Dying for yarn

The weather has turned bad again, yesterday we had snow combined with gale force winds, so it was interesting going out to feed the animals on the croft. The sheep are getting really tame, they come to the gate and wait for us to get the food ready.

I did a little weaving today, but it was very cold, the picture below is the snow that had made its way into my barn over the last few days, so I retreated back to the house and tried dying yarn for the very first time. I have been saving onion skins over the past few months, and had some hand spun yarn that I was saving to dye, and this is the result! I'm really pleased with how its turned out, and now need to find a project for it.

Snow is falling, all around us!

I have not blogged for a while, I have been looking after a few friends pets and starting to make brithday prezzies for birthdays in the next few months. I have been weaving too and looking after the animals on the croft. The sheep are getting very friendly, they come running when they see us with a bucket!

Not sure why the black sheep looks evil, his eyes seem to be glowing!! He is as cute as the others.

I have not got any pictures of the snow, Its nearly all gone now but its icy in places and the ground on the croft is frozen, the animals are getting well fed, the ducks have just eaten a big trough of grain.

I though I would leave you with this picture, even when covered in snow, he is still smiling!!

Merino Mitts - A Complete Pair

Finished the mitts, they fit me fine and I have road tested (well beach tested) them this morning when I took the dog for a walk on the beach. They are beautifully soft and warm and are easy to throw a ball in (what else matters!)

Well its dark now (at 16:48) so I am just settling down to start a crocheted rug, made from the false selvedge that is cut off the tweed as it is woven, using a very large, custom made crochet hook.

Where does the time go?.....

It has just dawned on me that I have not posted for a while, the time seems to have flown by! Since the last blog we have aquired a few new arrivals to the croft, I have got 6 lovely Ducks to keep my drakes in check, and they are doing a good job at it, they have got the drakes to swim on the burn so they are doing proper 'ducky' things now.

We have also got 8 fluffy sheep, 7 white and 1 black, I have not been able to get any pictures yet as I have not been up on the croft in enought light to take them! It is getting dark about 4:30pm at the moment so when I get a nice picture I will post one.

I have finished all my Christmas knitting now, with a few to embellish, and I have completed one of my handspun mitts, its lovely but I am not going to post any pics till I have finished the other. I have been busy weaving as well, off again today to do some more of the tweed I have at the moment.

Merino Mitts - Part 2

I have been busy weaving over the last week, and have also been spinning the rest of the yarn for the mitts. I have changed from Herdwick to a dyed orange merino as the Herdwick was a little kempy and was shedding a bit to much to use in mitts.

I am just waiting for a nice dry day to wash the yarn to 'set the twist' and wind it into a ball then onto knitting the mitts, which are needed today as this morning I had to break the ice on the animals water.

Yesterday I got 6 new additions to the croft, 6 beautiful ducks to keep my 3 drakes in check! They are a little scared of me at the mo so i will post some pics when they are a little braver, but are happy to come up from the burn for grain! They have also managed to get the drakes to swim, I was almost going to have to show them myself!!

Merino & Herdwick Mittens - Part 1

Over the weekend I have been busy, on Saturday the postman delivered my bi-monthly magazine, called YarnMaker, http://www.yarnmaker.co.uk/ by Dorothy Lumb. This is the first UK Spinning magazine and is about all things sheep. Every magazine has a project to make using handspun yarn, and this time it is mittens.

As the winter is fast approaching up here I decided to make these, as it will be the first time I have spun yarn to make a specific project (I have always decided on a project after making the yarn). I have chosen to use 2 very different fleeces to make these, the softest 100% organic white Merino, and a very corse dark grey Herdwick fleece. Herdwick are native to the Lake District, England and do not have much value as the fleece is not regarded as very useful. I am about to disprove this.....

The pictures below show you the first part of the project, I have spun the Merino and plyed it to create a yarn, and I am about to spin the Herdwick, which I am going to card to give it a fluffy feel when spun. keep an eye out for the finished mittens over the next few weeks..

Weaving and Spinning, Weaving and Spinning....

Finished the first tweed today, and its off the loom waiting for the Mill to come and collect it. It is a good job they collect as I have trouble lifting them, they are very heavy! A few pictures for you to look at below, the first is the tweed being taken off the loom, the second is it tied in a bundle and waiting for collection.

This evening I have finished spinning the Merino/Alpaca yarn, it justs needs washing to set the twist and its ready to use, I have spun it fairly thick so it will knit up quickly, look out for what I make with it soon.

A day of two halfs

Today I have spent the morning weaving, nearly finished this one, then on to the next. Had a few ups and downs with the loom lately but (touch wood) all seems OK now. This is the latest pattern that I have been weaving for Harris Tweed Hebrides, its a herringbone in black and grey.

After lunch we had a trip to Ness, to visit the colour factory, a fantastic place for all things crafty. The dog came too and we had a nice, if not cold walk on the beach at Port Nis, the waves were huge and the tide was comming in so we stayed with in running distance to the car, didn't fancy a dip in there today!

Now just settled down to spin some yarn, a gorgeous aubergine alpaca with 100% Organic white merino, a truly scrumptious blend, look out for pictures soon.



lots of Christmas knitting!

Well, today it is raining and cold, with breaks in the rain where beautiful sunshine shines through, so managed to walk the dog during a dry spell on the beach. I am currently sat inside, watching the next moody grey cloud develop, working on my Christmas knitting! I have given myself a challenge to make at least 1 present for each person this year, so have been busy, and I am now on the last (at the moment, until I see a lovely pattern or yarn that is begging to be a Christmas gift).

I am also planning the next few things that will be going on Folksy.com soon, so keep an eye out for some lovely warm winter essentials.

Wrap up and keep warm!

First Post, hmmm what to say....

Well Hello! and Welcome to my blog.

This is the first time I have ever used a blog so forgive me if I start altering colours and adding bits and pieces to it as I go, as I dont really know what a lot of the buttons do!

A little about me, I am a newly trained Harris Tweed Weaver, I did and SVQ that finished in May 2010 so I have not been weaving long! I am 25 and me and my family moved to the Isle of Lewis, Scotland in Sept 2009, as we wanted to escape the 'rat race' of a town in England. We have a croft, about 3 acres, and currently have 43 hens and 3 drakes. We are shortly getting sheep to add to this, oh and we have a dog, Milo.

I not only weave, I am a spinner, knitter and crocheter and I experiment with weaving on different basic looms with different fabrics. I have a Folksy shop, called Unique Chic Fibre Crafts, which can be found at http://www.folksy.com/shops/NikkiKnits

I sell hand made items, hand spun yarn and rugs which are made from waste frabric from the weaving process, that would other wise get thrown away.

Not sure what else to write today, so I will leave you with a picture of my lovely drakes..