Tuesday 2 February 2010

More on Art Work to Yarn

I spent a weekend with my friend Anne. It was her birthday and she is possibly the only person I know who, on receiving three carded batts as a birthday present, utters a cry of delight. She spun them all that evening and we both felt so inspired that the following day we decided to card and spin some more.
For starters we choose as design source one of Anne's husband's pictures. I adore his work and DH and I have no less than 5 of his but this one is one they kept, and so we picked out as many colours as we could to match from Anne's fibre stash. We carded them on her carder which had fine teeth which was unlike my coarse tooth one on which one could add lots of texture so the rolags were different, fine and delicate as you can see. It took all morning to card four rolags-it is a time consuming process- and then we both spun them. I had my lendrum with the jumbo flyer and the band set on the biggest whorl, Anne wwas using her versatile Louet also on the biggest whorl. Possibly because the rolags were so fine much to my surprise I found myself spinning a relatively fine yarn while Anne spun a thicker one.
Here is mine after a dunk in hot soapy water . I love it. And I enjoyed every step of the way!
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7 comments:

  1. and the result matches the inspiration pretty well, I think! I'd cry with delight too, if I received such lovely stuff - only, for some reason people don't give me handcarded batts:(( I have to admit that I could make some myself though:)) I think the biggest fun is spending time with a like-minded friend and our favourite craft?

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  2. Yes I agree with you Bettina spending time with someone who likes the same thing as oneself is fantastic! I like taking something as a design source too as it make one choose different colour ways & Alex has fantastic colour sense.

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  3. How incredibly satisfying that must be, to do that kind of hand work and make something so beautiful and so useful! I've never done any of this kind of work with wool, but I find the whole process fascinating. I really appreciate how you laid your photos out in a step-by-step arrangement -- it really helps someone like me understand what I buy from other people :>]]

    BEAUTIFUL yarn and a wonderful post!

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  4. Beautiful yarns. Well matched too, good job!

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  5. Oh, what fun! Beautiful yarn, too. I can think of several people that would crow with handcarded batts as gifts. But, I agree, the best paret is spending a weekend with like-minded friend(s).

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  6. Wow, lucky Anne and lucky you to be able to get together regularly to spin with someone with the same passion!

    I'd love it if I was given some hand carded batts, too.

    You did a great job, it's so much more fun to "design" yarn, isn't it!

    Best wishes

    Alison

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  7. It is nice to know that Anne and I are not on our own in liking something like carded batts! Hi Sweatpea it is very fascinating to make, my handicap is that I am a very slow and very basic knitter so that side of the equation does not works so well. Fortunately other knitters seem to like them so I can sell them! However I agree with all of you Anne and I are lucky to have one another. Tomorrow I am off felting with her and that is something we also really enjoy too! I wish there were more hours in the day.:)

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