Spinning on a great wheel is the ultimate test of competence in hand spinning. Unless you can spin long draw it is not possible to use a great wheel effectively. Spinning is done with the left hand while the right hand turns the wheel. The spinner walks backwards drawing out long lengths of singles thread […]
My first pupil from Japan has earned her Long Draw Spinner rosette after only two lessons. A tremendous achievement for a pupil whose first lesson took place just three weeks ago. She has also made the felted fox who My first pupil from Japan has earned her Long draw Spinner Rosette after only two lessons. A tremendous achievement […]
The joy of socks is all-embracing. Someone asked me the other day if I ever wear anything I have spun? Well Yes,I do. And so do lots of other people too. Mostly it is socks; from the joy of spinning, through knitting and wearing them or, better still, giving them to someone I love to […]
Long draw spinning and Joy to the World as another star pupil makes it onto my ever-growing list of acclaimed Long Draw Spinners – all accredited with specially commissioned rosettes. This happy lady recently received her rosette – a tremendous achievement in only five weeks and three lessons: Lesson 1 – long draw technique, Lesson […]
Spinning lessons make happy smiles as well as sumptuous yarn as this photo of my happy pupil shows. She is holding her first spinning which turned out much better than she expected – as I find it always does! First spinning is very important as it is the benchmark upon which to assess progress. Lesson […]
Successful spinning lessons are a great joy to me. Another promising pupil is my neighbour who has her own sheep – she learned to spin on her first lesson. Like all my pupils, she learned to spin on Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) prepared tops. I always start beginners off on BFL as it is the […]
Beginner’s spinning ‘First spinning is very special – it is the measure of future improvement – but it is difficult to imagine a more satisfying outcome of your first spinning than this lovely hat in blue faced Leicester fleece in its natural colours. It is only a few weeks since Angie inherited her spinning wheel from […]
Long draw spinner – the world has another one and she was awarded one of my ‘Long Draw Spinner’ rosettes for her skill. This lady made a three hour trip from Yorkshire to learn the ancient craft with me. It only took her an hour or so to master the skill using her own Ashford […]
Wheel bracelets a unique new way to secure spinning wheels for transport or when not in use are now available in my shop. These high quality handmade bracelets from Celtic Leathers (Wales) prevent the flyer falling off or thread getting into a tangle on Ashford Traditional and other wheels which are supported from a stock. […]
Andean plying is a really useful technique I learned from Kate at my Ashford workshop. She made it so easy I teach it to beginner drop spindlers at their first lesson – it only takes me one lesson to teach long draw on a drop spindle! You can learn all about twist and Andean plying at my next […]
Gotland pullover – pupil news from Jane who completed this cosy pullover for her husband. Jane learned to weave this time last year and subsequently learned to spin – so she has not been spinning for a year yet. What an achievement! It was prepared with hand carders and spun on her Ashford traditional.
This is a BIG THANK YOU to you all at Summer School! Val and I found these beautiful feathers in one of my fields = inspiration! We acquired a Jacob fleece at the Summer School and I had an intro to flick carding at Knuston Hall, so my half of the Jacob got flick carded […]
Double weave book took just two days to complete – including the weaving. It is woven on a Knitters Loom with 2nd heddle on 7.5 reeds. Half the warp and all of the weft is in my yarn in spun on a drop spindle on the river Nene last year – see Water Yarn blog […]
Summer school on Thursday was about structure in spinning and weaving. We made boucle yarn, and did lots of weaving on knitters looms.
Great wheel at Fibre East. See my new great wheel on my stand in the Cotswold tent. I am now teaching long draw on the great wheel in my studio: £37.50 for 1.5 hours includes easy to spin fibre and instruction on how to ply straight from the spindle so spinners go home with at […]
Colour skills at Leicester Guild was a happy day yesterday. I did a mini workshop called ‘Tints, Tones and Shades – a module of my Manage-Colour-before-it-Manages-You Workshop which take place in June. Tints Tones and Shades (TTS) is a basic colour skill that is useful when you have fibre or singles that is too Vibrant, too Dull, […]
Art Yarn: What is it? is a question I’m often asked, followed by ‘What do you do with it? Over the next few months I hope to answer these questions in a practical way at my Tuesday Workshops. We know art yarn when we see it, but to define art yarn we need an understanding of what we […]
Woolly socks day this coming Saturday at Loddington LE7 9XE. Wear your woolly socks and join the photoshoot, bring your knitting, spinning, weaving or craft and treat yourself to some quality time with like minded people – and join the sock parade! You don’t have to be an expert – most people are just learning and you […]
Long draw spinning – the world has another long draw spinner, who has taken my Beginners offer. She has had two lessons – the first got off to a bad start: I had agreed to pick per up at Market Harborough Railway station – she was coming from Leicester which is a 15 minute journey. Unfortunately she […]
Weaving on Knitters Loom is easy to learn – and you can see the result at Woolly Day on Saturday 22n November. Jane produced this accomplished-looking piece using natural local yarns she had bought when visiting the north and Scottish Highlands and Islands. With only one day’s experience she carefully colour matched each yarn to a […]