to a local pet centre where he was getting canaries saw chickens and thought of us. We were going to go to Mr Welshegg in Caerphilly but we decided to check out this pet centre in Glynneath first, without any real intention of getting chickens, just having a look....
Well it was love at first sight when I saw them, hubby knew there was no way of us leaving without chickens. The salesperson who sold the chickens was actually the farmer that raised them on his parents farm and then brought them into the centre, he advised us about lots of various things and advised if we didn't want too many eggs at once Calder Rangers are good because they spread out their laying, and also light Sussex's were good for this also.
So I had to choose the chickens, there were two brown and one white nestled together, how could I separate them? so decision made, we bought some sawdust, layers pellets and mixed corn and we were on our way.
We seat-belted up the birdie boxes and carefully drove home, there were lots of clucks and cackles on the way. I think hubby should drive with chickens in the car at all times as it was a much calmer, smoother ride :D
When we got home we put in the feeder and drinker and then let our babies loose, however Dotty and Betty our calder rangers were happy to be picked up and put in, Mildred our Light Sussex made a bid for freedom and jumped out of the box into hubby's hands....the bigger of the birds she was very nervous, so we then let them get used to their surroundings and settle in, watching from afar.
Heres a few photos of the Girls that I have taken.....their soo cute!!
Heres Dotty, If you look at her lower beak its longer than the top, so this is how I can distinguish her from Betty.
Heres Betty, she's the other Calder Ranger like Dotty.
And lastly but by no means least, here's Mildred our Light Sussex
Oh and what sort of person would I be if I didn't show me having a Dotty snuggle?
I hope our new friends settle in and enjoy being part of the family, I think its safe to say that their definitely NOT going to end up on the dinner table, but they are going to be the most spoilt chickens in South Wales, If I have my way :D
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Wonderwool 2011....another success!
Yesterday I ventured out to Wonderwool Wales which is held at the Royal Welsh Show ground. Me and my travel buddy Snowberrylime, took off at 9am to get there in time for it to open at 10am.
I had a plan...well sort of! I decided that I wanted to try my hand at scouring a fleece, but in order to do this I needed to get there asap before all the good fleeces went.
Unfortunately Veronika was on a fleece ban, and previously I had promised to an "Intervention" if it looked like she was going to give in.....The only problem was I was practically rolling in the fleeces at this point so I totally left her unattended, and eventually she bought fleece....heck! I even went halves with her on a particularly lovely grey Shetland fleece. I also bought a 2nd prize white ultra fine shetland fleece, to spoil myself and my Elizabeth wheel, I plan to wash it and spin it super fine and see how much yardage I get and possibly knit a lace wrap with it.
Heres a Picture of my fleece's in the bags, their not the best pictures but when the fleeces are washed I'll take better pictures then.
the Grey Shetland Fleece;
The white Shetland fleece;
The other reason for me to go to Wonderwool this year was to visit my good friend Gypsydancer
as she had a stall there with her fabulous Yarn Bowls and other notions and she kindly offered to display some of my Yarn on her stall.....I kinda felt like a woolly Celebrity, ok well not quite but I was really chuffed to be part of her beautiful stall.
Heres a picture of an unsuspecting Tora with her stall :D
and here's a close up of some of my Yarn that was on sale that day, some mixed in with Snowberrylime's yarns too.
And a close up of my Sheepy sign and my favourite Art-yarn...Goldfish Bowl, with two of Snowberrylime's yarns in the background.
and one with a few of my yarns in the foreground,
So this years Wonderwool was that little more special to me this time because my yarn was being displayed and sold, onwards and upwards I always say :D
I had a plan...well sort of! I decided that I wanted to try my hand at scouring a fleece, but in order to do this I needed to get there asap before all the good fleeces went.
Unfortunately Veronika was on a fleece ban, and previously I had promised to an "Intervention" if it looked like she was going to give in.....The only problem was I was practically rolling in the fleeces at this point so I totally left her unattended, and eventually she bought fleece....heck! I even went halves with her on a particularly lovely grey Shetland fleece. I also bought a 2nd prize white ultra fine shetland fleece, to spoil myself and my Elizabeth wheel, I plan to wash it and spin it super fine and see how much yardage I get and possibly knit a lace wrap with it.
Heres a Picture of my fleece's in the bags, their not the best pictures but when the fleeces are washed I'll take better pictures then.
the Grey Shetland Fleece;
The white Shetland fleece;
The other reason for me to go to Wonderwool this year was to visit my good friend Gypsydancer
as she had a stall there with her fabulous Yarn Bowls and other notions and she kindly offered to display some of my Yarn on her stall.....I kinda felt like a woolly Celebrity, ok well not quite but I was really chuffed to be part of her beautiful stall.
Heres a picture of an unsuspecting Tora with her stall :D
and here's a close up of some of my Yarn that was on sale that day, some mixed in with Snowberrylime's yarns too.
And a close up of my Sheepy sign and my favourite Art-yarn...Goldfish Bowl, with two of Snowberrylime's yarns in the background.
and one with a few of my yarns in the foreground,
So this years Wonderwool was that little more special to me this time because my yarn was being displayed and sold, onwards and upwards I always say :D
Sunday, 16 January 2011
Creative Spinnig Workshop with Andrew Johnson.
I've been looking forward to attending this workshop since my friend Kirsten told me about it. I've been attending some of the meetings of the Glamorgan Spinners, Weavers and Dyers Guild, and when I was told about this workshop I put my name down Immediately.
Art Yarn is a personal favourite of mine so the idea of spinning crazy yarns from 10-4 was pure bliss. Tora, a friend and also a relatively new spinner also attended, hoping to improve her 3 week old spinning technique and also get some intensive spinning experience.
We started off spinning huge yarn from raw fleece, the idea was just to get it as big as you could and try to resist the urge to draft the fibre too much!! not a problem for me as I adore super bulky yarns. I can't remember the fibre that was used, all I could remember was its rough texture and adoring its lovely mixed brown colour, it was rough, scratchy and dirty.....awesome!!!
The second yarn we had to spin was with raw Wensleydale fleece, still damp and a little sticky, but Both me Tora and Kirsten were ready to get in there!! Sticky fleece was slightly gross, but considering some of my immediate family are from down south...I couldn't let the side down!!
The plan was to ply said scratchy brown yarn with said sticky Wensleydale....job done!!
Although, bummer as I forgot to take a photo...bad Bekka!
Next on the Agenda was Bouclé... now I can't really say that I am a fan of it, however its one yarn I had yet to spin so I was open to suggestions. I used some of the single that I had left over from spinning Buddy the Christmas Elf and used that as the pretty part of the bouclé. The other singles that were used were a mixture of organic merino and milk protein that were spun in advance of Andy's workshop.
We consumed copious amounts of tea and in the afternoon Andy decided to let us loose on some crazy carding, in order to spin up some luuurvely singles which will then be super-coiled into a cute necklace.
Here's a photo of my newly spun single
and here's another look, check out those lovely shreds of fabric, yummy yummy!
All in all, it was a fantastic day, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the ladies at the Guild and getting to know them a little better, at the end Andy graciously agreed to pose for a picture for me.
p.s I'm wearing my pretty super-coiled necklace :D
Art Yarn is a personal favourite of mine so the idea of spinning crazy yarns from 10-4 was pure bliss. Tora, a friend and also a relatively new spinner also attended, hoping to improve her 3 week old spinning technique and also get some intensive spinning experience.
We started off spinning huge yarn from raw fleece, the idea was just to get it as big as you could and try to resist the urge to draft the fibre too much!! not a problem for me as I adore super bulky yarns. I can't remember the fibre that was used, all I could remember was its rough texture and adoring its lovely mixed brown colour, it was rough, scratchy and dirty.....awesome!!!
The second yarn we had to spin was with raw Wensleydale fleece, still damp and a little sticky, but Both me Tora and Kirsten were ready to get in there!! Sticky fleece was slightly gross, but considering some of my immediate family are from down south...I couldn't let the side down!!
The plan was to ply said scratchy brown yarn with said sticky Wensleydale....job done!!
Although, bummer as I forgot to take a photo...bad Bekka!
Next on the Agenda was Bouclé... now I can't really say that I am a fan of it, however its one yarn I had yet to spin so I was open to suggestions. I used some of the single that I had left over from spinning Buddy the Christmas Elf and used that as the pretty part of the bouclé. The other singles that were used were a mixture of organic merino and milk protein that were spun in advance of Andy's workshop.
We consumed copious amounts of tea and in the afternoon Andy decided to let us loose on some crazy carding, in order to spin up some luuurvely singles which will then be super-coiled into a cute necklace.
Here's a photo of my newly spun single
and here's another look, check out those lovely shreds of fabric, yummy yummy!
All in all, it was a fantastic day, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the ladies at the Guild and getting to know them a little better, at the end Andy graciously agreed to pose for a picture for me.
p.s I'm wearing my pretty super-coiled necklace :D
Monday, 3 January 2011
A new year and a new wheel!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.
Well as Christmas's come and go I have to say that this Christmas I think that due to the horrific weather everyone who wasn't able to go out and shop as learned a valuable lesson (no, not go and do it earlier) but that Christmas is NOT about presents. I like to think that for this reason this Christmas was more about the things that are more important...family time :D
Hubby however decided to get me a new spinning wheel for Christmas which was awesome, however due to the crappy weather my new baby didnt turn up until December the 30th which was a lovely post-Christmas surprise.
My new wheel is a .....(drumroll)......an Ashford Country Spinner..WOOOOOOOP!!
So far I've spun up 4 lovely skeins of yarn and am seriously in love with the double treadle, I think a trip to Fiddies in Cardiff is in order soon as I really want to get a wax to finish the wheel (even though I should really have done this before I put it together..oops!)
Also, Hubby was only saying that Christmas isnt the same without having to put something together while someone bounces around over excited...wrong!! that was me when he was doing my wheel :D. Poor hubby was so serious because he didn't want to mess anything up and he had me bouncing around like Tigger in the background asking "Is it done yet?"
Aaaaaanyhow enough of my ramblings heres a photo of my new baby..
I'snt he puuurdy? the two marks on the pedal to the left are where I oiled the hinges, because the wood is so dry its kinda sucked up the moisture...do'h. Thats why I need to get wax and finish him :D
And lastly but not least here are a few shots of my new "yarn babies" that I spun using my new wheel.
Blank Canvas, a bulky spun merino yarn 162yds
Souk Market, Merino and Angelina - Chunky spun yarn 228yds
Caramel - Chunky spun Merino and Firestar - 145yds
And lastly, Zombie - chunky spun Merino with Angelina - 158yds
Stay tuned for more yarny adventures :D
Well as Christmas's come and go I have to say that this Christmas I think that due to the horrific weather everyone who wasn't able to go out and shop as learned a valuable lesson (no, not go and do it earlier) but that Christmas is NOT about presents. I like to think that for this reason this Christmas was more about the things that are more important...family time :D
Hubby however decided to get me a new spinning wheel for Christmas which was awesome, however due to the crappy weather my new baby didnt turn up until December the 30th which was a lovely post-Christmas surprise.
My new wheel is a .....(drumroll)......an Ashford Country Spinner..WOOOOOOOP!!
So far I've spun up 4 lovely skeins of yarn and am seriously in love with the double treadle, I think a trip to Fiddies in Cardiff is in order soon as I really want to get a wax to finish the wheel (even though I should really have done this before I put it together..oops!)
Also, Hubby was only saying that Christmas isnt the same without having to put something together while someone bounces around over excited...wrong!! that was me when he was doing my wheel :D. Poor hubby was so serious because he didn't want to mess anything up and he had me bouncing around like Tigger in the background asking "Is it done yet?"
Aaaaaanyhow enough of my ramblings heres a photo of my new baby..
I'snt he puuurdy? the two marks on the pedal to the left are where I oiled the hinges, because the wood is so dry its kinda sucked up the moisture...do'h. Thats why I need to get wax and finish him :D
And lastly but not least here are a few shots of my new "yarn babies" that I spun using my new wheel.
Blank Canvas, a bulky spun merino yarn 162yds
Souk Market, Merino and Angelina - Chunky spun yarn 228yds
Caramel - Chunky spun Merino and Firestar - 145yds
And lastly, Zombie - chunky spun Merino with Angelina - 158yds
Stay tuned for more yarny adventures :D
Friday, 29 October 2010
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!!!).
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!!!).
Sunday, 15 August 2010
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
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
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
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........
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........
Friday, 23 July 2010
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
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
Thursday, 1 July 2010
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
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................
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................
Sunday, 20 June 2010
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!!
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!!
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