Sunday, 25 April 2010

Sewing lessons, New Harris Tweed, Wensleydale socks and a Lamb in a wheelbarrow

I am finally learning to sew - hang out the flags! We are very lucky to have help from a Swiss teacher of Home Economics who is taking a ten week sabbatical in Harris and is offering to pass on her sewing/knitting and handcraft skills to anyone who feels like improving their technique or starting from scratch. Martina visited the Scalpay Linen loomshed on Friday - it rained constantly all day but I didn't care about the weather.....

The dog started off as some paper shapes on the paper and ended with a cute little fellow (below) who is loved by all who see him. OK - my input on this occasion was restricted to stuffing his tail and doing some trimming, but the next one will be made by me!


Just coming off the warping mill is my next Harris Tweed. Brown Hebridean as spun by Harris Tweed Hebrides, Shawbost, and some beautiful sunset orange. The warp was another of my "turn over the heck after each section" and fades in and out of each colour without sharp edges.

I spent most of Saturday tying it in and will be starting to weave it next week. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Tracy from Gedgrave Wensleydales has sent some gorgeous yarn for me to try through the Circular Sock Knitter. Haven't got round to it just yet, but here it is waiting to be put onto cones. The colours are natural dyes and the wool is soft and classy. These will be bed socks and are sure to be warm and cosy for the coldest of winter nights.

And finally, here's something you don't see every day. A lamb in a wheelbarrow! Just caught this chap having forty winks in my ornamental barrow outside the loomshed.


2 comments:

Creariet said...

I am curious at what will be the orange/brown on the loom!
Your sheep is to lazy to walk?

Min said...

Lovely to see the wool I dyed for Tracy last summer. The yellow was dyed with weld and the green is either dyed with gorse or chamomile (all gathered locally here on the Heritage Coast in Suffolk).
I'm looking forward to seeing the socks you'll create with it.