I urge anyone who might be interested in Level 3 spinning to explore this venue & register. To make this possible we need to have 10 registrants.

This is the information from the Olds College, Alberta, CA site.

 Canada - Hamilton Area, Ontario

Level 3: May 28-June 1, 2012
9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (daily)
Instructor: Michelle Boyd
LOCATION:
Rockton Fairgrounds
12 Old Hwy 8
Rockton, Ontario L0R 1X0
Directions to Rockton Fairgrounds
For Venue Information Contact:
Heather Morrissey
Phone: 905-690-9497
hmorrissey09@gmail.com

  For more information please visit this link to the Olds College site.

For January 2011

I'm rather late in posting anything. I promise I have been very busy.

I managed to make it through the Christmas season of 2010 once more. I try to keep the stress low, but it doesn't really work. Next year I will go back to having made more gifts; time just slipped by and I didn't give much that I made to family. But I was busy.... and the turkey on Christmas day was delicious. We also had someone new join us for the day, Wendy, mother of my son's girlfriend. We enjoyed meeting Wendy & were happy to have her with us.

Spinning, knitting, and weaving.
I have so much fleece in my stash to use on the carder that my hubby is making me - it will soon be completed. I can't wait. For now I am going through a Mabel Ross tutorial video and trying some things out that she suggests using hand carders, flicker & dog comb. The video is really wonderful. Here is a pic of the Dorper X Dorset fleece I am using. It is lovely. Wish I had loads more!!

Dorper X Dorset

I did a rag rug using wool fabric strips in orange, brown & a lighter selection for a friend at work in exchange for her handmade moccasins. It turned out very nice! It's 32"x48". 2/2 twill.

Wool Rag Rug for Theresa 32"X48".  2/2 Twill.

Here is some fairly new spun wool:

Shetland above, natural colour. Blue is from last woad dye of the 2010 season, wool, but the variety is unknown.

The colour did not photograph very well, but it is the best woad result so far and is actually quite vibrant. The Shetland is being using for a saw tooth border on the 'Elizabeth Zimmerman Pi R Squared' shawl I have been working on for a couple of years. I ran out of wool for the shawl; set it aside; decided to add a border in a different shade from my own homespun Shetland. It's turning out very nice. Soon a picture will follow.

Spindle Spinning B & L Batt

I'm using a commercially prepared generic wool batt that I dyed in an earlier attempt to be spun up for some mittens & a hat I suppose.
The spindles are made by my hubby & spin beautifully. The dark one is a bottom whorl & the light one a top whorl. I like them both.
I plan to do the whole batt on the hand spindles.

Whirlwind

I have been in a whirlwind for the better part of a couple of weeks. Woodstock's (i.e. Ontario, Canada) Fleece Festival took place on Oct. 23/10 with both my husband and friend participating and sharing a booth.

My husband was selling his fine wooden tools for spinning and weaving while my friend was selling her alpaca and shetland fleece and prepared fibre. Both had a wonderful day selling to the fibre loving community, which I must note is growing. It was a wonderful experience to be involved.

The very next day was the start of level 2 in the Master Spinner program from Olds College, Alberta. Once again we had the pleasure and good fortune of being taught by Rosemary Harris, whom had already taken us through level 1 in spring of 2010.

This level we are blending fibres - wool (that being specifically from sheep) with mohair, llama, alpaca, and the different silks. I will from here on be extremely busy with my homework so I can be ready for level 3 in the spring. (If life doesn't throw me any big surprise that is!)

I have fleece to card, comb, blend and spin. Also there are books to read and report on; research on stories involving spinning and songs that are spinning related. This can also include personal stories passed down in families.

So.... if you have any family stories involving spinning fibre, be a dear and email me with them.

Here are a couple of pictures from class:

A beautiful sunrise to start the day on Wed. Oct. 27/10

My Classmates Level 2

A close look at Kanef fibres on a field trip .

A look at Kaneff plants growing at a farm show site. They are the tall  thinskinny stalks, some still with lovely flowers at this late October date.

Kanef stalks

Nostepinne for winding balls of spun wool

Pat Green carder

Ashford carder

Sunset - Thurs. Oct. 27/10

I've been spending the last couple of days scouring wool; one day woad dyeing; and managing to fit in a little sewing. More on the other fibres later. I've some spinning of Cormo to do now.

Summertime - I've got it back

I have had all of my spare time zapped up by the workbook requirements of the Level 1 spinner's course I'm taking. I feel like celebrating because today, after two and a half months of having all of my spare time spoken for, I have the bulk of the work finished.

It feels so good. I just have to do my project & a few dye vats and submit it.

I was looking at my rock garden and the hens & chicks are very interesting. They are 12"-15" high and have an interesting flower head on the end of the stalk.

The small clump to the right is lavender. In the very corner is sage.

These little guys are new dye plants started from seeds. When they first started they were the tiniest little green dots.

The panseys give a very nice light green colour to wool from the purple flowers. I'm gathering & freezing the flowers so I have enough.

The coneflowers are looking so pretty since the heavy rain we had on Sunday.

This is the third year for this Liatris.

Tomorrow I don't know if I will get back to the Varpapuu or go on with my project. Wait and see what I feel like when I get up tomorrow. The Varpapuu is being transformed to a back of the loom treadle tie up so I don't have to crawl inside anymore. My hubby made the hardware changes for me on the loom and all the extra things I need for my weaving & spinning. Niddy noddy. Hackle & comb. Swift. Spindles. Lazy Kate. Warping reel. They're all beautiful & functional.

What's Up?

I will tell you what's up.
I have been so busy ever since I started spinning. First there was the Louet wheel & then I joined the Oxford Weavers & Spinners Guild. This is where a new friend was introduced to me, who then informed me about the Olds Master Spinner course. From that point a new adventure began.

I enrolled in the Olds College, Alberta, Master Spinner Level 1 course which was held in Rockton, ON for a week in April, 2010. There was holiday time to book, supplies to gather & much preparation to make.

The weather was absolutely superb spring weather with the trees just starting to leaf out. The drive was beautiful and the company wonderful.

The fellow spinners & weavers I met at the class were all interesting & very nice. Rosemary Harris, the teacher was a good teacher with a lot of information to teach. I have so much work to complete at home for this course that will keep me busy in much of my free time.

A few days after the course classroom time came to an end, I helped a friend with shearing and seeing everything happen first hand. A fun & educational experience it was.

I was looking at online ads for a loom and after a few weeks of watching the ads, I kept coming back to an ad for a very large countermarche loom. My hubby and I went to see it in Stratford one fine Sunday and the loom came home with us.

It sat for a couple of weeks on the floor in my sewing studio while I tried to clear out some antique sewing machines to regain some space. They have now moved temporarily into the house & the loom is now set up. It is a 4 harness countermarche loom at one time made in Finland (Valparpuu). It came with a LeClerc flying shuttle and some other goodies.


The looms are no longer manufactured and there are no manuals that I could find on assembling the loom.  Though some ends are stamped with letters, they are not all stamped. I was able to find information for doing the tie up of treadles & harnesses online and a couple of pictures of similar looms that were helpful. Laila Lundell's book mentioned below has some excellent diagrams of countermarche looms that were of some help.


The loom is assembled, but the tie up of the harnesses and treadles must wait for my next day off. Unfortunately this is the week I must work the weekend and there will be no extra time.


At the same time I am still working on a sweater called the Central Park Hoodie using Cascade 220 yarn.


I have acquired some wonderful books too. They are:
1. Laila Lundell - The Big Book of Weaving in the Swedish Tradition
2. Rita Buchanan - A Weaver's Garden
3. Rita Buchanan - A Dyer's Garden
4. Ann Dixon - A Handweaver's Pattern Directory
5. Lee Raven - Hands On Spinning

Work Socks, Spindles, Turbo Spindle

These are the spindles I have been practising with today in my beginner's spinning lesson I am giving myself with the help of Abby Franquemont's video 'Respect the Spindle'. She is a terrific teacher & I highly recommend this video to anyone interested in learning how to spin. 

The spindle on the left is the 'Turbo Spinner' which I purchased at the Woodstock Fleece Festival in Oct. 2009 in Woodstock, ON. The two on the right were made by my husband for me. The middle one is a top whorl & the one on the right is a bottom whorl. As you can see I haven't used that one yet. It has taken three sessions to get a good understanding and to make some progress that I am happy with. It is a great deal of fun.

Here is one only of my last pair of socks. Briggs & Little 'Durasport', a mix of wool & nylon. Short row heel & toe.  Still have one more to do, but alas I have cast on for a pair for my husband in Kroy Sock Yarn. It feels so nice to work with & I love my socks I made with it in the past. My other green & white will have to wait a little.