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

Finally,finally I have managed to clean and sort half of my wonderful fleeces!!! The washing itself doesn't take long but the drying time can stretch considerably, and now I can get my hands on these beauties :o) Oh but they are ever so gorgeous, I could just curl up in them all day long. I have now got some really high quality Shetland, Wensleydale, Bluefaced Leicester and Romney Kent fleeces for sale - I have got huge plans for the BFL fleece, I want to dye it in several different shades because this fleece contains a big amount of locks too! Here are some pictures,first the white Shetland fleece, washed & scoured:

I have also scoured this lot because I am planning to dye some of it. Most of it though will be spun into yarn - I really can't wait to start!!!

The next lot is my scoured moorit Shetland fleece, the softest I have seen in a long time:

They are all absolutely gorgeous, yes, I am in love with my fleeces :o) The next fleece is the famous Bluefaced Leicester, washed & scoured. The amount of soft and fluffy fibers in this lot is unbelievable:

And the next one is my Romney Kent - a fleece to die for! One of the softest longwool fibers and an ease to spin straight from the uncarded fleece - note the wonderful crimp of the locks:

Speaking of locks: I have been hand dyeing a large bulk of scoured and sorted Wensleydale locks for the past 2 weeks. This particular fleece is quite time consuming to clean when it comes straight off the sheep. The very long and lustrous locks catch a lot of dirt, and I had to wash some lots 3-4 times before I could sort it any further. The effort, however, is so worth it! Here are some photos of a washed Wensleydale fleece, washed&scoured&sorted locks, and some hand dyed locks, ready for loads of fiber projects:

These are my beauties for now. There is another bulk of Cheviot fleece that wants washing and sorting as well, plus I'm currently working on a custom order of handspun DK/sport weight Angora wool - veeeery time consuming but so satisfying once the hank is finished :o) So long now and happy fibercrafting!!

Hi everyone!!

Oh it's been too long since I last posted something on my blog!! But I was completely drowned in custom orders, and I was struggling with the deadlines. I've got 2 more orders to finish and then I can concentrate on some yarn experiments again :o) that's what makes handspinning such fun, trying out new designs and fiber combinations! I am also in the middle of washing and sorting 25kg of raw fleeces....boy I can tell you, that's a lot of work...and a lot of wool in the conservatory, it's completely packed with it. There are some Shetland fleeces (GOOOOORGEOUS!!!!!), Wensleydale curlies, Bluefaced Leicester (of course!), beautiful Romney Kent, and the ancient breed of Scottish Cheviot....Yepp, me really really busy!!! But I want to show you my latest 2 yarn designs from my Etsy shop at www.alltheprettyfibers.etsy.com - here they are:

My "Purple Moon" handspun ultrasoft merino/silk blend yarn, a perfect beauty.

And my little wild thing "Pinata" artyarn - never stops partying :o) Yeah, I think I can be quite proud of those two cuties. Next time I will post some pics of my clean fleeces, and perhaps I will have found a little bit of time to have spun a handful of these fibers!! See you all and happy fibercrafting!

Hi everyone!

It's been quite a while since I had time to take care of my blogsite. Custom orders keep coming in and I hardly ever leave my workshop. There's just enough time to walk Sam (in stormy weather...how else....?), fix something to eat and keep pedalling again :o) But I have finished some really astonishing yarn designs, and I am really really proud of them!! This is my ultrasoft Merino/Silk hand dyed fingering weight yarn "ATLANTIS":

I put it into my Etsy shop, and when I went back in 2 hours later to display another item, the yarn had already found a new home. Oh it is such a beauty indeed, isn't  it?

And this is my second yarn design I want to show you: "SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON" - spun from my first choice Bluefaced Leicester extrasoft wool fiber. This wool spins sooooooooo easily, I will never get tired of spinning it! The colour combination instantly reminded me of the famous Germanic saga "Rheingold - The Ring Of The Nibelung" - Siegfried fighting and killing a giant dragon to bathe in its blood so he would become invincible... this is how I blended the colours I thought should go into the yarn:

it's a sport weight/dk yarn which will make a wonderful wrap or something similarly cuddly :o) I have displayed this one in my Etsy shop as well.

Hello again! I hope that you have all had a very good christmas with your loved ones!! Mine was ever so relaxing indeed! It doesn't always have to be the complete menu, I would say... :o) ... and it doesn't take much to make me happy ...!

Now, before the year ends I would like to show you Tab's hairfalls and dread designs! Her fiber work is really remarkable. She is a dreadmaker who lives here in the UK. She also does regular felting, and she said to me that she also accepts custom orders for handmade dreads and hairfalls! So everybody check out her latest designs and be IMPRESSED!!these are her camouflage hairfalls (left) and camouflage beaded dreads (right) - a fantastic mix of greens and browns and well blended!

the pink/purple and black/white dreads are swirled designs.

Below are her models, including sweet little Hazel, Tab's daughter, who will probably be the youngest dreadmodel ever - isn't she a honey?She is wearing a halfdone wig - trying out the oversizes...go Hazel!

And these are some of her colourful handfelted soaps:

Just to keep it simple: TAB IS FAB ! Feel free to contact her for custom orders and chats about dreads and felt, she is such a lovely person, you will see :o)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VIEW A VARIETY OF DREADS AND HAIRFALLS BY DIFFERENT ARTISTS JUST CHECK OUT MY EARLIER BLOGS OF THIS MONTH AND NOVEMBER AS WELL!! CONTACT E-MAILS ARE AVAILABLE THERE FOR EACH ARTIST .

Just popping in to show you guys my latest yarn design "Nefertiri" - made from a hand dyed extrasoft Bluefaced Leicester raw wool and handspun into this GORGEOUS 2-ply yarn. I think I've done a good spinning job on it :o) It's displayed in my Etsy store.

In case I can't make it back to my blog before the 25th: I WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY AND PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS - ENJOY THE SEASON!!!!!

The weather outside isn't getting any better - I have just come back from a (very) short walk with Sam, both of us did our best walking at a 30 degree angle to the left and trying to keep feet and paws firmly on the ground. These autumn gales are incredibly strong, and they have been blowing for the past few weeks !! I thought I'd never say this, but I hope it'll get nice and cold very soon, and the stormy weather will just go away and not rattle around the house and through the chimney ANY LONGER...

Now, today I want to show you what I have fallen in love with recently - a very lovely lady contacted me about miniature knitting and cobweb weight yarns for her project, and I asked her what kind of miniature knitting she was referring to. She then gave me her web address, and this is one of her marvelous creations I found there - everyone, may I introduce ElsWyth to you:

I ADORE this little figure!! It has been made with so much love and devotion, you can see it in all its wonderful details!! Unfortunately ElsWyth was already sold (I am really not surprised!), and Dawn said that she can't rush into making another little figure of any kind until one wants to be born. Have a look at Dawn's Website or email her directly  , she makes wonderful little elfs and other sweet characters, but you really need to hurry - they sell FAST!!  I can only hope that Dawn will be able to make another little ElsWyth-like figure some time in the future, and I might just want to purchase it my very self!!!!!!!

I have finally finished my little nephew's christmas present, I am soooooo pleased with it!! This is big teddy "Spencer":

I have used my favourite wool fibers for him - Brown pure British Bluefaced Leicester and an extrasoft Australian Merino blend of black and white fibers to achieve this wonderful grey shade for Spencer's jumper :o) I first handspun the fibers into a doubleknit size 2-ply yarn and then knitted it on 3.0mm stocking needles for a dense result. Spencer's filling is a pure wool mix that is suitable for stuffing - he has even got a chime inside his big tummy!! I forgot to take a photo from his behind, there you could have seen where I let the string come out of his back. It plays a German lullaby "La Le Lu" - I love it!  Now, I'm really not an expert when it comes to knitting by patterns, but this teddy was really easy to make. I have used one of the free online knitting patterns. Here is the web address if you would like to give it a go : http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/patterns/country_bear.php bear on the website is a girl-bear, but I thought I should make a boy-bear for my nephew, so I ignored the hat, apron and bloomers. It was great great fun to make him - I hope he will last a while, and if one of his arms happen to get ripped off (which sooner or later WILL happen...) it will be sewn back on, no problem. Let's see how long the chime will last! :o)

Back again for more pics and infos about fibers and artists for you to look at!! The season has finally caught up with me, and I am busier than ever with designing new OOAK handspun yarns and handpainted fibers - I had such a creativity rush last night and didn't stop dyeing one wool batt after another until 03.00 in the morning - oh it was such FUN, I really enjoyed it, including the lie-in until 11.00 :o), and great great colour schemes have appeared from my nightly labour too! They are all drying on the wool rack right now, but as soon as they are ready for photographing I will show them all to you!

Today's fiber artist on my blogsite is Shavira from the Netherlands! She is a very talented dreadmaker!! She contacted me last year about dreads made from Merino wool roving and we have been in touch ever since. Her specialty is handmade  thin pure wool  dreads and also synthetic dreads and hairfalls of any colour combination you could imagine. She is taking custom orders as well, and you can contact Shavira   at any time for individual dread orders and information. Here are some pics of her dread artwork:

Shavira is the pretty girl in the first 2 pics - the first pic is my favourite,  I asked her specifically for that one to put on my blog - she looks like an elf, doesn't she? Well, I will leave you with these beautiful photos of dreads, dreads and more dreads - can never have too many of them!  Hmm, makes me think that perhaps I should get some dreads put in my hair as well....

Okay, I'm slowly getting there ... I'm really doing my best to keep up with the season's demands, but is it me who's just getting slower and slower or is it the pace of the rest of the world that's giving me a hard time with keeping up??? Who knows, but I am sort of on my way of catching the spirit of it all - anyway, I have finished one of my handmade christmas presents for my older sister!! Here it is:

It's a wide mesh fashion scarf with lots and lots of fluffy fringes - I have used commercially dyed pure Merino wool roving which you can view in  my ebay shop to handspin about 6oz of it into a coiled knitting yarn, and the colours are Victorian Rose and Rosewood - my sister's favourite colours. I am not really a perfectionist when it comes to knitting but I am having great fun making things, well, if I can find the time...

Everyone remember Linda and her art collages? I was so eager to purchase one of her handmade items - this beautiful journal:

and I've bought it indeed!! I can't wait to receive it. I want to give it to my little sister as a christmas gift - she had a baby boy last August, he's sooooo gorgeous!! His name is Merlin and I'm the PROUDEST AUNTIE EVER!! Anyway, this journal would be so perfect for little baby notes and baby pictures, I'm really excited about it all. As payment for the journal Linda has asked me to spin some nice slub yarn for her, she chose the colours herself from a multicolour Merino roving and here it is:

It is ever so soft and my guess is that Linda will use it for a felting project, a purse perhaps? :o) You can visit her blogsite for updates on her art projects, she writes on a regular basis!

I have also finished another skein of luxuriously soft Baby Camel Down/Tussah Silk sportsweight knitting yarn. I have called it "An Elf's Dance", here it is:

Another lot I won't want to let go, sigh....This skein has come out so very well. Camel Down is a great alternative to the very expensive Mongolian Cashmere, just as soft, smooth and light. I have displayed this yarn in my Etsy store just in time before I could change my mind and keep it for myself!!!

NEXT TIME ON THE BLOG  I WILL INTRODUCE SHAVIRA TO YOU - A DUTCH DREADMAKER, AND BOY DOES SHE KNOW HER CRAFT!!!!!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF PICS TO COME SOON, SO KEEP IN TOUCH AND VISIT MY BLOG AGAIN! BYE FOR NOW

I have finally managed to finish my latest yarn design "Hamunaptra", and you can also view it in my Etsy-Store! It's a  mix of British Bluefaced Leicester and Shetland wool, and the colours have come out really really well - I think I've done a good job, what do you guys think?

I will be dyeing some more of my favourite Bluefaced Leicester rovings and perhaps some extrasoft Merino rovings as well today - well, I really should do some decorating for the christmas season, it's almost December. But it's just not cold enough outside to get me in the right mood. It's way too mild for this time of the year. I remember last year, when we had clear frosty days, and I went and mowed the frosted lawn (!!!!!?????) because I hadn't been able to do it before - Britain can be sooooo wet and swampy, and the grass NEVER stops growing over here - so, yes, I did indeed mow the lawn on November 30th, and I was veeeery pleased with the result! The grass was so frozen, it was such a breeze to cut it, you would not believe it. And the garden looked perfect for christmas, when my parents came to stay with me - yees, I wanted to show off a bit... But this year I am not lucky. My neighbours are also worriedly walking the lawns - we all want to cut grass, but it's just too soaking wet - no way we could succeed this time!

Everybody : Today I want to introduce Emeline !!! Emeline is a dreadmaker from France - she does such a fantastic job, and she has kindly sent me some photos of the dreads she has made:

They are fantastic!!!  She makes them extra-thick from Merino wool rovings and I really hope that she will send me more pics from any of her future projects!! I will ask her if she also accepts customer orders, she sounded very busy with dreadmaking at the moment. Update: Yes, she does accept customer orders, folks!! You can Contact Emeline at any time! This is her:

NOW IS SHE PRETTY OR WHAT??

I have noticed in the past that a lot of dreadmakers are very good looking - they have a great sense for colour and fashion and they move in their own circles, which I think makes them even more interesting!

I am not a dreadmaker, I am a handspinner and I think I am sooooo old fashioned - sigh....

Right, next time more. Have to go now and finish my handmade christmas gifts for my sisters and my little nephew - OF COURSE I WILL SHOW YOU WHEN THEY ARE DONE... well, if they come out alright...Until then, you all take care!