We were invited out to a birthday party this afternoon in our friends' garden. It was a lovely afternoon, but we were so pleased they had lots of trees to sit under. Otherwise it would have been unbearable. When we got home we just jumped in the pool to try and cool down - that was sitting at more than 28 degrees.
This is the "mystery" wool that Sarah found at the side of the road. I removed all the coarse hairs and it was looking quite good, so I plied it with a strand of silk. It's much better than the first attempt, but I don't think you'd want to wear it next to your skin for any length of time. It's still a bit scratchy.
And this is the lumpy, bumpy wool I've been working on . . .
. . . and I found a use for some of the cotton bolls I bought in Ikea. I'm actually quite pleased with this, it's turned out really soft. Pity there are only two balls of it.
Yesterday, I was rooting around in my cupboard for something (that I didn't actually find! - must sort it out properly one of these days) and found this little lot in a carrier bag which had been put in with something else.
I must have spun these about 3 or 4 years ago, dyed them and then put them away and forgot about them. I seem to think the one second from the right was leftover wool on a couple of bobbins that I plied together. Haven't a clue what it is, but best guess is Black Welsh Mountain and possibly Friesland dyed with lichen. Anyway I'm sure it will come in for something. The other four skeins were experiments with dip-dyeing using natural dyes and they were put away for a while because I was going to use another dye (possibly woad) to cover the light coloured bits. I'm now pleased that I didn't get round to it because I like them just as they are.
The silkworms are still growing at a rate of knots and have finished shedding their skins for a second time. They are now becoming their proper colour (black and white stripes) and I measured one today - the bigger ones are 3cm in length. Apparently they grow to about 3 inches, so they've a way to go yet.
Anyway, that's it for now - more soon. Hope the sun's shining where you are.
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