Fife Guild and Inkle Weaving

I try to go to two Guilds every month, the East Central Scotland Guild (aka Fife Guild) and the Edinburgh Guild. They both require taking a couple of buses to get to, but I feel they are eminently worth it. The Guilds often run workshops to teach members about various aspects of weaving, spinning, and dyeing. Today there was a workshop on inkle loom weaving. For a crafter with an active interest in premodern crafts I was naturally the first to sign up. Since there was no way for me to get a borrowed inkle loom home, I co-warped another members loom (she'd never used it before herself) and I learned a lot about the whole process, enough to be confident in trying it by myself some day. I quite fancy have an inkle-woven watch-strap or perhaps as a strap for my camera!

Moment of sheer stupidity #3547

Yesterday I was finally able to spin and ply the soay-cross fleece I’d been working for a local sheep-farmer. Sat in front of the telly spinning on my Joy quite happily. When it came time to ply I smugly set up the two spun bobbins in the built-in lazy kate, an empty third bobbin all prepped, and started plying - my first time plying on my pretty new Joy.

There was zero uptake.

I adjusted the tension. No difference. I oiled the flyer shaft. No difference. The bobbin just would not turn to pull on the yarn.

Finally, I gave up and carted my Country Spinner 2 down to the living room to do the ply, my Joy sitting to one side silently mocking me. Afterwards I went to bed feeling rather down. When I woke up this morning, I knew instantly what had gone wrong.

I’d forgotten to reverse the brake band!

Like a lot of spinners, I have a single spring on my brake band. This stops the bobbins uptake if you accidentally start spinning the wrong way. You have to reverse the direction it takes over the bobbin if you want to ply.

Oops.

Progress Update

I'm coming to a close on my therapy. Just three more sessions left. My therapist is very happy with my progress so far and I have to admit I am too. I'm no longer subconsciously afraid of leaving the house. I'm going out four or five times a week, at least to Asdas. I'm working on relying less on my coping mechanisms (I had developed a whole selection to allow me to shut myself off within my own head at need). I'm stuttering less, although it becomes really obvious when I'm stressed still, or faced with a sudden confrontation. My memory lapses are still continuing, although if I can stay calm I can sometimes work around them. And between a super-comfy recliner chair we got for me before Christmas, and my new mobile smartphone (with internet! and Japanese apps! and all sorts!!!) I'm spending a lot more time downstairs with the family too. This progress has all been marked by increased shows of trust from the family (which I don't think they realise they're doing) like being trusted on my own with Niece3, or being trusted to go pick up my lil sis when she takes a funny turn.

In six weeks, when I have my last therapy appointment, I'll be relying more than ever on the supporting framework of friends and family that I've been working on coming back into touch with.

RAK3 went off successfully. Technically I'd probably only count it half a RAK since I was selling a spinning wheel to a student in London who wanted very badly to progress from spindle to wheel but had a very limited budget. I had taken in an abused Traddy in early December and fixed it up beautifully. I sold it to her for about half what it would have fetched on ebay. That was the RAK part. I hope she gets a lot of joy from it - I know mine has brought me a whole new chapter of life!

My epilepsy meds are reaching their final dose level. They seem to be working okay. I'm still getting shakes, very very occasional absences, and a single small seizure, but the heavy twitches/jerks have gone, there's been no more big seizures, and the absences are much less frequent.

So all-in-all I think it's been a rather good sequence of improvements.  

Dealing with Getting Better

It's been a little over a month since my last post. Since then I've had several incremental increases in my epilepsy meds, received my bus pass, and had my ATOS assessment. I also got myself a bright lime green trolley bag (as in, what grannies use to go shopping) which has been a lifesaver.

Pros

• I made it to my ATOS appointment without totally bailing. While this was due in no small part to lil-sis agreeing to accompany me, I'm still proud of myself for going. 
• I've been using my bus pass and trying to go out of the house as many days a week as I'm up to. Often this is just to Asdas (which is where the trolley bag comes in so very handy) but it's still getting out of the house. 
• I've been over to Edinburgh three times. The first time, just before I received my bus pass, was to the January spinning guild meeting. Bro-in-law drove me over with the for-sale Traddy in the back and me a nervous wreck. I made it through okay without too much stress but on the way home after I completely ran out of spoons and ended up bailing on dinner with big-sis and bro-in-law. 
• The second time was after I'd received my pass. I went over to the Edinburgh museum with lil-sis and Niece3. We saw the Vikings exhibit (really good btw!) and although I ran out of spoons a couple of times, I had my new thermos filled with tea and I could just sit and have a cuppa for a bit. Explained to lil-sis what was up and it all worked out fine. We had a good time and then came home. 
• The third time I went to the February Guild meeting on my own. I dealt with the buses over there and back by myself. I found the venue with only a little panic. I remembered the faces (and some names) of people I'd talked to the previous month. I interacted well. Then I went back into the City Centre and on a whim joined the Edinburgh City Library. I briefly checked out the new Manga Mania shop. And then I came home. 

Cons

• At the ATOS assessment I was a nervous wreck. My memory completely failed and lil-sis had to help me answer some of the most basic questions. My stutter became quite pronounced and I was shaking so hard I had difficulty even holding the cup of hot chocolate from my thermos. My lack of spoons afterwards was so bad that on the last bit of going home lil-sis had to take my bags. If I'd been alone just for that bit (let alone any of the rest of it) I probably would have sat down by the side of the road, called for a taxi to take me the last 10 minutes of walking time, and cried the whole way. 
• I got a new mobile (an HTC Desire C). While this has been a very good thing by itself, I have become completely dependent on it for mp3, books, internet, even movies - all the things I'd been using as crutches for coping with the world. I'm afraid of the battery dying and I'm spending an alarming amount of time contemplating additional power supplies for my new God. 
• I've almost stopped crocheting and spinning, at least compared to my usual enthusiasm. I just don't seem to have the energy for it. Due in great part to....
• After the ATOS assessment, all three trips to Edinburgh, and a few other excursions as well, I was so drained of spoons that I was pretty much a lifeless zombie for the next 2-3 days. I don't even remember much about those days, just that Mum had to keep reminding me to eat, and had to ask if I'd taken my meds. This lifelessness doesn't seem to show any signs of going away, even though Psych said it was a process of building up my immunity to going out again. 

That's pretty much it for now. Beth is still an adorable fluffball and Pyro is still my darling baby girl. 

Official

I officially have Adult Onset Epilepsy.

How do I feel about this? I suppose I'm glad it's not any of the other things that could have been causing my symptoms. I think I'm adjusting so easily because so much of my life has already been spent dealing with chronic conditions, and because my siblings cope with it too. It helps that so many people have been supportive, and that I have the silver lining of that free bus pass to hold on to.

But mostly it sucks. I hate that I have yet another thing wrong with me. I hate that I'm so vulnerable now to my own body's idiosyncrasies. I hate that I have to take more tablets every day "for my own good". And I hate how accepting I am of it, as an admittance of how trained and wired my mind has become to Life screwing me over yet again.

Life that was already kinda fuzzy around the edges from the sleepiness caused by my antidepressants has been made worse by my antiepileptics. I'm back to that state I was in over the summer, having to sleep late and take naps in order to remain coherent while awake.

The good things that have happened have all been based around my fibre-addiction. I finished my Rusalka Cowl, and it's wonderfully warm. I went to the p/Hop in Glasgow and - asides from coming home with a smashing haul of yarn - I got to thus spend time with Shae and Lori (and meet the amazing Kia the Ocecat). Fibre-y parcels have been arriving regularly, as Secret Santas and Christmas ordering (I've been shopping on behalf of my family this year!) have been delivered. And I've been introduced to Livestream and Blogtalkradio through Namaste Farms - two venues of amazingly interactive learning.

In other news I'm jumping through the hoops of blood tests again to see how I'm doing one year on from being put on iron tablets. And I'll be getting new spectacles as of next week.

Icky, Grotty, Tired

This morning, the biggest fit I've had so far.

This afternoon, getting to meet my big bro's current partner while struggling with stuffiness.

This evening, full blown cold.

I am utterly exhausted. Please someone bring me new batteries.

Pretty waves on the Rusalka Cowl

In other news, I'm almost finished my Rusalka Cowl, and I spun a ginormous skein of yarn on the new CS2.

Remember, that bobbin holds a kilo!

A massive 510g skein!

 Now I'm going to suck some Strepsils and drink some warm tea.

New Wheel! So Shiney!

Isn't she beautiful?

Isn't she perfect?

Isn't she shiney?

Unwaxed bobbin parts on left for comparison.

She bloody well better be! This is nearly TWO WEEKS! of sanding, waxing, polishing, primping and preening. But she's so, so lovely. I can't wait to spin on her!
 

Country Spinner Mark 2 Update

My CS2 and accompanying fluff arrived on Tuesday. I spent Tuesday-Thursday sanding and Friday-Sunday (this evening) waxing. And...

I FINALLY FINISHED WAXING IT!

That is, the first coat.

I’m so tired, and tomorrow I have the dentists AND an MRI. :-( Since it arrived on Tuesday all I’ve done in my free time is work on the wheel. I have to keep reminding myself that the effort I’m expending now will be worth it, and comparing the part I’m working on with my Traddy so that I think “Yup, still prefer the wax finish over the oil.”

I’ll take tomorrow off from the wheel. I’ll have my crochet with me for travelling and waiting-rooms. And when I get home I’ll just watch telly or read for a bit.

The ginormous bobbin is being left until after the wheel is assembled so I can have photos showing how the wax changes the raw wood, and will probably just get the one coat of beeswax for now.

The good news is that I can now judge that I’ll have enough beeswax in the tin to do the three coats I originally wanted. Whether or not I’ll have the spoons to do that remains to be seen.

Have some photos...

Country Spinner Mark 2!

That's my order in, all official and proper! It's not the most expensive thing I've ever bought, but it came quite close! I will be one of the first people in the UK to own the Mark 2 - so very exciting on several levels.

I have to wait a couple of weeks for delivery as the distributor won't get the wheel to my supplier till the end of the week and it'll be about Wednesday next week that it leaves them. When it arrives though it'll have company! 500g of assorted dyed merino, 300g of dyed alpaca, a new click bearing for Ai my Traddy, and a packet of needle-felting needles! And I'll be getting the lot of it for LESS than the advertised price of the Country Spinner on its own! Can't beat a Fifer for tracking down a bargain.

More "twitches" today but not a full seizure. So that's good.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I've already recieved a fair few of my presents and cards, but I'm still looking forward to cake at dinnertime. Yes, I'm 28 and I still get birthday cake. I intend to have birthday cake even when I'm 120 and they have to blend it and give me a straw to eat it. :P

Epilepsy and Spinning Wheels

As some of you know, I've been in the process of being tested for epilepsy. I've had a number of absenses (being termed "episodes" by the doctors until it's official) which we're trying to keep track of and some slight judderyness when tired, but so far that was it.

On the other side of the story I’ve been toying with the idea of getting an Ashford Country Spinner to compliment my Ashford Traddy… well… pretty much ever since the announcement from Ashford that they were going to release the Mark 2. Then I got my birthday monies early and decided to take the plunge and start the ordering process. But I was still feeling a little guilty about spending so much on something I just “wanted” rather than “needed”.

However, today I had my first “definate” seizure. :-( I’ve been having absenses for a while now but I had never noticed anything seizure-like. Today I had one in the kitchen while my younger sister (also epileptic) was visiting. My whole body jerked and the cup I was holding went flying. The family made me sit down and I promptly burst into tears. Lil’sis hugged me (which is INCREDIBLELY unusual - she’s not at ALL huggy) and later (after I’d calmed down) informed me that my arms continued to twitch and jerk the whole time I was crying. Between the seizure and the emotional outbreak I spent the rest of today exhausted.

I also stopped feeling the least bit guilty about blowing that cash on a second wheel.

So properly saying “Yay!” now, and on Monday when the shop I want to order from opens again I’ll complete the order process. I won’t get it for my birthday on Tuesday, but at least I’ll know it’s on its way.

PF Camp Scotland 2012

Back from camp, finished catching up, and now to write up the whole weekend for the benefit of all and sundry.

On Thursday I was collected by Steve and we decided to keep things simple. So I brought the bare minimum of stuff and kipped in Steve's tent. One of my hessian bags took the box of spindles, braids of fibre, and the tupperware with my minimised selection of jewellery. I had no plans to have a stall, but if I don't have the shinies it's guaranteed someone will ask for them! I spun while he drove and we made it to Perth where we were staying over at Louise's place again. Little William has gotten so big! And still such the charmer.

We had fish and chips for tea. During the evening chatter, Steve reached into his bag and produced a present for me - a Saxon lead spindle whorl he'd found on a dig twenty years previously! I was thrilled. I piece of history that I could instantly relate to.

The next morning we picked up our camp groceries and started the drive up to Moray. I discovered a cunning spinning bowl in an upturned soda can...

... and delighted in the usual drive-by scenery of the Highlands...

Spinning may have been involved. ;-)

We got to Inchberry and set up - or Steve set up while I went on a nice long circuit of greetings hugs, followed by tracking down a suitable stick from the woods for my Saxon whorl, and tested its spinning prowess.

That night there was a campfire and old friends caught up while new friends got to know each other. And I spun while talking to people and highly impressed everyone, natch. The one other spinner had brought her drop spindle and a bag of her lovingly gathered "blown" fleece, and her carders. I was able to give her some tips on carding, and showed her the potential of her spindle with some practice. I hope she felt encouraged, and not that I was being mouthy.

The next day was the majority of the talks and workshops. My big ordeal was the spinning workshop that I'd been planning since I somehow agreed to do it. Only I was supposed to have 4 other spinners there with their spindles. Three of them hadn't been able to attend and the forth just had one bottom whorl, so the spindle situation, even with all of mine out and going, was a little rough. About half the assembled could spin at any one time. This actually worked out okay because the people who were just there for a giggle had left by the time I pulled out the fun coloured silk-blend fluff!

I made a point of explaining and showing how easy it was to make a DIY spindle, and everyone who wanted some was given fluff to take away and get them started. I was particularly impressed by the speedy progress some folks showed, and especially by the rapid signs of addiction my friend Charli-Ann revealed, when she "borrowed" my midi-turk and made this!

She had managed to snaffle quite a bit of the fluff and proceeded to spin it up into a rather artistic colour-change thick-and-thin single, and then quizzed me on how to set it! I think I felt teachers pride about that.

My favourite Ravenstonz was there, and sporting my newly-completed Critron shawl I was especially interested in the shawl pins.

My favourite was this copper penanular, featuring a couple of cute beads. I've set myself a challenge to try and make something similar by the Bruce Festival!

I didn't get any raffle tickets (trying to be good!) but Martine wound up with a fistful of winning tickets and was giving them away! I lucked into one and chose this lovely smudge-fan. It might wind up a cat toy but I plan to try and keep it nice!

On the Sunday we packed up and were headed home when Steve spotted a sign for Pictish Stones that he'd never spotted before. They had been beside an old church and had been moved into the church entryway to protect them from the elements.

They were beautiful, though the one just peaking out from the left had already suffered quite a lot from weathering. The locks I'm spinning there were VERY local, and VERY fresh!

Just up the road from the stones, a couple had been sheering their hobby flock. I made Steve pull over and I was invited into the field to watch the process and chat. It was utterly fascinating to me and erm... I may have come home with a fleece...

2.5kg of texel-cross for the princely sum of £2.10 (the change from Steve's pocket) - which was still far better than the shocking 65p a fleece the lovely couple get from the Wool Board! It was delightful though. I got to inspect the sheep, pick the fleece I wanted, and experiance it so fresh from the sheeps warmth that it was still wet with lanolin! My sheep was called Tiny, as she'd been an early lamb, and had barely been bigger than the lady's hands when born! Tiny was anything BUT when the fleece came off her! Her locks are lovely and silky, with a nice crimp. Tried to photograph, but it didn't come out well.

Then we headed back to Fife. I had finished the spin I spent most of the camp on during the Saturday night. I almost didn't as I was ready to stop when the light started going. But Peggy pulled out her windup  torch and spent at least 15minutes working the handle so I could finish the last little puff of fibre! So Sunday morning saw me start the next one! I must have been more tired from all the excitement than I realised though, because I hadn't spun much when all of a sudden Steve was telling me we were in Fife, and the spindle had drooped into my lap!

It was a very awesome weekend and my Mum now keeps commenting on how much I'm smiling around the house! Thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful!

Spinning and Irises

The yellow flag irises in the garden have flowered. Every year they spill their scent into the garden, embroidering themselves onto my summertime memories since I was a child. They've only just opened, and the scent isn't as heady as it will be in a few days, so I best enjoy them sitting close, spinning on my cocobolo russian.

Sometimes I feel quite certain that the only anchors for my sanity are Pyro and my spinning. I think most of my friends, being exceptionally intelligent individuals themselves, will appreciate the value of an activity that allows you to completely suspend your thinking. Spinning allows me to live in the moment, totally focusing on just the spinning, but also gives me the freedom to add in additional stimuli if I want to keep my brain engaged.

My Spindle Club goal this month was to complete some works-in-progress to clear my spindles prior to the upcoming Tour de Fleece starting at the end of June. I had three Spindle Club targets, and one week into May I find myself sadly distracted from working on them. I find myself using as an excuse that I will be taking one or more of the projects with me to the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference on Saturday and thus can afford to slack off a bit now. I dislike that sort of lacksidasical attitude in myself. So I decided to take weekly photos to document my progress, more as a guilt-trigger than anything else.

My three targets are a silk hankie project pack from Colorimetry, being spun on Iroko 色子. Beaujolais from Wooliebullie on etsy, being spun on Darcy and the walnut russian. And some natural grey massam being spun on the latest, a blackwood and spalted beech midi turk. All featured spindles are from Enid Ashcroft.

At the PF Conference on Saturday I'm planning on taking along my current stock of jewellery, along with the handspun skeins I've completed over the last six months. At least, that's the plan. I still have no idea how I'm going to price the handspun. The problem with such offerings is that charging according to time spent would cause the price to be astronomical. Charging according to the cost of the fibre would be far too little. If you price per metre, then what factor do you use to differentiate between lace and aran? I've been thinking about it for quite some time and still don't have much of an answer. I may well end up putting an "offers" label on the basket!

Today I made the mistake of getting into a discussion about the crafts myself and a fellow Raveller pursue. I started listing my pursuits and... lets just say it took a while. :-)

In other news, the April 2012 Prize for the Spindle Candy Self Imposed Spinning Club was 10oz of Corgi Hill Farm 50/50 bfl/silk in the limited edition colourway Spring Fling. The glowing jewel-like colours tempted the participating spinners every time we opened a new thread-page, shining at the top of our screens. But the Spinning Gods (and the RNG) smiled on myself and now this luscious prize will be winging its way to my doorstep.

Thankfully my spinning schedule is full for the next couple of months, so I have the leisure to carefully consider how best to show this beauty off. I'm so chuffed!

Dysfunctional Spinner

There's often talk on Ravelry's spinning forums about a poorly-made or requiring-repair spinning wheel or spindle, and not so much talk about the spinners themselves being dysfunctional. I mention this because a few days ago I strained my left shoulder quite badly. For two days I had a diet of painkillers and hot compresses until the shoulder healed and during that time my spinning capability went down drastically. I couldn't spin suspended at all, and I lacked the motion to use a wheel. I could only spin supported, and then on my slowest tibetan, with big rest breaks. But having the ability to do that was a lifesaver for a spinning-addict like me.

It really made me think. I don't just have quantity in my spinning life - I have variety. If I sustain an injury that might make it impossible to use a wheel, I can use a spindle. If I can't bear the weight of a drop-spindle, I have a choice of supported spindles. I have russians and tibetans and turkish spindles. I have my wheel. And I have a range of fibres in a range of preps. When I think that it was not so very long ago at all that I had just one beginners topwhorl and a bag of undyed tops I feel astounded at how far I have come and how much I have accomplished.

Spinning isn't just something I do for pleasure. It's a part of my daily life. And having the options to always keep it a part of my daily life is very precious to me.

Wash-N-Whack Days

For the non-spinners, wash-n-whack is what you do with a skein of yarn after you've spun and plyed it. You plunge the skein first into a basin of very hot soapy water and then into a basin of very cold water. This shocks the fibres and finishes the yarn

I love wash-n-whack days. It feels like the culmination of my efforts. Today there was a 19g mini-skein of natural brown corriedale 2ply, a 4oz skein of rainbow leicester longwool single, and a 100g skein of respun Hipknits silk in chocolate cherries. That last one was a freebee from its original owner who was frustrated over the breakages it had which I feel is because it wasn’t spun tightly enough for a single-ply yarn. So respun it all together and then set it with the other two skeins. Good thing I decided to set it too because it leaked dye terribly! 2 hot rinses and 4 cold before it got to a point I was happy with! Now they’re all drying and I feel very accomplished.

Since there is plenty of day left and since I've already got the wheel out, I think I'll continue on and see about spinning up the 2nd Gotland batt Malinky sent me from Sweden. The first one is already finished. I love spinning batts but they do take up a fair bit space, which is somewhat at a premium in my room right now!

Luceteer

The lucet has been out again today. Actually, it's been in overdrive. Started out by finishing the full length of embroidery silk I was doing last month. Then I worked up a bracelet length in the handspun corriedale I did yesterday on the new Mama Turk from Enid Ashcroft. I played with clasp designs for a while, not settled on one I like yet. Then I went through two shorter lengths of embroidery silk. And now I'm working on more handspun, this one a random minihank made up of leftover singles in navy english wool and lime green acrylic. I'm thinking once I've luceted this one I'll try luceting it over and see what it looks like.

Sunshiney Spinning

I've spent the last two days out in the garden spinning. I wanted to get my Leicester Longwool rainbow batts spun up before the end of the month and I have! Two whole batts, spun! And it has been so nice to be sat in the sunshine, no music or excessive noise, just the drone of the bees and the background chatter of the birds. Today my neighbour's curiosity overcame her and she came over for a chat and I brought down some of my spindles to give a wee lesson. She didn't really have the patience but was very chuffed at the little bit she did spin!

Processing Time

Today is my second day of breaking the day into hours. Yesterday really helped, I feel like I got a lot more done. Still not very aware of passing time beyond this hour and this task, but it's progress, right?

Today the "chores" continue. I want to get my room tidied. I want to list unwanted things on ebay so hopefully someone will buy them and they will vanish out into the ether. And I want to get jewellery listed on etsy. I'm also thinking about listing my handspun on etsy too, but I'm still kind of attached to it. And this fundraising needs to pay for renewal on my domain name and fees for the upcoming PF conference. Really, if I could even get as far as just photographing the jewellery I've got and posting proper photos on facebook with their prices, I would at least be getting somewhere. I could also post photos on facebook of the handspun under Dreamweaver Designs and see if there's interest? And of the stitchmarkers I've been making, to see if that generates any interest too. And getting any of that done when my mind feels like it's swaddled in cotton wool is nearly impossible. Spoon-theory can apply to many different things, but for me it's "headspace" - literally finding the space in my head to focus on something.