Muddy Sheep
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Patterns
  • Tutorials
  • About
  • Northern Flurries Shawl

Fabulous Fibre East

28/7/2014

4 Comments

 
Picture
And when do I think I am going to find time to learn to spin? I asked myself this while gazing at a beginner's drop spindle, some fluff and a page of instructions neatly packaged together in a plastic bag.  Mostly I was worrying that I would find the time and become so entranced with the whole thing that within a year my bedroom would be bursting with clouds of rainbow-coloured roving, a spinning wheel and maybe a couple of sheep.

This is what Fibre East does to you. 

I went with my children on Saturday and loved it. As well as the obvious attractions for me of the merino, silk and cashmere treasures available to buy, there was plenty for us all to do. First on the list was a sheep-shearing roadshow. I was amazed at how calm the sheep was through the process and how easy the shearer made it look. I think he may have done it before. 

Having seen where the fleece came from, my youngest asked to buy one for himself. 

"But what would you do with it?" I asked.

"Cuddle it," he said.

How was I supposed to argue with that? I did persuade him to find something a little more manageable than an entire fleece, and he chose the hand-dyed merino in the picture above. He even paid for it out of his own pocket money.

We were excited to discover a community farm on the site open to all the visitors. Piglets cooling off in their water butt made us laugh and we found sheep who were stoical about us petting their fleecy necks.  We must have looked very warm, because a lady working on the farm took us to stand for a minute or two in the chiller room. I bought two cold drinks from the shelves to show my gratitude!

Inspired by the calm industry of the spinners around the show, I gave in and bought the beginner's spinning kit. And I didn't even try to resist the wool tops (fleece ready for spinning) from Adelaide and Walker. They enticed me in with sheep breeds that I have read about and researched for Yarnsub but not actually knitted with as yet. Gotland, Corriedale and Wensleydale came home with me. Plus some Blue Faced Leicester in three natural shades, twisted into candy stripes like a piece of sheep-meets-humbug art. I think I might keep it like that, it makes me smile. 
Picture
I could hardly keep putting one foot in front of the other by the time the children and I had done the mile walk in the sun back to the station, an hour on the train and the slow roast on the Central Line back to East London. Exhausted. But I'm going back next year; I have to, I've arranged to meet a fellow beginner spinner on the Woodland Turnery stall to compare progress. 

Anyone know how to keep sheep?
Picture
Picture
Picture
4 Comments

Thank you for your help!

27/7/2014

0 Comments

 
I've had such a great response to announcing that Yarnsub is live. Lots of people have said that they've been looking for something like this for a long time, which is heartening to hear.

I am also grateful to the Designers group on Ravelry, who pointed out where some matches didn't seem right. Most of those discrepancies have already been fixed, with one requiring a change in the software. Sock yarns weren't showing up with the substitutes that people expected, but we've been able to fix this now.

Others have used our new 'Report an issue' links to tell us where there's a problem with the data. Every problem reported gives us the chance to make the site better, so keep them coming.


It's also been fun to find out how you've used the site to find just the sub that you need, it's great to feel useful!


Wendy
Picture
A gratuitous shot of some you-can't-leave-here-without-me Apples and Pears sock yarn.
0 Comments

New yarn substitution website! (And a request for help...)

23/7/2014

58 Comments

 
Picture
Our brand-new yarn substitution website - Yarnsub.com - is up and running! Type in the name of a yarn and you'll be presented with a list of substitution options, each one matched by gauge, texture, fiber content and fiber characteristics. You can also look for a kind of yarn - "cotton worsted", for example - and see a list of possibilities.

When looking for a substitution myself I had assumed there would already be a website to help. I found lots of articles on the art of yarn substitution, but I couldn't find anywhere that I could just enter a yarn name and receive accurate suggestions for a replacement.

I thought something like that might be useful.

Luckily for me, my husband is a bit amazing at writing software and he liked the idea too. While he was working on the tech side, I got to work on some yarn research. (It was a tough job, but someone had to do it!) I researched different fibers, swatched, experimented with gauge and tried out all manner of exotic and not-so exotic yarns. I looked at textures, drape, warmth, elasticity, absorbency, durability, luster and softness. And then we condensed the knowledge into a form that could be processed by the software to find accurate substitutes.

Eventually, we are aiming to provide "buy it now" links to retailers from yarn pages. This will help us cover our costs and allow us to keep Yarnsub available and up-to-date far into the future.

But for now, I'd simply like to start getting the word out. Currently the website doesn't come up high in Google searches. To change that I need more sites to link to it. Would you be able to mention Yarnsub.com on your website, blog or on Facebook or Twitter? I would be extremely grateful! Do you have any other suggestions about how to get the word out? I'm not in any way a marketing expert, so any ideas you have would be very helpful.

I'd also like to improve the usefulness of the website, so if you have any suggestions or if you have any problems, please let me know. Already I've had the suggestion that more images would be helpful - those are being added as fast as I can get copyright permission from yarn manufacturers.

I'd love to hear if you like the site and if you find it useful, but I'd also really appreciate any criticism or feedback about it. Are the notes on a particular substitution clear and do they give you confidence? Are there any matches you don't agree with? Have I missed an important brand? Please don't hold back! The sooner I know about issues, the better. 
Email me: [email protected]

Thank you!

Wendy

58 Comments

Increases: Make 1 left, right, knit-side, purl-side, with hole, no hole...

17/7/2014

45 Comments

 
Picture

Increases Part 1 - Make 1

A friend in my knitting group asked me to write a post about the different increases in knitting. It's going to have to be several posts - why am I still surprised about how long these things take to pull together? 

I'm starting with the work-horse of the increases: make 1, abbreviated to 'M1' usually in patterns. It can lean to the left or the right, and it can be made on the knit or the purl side. And if you don't twist the new stitch as you form it you make a hole. Pictures of each of these are shown below.

Picture
An M1 increase is formed between two stitches, using the length of yarn, or 'bar', that runs between the two stitches where you want a new stitch. The bar is shown in the picture on the right.

Patterns often don't specify which increase to use, just saying M1 rather than M1L (for left-leaning) or M1R (for right-leaning). Then you can do whichever you like. I find the left-leaning version easiest to do and I've shown it first.


Picture

Picture

It's less common to increase on the purl side, but it's useful to know how: 
Picture

Picture

So for a left-leaning Make 1, whether on a knit or a purl row, move the left hand needle away from you to pick up the bar. For a right-leaning Make 1, move the left hand needle towards you to pick up the bar. I remember this because if someone has left they're going away from me.

Finally, if you want to leave a decorative hole, then you can - just don't twist the stitch:
Picture

I want these tutorials to be as useful as possible, so let me know if there's anything that's not clear or where I could make improvements.


Next post will be all about Yarnsub - wahey!
45 Comments

Bloglovin'...

6/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
0 Comments
    Picture
    Yarnsub
    Find your perfect substitution

    Subscribe...

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    follow us in feedly
    Follow on Bloglovin
    Muddy Sheep on Pinterest

    Blogs I read
    Attic 24
    Knitsofacto
    LIttle Cotton Rabbits
    Mason-Dixon Knitting
    Planet Penny
    Poppy in Stitches
    Purl About Town
    Woolwinding

    Archives

    December 2016
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013


    Categories

    All
    Cake
    Children Knitting
    Contoured Intarsia
    Garter Stitch
    Gift Knitting
    Intarsia
    Knitting Group
    Knitting In Public
    Technique
    The Cat
    The Fish Blanket
    Yarnsub

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.