Lamb's Wool Ikat

Last week I was demonstrating weaving on three days, Thursday, Saturday (at MTF) and Sunday (Kennet Valley Guild at Newbury). So I decided I had better warp up. In tidying up earlier in the week I had found an ikat warp of lambs wool.

I tied on to the back beam irregularly to give the lightning effect, then wove with some lambswool of the same weight I dyed years ago in violet. It looks a little stiff because I have not washed it yet. Anyway this was finished by the end of Saturday including all the finishing and fringing.

So I decided to spend Saturday making some needlebooks using leftover scraps of woven fabric. I always make sure there is a sample to file with the records but, after that, any bits and pieces get shoved in a drawer with the hope that I can think of something to do with them. This idea came from Cally Booker but the big difference is that she is a perfectionist and her needlebook is carefully stitched whereas mine are done with glue but I have reinforced the cover with grey board so my excuse is that I am treating them as books!! I managed to make six of these at the Newbury Show. They are being pressed at the moment and I am not sure about a closure. I think it would spoil the appearance but they gape at the moment. You would be surprised at how much fabric you use up doing this.

Kennet Valley Guild has a stand (actually more of a sit) at the Berkshire Agricultural Show every year. Whenever I have done a stint there, we have had a place in the Crafts Tent as well as in the Sheep Lines. This year we were only in the Sheep Lines which was much nicer. There were all these spinners and knitters sitting in a ring in the middle of pens full of baaing sheep and sheep were being moved from pen to ring and back again. Some sheep took exception to this and dug their heels in, especially the Soy and North Ronaldsay. So it was all highly entertaining. What was a bit worrying and I still have to solve the problem is that of the Leicester Longwool. I rather like this - when it is turned into yarn. I was introduced to a man who has a flock of these and ended up with a sackful of fleece. I can't spin and it looks grubby. The effect is of dreadlocks. I can see a bit of bartering going on here.

Autumn is on its way and the Euonymus is always first to colour up. Now two conifers have been removed, it can be seen from the house. The tree in the foreground is my birch 'Silver Ghost'. It was put in last autumn and is doing well.