Last weekend there was a little Fibre Fest at All Saint’s Church in Castle Cary. It was a chance to take along the sock knitting machine and some socks to sell, plus the spindle wheel to demonstrate. And it was a really sweet and lovely event. There was a real mixed bag of textile…
Make do & mend is a way of life around here. This jumper, a particular winter favourite, was a classic case. It was hand knitted several years ago and has been through a quite a few winters. It had already been repaired more than once – some darning on the elbows and the cuffs re-worked.…
Turning flax fibre into linen cloth was this summer’s project. The last post dealt with the spinning – now comes the weaving. Unlike wool, linen has no elasticity or stretch. This makes it unforgiving when it comes to warping on the loom (even without somewhat haphazard and impatient warping methods). Creating and maintaining a firm…
Turning flax into linen is this summer’s spinning and weaving project. Flax is the fibre that comes from the plant Linum usitatissimum. Once it has been processed and spun (and then woven) it becomes linen. The aim of this project – which could be subtitled ‘Yet more adventures in spinning and weaving.’ is to take…
Beeswax Wraps are the way to go – it’s time to banish cling film and other single use plastics from your kitchen. There was a bundle of vintage cotton scraps lurking around – just waiting for their time. The prints are lovely, fine cotton lawn, not enough for a large project and the pieces too…
Swedish Crisp Rolls are delicious. Delicious topped with just about anything. Of course they are available in the shops. But the challenge here was to make them at home. Hunting down a recipe wasn’t so easy, there are plenty for crispbreads (the flat rye kind) but not for these. After a bit of searching they…
Spindle spinning is fascinating, Using a wheel may be much faster when comes to actually producing yarn. But using a spindle is a great way to start. It’s portable. And it’s cheap. It can be so cheap! It’s basically just a stick with a weight attached. This was an exercise in 2 things Make a…
Spinning, dyeing and weaving has taken over the cottage! Part of this take over, as mentioned in another recent spinning, dyeing and weaving post, is what came to be known as the ‘Project’. The aim was to take raw fleece through all the processes, to end up with a finished textile item – a scarf.…
Spinning, dyeing and weaving are taking over. Looking back, it’s only been a little over a year since the first spinning wheel came into the cottage and a less than a year when it comes to looms. But looking around the other day and there was fleece and yarn at various stages of processing everywhere.…
Tablet weaving or card weaving is ancient and low tech. It produces narrow bands that are strong and decorative, used for belts, straps and trimmings. Ever curious to try out new techniques, this is just a little dabble. As the name suggests it uses tablets or cards. These tablets have a hole at each corner…