Margaret Miller

Have been working on ideas for B&W. Flirted with the idea of not doing marle but actually trying to reproduce the yarn used in the original for the Jacket   a very slubby wool/linen blend . But I only had a bit of hemp for the sample. I made a batt from white and black tops fed in side by side, I removed the batt to add a little hemp and then recarded. Trying very hard to minimise creating grey. I spun thick and thin singles then knitted swatch (approx 9-10wpi). The result was too much grey and the singles were not thick enough for the jacket project, but I loved the effect and will keep it in mind for something else. There are no pictures of the preparation, but here is the swatch and a closer view of detail. Mostly garter (which I love) with a few rows of stocking stitch. On with the marle which I will need to cable ply to get it thick enough. And just to add some colour - I finally wound the pink merino/silk into balls. Week two also saw me winding balls from recently f...

Briefly: Began spinning B&W marle for jacket  - a long way to go. I'm still playing with how much twist I would like for it. A soft twist is nice, but I'm worried about pilling. Continued with scarf during the evening as a break from the B&W.

Not much spinning, but plenty of thinking. I finished drafting one of the articles I am writing for our Guild's new book. The book will be fairly a eclectic collection of spinning/weaving/felting tips, stories, ideas, patterns, instructions. I am writing the wool combs, Andean plying and drop spindle (short) articles.

Not much happening today. It was a guild day but I had too much chasing around to do getting people to test patterns for the new Guild Book that I didn't get much time for my own spinning. I did get to watch the solar dyeing demonstration which was being done for the photos, though. The Yarn Store didn't have any silk throwsters waste, so I will have to rethink my plans for an inclusion into the black singles. Although I bought 200gm black merino I've decided that it's probably not going to be soft enough for what I want (I did spin 10m!), so I will, with great trepidation, attempt to dye black some of the white I have already spun. BTW - all this B&W is for next year's Guild Exhibition with the theme "Black and White with a splash of colour:" So no exciting colours for me over the summer :( I did manage a tiny bit of spindling at Guild - I had the spindle made for me when we moved from QLD to TAS. The shaft is Huon Pine for Tasmania and the whorl is B...

Day 1: Finished plying pink superfine merino which I had previously blended with silk on wool combs. I also finished plying the last of the Merino Lamb's wool (16micron) which is for a project I am doing for our Guild's Exhibition next year. And finally began washing an Alpaca Fleece which had come straight from the farm, which is also for the Exhibition.

Been a long time - I have managed to spin 2 skeins from Mandie's first Club since moving to Tas. Birds of a Feather : Polwarth + nylon top which I combed into it. Nice and soft - luxury socks I think, or maybe something for spring? Jewels of Denial: Corriedale Top. This was interesting to spin, a lot coarser than I am used to. There should be plenty for a pair socks. I haven't decided yet whether to do a 2-ply or my normal Navajo Ply. I'd like to keep the strong colours separate, but I'm also tempted to try and match up the colours in the two-ply, which was my original intention when I split the roving into 4 long strips.

Possum_Merino , originally uploaded by Hypatia2 . I finished this yesterday (along with my NANoWriMo novel!). The carded fibre was clean but still in the grease. It was fun being transported back to the 1970's when everything we did was like this. Only then we usually had to wash and card it ourselves. The texture and colour is also reminiscent of that era, very "homespun", but quite soft and I suspect super warm. As there is only 100gms, I'm not sure yet what I will do with it. Too late now to wash and skein the yarn, so that will be the first thing I do in Tasmania (maybe) and by then I might have some ideas for it. Actually the thought of a teacosy has just struck me, ... perhaps...