Homespun shawl

Janette had a clever idea. She had spun wool left over from her rainbow jumper so she decided to knit a shawl. As she was trying it on she realised it would look nice , and a bit different , if it had a collar. It would also protect better against the drafts and wind around your neck. So here it is! Guaranteed to be your best friend on a cold day.

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Handspun, hand knitted rainbow jumper

It takes a lot of time to spin the wool and then knit a big jumper. We do it because we love it. Janette’s jumper is beautifully soft. It’s a generous size because she believes in knitting for the bigger people in life. The jumper is made from boldly coloured merino tops plied with light alpaca. The resultant look it very effective because the alpaca tones down the bright colours without losing their cheerful impact. There’s  just about a whole rainbow in this jumper!

Merino jumper

Meryl has knitted a beautiful jumper from Bendigo Woollen Mills wool batts with silk in it. The colour is a deep rosé with darker flecks and the silk. It has a richer colour than the photo suggests.  It is so soft and the knitting is incredibly even. The pattern itself is interesting because it gives the jumper a bit of a formal look and so it’s a jumper which could be used for a business occasion. With the right scarf and jacket it would be a perfect formal jumper. it would go just as well with more casual clothes too for a classic country look. Meryl spun all the wool and then knitted it. These things take time but are so worth the effort! The new owner will have a beautiful classic knit to wear.

Lovely yarn

We love yarn. No two ways about it and we like to find good ways of combining fibres to get interesting effects or good colourways. It is worth the effort and thought. We will use embroidery cotton, sewing cotton , banana silk fibre, linen, silk…all sorts of things …to get the yarns we make to look good. Alan was spinning some merino tops with ocean colours and the resultant skein of wool he plied has added the sea spray to the ocean. It’s a lovely skein of wool and feels so soft and Instagram certainly liked it.  Just as a matter of interest, Google has no understanding of merino tops when it comes to searches. It considers tops as articles of clothing.

 

 

 

He has also been spinning suri alpaca which he plied with mulberry silk. It has a very slight sheen and looks more interesting than just suri and nothing else. This  is also dye ready if necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes using different fibre combinations allows you to create yarns for a specific purpose or create yarns which will go further because you only have a small quantity of that colour or fleece. Planning yarns is all part of the creative journey with spinning.