Mr P.

Sorry - I just had to post this as I think its such a cute photo of my little boy!
Mr P is modelling my 'Spring Garden' handdyed, handspun & handknitted neck warmer, complete with his dummy (aka pacifier for those in the USA) which is inserted at most times! Whatever works I suppose....

Pinky & Peachy!

I've just noticed that most of my recent handdyed wool yarns are in shades of pink. That is because when I clear the table to paint some wool, my little girl always wants to help and the only colours she will agree to use are red/hot pink/yellow. Hence everything ends up pinky & peachy.

....and more Arm Warmers with Sewn-On Beaded Jewelry

I'm on a roll with these long knitted arm warmers! Its something I can do while watching TV in the evenings, waiting while the kiddies play at the jungle gym etc, etc. Saves me eating quite so many chocolate biscuits.

The colours don't necessarily 'go' together, but thats kind of the point. These both have cute little flower rings (my daughter's idea).

Purple Princess Handspun Art Yarn with Dolls

My little girl (who has just turned 5 - yikes) picked up this cool pack of purple dolls with wooden faces from the "$2 Shop" (although they actually cost about$4.50 I think) - so I thought I would spin them into a Purple Princess yarn.

My own little Princess (definately in attitude) helped me card up the bits on my drum carder - she likes to turn the handle, see the wool disappear from the tray & come out onto the drum. We put in merino, alpaca & polwarth wool (handdyed by myself this time) - and she would throw in lots of sparkly bits (firestar - in blues & greens). Oh & apparently it had to have sequins too.

Spinning it up was cool - I corespun it around a laceweight yarn & she would squeal when each doll got squeezed through the spinning wheel orifice (thank goodness I have a jumbo flyer) & then got submerged in wraps of wool!

Strangely satisfying!

BTW I still haven't managed to figure out how I can add my photos so they appear nicely throughout my blog, throughout the text? So I apologies for the poor formatting - could anyone please enlighten me on this Blogger skill? :)

Easter Egg Handspun Yarn with Flowers

I finished this bright little number today - looks like I'm in a happy mood, which I'm not as I'm feeling quite grumpy. Don't know why - I must have used up all my festive spirit & I think the heat is getting to me - its so hot here in Auckland right now!

This merino roving was dyed by the fiber artist TheArtAtEaglesFind on Etsy - I love her work, its gorgeous & I'm a big fan.

This yarn has beehives, supercoils & flowers spun in and is plyed with a laceweight black yarn.

I am actually in the middle of making a big colourful piece of jewellery with optic fibers, LEDs & touch sensors in it. Maybe if I get the circuit debugged soon (....its not quite working yet!) I can show it soon. Just to prove that I'm not just stuck in a spinning yarn frenzy....

Most recent handspun Art Yarns...

I've been having a relaxing time recently with my Majacraft Pioneer spinning wheel - getting some practice in! Doing coils, supercoils & 'granny' coils (!) with a bit of corespinning and also add-ins such as pompoms. These are my latest yarns - all on the huge/super bulky scale of things!

I wish I could spin all day - but 'interesting' things happen when my wheel is left unattended for periods longer than 10 seconds - my kiddies think its a racing car as it has 2 pedals.

I bought an Ashford drum carder a while ago & now need to spend some time getting to know it better & feed it some interesting fibers (or small children).

Xmas Tree Lights Knitted Capelet.....

I finally finished knitting up my Xmas Tree lights yarn into the base of this capelet! I handspun all the yarn for this myself (except for the top neck bit) - and even had a bash at spinning in some locks.

I ended up having to crochet the lights on, instead of knitting, as the yarn wasn't very flexible with all the wires in there. The batteries (3 x AA) are hidden inside in a sewn on felted pocket (using the same merino roving as the base yarn). Still nothing has caught fire yet!

Shame its summer here & doesn't get dark until 9pm - which is past my bedtime, so I haven't worn him out as yet.....

EYE In The Back OF My HEAD Slouch Hat

Most of the woollen yarns is this knitted creation were drum carded and handspun by myself using corriedale, merino, romney & wesleydale plus a couple of stripes of shop bought stuff. I also added some angelina to give it some glitz....

I have been experimenting wearing it around the house either long and pointy - or rolled up and stubby, depending on my mood. My kiddies think the handy 'Eye In The Back Of Your Head' is most amusing - but they now know that I AM watching them! Beware......