Rumpelstiltskin - Not quite spinning straw into gold!

I would like to introduce you to the 'Baa Lamb Brothers'.   They were a very cute Christmas present, hand made by my Mom.  Euan has the white one and I have the grey one.  I love their little woolly fleece.  I play with therm more than Euan does!  Mine will join me on my 'Spinning Adventures' for 2012.  They are pictured on top of a 'Woolly' Mountain of 'Merino'.  The Woolly Mountain is presenting quite a challenge...which is where the story of 'Rumpelstiltskin' springs to mind.  This is part of a 10kg Bale, I ordered out of overexuberance when I first started to spin!  Ooops.  It was a shared purchase with my Mom so that takes me down to a 5kg Merino Mountain.  Yes my Mom has a Merino Mountain of her own too.  My intention is to get  a large quantity of it spun ready for some  Dyers Adventures in the Summer.  Watch this space!  Whirrr whirrrr whirrrrr!  (That is the wheel going around!)  The Lady that initially 'taught' me how to spin said to me after about twenty frustrating minutes, "You'll get there, but you are not exactly 'Rumpelstiltskin'!"  I thought that was very funny.  Especially as the lady made a deal that if she couldn't get me spinning she would jump into the brook!  I think she had a few moments where she thought her feet would be getting wet!

Ah!  Ahem, yes another fibre Mountain!  Tis lovely.  A momento from our Summer 'Alpaca Adventure' at Cotswold Vale Alpacas Lovely Crimpy Locks of goodness.  It is quite different to spin compared to wool.  I have experimented, as I really fancy a light floaty shawl in 100% Alpaca.

This sample is 'Navajo Plied' so it is a 3ply yarn and anything but light and floaty.  I am not overly proud of this yarn as it is very uneven due to my inexperience with Alpaca and Navajo Ply.  I love it, but I know it is not technically great.  I would like to experiment felting thicker Alpaca yarn.  This would make a very dense fabric, ideal for a bag.

This is what is currently on 'The Bobbin'.  'Clamour for Glamour', a delicious hand painted 'Yummy Yarn' Fibre.

You gotta start the year as you mean to go on...look at me...all that 'Glamour'.  I still can't quite spin 'Straw into Gold' but I can manage a bit of 'Glamour' quite nicely, even if the only thing that is glamorous about me is what's on my bobbin!

Life is Yummy in More ways than one....

Over on Ravelry the 'Yummy Yarns' Group have been busy knitting Yummy Yarn to celebrate Wool Week that was at the start of September.  It is a competition to win more yarn!  To enter you just need to make something from 'Yummy Yarn' Purchased from Yummy Yarns UK.  I bought this gorgeous yarn 'Floral Dance and tried to knit a shawl, I did not get beyond ten rows when I fell out with the Yarn, the pattern and knitting. I frogged it and started to make a Ruffle Scarf.  I now have over 1000 stitches per row and it is taking me ages to knit a row.  I am not sure how this scarf will turn out, it is a leap of faith, but I love the yarn.  I am hoping it will be finished by Friday!

This little tree is providing more Yummy of a different kind, what these apples lack in appearance they make up for in taste.  I have made Tomato, Apple and Chilli Chutney:

My partner dug in to the chutney and then came and asked me 'What sort of Jam is that?'  Hmmm I would ask before I spread it over my toast!  We have enjoyed Roast Pork with good old Apple Sauce:

The apples are sweet so I do not need to add sugar.  Quite a bit has gone into the freezer to be used over the winter.

The diet Healthy Eating Plan recommends eating fruit, you can eat all the apples you would like, nobody mentioned the pie!  Forbidden Fruit tastes so delicious.  Why is that?  Normally I can take or leave Apple Pie.  Now on this diet Healthy Eating Plan I could happily gorge the entire pie!
For tea/dinner or whatever you like to call it, I have made Turkey, Bacon and Apple Casserole:

I am looking forward to this.  The only question is can I resist this as an accompaniment?

I doubt it because I am a bit of an Old Rascal!

Yummy Yurt Day

I am afraid this is my only photograph from Yummy Yurt Day.  My new friend Tom has used my trolley to trudge my Kiwi Spinning wheel up a woody uphill path.  Yurt day was a fantastic success, I was too busy to take pictures and when I wasn't busy it kind of felt inappropriate to take pictures as people were all happy and relaxed, chatting away and doing their own thing.  I contemplated photographs and getting people to pose, but I really didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable or stop the flow of chat and craft that was happening.  ( There are more photographs that have been posted in The Yummy Yurt Day thread in the Yummy Yarns UK Group, after looking at the ones of me today I have started to 'Diet'!!!)   Some Yurt folk were knitting, others were working on crochet.  I was fascinated by crocheted 'Plarn',  plastic yarn made from carrier bags.  It made a very strong durable bag.  Others were spindling and there were three wheels.  Two of which were mine!  Yes I have a guilty confession, I have been unfaithful to my little Kiwi.  I bought an Ashford 'Joy', second hand for a very good price a couple of months ago.  It has been hidden away!  I did sell some old jewelry that I did not wear to fund the extravagance though.

Here she is folded up and not in use.  I think she is lovely.  I used her for the first time on Yurt Day.  I had been saving some fibre that I received in a Yummy Yarns Easter swap package, from my lovely swap partner Fran, who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time in the Yummy Yurt.

I don't know if it was the fibre, the wheel, the setting or the company, but I had a lovely spin.

My new friend Tom is having his 9th Birthday today and he had been really looking forward to 'Yummy Yurt Day'.  He is very enthusiastic about learning to spin.  It was my pleasure to provide him with a spindle and some fibre of his own.  He is a little star and stuck at spindling for about an hour.  It is not an easy skill to master.  He was very excited about having a go on a wheel, so the deal was struck, he could use my Kiwi if he could get it up the hill to the Yurt.  Bless him, he was a super star.  He really had me laughing, such a friendly, polite boy.  We sat next to each other spinning away.  First he practiced treadling, getting an even speed and changing the direction of the wheel.  Then he used some yarn to practice treadling it evenly onto the bobbin.  He did get into a few 'pickles' and tangles but I left him to it, to sort himself out.  After I had left he had a go spinning fibre on another wheel.  I think the last I heard he was looking at wheels on ebay!  Watch this space...He has a deal with his Mom, he will spin the yarn and she will knit it.
I had to buy a momento of the day and this fibre will be a real treat to work with.

It was great to meet new like minded people and to meet Ravelry friends in person.  We had a lovely relaxed day, including a Yummy Yurt Lunch.  We all loved our Woodland Yurt setting, it is a shame the weather prevented us from running around and playing hobbits!  I think we have started a pressure group to have another Yurt Day in the future.  It has made me quite excited about my 'Glamping' holiday in just under two weeks.  I will be staying in a Mongolian Yurt for a week!!  I hope I survive to tell the tale.

This is the Yurt I will be stopping in.

My parents are coming with me, my boys and the dog!  We will also pitch a big tent.  We are sure to have fun as it is a couple of miles from the Cornish coast and we might have some time for running around and playing hobbits!

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 Chalky's World linked to this site after she rustled up a quick scarf.  Handmade Scarves for Japan. I read the information on the site and started this scarf as soon as I finished my Lucy bag.  I thought 200g would be enough yarn for one scarf but with a 8mm hook and crochet rib it has made a very thick scarf so I needed to add a black stripe in the middle to make the scarf wide enough.  What should have been a quick, portable project, completely filled my 'Lucy' bag because look at the size of these balls!  I needed both balls as I doubled the yarn.

Euan thought this picture was hilarious.

Here are the 50g balls of yarn along with the 500g balls of yarn

Here is the not so portable 'Work In Progress' it will soon be finished and it will make a nice warm scarf.  I am hoping I will get it in the post  next week.

I crocheted at the swimming pool while Euan and Gramps mucked around!  I had to be careful not to get my balls wet!  

    This is a late night post because I can't sleep. I am going to meet 'Ravelry' chums tomorrow from the 'Yummy Yarns UK' group,  this is a group for 'devotees' of Patricia's Etsy store, that sells beautiful yarns and fibre that is all hand dyed.  We are meeting at a 'Yurt in the woods' and  my spinning wheel is coming with me.

The Yurt is in woodland in the grounds of Ulverscroft Manor in Leicestershire.  It is run by a charity.  Doesn't it look great?  I have not met any of the people before in person but we have chatted extensively on Rav.  Some of the others have met before.  I like getting in a group and knitter nattering.  :)

I am excited about the day but anxious about the drive, I am not a good driver when I am going somewhere new.   It is a 55 mile journey for me I am sure I will cope.   I will charge my camera up and share photographs of the day and tell you all about it asap.

 'One Flew overs the Cuckoos Nest' is on TV so I am watching and writing.  I love this movie, I also loved the book.  I can really relate to it!!!

Camping Crochet - 'Crazy Art Batts'

I posted about 'Challenge Day' for the 'Tour De Fleece' where I spun 200g of 'Crazy Batts' into singles.  The Crazy Art Batts were bought at a discount price for a group 'Spin along' in the Yummy Yarns UK  group on Ravelry.   I practiced slubs but didn't quite master control of  them.  I could make them but not every time I intended to and I had no control over their size.  I am partial to a big fat slub in a Yarn though.  The resulting yarn was very thick and slubby in places and very unpredictable.  I loved it for all its lumps and bumps.  It was great fun to spin.
'Tour De Fleece' Challenge Day - Crazy Art Batts Blog Post
I washed the skeins to set the twist  and  took them with me camping along with my trusty 'Jumbo Crochet Hook'.

This Hook is 'The Beast' of all my Crochet Hooks' I love it!  I think it is a 25mm.  While Euan played on a park that backed on to the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, I peacefully crocheted and played 'Frisbee' with Lacey.  (You see, I am talented like that and a master at multi-tasking).  Whatever you make with this hook grows very quickly.  I have previously made two shawls with it and they grew at warp speed.  I have also experimented with 'rag' crochet using it.

Handspun Natural Grey Gotland with Pink Merino - Made with Jumbo Hook
(This came Camping too and it was perfect)

Handspun Corriedale Beaded Yarn 

Whilst Camping I decided to make a 'Crazy Art Batt Hat'.  I would have made another shawl or shrug if I had enough yarn.  (I see more Art Batt singles on the horizon).  The 'small' hat took 100g of yarn.  Have you ever tried to photograph a hat while it is on your own head?  I do not know why I am admitting it here, but I have!  I can be a bit ditsy sometimes.  ( You may have worked that out for yourselves already!)

Take 1 - A glimpse of the chaos I live in but not much hat!

Take 2 - A glimpse of the chaos I live in and the Budgie cage, but still not much hat!

Third time lucky- Certainly not!

Good Old Henry saved the day and was a willing Model again wearing my 'Crazy Hat'

I am on the look out now for a large Grey and Pink felt flower to go on the side of the hat.  I think I will have to make one.  I am sure Henry will model again when the hat is completely finished and fitted with an suitable  embellishment.