Logwood and Wensleydale wool

After 9 months in our Wexford home, I still have not sorted out all my crafty stuff - although there is a designated area to store most of it and work on projects.
The tiny attic is filled with washed fleece from my previous flock in Ardnacraney and there are several bags of fleece, unprocessed or combed or carded hanging around and I cannot remember why I selected them and placed them in mysterious bags.

I decided I must either prep. and spin these latter or, shocks and horror , throw them out!!

So, prep and spin it is - for now.

I drum carded several different types of sheep' wool together with bits of silk, bamboo and Angelina and spun the batt into a single on my Ashford Traveller, freely but prioritising  softness  over evenness.

DAU* Texel cross, Jacob, Doggie down**, silk, bamboo, tonsil all mixed up.

*Droim An Uan.   Border Collie undercoat

I planned to spin another spool of singles dyed in a darker colour compared to those in the batt.

Hanging about is a bag of Logwood chips and a rather stained stocking also containing Logwood chips - probably pre-used.

 The dried chops are in the zip-lock bag and the previously used chips are stored after use in stockings to be used again.

These were given to me several years ago by a good friend and I was rather fearful of trying to use them until I had done a dying workshop at Irish Fibre crafters in Ardrahan last December.

I looked up the method of dying with Logwood and proceeded.



Of note, my hands became quite blue after working with the dyed fibre.

The Logwood dye seemed not to be water soluble, but rubbed off with a nailbrush and washing up liquid. Then I realised that this dye is Haematoxylin, much used in bio laboratories to stain cells in histology and microbiology so it liked my skin but not the water!

The final yarn plied up as a super-chunky "Logwood and multi" yarn  - about 97 yards

The three singles in centre-pull balls from left to right show the result of first Logwood after-wash dip, full concentration dye bath and second after-wash dip on the alum mordanted wool singles.

WENSLYDALE

Almost as a reaction to the chunkiness, I find myself spinning lighter weight yarn from Wensleydale carded fibre.

The 1798 Spinners are planning to display various sheep breeds' locks, spun and swatched at the Tinahely ag. show this summer. Being prone to self-torment, I decided on the Wensleydale as my example. I stought to find a source within the Republic of Ireland. (I  tend to try to keep my spending as local as I can i.e. in the ROI and, failing that, within the EU. The latter is not easy as the search engines seem to be loaded against this, favouring UK and US - but that's another days work).

Anyway, I did find just one Wens. flock in the ROI - which has since dispersed but the former flock owner was able to furnish me with some deep green dyed locks first and then about 450 gms of carded locks. All very nice indeed.

I made a b*l*s of spinning the green locks I think although I may later incorporate them in a shawl or some such but they do illustrate the way these long locks retains their ouster after dying. Plus, it was great fun to do.

Now I'm testing how to spin the carded fibre and have settled on a low-twist (only about 4 per inch softly plied. I'm using 4 - 5 inch backward draw slowly twisting and with little tension. The "trick" will be to ply it stable so as to avoid a yarn which is too lax to knit comfortably. I'm planning a weight around 9 - 10 wraps per inch and then dye the two-plied yarn with a sequence of four colours.

I have dye made up in bottles for some time so I plan to use these with the addition of some citric acid to aid binding.


I decided to spin the singles on the eSpinner and then ply them on the Ashford Traveller spinning wheel.

Tried to keep hands well apart but as you can see, I was in and out dealing with various thicknesses and then testing a length for "twistiness". If too twisty, drawing back until it reduces then run onto the spindle.
Looking for a finer yarn width but tried not to make it too firm/string-like.

Dye bottles, tested on some kitchen paper - I wanted bejewelled colours if possible.

I added a bright yellow to the set.

D

I wound four hanks in a continuous sequence and dyed each hank separately on the stove.

The final long hank with rather vivid colours.

YARN DESCRIPTION

In accordance with what one might expect from the long-locked Wensleydale breed, the yarn drapes rather then bounces and has a fairly good sheen after dying.

VITAL STATISTICS OF THEI HANK

Weight: 185 grams/6.5 oz

Number of yards: 241

                             of this, 22.7 yards are yellow,

                                         54.6 yards are blue

                                         63.7 yards are green

                                       100.2 yards are violet

Wraps per inch = 9 - 10.     worsted/DK

Yards/pound = 593.7

Next project addresses the pile of fleece sitting in bags in my craft room cupboard and the little attic.

I'm calling this the Spin it or Bin it project - either it gets spun or it heads for the bin.

Ten weeks in Wexford

I feel so lucky that I came across the 1798 Spinners here.
They spin in The Irish National Heritage Centre  ( https://www.irishheritage.ie ) once a month and various other places in addition.
They are a lovely group and I've been spinning away with them since - of note, we went to the Tinahely Agricultural  show ( www.tinahelyshow.ie ) as a group in the woolly corner (along with a variety of sheep and fleece) which was great fun not least as the lunch served there was of very good quality.

Huddie (now 17 1/2 years old) found his spot on one of my old knitted mats

and Connie ensconced amid the clutter

All the biggest house renovations have been completed and the place is quite lovable now - though the garden is a mess and we've had no luck finding Landscaping assistance so far. However many of the worst elements have been tackles.
Great to be able to walk to Wexford fort in minutes.

Sheep fleece is now residing in the very small attic and I do have a fine craft area to spin and prep fibre in without always having to clear everything away owing the the presence of a second table around the corner in the kitchen area.

We have a very short walk to the shops and only a little further to Wexford Harbour. Short drives to Rosslair beach and Curracloe beach are regulars for me and Collie Connie. There a many other places to visit and walk (Johnstown Clatle and grounds, Ferrybank etc).

 The Faithe Window Boxes July/August 2019 (more of a thing for loveTheSeasons really).

The weather has finally changed this September 22 'though we can't complain after the pretty glorious summer we had.
Anyway, I can get on with crafts in my NEW CRAFT AREA :).

I'm on the second sleeve of a top-down knitted cards using my maroon hand-spun Merino.
It looks as though it might Fionn Mac Comhaill when complete yet it seems to kinda fit when I try to on me. Ah well - we'll see.
Adding more ribbing at the end to balance out the heavy top part of the card. - One very good thing about top-down garments, it is possible to provisionally cast off at the bottom and revive the stitches to add more rib later - unlike the situation when one casts on and goes rib-up.


Two of my knitted rugs were sold from Irish Fibre Crafters in Ardrahan, Co. Galway, (www.IrishFibreCrafters.com ) where I left them under the auspices of Sandra, the lovely creator of same. Very glad they were found to be attractive to another and gone off into the world - so I can go right ahead and make more with a clear conscience :).

Irish Fibre Crafter ladies at work

IFC hand-spun yarns;

\IFC Loom:

That will do for now

Reminder of spinning in Wicklo

Before I forget our time in Wicklow earlier in the year (Wexford likely to override previous events having been so hectic), I want to plant a little video of spinning outside the house there. It was exceptionally lovely weather and perfect for outside spinning.

The yarn spun here will make a pair of socks and a knitted cardigan/jacket among other things

Settling into Wexford and plans for craft room!

Just over a week in new place in Wexford. So far so good - emerged from a festoon of cardboard boxes 'though several still around and mysterious.

Washed fleece arrived hidden in the under-bed drawers - don't know what the movers thought when they caught a glimpse.

Drum carder required assistance - got a bit bent-out-of shape but running well now thanks to OH and youtube.

Attended the market day at Babbles retreat in Tipperary yesterday -(https://www.babblestravellingyarns.com ). Very pleasant - lots of fibre chat and small market. Plus the weather was glorious.

Several hanks of the German roving now complete but plan to start on my rug yarn ASAP now that the drum carder is complete. It will have to compete with house and garden renovations though. Thinking about my neighbour's flock back in our pasture in Ardnacraney. Wish them well - maybe get more fleece at shearing time? NO Catherine, finish what you've got!

Pics later I hope.

PAUL SOCKS

OH complains that he cannot get socks with long enough legs in them - knee length as it were.

SO obtained a dark coloured sock yarn - maroon UU hand dyed and set up on 2.5 mm needles.
Based on a swatch and several measurements of leg ankle and foot worked out a simple pattern.

The first sock is a perfect fit but - horror or horrors - not enough for a full length second sock.

What to do?? Knit a second sock as far as the ankle where there were no increases and then ripped bak the first sock (boo hoo) to the same point then shared the remaining yarn between the two, continuing I 1 x 1 rib.

Not as long as I'd like but better than the usual.

Along the way, several knotty problems encountered.
First, the yarn is a nightmare - it splits into 4 + every chance it gets. That means a dropped stitch or picking up stitches along edged or after ripping is a massive chore.

Next, ripping the already made-up sock from the cast-on edge is impossible so a lifeline and cutting an edge stitch was implied with great difficulty.

However, it eventually worked out and I have a template pattern for OH's legs.

Pattern to be added later.

On The Move

February 2019

Feb 2019
Sold my little flock some time ago as getting too old to keep them now. Sad to loose them but had my neighbours sheep on the land since then.
More recently, we are planning to relocate to Co. Wexford - and will continue to spin and knit there - using my washed stored fleece and other fibres.
Right now, in the interim, I'm staying in lovely surroundings in Co. Wicklow - among the hills and of course, the local sheep.

ANYWAY, currently working on a pair of Knee Socks for OH. He's not enamoured with he ankle socks commonly available in shops. Bought a hank of Sock Yarn by HHF in Athlone. It's hand dyed, 90@ Merino, 10 % nylon. (Very expensive for me but I was in a rush as about to leave for Wicklow and all my stuff in storage). 

At 107 gms, I knew it would be a stretch to get knee socks for a mans foot from that amount but went ahead. I took measurements from his leg and foot and worked out the numbers of stitches to cast on and where to do decreases so it fits exactly.

Finished one and found, of course, there would not be enough for a second one of the same size so now I'll have to rip it to the end of the decreases and split the difference between the two of them.I'll do a provisional cast on for the second on then add rib to both of them and add another yarn to complete both in the end.

Cannot find my little box of knitting accessories GRRRR. Must be in storage. Oh for a crochet hook especially when I drop a stitch and this yarn splits and slip so easily. Must find a craft shop - but where?? 

On a search - seems the yarn room gone - that would have been the nearest. Ah well. 

Allsorts mat progressing

I went ahead with my multi-colour mat - "allsorts" - editing it as I went.

By now. it has been soaked and partially dried and is being shaped a little with strings threaded along each side.

I know it will have a non-slip backing when completed but I've a lot of decisions to make about what to do with the long edges - perhaps nothing, perhaps a crochet border - but this risks causing tension and disfigurement when washed later - so....a discontinuous edging???

Hmmm - I'll see