Offerta speciale per i miei amici Italiani

 

Spinning Around : Settembre 2012        Deborah Gray  e-mail : deborah.gray7@btinternet.com

 

Attrezzatura di filatura – Offerta speciale Miagliano Ottobre 2012

Per il mio corso di filatura presse The Wool Box, Miagliano (Bi), ho l’opportunita’ di una spedizione all’ingrosso di attrezzatura dalla gamma Ashford. Quindi faccio una offerta speciale, prezzi scontato e senza costo di spedizione dal UK. Se desidera comprare qualcosa a questi prezzi speciali, fammi sapere apenna possibile.

Da ordinare entro 13 Settembre, l’attrezzatura arrivera’ a Miagliano prima del 6 Ottobre.

Spedizione da Miagliano e possibile a costo extra.                                                                                          

                                                                                    Prezzo normale                   Offerta speciale

Libro – Filatura a mano: come creare

            bei filati. Deborah Gray © 2011                         €16.50                        €15.00

 

Fuso – semplice, fuseruola basso                                                13.00                          11.70

fatto a mano in Scozia

 

Fuso – deluxe, fuserola basso legno duro,                    28.00                          27.20

           manico con cardo Scozzese in legna

 

Cardatori  a mano Ashford (paio)   72pt                           49.50                          44.55

 

Cardatoro a tamburo Ashford 72 pt                                  487                             420.00

 

Niddy Noddy Ashford                                                          25.00                          22.50

 

Filatoio Ashford Kiwi2 single drive, double treadle       368.00                        320.00

(sliding hook flyer)

 

Filatoio Ashford Traditional single drive                          549.00                        475.00

 

Filatoio Ashford Traveller single drive, double treadle  535.00                                   465.50

 

Molla di freno                                                                        3.00                            2.70

 

Nastro Kiwi                                                                            13.00                          11.70

 

Bobina Ashford (standard)                                                 13.00                          11.70

 

Bobina Ashford Kiwi 2                                                        13.00                          11.70

 

Bobina Ashford jumbo                                                        20.30                          17.70

 

Ashford Kiwi high ratio kit  (lace )                                     34.00                          31.60

 

Jumbo flyer kit Kiwi + 1 bobina                                         151.00                        135.90

 

Jumbo flyer kit Trad/Trav base + 1 bobina                       142.00                        127.80

 

Jumbo flyer kit Trad/Trav deluxe+ 3 bobine                    188.50                       169.65

Sheep Carousel

Sheep carousel teacosy designed by Kate Davies - I love it!! Really enjoyed knitting it too, lots of different techniques to make it interesting.
I've chosen it as one of the Starthearn Wool Week knit-alongs, with Kate's blessing.
The pattern and enough Shetland Supreme yarn in two clours will be included in the price (£14).
The knit-along will start with an evening workshop, and further get togethers as we reach the different techniques, which include provisional cast on, magic loop (optional), corrugated 2-colour rib, Vikkel braid, 2 colour stranded (Fair Isle), knitting with one yarn in each hand (optional), steeks (the exciting bit and not optional!!), I-cord and I-cord bind-off (edging).
Don't worry if you can't join us in person, you can join in over the web. I'll send you the pattern and yarn at least a week before (please pay by PayPal and add p&p) and a handout about steeks. I'll be available by e-mail if you have any questions about the different techniques, and I'll invite you to join a Ravelry group where you can post photos and discuss the knit.
Who wouldn't want to knit such a cute teacosy? It would make a great gift too...

Strathearn Wool Week

Planning is underway for a week of woolly creativity 15th - 21st october. Check the Strathearn Wool Week tab for latest details - I'll keep it updated

A vintage mystery

I.m always on the look out for vintage knit-abilia (I thin I just made that word up - someone correct me!!) so yesterday I was delighted with these two finds in Oban's Oxfam shop

A set of long Aero dpns, size 11 (3mm) with the original wrapper marked with the price- 1/6 (thats about 7and a half pence!)  and a knitting needle guage. I already have one of these bell-shaped guages but iIthought this one was rather cute.
It wasn't till I got it home that I realised that the numbers depicting the sizes are a bit strange.

For example, the old size 11 (3mm) needles fit the hole with the number 18 beside it.
If anyone can shed any light on this measuring system I'd be very glad to hear from them

The Strathearn Tour de Fleece 2012 is over

Yes, after spinning every day for three weeks, the 2012 Tour de Fleece is over. We kept our Strathearn version simple - just spin what you can, when you can and record the length of yarn produced.

Some of the Strathearn Tour de Fleece 2012 entries

On the final day we got together at Home Farm, Culdees, Muthill - home of Strathearn Fleece and Fibre - to spin the last leg of the Tour together. Not quite the Champs Elysees but Linda's home baking and the tranquil surroundings, with sheep baaa-ing outside, made it a very enjoyable day. Some people had forgotten to bring their TdF record sheets, some had forgotten to bring their TdF yarns, but clearly it was the taking part that mattered and no-one was in a competitive mood. Some of the yarns are shown in the photo above.
As there are some people who took part even though they could not join us in person, the winners will be announced at the weekend, when everyone has had time to send in their record sheets.

My own TdF yarns, at the start of the final day, so the yellow bobbin is still unplied. I'll tell you more about the multi-coloured bobbins in a later post!

For my own Tour, I decided to finish spinning some alpaca (from Strathearn Fleece and Fibre) - the best natural black I have ever seen, and some lovely ginger that matches my cat. Then I went on to spinning some of the wool I dyed in my mega dyeing spree back in March. I really enjoyed having the added impetus to spin every day, and kept myself motivated by posting what I had spun each day on facebook. My total length of finished yarn (mostly 2 ply) was 1335 metres - 20 skeins, all different. I also spun in a few different places - mostly at home in Auchterarder, but also in London, in my uncle's beautiful garden in West Sussex, at the Lochearnhead Highland Games and starting and finishing at Culdees - so literally a Tour.
Join us next year?

In the afternoon I ran a Fleece sorting and Fibre Preparation workshop. I demonstrated sorting a lovely Ryeland fleece, then everyone spread out their own fleeces and got on with sorting the wool into three or four different qualities. As usual when I'm teaching, I forgot to take photos! It was fascinating to see how different all the fleeces were - four Texel cross, a Jacob, two gorgeous Blue Texels and a Shetland. All except the Shetland were from Strathearn Fleece and Fibre, the four Texel crosses being from the Culdees flock, chosen before they were shorn, at our Fleece on the Hoof day last month. The Blue Texels are so lovely I succumbed to one as well as the Ryeland, so my fleece shed once more needs the door wedged shut with a table pushed against it!!

As always we had a lovely day at Home Farm, Culdees, and I'm looking forward to our next spining day there. New workshop dates will be posted (under the Workshops tab above) in the next day or two.

Me and Merida at the Lochearnhead Highland Games

on Sunday 21st July I did a spinning demonstration at the Balquhidder and Lochearnhead Highland Games. It was a proper traditional Highland Games, with the traditional Highland athletics events, traditional Highland dancing competitions,traditional pipe band and march of the Chieftains, traditional muddy grass underfoot and traditional Highland midgies. So, it was all very nice and traditional and I had a lovely afternoon spinning and chatting to lots of people.
 I do sometimes get some rather strange questions and requests when I'm spinning in public. This time I was asked by Kim Provan, from Briar Self Catering Cottages at Lochearnhead, if she could take a video of me spinning, with her Disney Merida doll sitting among my display.
No, I have no idea why, but it is a nice little short video which you can watch by clicking here

Tour de Fleece days 2 & 3

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Day 2 - alpaca singles - ginger cat colour, to use with the black from day 1 and a larger amount of beigey-grey which I spun a couple of months ago.

day 3
I spun the rest of the alpaca, plied it into a 2-ply.

The purple singles is the first of my 'medieval Dyeing' samples. Fine white fleece which I dyed with Brazilwood, pre-mordanted with alum and cream of tartar, then modified first with iron and then with ammonia. The result was a strong magenta with navy blue tips. I spun it without carding to get a tweedy and somewhat neppy singles. I'll spin the other half  on day 4.