OK, at last we are back to some creative stuff!  Today I was at Shawbost mill dropping off the Hebridean Harris Tweed and the last linen (purple, red and white) so I feel I've done something a bit useful after a period of being in the doldrums.

Last week I decided to dye the light colours of Harris wool I have in stock so my loom pixie hanked them all up for me and I spent a jolly, if sweaty, morning in the kitchen mising dyes, boiling pots and rinsing out hanks.  All my Australian landscape dyes are used up now - but what's the point of having them in a packet when they could be brightening up the world on a bit of yarn?

Here are a few of the hanks before I wound them onto cones on the Munty.  They are all crimped up because they're singles and not very stable.

Once onto the Munty cones they look quite different, and then, when put through the winder onto pirns ---

Well, they are really yummy.  The Harris Tweed I have in the loom looked wonderful on the warping mill, but was rather disappointing on the loom and I've been struggling to find a weft that will do it justice.  The accent threads I used were far too dark and heavy and made it all look very peculiar.  So I've whipped them out and replaced them with the space dyed yarn above.    Can't wait to start weaving to see what difference it makes to the end result!

Here's a cute photo I took of Baggy the duck in conference with Bramble - not sure what was being discussed but it ended with Baggy making a grab for Brambles' toes!

Anyone who is interested - and I know a lot of my visitors here are - might like to know that the Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers 2011 Summer School details is in the current edition of the Journal and also on their website - http://www.wsd.org.uk/.

There is a wide range of courses available for - particularly of interest to me is the "Colour in Tapestry" one which looks like it could be useful in giving me some basics of colour work as well as a chance to learn a type of weaving I've never tried before.

If you're not a member of a Guild or don't subscribe to the Journal, I would advise you to look into it without delay.  There is even an online guild for those of us living in out of the way places!