Sunday 3 January 2010

Something big....and something small!

OK - today we are going to have a look at two of the Hattersley Domestic loom's big brothers, courtesy of Peter from Australia who is very interested in Hattersleys and has an amazing archive. He is going to send pictures on a regular basis for inclusion into the blog, as I know that there are more people out there who are just as obsessed with this type of machinery as Peter and I.....

The one above is the Silk and rayon loom which incorporates an automatic bobbin changer. It is driven by a band around the mainshaft wheel and looks to me like a full-width loom which would have been (and indeed probably still is) used in factories throughout the world.

This is another mechanised loom - is that a dobby I see on the top right? This photo is taken from the operators side - you can see the prickly roller that keeps the cloth straight as it comes off the reed and the cloth roller beneath around which the finished cloth is wound. Tappets to the right, for those interested.

Now something smaller - when I was in Orkney during September and during a particularly rough ferry crossing from Kirkwall to Westray I holed up in a corner of the passenger lounge with some of my gorgeous Norwegian pre-spun from http://www.katre.ws/ which I had spun up with a spot of gold lurex and hyperbolically crocheted the whole return journey! The scarf wasn't quite finished at the time, but it is now. ...

The Scalpay Linen Bear models a cosy posy scarf which winds around the neck in a swirl of ruffles to trap warm air inside.

The true delight of these scarves is that they can be presented like a bridesmaid's posy by rolling them up, and there is even a place to put a ribbon round at the edge. This colours on this one are so warm and the glitter is so glittery that I thought it would make a nice contrast to the still cold and frosty environment we are experiencing. This scarf is going in the box to stock the loomshed next season - unless, of course, anyone would like to make an offer. Going price is £20 including postage anywhere. It's hand-spun, hand-crocheted, straight edge is 1.25m long, width 15cm.
And, on a similar theme, here is a pair of socks made with the same pre-spun, handspun. Glittery disco socks (well, not really, but warm and bright). The colour shde change is quite subtle and attractive. They take around 100g to knit and are very quick to do. I've got quite a bit of yarn already made up, so may put some of the yarn up for sale in sock quantities.
I am still working on a knitted and felted hand-spun hat with ear flaps and plaits in burgundy with my hand-spun feathery silk as an edge and a hyperbolic ornamentation on the top that looks suspiciously like a white fluffy jellyfish!
That's for another day though........

Oh, and do check out Joan's blog she's knitting amazing teeny weeny socks for key rings that are totally must-haves - link to her blog below:
http://calanacrafts.blogspot.com/2010/01/and-more-holiday-knitting.html
She should get together with Clarks who have produced the celebration Harris Tweed Desert boot and include a tiny desert boot replica keyring - saw it on the Style Salvage blogspot (see my list of blogs to the right), the entry titled "Merry Christmas to .....me".

1 comment:

Nina said...

Sheila you have been busy.... Lovely colours ...... Will be heading down to Scalpay very soon for a cuppa and a rumage. XXX