Oct 4, 2012

My new Freedom Flyer for Ma's spinning wheel.

chunky with blobs!
 Now you have seen quite a bit of home improvements, and it was all done by my love. So what have I been doing in the meantime?
 Apart from earning the money to do it all with, and keeping normal things going like washing and cooking nice dinners, I have got a new project.
I have been spinning up a storm. A whirlwind of fibres.
There's a new yarn shop in town, which also does knitting and crochet workshops. A month ago I was sniffing around in there ( lovely yarns, nice books, pots full of indigo, madder, roots and bark for dyeing with) and saw some homespun merino from the South Island, and mentioned to the lady shop keeper, that even though I don't like knitting, I do like making yarn.
She showed me some art-yarn she had bought from a lady in Australia, and asked if I was capable of that?
The next visit to the shop I took along all my examples of yarn and she liked my crazy stuff the best!
So I left with an order for 20 balls in all colours, and she'd leave the art part up to me!

Sanding the floor.
Here was my love sanding the floors, getting rid of all that darkness. It took him most of last weekend. We saved quite a bit of money by not getting someone in to do it.
There is another tick on his Can-Do-That-Too-List.
He is so clever!
All smooth & without dark varnish.
But the floor does need protecting with a layer of something. He experimented with several sealers and stains under that bit of carpet where the ugly floor is, and his own concoction of white sealer and danish oil will be the choice. That way the floor won't go dark again, but will look like a blond glaze has gone over it.
I want to keep it light and bright.
Maybe next weekend we can put the furniture back in!

"Joy" wheel with new freedom flyer.
This is the spinning wheel I inherited from my Mother-in-law. It is an Ashford "Joy", and I remember she was really happy when she managed to get it for a good price. These had only just come out then, and a lot of people didn't even recognize it as a spinning wheel. You can fold it up and carry it by its' handle, it fits behind the seats in the car.

For my art yarn I needed a new gadget. Because the yarn was going to be fat and chunky, it would be difficult to get through the hole and around the hooks (snagging!) . Ashford has made a new flyer ( the 2 bars that zoom around the bobbin of yarn-in-the-making, and hold the bobbin in place ).
This flyer has a jumbo sized bobbin, and more importantly no hole or hooks, but open ended loops, which you can move around to where you want to fill up the bobbin.
You can also by-pass the loop, so that any extra fat bits can be wound on by hand.
Blues, white and a little purple.
Our first port of call these days is TradeMe.com to see if anyone is selling one. Nothing. And nothing in past auctions. But within a week someone was!
The universe provides!
 And now it is mine, all mine (my preciousss), for half the price of a new one, plus spare parts and instructions.
 Away I spun...
My new art-yarns.
I am carefully choosing colours so things don't get out of hand. I use my colour knowledge from a 4 month course I did through the National Creative Fibre Society, many years ago.

Ofcourse when I spin I need to have the fibres ready before hand. So I needed to card all my bits of thread and fabric and sparkly stuff into the coloured wool.
I needed a drumcarder. Ouch! because they are not cheap... $515.00 as a matter of fact.
 But wait , my local weavers club has one.

It was time I became social again after 2 years of not being a member of any club or society. Revisit my old friends and catch up on the gossip.
And it was quite nice, they signed me back up on the spot, although they pretended to have to check my character first, while winking to each other.

4 hand carded bats ready for spinning.
I have used that little wild carding machine lots already. Here is the new lot (about 200 grams) in shades of pink, red and white. Just like lollies.

8 comments:

Simone said...

ziet er mooi uit! Ik brei dan weer wel maar dan met 'gewone' wol uit de fabriek. Sokken op dit moment aangezien de winter er weer aan komt. Mooie wol van Kaffe Fasset.

Elmtree said...

Yes, well I wouldn't recommend this yarn for socks; unless you want to develop a funny walk ;) !
But super for an edge on a garment, or an unusual scarf, and great for a warm hat!
The idea of knitting socks makes me all nervous...
Sooo many stitches to drop!
Good luck.

sarah in the woods said...

I love you! Or maybe I love your yarn. :) I just found your blog and this yarn is just the kind of thing I love to make, and I have the same wheel, which i have been known to call "the precious." how wonderful to be able to spin art yarn for a shop like that! I look forward. To seeing more of your gorgeous art yarn.

sarah in the woods said...

Oh, and my daughter's name means elm tree. :)

Elmtree said...

Thank you sarah, I have been having tremendous fun with my wheel, it is so cool to break the rules. If some of the older spinners saw what I've been doing, I know some would tut-tut and mutter; that's not how you spin...!
I am curious about your daughters' name now...

sarah in the woods said...

Her name is Elowen. :). I am going to my first sale to sell my art yarn this Saturday and I keep imagining those older spinners coming by and tut tutting my spinning!

Elmtree said...

Sorry about delay in replying... I hope your sale went well. And I also hope they came by and tut-tutted! lol!.Nice name, from any particular culture?

sarah in the woods said...

It's Cornish.