Down on the Beach

We live a short drive away from some rather good, deserted beaches. The dogs love the beach so we try to go down quite often. They must run miles chasing after balls, and there are so many good smells...



We also wanted to go down to the beach to collect some driftwood. Dad has been making "things" with it which he's been selling at local markets, and supplies were running low.



In the end we maybe got a little enthusiastic, carrying several bags of driftwood back to the car was rather hard work!

Next time, we'll check the tides as well, there's only so many times you can put up with a wave overflowing your wellies!

My first handspun

I appear to be enabling a few newbie spinners right now, so I thought it would be nice to put my first spinning attempts out there...



The brown at the front was my first ever skein, and suffers from that typical beginners problem of chronic under-plying, it's a bit lumpy bumpy, but actually most of the unevenness would be much improved by a good plying job.

The other skeins were originally white, but were attacked with some leftover dye from dyeing a sock blank a few years ago. They're far more even, but in comparison with my efforts now are maybe a little dense...

Spinning really is like riding a bike, at first you'll fall off, and it all seems a bit wobbly, and you have to concentrate, then muscle memory develops and becomes something you can do without thinking.

Making Monday- Trick or Treat

Thank heavens for Making Mondays, without them my poor blog would be completely abandoned.
On Friday a very large box arrived, out of it came my new wheel. She was a little dirty, but I put her together and she span. However the more I looked at her the more I realised that she'd been a little neglected in her past. So I spent Saturday cleaning her up, and giving her a good coat of Danish oil. She now glows.


She's an EasySpin, made in Devon by in the 80's by a man whose wife was in the Devon Guild of Weavers and Spinners and Dyers. They moved away from the area, and no one really knows a great deal more about them. There seem to be a few about in the UK, though not a great number.

I bought her because I want to get in to doing more yarns like this-


A ply of Black Welsh Mountain and Silk, with a coiled ply of Merino and Silk. It's super bulky and was great fun to spin (it went up in shop called Trick or Treat and disappeared off the shelf almost immediately). Though in the process of spinning it I did manage to trap my finger between the drive wheel and the upright, which still really hurts...