Monday, October 31, 2011

Completed booties

I have completed my booties now. 

My first finished project with my own, handspun yarn.  I confess I am quite pleased with myself.
Crochet booties from handspun yarn

Now I just need to package these up and send them to my friend.

In the mean time I am spinning like fury to create more yarn for more projects.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

My handspun booties

As promised .... here are the booties I am making for my friend.

So far I have just finished the body of the booties.
Booties made with 2 ply handspun merino yarn 

I still need to sew up the fronts so that they sit in the correct position, add the piping, flower and fastening.

Booties made with 2 ply handspun merino yarn

You can see in the background my little ball of handspun yarn.  In the end I did have enough to finish my project - and even a little to spare :)

2 ply handspun merino yarn

I think that, although I actually spun this in the wrong way - clockwise for the singles and anti-clockwise for the ply.  I think it turned out pretty well. 

The consistency is not bad, and it worked up quite nicely into the booties.

2 ply handspun merino yarn

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Finally making something with my yarn

I finally got round to starting a project with some of my hand spun yarn.

My friend as recently had a new baby daughter so I thought I'd have a go at crocheting these from a pattern selection I got from Annies Attic called Beautiful Baby shoes


I got a selection of merino fibres from forestfibres


I have plyed the pink and pinky-grey colours together to make a 2 ply yarn and have started my little project.  I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn to finish so I have another one of these selection packs on order in case I need to spin up another batch.

I'll post the results of my endeavour when I get a chance to take some photos.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My first attempts at spining

I have had my spinning wheel for almost 1 month and now that I have worked out how to setup it up I am starting to get into actually spinning some yarn.

 One of my first attempts is this generic wool top.
Handspun Yarn 

Its pretty inconsistent and lumpy .....

Handspun Yarn

You can see some of the areas look like actual yarn, but others are pretty fluffy!

But I don't like to give up so I kept on going and spun this from some Grey Suffolk wool tops.

Handspun Yarn

I think I am getting a little better with my consistency

Handspun Yarn

Don't get me wrong, I know its a long way from perfect and I still have a LOT to learn about plying but I feel like I am making some progress - what do you think?

I'll keep posting with further progress or if I actually make anything with this yarn I am creating :)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Second frame coin purse

As promised, here is my second frame coin purse.  Using the same Sirdar Baby bamboo yarn, but this time using  both strands together rather than in stripes.
Frame Purse 

I kept the base the same, as a circle

Frame Purse

But I altered the shaping of the purse a little so it came out more squat and puffy.

Frame Purse

I think I prefer the shape and colour of this one.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

My new Niddy Noddy

Now that I am becoming (will become - eventually) a seasoned yarn spinner I need to gradually build up my kit ... so I have purchased my first Niddy Noddy.

Firstly - what a great name !!! Niddy Noddy :) I love it

I put a bit of thought into this purchase.  Originally I was going to get an Ashford niddy noddy (that name again!) but they come in 2 sizes and are not adjustable, so I wasn't sure if I should get the small one now - because my capacity for creating yarn is pretty small right now - or if I would "out grow" that one and then have to just go and get the large one.

So I did a little research and found the Louët Niddy Noddy (below) which is adjustable - it can either be a 90cm or 180cm length.  So I get both sizes with one device, happy days.



It comes in 4 sections, the two end pieces and two middle sections that can be fitted together to adjust from the smaller to larger size.


I got mine from the lovely people at ForestFibres.

I am looking forward to joyfully niddying and indeed noddying with my newly created yarns :)