Spring!

Well, it should be getting warmer but today there is a bitterly cold wind. In an attempt to brighten things up, I have some 16-shaft twill throws on the loom, in Estonian wool. The warp is red and I will use a different colour for the weft in each throw, together with a contrasting twill design for each throw. I wanted to add a contemporary twist by using some bright colour combinations.

On Sunday April 12th I will be at the Knit and Stitch show at the Rheged centre in Penrith so I had better get weaving!

An Exciting New Product! Wool Pencil Roving!

I have not seen pencil roving like this for sale in the UK before! When I have visited the yarn factory in Estonia I have seen these beautiful multicoloured rolls of what looks like unspun knitting yarn and wondered what they were used for. Well, it seems one can use them in almost any textile craft there is, and they are widely used in the Baltic countries. Basically, the roll consists of a pencil thin length of washed, dyed, carded wool. The wool can then be rolled up into a ball, as in the photos, and knitted or crocheted as it is, or can be combined with a ready-spun yarn and knitted or crocheted, or used in all sorts of felt making, both wet and needle felting, to add fine detail. Moreover, the roving can be spun on a spinning wheel, again singly or in combination with other fibres and/or yarns to create original yarns, and used in the weft for weaving and tapestry weaving. So in effect it would seem to be a highly versatile item! I am starting to put together some samples which I hope to incorporate into my work and my teaching, and will be demonstrating its use whenever I get an opportunity. It is available in a wide range of single and mixed colours.

Why don't we have a UK-based weaving magazine????

Well, now I have decided to investigate the feasibility and possibility of publishing a magazine aimed predominantly at UK weavers and English-speaking weavers around Europe. There really is not anything available which contains weaving projects using yarns, materials and equipment widely available in the UK.
The Journal is certainly a fine publication for weavers, spinners and dyers but does not often contain projects and guidance for weavers.
Handwoven magazine has its merits but the ads are all for sellers in America or Canada and the yarns used in projects are often incompatible with those we use here in the UK-or at least, the terminology used to describe them often differs from the familiar usage over this side of the pond.
So, I am looking into it-I am putting out feelers, speaking with self-publishers and weavers-if any of you have thoughts, ideas or words of warning on this issue, please do let me know!