Hand made Jewellery...

Hiya folks,

Sorry I've not been here for a while been having loads of problems with getting online, hopefully this shouldn't be an issue for much longer.

Anyway.... I've been making lots of jewellery lately, trying to work my way through my beading stash (unsuccessfully i might add, as i just keep seeing more and more that i just have to buy) will soon have pictures to add in my next post.

As for the Angora/Merino from a previous post that i was spinning, I now have a finished yarn :o) very pleased with it, it's made for a beautiful yarn and is very soft, I'll post pictures as soon as i can of everything mentioned in this post. hope you all bare with me and there should be more regular posts as soon as my computer and internet problems are sorted.

Thank-you again and I'll be posting again shortly.

Still here (only just)

Hi

Wikkidknitters Internet has finally given up the ghost altogether so I'm afraid that you have to put up with me for the next few posts although they will be about what Wikkidknitter has been up to over the last few days starting with a weaving update.

the looms have been in action over the last couple of weeks and this is the latest progress from WK ( the man himself)

we are looking into the possibilities of making belts and leads using this method so watch this space.

Very Random

Firstly I'm sorry I've been a little quiet of late but been having real problems with my Internet access and still are, just thought I'd make a quick post while i can! a big THANKS to sue for you're help and posting the last post.

Very very Random but hey I'm really liking this new song from Misha B.
I thought she had a really good voice when she appeared on X factor U.K. last year and now she's released this new song i can't seem to get enough of it.... think it'll be interesting to see where she goes. Its not fluff but it's something I'd really like to share. Thanks for reading and more craft related stuff to come so watch out.... :o)

Ist Craft Fair, whoopee!!!!

Hi, Sue here standing in for Wikkidknitter as his Internet connection has been AWOL for the last few days.
Last Sunday saw the Purple Bean Craft Fair in Nottingham, the first craft fair attended by Wikkidknitter. We turned up armed with loom , spinning wheel and plenty of fluffy things. Jewellery, woven key rings and cute felt brooches were also fighting for space on the stall.

Although there weren't too many shoppers around, a few sales were made and a lot of giggling when on between several cups of coffee. The loom and spinning wheel attracted attention as usual and encouraged people to stop and ask questions about what we were doing. I strongly suspect that this may be the first of many outings for the stall.

Hopefully normal service will be resumed before the next post xx

Playing with beads.

So, I got a little adventurous and decided that I was going to take some beads, thread and a beading needle to my local Knit and natter instead of some knitting (this is quite a regular occurrence, I usually take either some knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving, what ever takes my fancy for that day).
anyway, here's what I came up with.

Up next is a little dyeing experiment, I made a shawl for my sister last year (hand spun, hand knitted and then dyed) and she never found anything to wear it with so she gave it back and said I'd hate for it to spend its life hidden away... So me being me, I thought "I'm going to through some colour on it and see what happens" (I'd dyed it once already).

Before.

During dyeing.

And after, once dried and modeled by a lovely sculpture as part of Nottingham in Bloom (i think).

I said i'd try and add photo's of my progress in weaving and the Angora/Merino blend fibre that i dyed and here it is, i also have a small amount of the fibre spun up on another bobbin :o)

I'll Post more photo's of both as i get more done.

Next up are some really pretty silk hankies, I had a go at dying these and was just so Pleased with how they came out they were all just so bright.
I plan on dyeing more of these to see what I can come up with but i also have to do something with them so keep an eye out to see what I come up with....

Angora/Merino

I somehow managed to acquire around 500g of 50% Angora 50% Merino top in natural white and thought it would be a good idea to try and dye some (around 150g), it was all really exciting as i had no idea how the blended fibre would take the dye or how it would react in general to the whole process.

i was going for dark browns and greys, I'm not sure where i went wrong with the colour (either i didn't get it wet enough, or there wasn't enough acid in the dye mixture) but i do know that it was all that exciting i just couldn't leave it alone (always a bad idea) and the colour just kept washing out so what happens when you agitate warm, wet fibre?? it fulls or worse, felts!

So, there i was, left with a slightly felted braid of fibre that didn't turn out at all how i wanted (this happens sometimes, that's not to say i don't like the colours because i actually did) and i was left thinking to myself "what can i do with this?" i decided to tease it out and spin a little, then a bit more and then i had a bobbin full of thin singles and around 1/3 of the fibre is gone!! this is a W.I.P. so I'll keep you posted on how things go..... See you soon :o)