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Welcome.

Become part of the circle sharing inspiration for spinning and other fibre crafting. It is a warm and reassuring place, sort of like a favourite chair near a cosy fireside, where beginners and experts come and go as they please. It's a place to share what we know, learn from each other and display what we've created -- while supporting and inspiring each other on the wonderful journey associated with handspinning and wool-related crafts.

Thursday 29 December 2011

Free ebook and the New Year

Hello everyone, hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, Yule or however you celebrate this time of the year. Just a quick message to let you all know about a free ebook available through the link below for any budding cotton spinner (excuse the pun, couldn't resist!).

Cotton Spinning

Hope to see you all in the New Year, hope 2012 brings much joy to everyone and Happy Spinning!

Woolly Wednesday will be back here on 4th January, please come and share with us what woolly things you have been up to - spinning, knitting, felting, weaving, crochet ... all welcome.

See you in 2012!
Love from Dawn and Kelly at Spinspiration

Thursday 15 December 2011

Kelly's December Woolly Wednesday

I am late posting this month but better late than never!

 I have done some spinning this past month though.  I find even if I do just 20 minutes here and there it keeps me spinning for the therapeutic, quiet time!  I finished off all the European wool and have now turned my attentions to spinning up two fleeces of beautiful creamy white organic Lleyn wool.  This is a Welsh breed and is a fine dense medium length wool.  I started this a few months back and then abandoned it in favour of the European wools.  I have decided to stick to spinning the Lleyn until I have spun up the whole two fleeces.  It really is a joy to spin this wool.  I have a jumbo flyer for my spinning wheel so I've decided to change to that and keep at it.  I wonder how many skeins I will manage?  Once all done, I hope to dye it up using Kool-Aid in a variety of colours in the spring.  So that is my current spinning project.
Here is a sweet pebble vest I knitted for my littlest boy using my handspun fawn alpaca.  It feels so soft and snuggly.  I like the nice, rustic look!
Using mostly my handspun, I have completed the ox and the sheep for the knitted nativity scene I am knitting.
More pebble vests for my new little niece born at the end of November.
And just for fun, my boys wanted me to buy this huge big ball of part wool/part acrylic yarn.  They want to see just how many things can be knitted using this ball.  First up, Noah wants me to knit him a pebble vest since I have been knitting quite a few recently and he would like one too.  So that is what is on the needles to being with.  Wish me luck with that red ball!  I could be at it for some time!
To end with, here is a happy picture of sheep in the snow in the beautiful Peak District.  I loved seeing beautiful white sheep on a vast snowy landscape.  First snow we have seen this winter!
Wishing you all a very happy, memorable Christmas season.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

December 2011 - Woolly Wednesday

Welcome to the December Woolly Wednesday gathering! So what have you been up to this month? Maybe something festive? Come join us with any spinning, knitting, weaving, felting ...

Woolly Wednesday falls on the first Wednesday of every month. Think of it as a creative gathering, or a virtual guild meeting. Bring along any fibre-related project, whatever it may be. If you are starting out in fibre arts, share what you are interested in pursuing. Let's show each other our projects, share any tips, tutorials, ask questions, seek advice. Add your post to the Linky below and we can visit one another and share, support, encourage, be inspired!.

Please feel free to add the button to your blog's sidebar with a link to Spinspiration, a lovely way for us all to link together. Just copy the image to your desktop and then in your blog design - add a gadget, add picture - upload the picture and then add the url (http://spinwheelspin.blogspot.com/) and the image will link to here.

Join us with the linky below, link to a recent blog post of your woolly adventures in the last month or to a post in the near future, we look forward to seeing you ...

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Blessings for the Winter Season to all.

Dawns Woolly Wednesday for December 2011

Hello December. No spinning! Forgive me spinning wheel(s) for I have neglected you this month (again!), but I promise that you and I will be reacquainted after the festive period, if not before.

In light of there being no spinning this month, I will share what I have been doing with wool this month. I have been doing a lot of felting - items for ourselves, gifts for others and a few additions to my etsy shop. I made this Father Christmas for our home, I think his hat is a little over-sized but we like him, I made another for the shop but with a better sized hat. I have another of these in the making with legs this time but he has no beard or hat yet!

Needle Felted Father Christmas
 
in need of a hat and beard!



In other felting I have made an item for a gift swap amongst a few friends, I'm pretty sure the recipient doesn't browse this blog so I will share a couple of pictures here. It's a felt journal using a lovely art sketchbook as the book being covered. I had lots of fun with this and plan to make more soon.

 Felt journal cover

Moving onto knitting, there are (as always) more than one project on the go. Some started long ago and really left for too long, now I need to get on with them as they are gifts for Christmas. (note to self: stop getting distracted by other projects!).

I have this little project on the go and coming together now in making up the items for my daughter for Christmas ... maybe I'll reveal the finished result at Christmas! Any guesses? Answers on a postcard please ...

mystery project 1

Another project for another member of the family, although no doubt my daughter will acquire these one day, and yes you've guessed I'm not saying what this is either! Please no guesses as the recipient may read the blog and comments ;-).
mystery project 2

There is still the handspun handknit socks for the husband (he knows about these!), it really is time to turn those heels. Hoping these will be finished soon.

And another one, although not a Christmas gift, but a winter hat/scarf combo for my daughter and as it is getting colder now I really should get on and finish this ... nearly there.


 Hat/Scarf combo for Imogen

There are other things I've so nearly started recently, only to shout STOP at myself, not until the other things are finished. I've still to finish some felting gifts too and there isn't long left until Christmas. Am I the only one who can't stick to one thing at a time? Are you disciplined at finishing items? If so, how do you do it?

Merry Christmas to all, or seasons blessings if you celebrate the season or Yule rather than Christmas. I've enjoyed this space this year and look forward to sharing it with you all in 2012!

See you in the New Year!