Washing Fleece

It’s been a glorious summer when I ought to have been washing my fleeces for the winter but somehow there have been other things to do.

I have a Shetland fleece that is rather special. I chose it myself from the fleece store at Jamieson and Smith in Lerwick. I have spun some of it ‘in the grease’ to obtain a very fine yarn – in both respects ( more later perhaps)

The Shetland fleece – it does have a lot of lanolin etc in it and looks quite yellow!

 

However, I have decided that the fleece now needs washing for the winter. My aim is to maintain the crimp and some of the lanolin if possible. On doing some research I found the FSM (fermented suint method). I have not tried this before and decided, after much thinking, to try it with my Shetland fleece – well some of it. So I set up the bath just over a week ago and it seemed to be working well. I have now done lots of rinsing and spun it in the washing machine on a slow spin (in a pillow case to protect it). I am SO pleased with the result so far. The fleece is so white and there is some lanolin still present which should help the fine spinning considerably. I am amazed as I was very sceptical as to whether this would work.

The added advantages of this method are that only rainwater is used (at normal temperature) & it washes itself so to speak. The big disadvantage is the smell – not something to do inside the house!

‘So far, so good’ as the saying goes. So the next batch has gone in today and that should be done in 2 to 3 days, as I have set up the bath. You use the same water and apparently it gets better.

I’m so impressed that I have set up another bath with some of my lovely Jacob fleece from my friend Rebecca W in Norfolk. The fleece is not so oily so it might take longer to get the bath established.

 

Embroidery from the RSSK Collection at Gawthorpe

Well what a wonderful unexpected surprise I have just had.  I have been poorly recently and not got out much recently so it was a treat to get to the library in Alsager last week. I flicked through an embroidery book and noticed a reference to Macintosh early on so decided to take the book home. What a gem it is. The book is Early 20^th Century Embroidery Techniques, written and beautifully illustrated by Gail Marsh the ex curator of the RBSK textile collection at Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, Yorkshire . My husband looked on the Internet and found out about the collection noticing that there was an embroidery exploration day on August 9th, just the thing to cheer me up.

The course was extremely well planned and organised - gloves and a magnifying glass were placed out for us. The curator Rachel Terry was supported by a very helpful volunteer and throughout the afternoon both of them made every effort to allow us to appreciate the chosen items to the full. Rachel is extremely knowledgeable about the items (approximately 50 were chosen for the afternoon). The best word I can use about the afternoon is excellent. The course is held in the textile library - a real treat in itself. If you are interested in embroidery (in its widest sense) , patchwork or lace do watch out for other courses based on the rich and fascinating RBSK collection, you will not be disappointed. www.gawthorpetextiles.org.uk I am looking forward to returning.

A classic man’s jumper in WOOL

It’s not easy to find the ideal man’s jumper- especially if he wants it to fit (why not?),  to be wool & to be a colour of his choosing- not just the colours that happen to be in the shops at that time.

True you can find men’s wool jumpers in a bigger range than I think for women’s jumpers, but they are usually very fine knit and therefore lack warmth in wearing. Of course they also miss the fact that they are not a custom fit and may not have the ideal ‘neck’.

So, having got the fit right (this is not the first I have knitted in this design), the next step is to decide on the yarn. This yarn is Knoll Supersoft Nm 11.5/2 from my friend Sally at www.dewsnapswoollens.co.uk. It’s a great yarn for the knitting machine and I guess for hand knitting too. It comes in a lovely large range of colours too.

Then to think about the features that will really make it a high quality garment – fully fashioned decreases for the sleeves, my custom neckline to the right depth, virtually invisible machine constructed shoulder seams, side and armhole seams to match and more importantly to me seams in the ribbing that can’t be found. These details are a delight to produce and do make all the difference to a plain garment where there is nowhere to hide!

A stage in the construction of the perfect depth neckline

 

More about other features that I mention above can be found on my website www.janetmajorimage.co.uk under knitting (designer).

Sleeves too long -a refit needed

Are we evolving shorter arms? It might seem so if you've tried to buy a jumper or cardigan recently! From talking to friends it's just not me who seems to have shrinking arms. The problem is made worse by the fact that if a jumper is of synthetic construction then the sleeves are likely to stretch even more during its life.
I recently measured the sleeves on such a jumper and found they were 4” inches too long.
Permanent action was needed.
So I decided to shorten the sleeves and make a feature of them.

The buttons match the ones on the shoulder.
So this has turned from an irritating jumper into one that I love!
I hope this has given you some ideas for any re- fitting needed in your wardrobe. Let's just have clothes that we love and that love us!

If you're short on ideas for your wardrobe challenges you could fix up a session with me for some practical solutions.

Thoughts on sewing and the sewing bee

I try and have a positive outlook and to those of you that attend my workshops you will know I do my best to be encouraging. If you think you have a disaster we virtually always find a way round it. I am passionate about encouraging textile making skills in all who shows any interest.

So I was really looking forward to the Sewing Bee. Did you this last night? I don't know what I expected from this, but it wasn't this programme. I was very disappointed. To me the joy is as much in the process as the outcome- I believe in the principle of the slow textile movement. To me quality of the finished piece is very important if I am putting in time making and designing.

Some of my key ingredients for a really good fit and finish- a body double, making a toile and in most cases interfacing.

If I am making a garment for the first time I would make a toile and fit that. I think the programme reinforced my view that this pays. Fail to plan means plan to fail came to mind during the programme! The problem seems to be the format of the programme, although the participants might have been chosen for interesting viewing. Listening to their comments during the programme did make me concerned about some lack of basic showing skills.

So I come back to what is the purpose of the programme? Is it to get people sewing? If this is the case racing against a clock will result in disappointment. Is it to show basic sewing skills? If so, designing a garment for an unknown model in a short time seems ambitious.

Patrick was extremely smart, knowledgeable and I felt quite encouraging. But was May the same, did her dress fit well, was it stylish, was it inspirational?
What did you think?

Handspun Collar

Continuing to work towards a thicker cowl, this is the ultimate. It is another collar really, but hand knitted as a short scarf.  I saw the pattern on Ravelry and thought it a great idea. It is a sampler of 6 cable patterns and such fun to do. It’s called a cable sampler neck wrap if you look for it. You work seven squares of different patterns with a nice rib border all round. There are instructions to get the buttonhole in the right place too. I decided it was just right for some of white yarn from ‘Elf’ one of my lovely Jacob fleece from m friend Becky in Norfolk.

The finished collar is lovely, and I am going to fix the button is such a way that I can change it easily.

What is amazing is it just looks the wrong shade of cream with me new cream jumper – this (latter) is very bleached and rather than match the two ‘clash’ to my critical eye. I so like the effect with the blue ‘shell’ button that I am thinking about dyeing the entire collar a lighter shade of blue! This looks like a chance to experiment with my acid dyes to get the exact shade I want. What fun.

Fashined lace Cowl

I've been investigating transfer lace on my knitting machine and making time to understand how the machine works. Having spent several days on this I am now in a position where I can develop my own lace where there are several stitch movements before you even knit a row. This is called fashioned lace as you’ll know if you are a machine knitter- if a hand lace knitter  its  lace like feather and fan.
So I decided to knit another lace cowl- thicker than the last fine one but not very thick. I choose a 4 ply acrylic so I could steam press the cowl so it has a good drape.

I called the pattern I did horseshoe lace and having worked out how to hand tool it, I decided  or use a punchcard although I was a little anxious about having 3 stitches on a needle in the pattern. I've devised a custom cast off to mirror the curves that develop at the cast on edge during knitting.

The key to a good result is to take it slowly and check each transfer carefully.
Success first time and another cowl for the cream jumper, both of which I love.
I've added a little custom button modification to help stabilise it as I move.
This confirms, to me, taking time over the planning, making and finishing and attention to detail.

Now for cowl number 3- thicker still!