100 grams of fleece

100 grams of Texel X Mule fleece form a former sheep of mine.
I washed it some time ago, leaving just the tips with darker solid matter - which I used to try to remove but now I leave as it is handy for finding the tips of the lock when lashing onto a comb or loading a carder.

It's medium to coarse - probably about 26 - 30 microns.

Staple length around 4 inches

Crimps around 8 - 9 nine per inch

Decided to comb the locks on English combs and card the short fibers removed to make rolags.
Plan would be to spin the top worsted style and the rolags woolen for a bumpier woolen - plying both once.

                                                                    Lashed on

Comb from the fixed to the moving comb

Repeat until all gone 

Pass it back to the fixed comb, right to left

comb off again then replace again.

Draw it off through a diz

Strip of combed top

Coiled into a nest and beside it, the short stuff left on the combs, now removed

MINI-CARDING THE SHORT STUFF

Rolag for woolen spinning

********************************************

June - flowers and hats

Growth and flowering continued to burst out over the first 10 days of warmer, dryer weather in early June. Lots and lots of pollen - not all good for the ones with allergies.

The Laburnum excelled its poisonous self:

The Hawthorne snook in on the last day of May (to retain its common name) and went on to be glorious and magical as ever:

I went on with my hat passion:

The "Sheep Heid " hat  (Kate Davies pattern - adapted for hand spun) got blocked on an inflated party balloon (thanks Juliet for the suggestion):

Then there's my own "Leaf Hat":

Not very leafy - I'd intended to add veins down the middles - then decided against as it looks nice when worn "as is" and the veins might be too much, spoiling the simplicity. ANYWAY...
Before saoking and blocking the top was a but flat like so:

I soaked it in warm water for 30 minutes:

I 

Then spread it over an upside-down bowl to dry:

I'm planning on going to wollywormhead's class on knitting hats in July in "This Is Knit" in Powerscourt Town Center Dublin in July - that should be interesting. Might get some tips on how to make a nicer graduated decrease etc. The leafy one above turned ut OK but that was as much luck as design.


Oh Huddie want his walk - he doesn't care that it's raining again GRRRR


************************************************************

Garden Ardnacraney May 2013

After a very very slow start to the season (essentially no spring until May), there is life in the garden.
I've only just planted Nasturtium seeds - in a new little bed in the former Lambing paddock, put there to soak up some of the excess water around there - in pots and in a space in the raised bed where something (cat? dog?...) has dug up my recently planted spring onion. Netting over this now to discourage whichever beastie has been digging.
So just a load of photos to remind me where things are this mid-May:
                                           Woad

                                          New little raised border -some bulbs etc planted

                                                   A good crop of rhubarb this year - 3 pies so far:

                                                   Sour Cherry tree:

                                          Little milt-headed daffs. - tough cookies!

                                          "Love Lies Bleeding" - suddenly erupted:

                                         Some apple blossom appearing and Huddie's beloved agility run:

Lyme tree didn't disappoint:

                                                   New bed in old lalmbing paddock

                                                    Swingig CDs might ward off the birds

                                           Ground cover:

                                       Window box - transplanted a little evergreen and added some aubretia - I think

                                         Cleaned up some older pottings:

                                         Another tough cookie:

                                        Returning - have to look out for slugs:

                                          Chives, marjoram, thyme, rosemary in the loo:

                                      A good year for cowslips - they (and dandelions) seem to like this foul weather

                                          Crab apple:

                                                  Garlic, spring onions and pushy fennel:
                                                  someone's been digging in it GRRR need netting!

                                                   Somewhat sad looking little gem lettuce and spinach
                                                    hope they pick up later

*******************************************

Blue and Green socks - knitting has begun

First sock is on it's way:

Beginning Blue and green striped socks

I have about 400 yards of lace-weight hand spun singles from one of my EC X Texel fleece.
I plan to make some more wooly socks from this as the first ones I made (red striped ones) are so good as bed socks.
So. spent ages trying to find out where I got the space-dying instruction I had used before, with my homemade warping board. Stupidly, didn't include that in the previous post and searching the net didin't bring me any luck.
Then I found it in a folder with all my patterns - sitting there, minding it's own business.
I've based this procedure on Paula Egberts "Dying for Socks", Creating space-dyed mock Fair Isle design which whas published by Spin Off  magazine - it includes several sock preparations and patterns.
I"ve roughly followed the warping method (made the white center hank a little smaller) and then dyed the first, main hand with Eurolana blue dye and the last hand with a mix of Eurolana blue and yellow dyes to get a green.
The hardest part is getting it back on the warping board as the wool yarn shortens during the process - so that's why I have additional nails in the board to accomidate  the shorter hanks when they arrive out of the dye and sit there drying.

The next step will be to wind it off onto the swift so the sections follow as blue-white-green-blue....

After that, the hank will be wound into a center-pull ball.

The blue hank (hank 1) was started and finished with 18 wraps/rows, and in-between, it had 9 wraps/rows, the white was 2 wraps then the green was 5 wraps then the white got 2 more wraps on the way back. This follows Paula Egert's system as she found that the rib on the top of the socks tool 18 rows and she bagan knitting plain once the color changed. The second sock needs to be knitted starting from the center of the ball as there are 18 wraps/rows there too. Thereafter, the blue color covers 9 rows, the white, 2 rows followed byt the green for 5 rows and then a second 2 rows of white. The white spaces the two colors and borders the green in this case. 

I din't try for multicolors on hank 3 unlike Paula who used several short runs of color to mimic the Fair Isle patterns when knitting.  I might have a go at that sometime though as it must look lovley when knitted up.