Spinning Wheel

So last night I took some photos of the wheel, it's a Carlisle from Carlisle Road. Browns Bay, Auckland. I don't think they make wheels there anymore though, it was made in 1975.


These are the singles I did last night, I left some sliver for Dad to practise with and will have to get more of it soon.



This is the skein I plied(sp?) on Sunday and I know it's bumpy lumpy and not even, but I really like it. It would make a lovely warm scarf I reckon.



Here is the flyer with the scotch tension peg underneath which I still haven't figured out the use of yet. I have just been putting the drive belt directly on the bobbin to spin the sliver I've got.



It has a single treadle, I have never spun any wool before so I don't know what the double treadles are like, but this one seems fine for what I was doing.



I couldn't find another wheel the same as this, but these are similar Minstrel and Mazurka from Kromski. Another example is Baynes.

So Dad has got a hold of a spinning wheel (haven't taken photo yet) to try out and if he likes it he can have it cheap. It's an upright could be double drive/scotch tension, quite compact and we haven't quite figured out if we have done the spinning correctly yet! I spun a little of sliver onto two bobbins and then plied them together, washed the yarn and it's hanging in the bathroom drying out. Will take photos of that too soon enough. Of course because I've never spun before, the yarn is all thick but probably good enough for first time. I'm all excited and hope that he gets it and it all works out so I can spin on it every now and then. I'll probably end up getting one for myself soon 'cause it is very addictive.

So here are some sketches I did the other day while hanging out with my kids, we were playing around with colours and animals etc, and these dancing animals make me happy!













Sorry these are a little blurry but I wanted to get photos of them before they got scribbled on by small 'helping' hands.

I'm back in the land of lemon and honey

Yes, I came back from Invercargill with a head cold. The kids are healthy though, so that's great news. We had a good time down there, with a few trips out to the local Oreti beach and through to the Riverton Rocks where we all clambered over the rocks and looked at the mysterious markings and grooves on them. Hubbys Mum gave me a Bernette sewing machine brand new, so that will help my foray into quilting and the likes. We gave her a computer and an internet connection so she can contact the rest of her family on it. Very happy lady! On the way back up the island we stopped in at Ashfords again so I could pick up yarn for sons hat and some sliver/roving to try out a spinning wheel I might buy. Will show photos of the trip later when I have organised them a little.

Now recently I was able to visit Ashford and said I would show photos, so here they are...
First up is the Ashford house...



...which has the yarn shop, cafe, a little museum and a function room in it.
Next is the wall of yarn which makes a colourful photo...



...son chose the colour of his hat with this photo!

Next is the amount of roving (in NZ it's called sliver) on these shelves...



...there was Merino and Border Leicester to choose from in this sliver that was ready to be spun and you just buy how much you want, they just weigh it for you.

The wee museum up the stairs next to the function room was neat too, with all these older wheels including some of the first ones that Walter Ashford made..







...these were all guarded by a ram at the doorway...



...we had fun looking around and I also bought some neat buttons from there. I'll find a way to use them, but I couldn't leave them there, they had to come home with me!
The cafe was lovely and we had a proper cup of tea out of a pot with scones. The atmosphere was calm and very warm as the people were so friendly and helpful. Dad and I chatted to a lady there for what seemed like ages all about spinning wheels and the like. I can't wait to go back for another look around.

Nah nah na nah nahh, we went to Ashford...
Yes, my sisterinlaw and my fatherinlaw (further referred to as Sister and Dad) took a trip down to Ashburton where Ashford is. You know, where all those wonderful spinning wheels come from? Dad is quite keen on getting into spinning now that we actually went and looked at them! Got to say, heaps of stuff to look at, and the old building that looks like it has just been built, wow, wow, wow! Beautiful craft supplies and there's a cafe too. Had to have nice cup of tea when we first got there, then we walked around and oggled all the yarn and equipment lined up in the surrounds.
Anyway, I'll put some photos up later as I'm really supposed to be off to bed as we are going to go on holiday in a few days and I won't have time to blog again until we get back late March.
In sweater news though, while at Ashford (ASHFORD!!!!) I managed to pick up a set of double pointed needles for daughters stripey sweater sleeves. I'm going to try and fit some knitting in on our family holiday, at least I'll take it with us in case the time presents itself. Should be fun driving for nine hours with two children in the back seat.
Okay, enough procrastination, off to bed now, happy knitting everyone.

Rabbity rabbit rabbit. Yes, I'm rabbiting on again. Since I finished this daughters bunny son wants one too. I've done the parts for the head, ears and tail. I'm now working on the body. Here is buuny number one (she hasn't named it yet)...



here is an inside photo to show you where the seam is down his/her belly...



I am slightly changing the second bunny so it doesn't have the belly seam, it will be a bit different than the first bunny, but I don't think son will mind too much.

I've been looking around some of the quilting blogs too, and it has so heightened my interest in it. I have practised on a few pin cushions and hopefully the seaming will get neater as I go along. The first pin cushion I just put a few triangles together and attempted to work the last seam tidily...



and the second one is the log cabin design and I think it looks a wee bit neater...



I am still doing the twisted log cabin on another square but nothing much to show yet. This could be something I do a bit of everyday and get nice results when I finally finish enough squares to make a wall hanging out of (or quilt for a bed if I get adventurous enough.

In other news, one of my indoor capsicum plants is flowering....



see the tiny little white flowers at the top of the plant? Hopefully the flowers will eventually turn into fruits.
The cucumber that was flowering on my windowsill is now all limp and dying, I think the weather is getting too cool for it now. Will have another go next year.

So with son starting school last week, I haven't been able to go and get the 4.5mm double pointed needles for daughters sweater sleeves. I have done knitting, though only soft toys, this is going to be a little yellow bunny since easter is coming up..


This is hubby's hat that will definitely go into the "messed this up so it will go to a different recipient" pile. Daughter has already worn it a few times even though we are in the middle of summer over here.



Here is Wally the Wombat that I made for daughter, she put the stuffing in it too, so it is really special to her...


This is how much she loves her soft toys, here is her heart bear in her book holder..


and here is her brothers bean baby in her treasure box sleeping..

I am now going to look at my quilting stuff and see if I have some time to do work on that. Quilting looks so exciting to me, especially when I see work that looks like it has taken such a long time to do, like this...(sorry about the bad photo quality)

This is Flower Drum Song by Lesly-Claire Greenberg in 1990, I got it from her book Sewing On The Line. Quite a good book that shows you a different technique for quilting.