Update on the Crafty Collaboration

Back in May, when we still had hopes that this Irish summer would be a good one *sigh*, Sue from Amazing Beads showed a lovely picture of her Scottish Mountain Sheep on her blog.

The conversation that followed resulted in a big parcel of lovely raw wool winging its way from Cork to Belfast.

I washed the wool, dyed some and finally managed to spin a small hank of yarn on my Turkish drop spindle as shown in the picture above. I plied the wool with some lavender blue merino and strips of denim, and it is lovely and tactile. Not too sure what I will knit with it yet, but when I do, there will be more pictures. There will also be definitely more spinning.

Thanks Sue for the gorgeous yarn. And good health to your sheep!

Shear Maaadness

On Thursday, I went to the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show at the King's Hall, Belfast, with Maura from Irish Bounty. While she was interested in all things card making, I was looking for lots and lots of woolly delights. Just when I told Maura wisely, that I was keeping a tight budget and would not engage in spontaneous shopping, but in fact would look at all the stalls before making a decision to purchase, something caught my eye. It was bright and it was woolly! I zoomed towards it like a pin to a magnet.

Fleece!

Dyed fleece!

Dyed in colours of the rainbow!

MINE!!!

Greedily, I claimed possession of this beautiful fleece shaped like a feather boa..., and its neighbour, too. When the lady at the stall of the  Ulster Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers told me that she had more, my eyes were gleeming with fleecy gluttony.

I ended up with a rucksack full of three large dyed fleeces plus one roving, and I felt as if I was carrying half a sheep on my back.

So we went on and looked at many things, and I bought a few bits of stationary and some card making material, had a coffee with Maura's family before they all went home, and met an interesting French lady who told me her a fascinating life story, which had some weird coincidental parallels to my family history.

I went on to look at more stalls, but my feet started to ache. There were also not enough wool stalls for my liking, although I loved to look at all things crafty, sore feet or not.

Still, there comes a time when one wants to go home, put the feet up and admire one's purchases. There was this tenner left in my purse that I should have saved for food or new business cards. But I hadn't bought any yarn at all...! And there was one fleece still left at the Spinners and Dyers...yes, I had not totally cleared them out yet.

Needless to say, that lonely fleece went also home with me, plus another roving. My fibre trunk is now bursting at the seams, and I probably have fibre and fleece for years to come, while I don't even have a wheel, just two Turkish drop spindles and a Mother Marian. Those fleeces are pretty though, like works of art, and I am very tempted to just hang them up in my studio for the time being until they are spun...

They will be spun!

Watch this space for updates on spinning these fleeces!

Spring Cleaning hath begun!

Northern Ireland has experienced a sudden burst of spring weather. After the long cold winter, it was like coming alive again in the warmth of over 10 degrees. OK, if you are Australian, you'll laugh at the idea of warmth and 10C in the same sentence, but for us here, it's a time to shed the winter coats and sit in the sun. Yes, I have been running around in a t-shirt, and I've seen others do the same.

Of course, with open windows, longer evenings and increasing light illuminating your home and mirrors come two realisations:

a.) you put on weight while you were consuming large amounts of winter stews and chocolates
b.) your place has become a hovel and a burrow - dust and shtuff everywhere - the only way to move is to tunnel your way through papers, boxes and fibre!

So this leads to...

a.) frantic exercise
b.) spring cleaning
c.) a combination of both

Consequently, I started to declutter, bin old papers I no longer need, swing the Dyson around in a dramatic fashion (yes, I vacuum shelves and table tops, too) and re-arrange furniture until I collapsed in an exhausted heap, reaching for the cho...salads!

But it was worth it!

 

Gorgeous bunting, a gift from The Thistle Patch, which is now hanging in my studio

I now have space again! Breathing space, creative space - a clear studio means a clear mind that can expand again, ideas can flow freely once more, I am spreading out...and already am starting to create a new mess with fibres spread out over the no-longer neat and tidy table top!

This is taking up my table top now - fibre for St Patrick's Day yarn in vibrant green merino, white banana fibre, orange recycled sari silk, plus beads and lace

It is definitely true that a good clear-out is good for the creative mind. I have been finding things I totally forgot I ever had, especially clothes, so I can now create new things with them! I also noticed that I need a few things, so here's a ready-made excuse to buy yarn, fibre, threads and cards...

Of course, I have plenty more to do - boxes of old newspaper clippings to go through, bulging files to sort out, and heaps of t-shirt and textile yarn to create from old clothes and fabrics, but I made a start. I am no longer falling over piles of magazines and boxes of old clothes. I know where my things are and have a rough idea of my possessions. I am in the mood to write to-do lists...

...erm...

...maybe not yet...!

I write, therefore I am...

...well, am trying, aren't I?

I have various email accounts, two shops, am tweeting ferouciously, co-ordinate the Etsy Ireland blog, have my favourite sites and blogs to read, am asked to join Facebook several times a week...and somehow run a busy life as well. Can I keep up with writing a blog regularly now? I failed once...sadly...but the writing bug keeps biting...buzzing like the annoying fly that's haunting my kitchen. I tried everything to get rid of it except killing, but the fly keeps coming back. Sorry, I meant, the writing bug keeps coming back. And I have so many yarns to spin and yarn pictures to show...

Rainbow Linen/Cotton Mix by Woollygathering on Etsy

So hello world, another attempt to write a blog, even when my blog design is still incomplete.

Ideas I have plenty, also rants galore, and did I mention those yarn pictures?

Handspun Merino Yarn by Lindsaycrafts on Etsy