Monthly Archives: August 2015

Aug22

One Sky, Many Stories

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Diana

Background:

One of the perks of working from home is seeing my children get enthused about the work I do, and ask to be taught the skills needed to create with fibre. These rolags were designed by my daughter, Imogen, whose inspiration was both the cloudy blue sky and the starry night sky. They were spun by me, and the story was written by Imogen.

Story:

I gazed up at the mesmerising sky as it changes, and the clouds fade by.

I watch the sunset colour change from blue to pink to red, and finally to the black of night when the clouds no longer hide the silver, twinkling stars.

I realise: this sky has a story.

Information:

Title: One sky, many stories

Composition: Merino, Falkland, Angelina, Ramie

Weight: 100g / 15 WPI / sports weight

Length: Cloudy sky – 146m / 160yd approx.; Starry sky – 134m / 146yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: July 2015

Skein code: 0051

Fibre: 21 micron merino, Organic Falkland, Angelina, Ramie

Source: Fibre from Wingham Wool Work. Blended by Story Skeins

Status: Sold

Aug22

Minis!

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

A selection of mini skeins: The odds and ends that didn’t make it into full skeins!

1. “Wensleydale”

Soft, lustrous, curly.

Can you see behind that fringe?

Wensleydale sheep.

Information:

Title: Wensleydale mini

Composition: 100% sw Wensleydale

Weight: 17g / 15 WPI / sports weight

Length: 35.5m / 36.7yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0022

Fibre: Superwash Wensleydale

Source: Wingham Wool Work

2. “Rainbow Brights”

Red, yellow, green, blue.

The ABC of colours.

Be a kid again!

Information:

Title: Rainbow Brights Mini

Composition: 100% merino

Weight: 17g / 12 WPI / DK

Length: 44m / 48yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0026

Fibre: 21 micron merino

Source: Wingham Wool Work

3. “Lapis”

An Afghan midnight

Made solid in the dark earth

Blossoms in the light.

Information:

Title: Lapis

Composition: 70% merino 20% silk

Weight: 2g / 15 WPI / Sports weight

Length: 10m / 11yd approx

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0016

Fibre: 70/30 merino / silk

Source: Wingham Wool Work

4, 5. “Falkland Minis”

Soft as cumulus

Looking proud and serious

Organic Falkland

Information:

Title: Falkland Minis

Composition: 100% Organic Falkland

Weight: 4 – 18g / 12 WPI / DK; 5 – 15g / 12 WPI / DK

Length: 4 – 33.5m / 36.7yd; 5 – 29.0m / 31.7yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0029

Fibre: Organic Falkland

Source: Wingham Wool Work

6. “Bluebells”

A purple carpet,

Living in dappled sunlight

Bluebell woodland thrives.

Information:

Title: Bluebells

Composition: 100% BFL

Weight: 11g / 12 WPI / DK

Length: 24.4m / 26.7yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: May 2015

Skein code: 0031

Fibre: Bluefaced Leicester

Source: Truly Hooked

2. “Cherry-lite”

Nature’s confetti

Falling from the mother tree

Celebrates freedom.

Information:

Title: Cherry-lite

Composition: Organic Falkland & dyed Merino.

Weight: 22g / 9 WPI / Worsted/Aran

Length: 32m / 35yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: June 2015

Skein code: 0039

Fibre: Organic Falkland & dyed Merino

Source: Wingham Wool Work

3, 4. “Silver Birch”

Bark, brown and silver

Peeling away from the tree.

Curled like wood shavings.

Information:

Title: Silver Birch

Composition: 70% Merino 30% silk

Weight: 4 – 14g / 15 WPI / Sports weight; 5 – 10g / 15 WPI / Sports weight

Length: 4 – 39m / 43yd; 5 – 26m / 28yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: June 2015

Skein code: 0041

Fibre 70/30 Merino/silk in browns

Source: Wingham Wool Work

Aug21

Glorious Technicolor Part II

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

This was a repeat order of some beautiful thick and thin yarn. What I particularly love about this is the way my creations were sent out into the world and inspired more creativity.

Story:

Glorious celebrations of colour:

Lapis – an Afghan midnight

Onyx – dark and mysterious

Ruby – blood-red gem

Indigo – brought to life by the sun

Opal – beauty from scattering of light

Ultramarine – deep blues of the sea

Silver – pure, white elegance.

Teal – delicious blends of blue and green

Ecru – earthy white

Cyan – a colour primary! One of the ABCs of inks

Hazel – autumnal shades

Navy – uniform blue

Ivory – creamy white and musical

Coral – delicate pink of the sea creature

Ochre – ancient dye. A link to the past

Lilac – pale purple of the garden

Olive – deep, dark, savoury green

Rainbows – nature’s paint box

Video by Forest Valley Designs. Shared with permission.

Information:

Title: Glorious Technicolor part II

Composition: 100% merino

Weight: 200g / 9 WPI average / Worsted or Aran thick’n’thin

Length: 187m / 204yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: June 2015

Skein code: 0048

Fibre: 21 micron 70s merino

Source: Wingham Wool Work’s Yorkshire Range – Fangfoss

Status: Sold

Aug21

Adventures in Space & Time

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

This was such a fun commission! By the time the yarn was made I could just imagine a little tardis whizzing through the scene.

Story:

Space.

The vast, empty void. The vacuum of space.

Empty.

Apart from the stars.

But the rest of space is empty.

Except for the planets and moons and comets and asteroids.

But there’s nothing else.

Apart from the nebulae, showing off, all blues, pinks, reds and greens.

And apart from the galaxies, some spiral-armed and twisting together with the inky blackness.

But aside from all that … empty.

If you don’t count the neutrinos and photons and muons and …

But otherwise, nothing there.

(Except, maybe, dark matter?)

Even black holes are thought to emit radiation.

So really, what is there to explore?

What adventures could you possibly have?

Information:

Title: Adventures in Space & Time

Composition: Merino, silk, sequins and seed beads

Weight: 120g (fibre weight) / 14 WPI / DK to sports weight.

Length: 360m / 394 yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: July 2015

Skein code: 0049

Fibre: 21 micron dyed merino, 70/30 merino silk blend

Source: Supplied by Wingham Wool Work. Blended by Story Skeins

Status: Sold

Aug19

Cherry Blossom

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

This gorgeous, soft, squishy yarn was inspired by the May cherry blossom in the local park. It is a 3-ply yarn and each single has a different composition. Two singles were spun thickly and with lots of texture to reflect the ragged blossom and stamen seen in the cherry flowers. One is white organic Falkland with highlights of pale pink merino. The second is pink merino with highlights of cherry-coloured mulberry silk. The thinner, worsted spun single representing the dark cherry bark is made from 70/30 merino/silk blended tops in shades of brown.

Story:

Spring’s signature sight: the pinky-white clouds of the cherry tree. Delicate pastels cluster around the dark, twisting bark support. Get close up and the petals reveal all the deep colour and ragged texture of cherries-in-the-making. It won’t be long until they shed their coats, celebrating with nature’s own confetti the progression to summer.

Information:

Title: Cherry Blossom

Composition:

Weight: 135g / 9 WPI average / Worsted to Bulky

Length: 135m / 148yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: May 2015

Skein code: 0025

Fibre: Organic Falkland, 21 micron pale pink merino, strawberry mulberry silk, 70/30 merino/silk in browns.

Source: Wingham Wool Work

Status: For Sale

Aug16

Keeper

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Diana

Standard

I love this post so much that I had to share it. So many of the sentiments resonated with my own post, Slow Making.

loomandarty

20150815_144335

Over the years I have developed a system. I always weave with the thought that what I am creating is for me to keep.

I found it works well and actually makes each item more personal with each step. It helps me choose colours that I think work well, it helps me combine patterns and designs, and the end result is always a bit of a ‘oh….it’s lovely’ moment when I finish it off.

The magic for me is when people come to the stall that I have (with Wild Rumpus or at Coledale Markets) and have a look at what I have made. Some unknown magic makes them reach, almost instinctively, for something of a similar hue to what they have on at the time. I love watching people look at the first item, then to another and another, and then almost like an unseen force they guide…

View original post 341 more words

Aug16

Popping Candy

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

A fun commission. I loved the way this yarn turned out.

Story:

Do you remember Wham Bars? They were a favourite when I was a little girl. Occasionally they’d come as a free gift, stuck to the front of my Beano!

They were my first taste of popping candy. The slick, pink background was scattered with fizzy rocks that exploded on your tongue, sending showers of stars over your taste buds.

Pops, crackles, crunches and sizzles unleashed sensory overload! The candy treat dissolved, leaving just the sweetness of a memory.

Information:

Title: Popping Candy

Composition: Merino / silk / polyamide thread / sequins

Weight: 100g / 13 WPI / DK

Length: 259m / 284yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: July 2015

Skein code: 0050

Fibre: 70/30 merino/silk mix.

Source: Wingham Wool Work

Status: Sold

Aug14

Crystallised violets

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

This is the first yarn I spun from my own rolags.

Story:

There’s no scent on earth like the sweet smell of violets. They seem to remain from a bygone era:

The aroma of the fifties, or of your grandmother’s home.

Petals preserved in their unfurled lilac tones. Sugar crystals glinting like magic dust, sprinkled on to cast a spell; preserving a moment in time like a sweet snapshot.

Information:

Title: Crystallised Violets

Composition: Bluefaced Leicester, Bamboo, Angelina

Weight: 71g / 13 WPI / DK

Length: 190m / 208yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: June 2015

Skein code: 0042

Fibre: BFL, Bamboo, Angelina

Source: BFL dyed by Truly Hooked. Bamboo and Angelina from Wingham Wool Work

Status: Gifted/Won

Aug14

Five Shades of Twilight

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

Five shades of the same colour, kept distinct via navajo plying. The “rebellious older women” in the story is a reference to Jenny Joseph’s famous poem.

Story:

What does purple mean to me?

It means Parma Violets,

Tanzanite,

Rebellious older women!

Suffragettes,

Lavender bushes,

Spanish bluebells,

Twilight,

and Summer midnight.

So if you ask me why I like purple, that’s my reply.

Information:

Title: Five Shades of Twilight

Composition: 100% merino

Weight: 100g / 15 WPI / Sports weight

Length: 292m / 320yd approx.

Care: Hand wash only. Dry flat.

Details:

Date: April 2015

Skein code: 0027

Fibre: 21 micron dyed merino

Source: Wingham Wool Work

Status: Sold

Aug10

Singularly Cheerful

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Diana

Standard

Background:

My daughter wanted to design a set of rolags, and chose simple, bright and bold colours with just a hint of purple sparkle. They became one of my favourite ever skeins.

Story:

There’s something about those colours,

Those bold, bright, clear colours.

Primaries and secondaries.

Nothing else. Nothing in between.

No subtle hues, no delicate shades.

Just there. Bold. Shouting!

Shouting at you: “I’m here! Look at me!”

It seems to me the colours of childhood, the colours of play.

The bold inks of the nursery paint box, the pile of crayons, the picture books.

But above all else, what this happy palette brings to mind is an all-time favourite:

The upturned lego box!