** NEEDLEWORK'S PLEASURE** SPINNING & FELTING FIBRES, HANDSPUN & HANDPAINTED YARNS

Hey everyone :o)

Want to see my new hand dyed Wensleydale curls? Oh they've come out so well, have a look at my beauties:

And just when as I finished drying them, my new bulk of raw Wensleydale fleeces arrived from the wholesaler!! I got the last lot because the fleece season is about to end, no more fleeces until June/July when clipping time starts again...sigh...I'll just have to wait...

Wensleydale fleeces can be extraordinarily dirty. Their curls just hold in the mud, dung, thorns and who knows what, the water the fleeces are soaked in is just one big swampy brew and some fleeces require several washings. It will take at least 1 week to get them nice and clean and sorted - but new hand dyed locks will be coming soon, and perhaps I will have some natural white fleece left to put in my store as 100g sorted lots :o)

By the way, I also got new very soft Merino wool roving in, it's on sale as 250g bulks  and it's displayed in MY EBAY STORE, come and have a look, it's absolutely gorgeous!!

The clocks moved 1h forward last night, and yes, Heike didn't notice until late afternoon today, when I was surprised to see that the movie I wanted to watch while spinning was already half-way over....SOOOO TYPICAL!! Well, I have now set all my clocks straight, and come October I will miss when they set the clocks 1h back again - same story every single year. It's useless to write it on the calender or anywhere else, because I will just forget about it...anyway...

 But to change the subject : I would like to show you my new TINKERBELL OOAK yarn design I finished 2 days ago, and it's now displayed in my Etsy shop. It's made from some of my handpainted cosy cosy Bluefaced Leicester wool - OF COURSE :o)

Well what can I say, the BFL is simply one of the best wool fibers to work with, I never get tired of spinning that wool, honestly. I finished this lot between 2 custom orders I am currently working on (pictures to come soon), and I received another custom order tonight for 400g of dark grey pure Alpaca yarn - yummy soft and gorgeous!!! So this Bluefaced Leicester wool is so handy for changing fibers for a short while and to see some different colours as well.

I have also mordanted another 1 kg of extrasoft Merino wool for handpainting - if the weather is good tomorrow I may be able to paint it outside - hmmmm, I think I  know what colour schemes I will use :o) ... be surprised!

Everyone, have a very good Sunday!

Hi folks!!

Just wanted to pop in and show you my new handpainted Bluefaced Leicester and Masham wool rovings because they came out soooooooo well!!! I have tried completely new colour combinations, and I do confess, from the bulk I dyed I have already kept 3 back to spin into cosy yarn :o)

The last two photos show the Masham rovings, gorgeous and really lustrous! All rovings are displayed in my ebay store!

I have tried for a whole week to finish more of my wonderful and cosy handspun Merino slub yarns but to no avail - I have managed to get skein no.5 off the spindle and that's that... no mordanting nor any painting done yet. What can I say, last week was incredibly busy: Loads of people contacted me about the handpainted Wensleydale locks and asked for different colours and quantities, others inquired after my handpainted supersoft wool/silk blend, and I didn't want to let them down. So I mordanted and dyed my special blend and more Wensleydale curls instead, not that I would mind, oh no, I absolutely love working with my special blend, and I am always very keen on experimenting with new shades coming out of the locks. But the slub yarn project had to be put on hold, oh well, I will simply finish it later. I will also start on two new custom orders of handspun Camel down/Silk fingering weight and sport weight knitting yarn, one lot in honey white and the other in butterscotch - YUMMYYYYY :o) I have also found some time to display my new Bluefaced Leicester handspun yarn design in my Etsy store called "Flying Kites":

 Frisky, huh? I think that this yarn would make some wonderful baby garment ,or a colourful hat or scarf! It is part of a range of yarns I painted with very similar shades in the same dye pattern. They are all displayed in my ebay store. Here is one of the painted yarns:

Gorgeous Gorgous shades!!!  And very much suiting the season, beginning of spring - YIPPIEHHHHH....

Hi everyone!!

For the past week I had tried to get started on my handspun and handpainted GORGEOUS GORGEOUS slub yarns, but I also had to do my inventory, and that takes for ever and ever and ever.....I don't like doing it but it is absolutely necessary if I want to keep an overview of what's in store and what needs ordering. Anyway, I've got that done, and I have also found some time to at least start on the handspinning part - so far I have finished 3 cosy skeins of Merino thick and thin, and I even got to paint one lot, which is now displayed in my Etsy store:

The shades of this design are very earthy indeed, I absolutely love them :o) Here is another picture of some of my handpainted slub yarn that I just recently finished for a customer:

I have got loads of ideas for my new lot. I will finish another 3 skeins, hopefully this weekend, and then I will prepare them for the dyeing part. I will display them on my blogsite as soon as they are ready for presentation, so you guys can view them here as well!!

Hello everyone!!

Well, my cold is finally gone (GREAT SIGH), and I am busy as a bee again with my latest yarn designs and new colourways :o) I have just displayed my new Bluefaced Leicester yarn design "TEA PARTIES AND A SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY" in my Etsy store . The colours of this OOAK yarn are a range of warm summer shades,  they so remind me of warm sunlight and the fresh scent of flowers in the summer air,  a time for being outside and enjoying the season!

Not long now and Spring will come soon. My daffodils are already flowering in the garden, and honestly now, this winter has not been very cold anyway over here in Northern England. I really can't complain. Though I did wish for a bit of snow - it's been so long since we had snow over here... Right, now that I am better again I have started a large project of handspun and handpainted extrasoft Merino slubyarn, I have got some great ideas for new colour combinations!! Merino absorbs the dye like a dream, and the colours always come out so vibrantly, it's an absolute joy to dye Merino :o)  I have also found a new wholesaler for dyed 21 micron (70's quality) extrasoft Merino fiber, I just haven't decided yet which colours I'm going to choose for purchase, but this 70's Merino will make a lot of handpinners' hearts beat faster, including MINE!! Once the rovings are part of my supply I will also show you the chosen shades on this blog.

You all have a very good weekend and happy fibercrafting!!

Hi everyone!

Here I have the pictures of the DK/sport weight handspun Angora yarn that I just recently finished for a customer. Just in time, I would say, because a very bad cold got hold of me AGAIN!! I absolutely hate being ill, but hey, what can you do. I have been drinking gallons of tea and hot lemon with honey, but it simply takes its time to get better.  I am not that type of person to run and see a doctor and to get antibiotics stuffed into me - I have got my own little pharmacy of homeopathic remedies in my cupboard, and it works so much better than school medecine!!  In fact, I haven't taken any antibiotics or other pharmaceutical chemical stuff for the past 15 years, and I'm still here :o) I have  been working 24/7+ since christmas, to finish all the custom orders and also spinning and dyeing yarns for my online stores, and it does take its toll sooner or later.  Now I will have to take a break, wether I like it or not... But before I do, here are the photos. I hope you will enjoy viewing them!

Once this handspun yarn has been knitted up the wool will get its typical Angora look and feel - I could have brushed it a little, but the yarn will do its own bit anyway :o)

Right, I will go and rest now - as soon as I'm better I want to  start on a wonderful handpainted lot of British Bluefaced Leicester wool that calls out to me to be spun into super cosy yarn!! I've got loads of ideas how to mix the colours, oooooh I so need to get better FAST...

I am still working on my custom order of handspun DK Angora wool - I am doing the last hank now and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel again :o) Handspinning Angora is not something you can do somewhere in between. It takes a good deal of focusing and regular pedalling, I can tell you...but all handspinners out there who have spun Angora fiber in the past know what I'm talking about. It makes the most wonderful and cosiest wool ever, but these short fibers get into your nose, your mouth, your tea...... sigh..... Anyway, I took some time out over the weekend and went for a very long walk by the Solway Firth near Drumburgh, where you can see the borders of Scotland on the other side of the water. It's a really beautiful spot, I even remembered to take my camera with me! 

I have displayed some of the photos in XX-large on purpose so you can "walk" a bit through this landscape :o) And yes, Sam wanted to be on it too...what can I say...

The new lot of Wensleydale locks are ready for presentation! This time it's a wonderful combination of stormy blues! They are gorgeous, aren't they? If you are ever looking for a particular colour or colour combination please feel free to suggest them to me, I am always happy to experiment with my colours and fibers :o) You can find this new lot of locks in my ebay store!

I have also finished my first lot of hand dyed British Bluefaced Leicester locks & fleece - an absolutely gorgeous fleece I can tell you! I washed and scoured it myself before dyeing, and I find that my handpicked fleeces provide me with much more curls and locks and fluffy fleece wool than any commercially scoured fleece from any wholesaler ever could. So far I have finished 3 lots in 3 different colours.

I am leaving you with these pictures - the weather up here in Northern England is fantastic today, and I so need to take advantage of it (the good weather days are more than rare!!). So I will go now and have a long walk on the marsh by the Solway Firth, and count the seagulls and little hawks flying through the blue blue sky...Have a great weekend yourselves!

Hi everyone!

Just stopping by to introduce my new range of OOAK handpainted Merino sockyarns to you! I've already displayed some designs in my ebay store , you can view them in the category for "hand dyed & handspun yarns", and they are simply called "Soft Merino Knitting Yarn". They are not just sockyarns - you can do a lot more with them!! As they are made of pure wool and not treated with any chemicals they will also make gorgeous regular knitwear (shawls, hats, gloves, cardigans,sweaters...), and you can most certainly use them for weaving and felting projects as well! I usually make sure that the designs compliment each other so they can be combined to make colourful garments. One skein will be sufficient to finish a pair of normal adult size socks. Here are two designs I have just listed in my Etsy store :

This design is called "KAMA SUTRA". The one below I have named "RHANDJANA":

they are indeed OOAK beauties!!!

And yes, of course I also had to keep myself busy with an new lot of extrasoft British Bluefaced Leicester hand dyed and handspun knitting yarn. I have mixed wonderful turquoise, teals and purples into lime and aquamarine, and out came my "EMERALD WINGS, OR BEING CHARLOTTE BRONTE"! Don't wonder about its name, it's a sentimental thing and has got a lot to do with the great and beautiful landscapes of Northern England .... :o)

I hope you will enjoy viewing these colourful yarns! Have to go now - I am finishing a hand dyed lot of Wensleydale locks at the moment. Pictures to come soon. Be surprised....!!