Wovember spinning and more

The plough tractor came for the first time this autumn

The plough tractor came for the first time this autumn. Hubby has to shovel the rest

I listen to audiobooks, the radio, or podcasts while spinning. On this beautiful day with sunshine, so rare in November, and fresh white glittery snow, I listen to a program on the Swedish radio about Britta Marakatt-Labba. She is a textile artist with embroidery as her prime technique. Her art is delicate, but often also makes you think. She’s talking about her art, and how she sometimes adds pieces of fish skins or other traditional Sami materials to the embroidery, or how she uses woven flour bags with swastikas left behind by German soldiers during the second world war. She’s working on a picture that tells about the horrific bombing and shooting in Oslo in 2011. She thinks a flour bag with swastikas is a very suitable fabric to embroider such a picture upon, as the Nazi ideas and the ideas of the terrorist in Oslo are much the same. She pictures not only the nature and Sami culture, but also things that upset her. The radio program is called “Vassa stygn”, “Sharp stitches”.

IMG_1938 wovember

I think the best way to find photos of her art is to google her name and go to the Images hits.

My Wovember spinning is progressing, but not quite to plans. I had planned to visit a sheep farmer last week in order to fetch a few Finn and Åland fleeces, but as so often things came in between, so I will go at the beginning of December instead. Today I spin a blue Swedish Finull-Silk blend. Earlier this month I carded wool I had acid dyed in October, and added light green silk top and white silk waste. The result is a very soft but a bit “chewy” prep that doesn’t spin quite even, but has a nice texture.

finn

The house plants try to catch all the light there is. They survived last winter, so probably they’ll survive this one too. I got two Stellar cuttings from a Swedish spinner in Stockholm last autumn, and they survived the air port security, my small carry on bag, and made roots as late as October. The Stellars are Brian West’s Vectis Glitter, the scented pelargonium is one of the rose scented. That one a neighbor presented me when it had grown too big for him. You know how plants move around 🙂

IMG_2891 pelargoner

Trip to Oulu

We visited my lovely mother-in-law in Oulu yesterday. Oulu is a nice town with a university, a botanical garden with plants that survive in Northern Scandinavia, lively business centers, beautiful parks and some interesting old buildings. It’s a technology city as well, so going to the Technopolis is a thing you don’t want to miss if you like technique.

This time of the year darkness is part of your days if you live in the northern hemisphere. The sun barely rises, and it’s setting at once. It’s also cloudy most of the time. All daytime photos in this post were taken between 10 am and 3 pm.

IMG_2849 road trip oulu

We don’t have much snow yet, but enough to make the landscape lighter. White, gray, dark green, brown in the woods. Blue road signs. Colorful advertising. Red houses and barns in the countryside. Red lights in the cities. Are there any green lights? Hubby thinks not. Not enough anyway. He’s the one who drives, I just meditate, so I don’t mind looking at red.

IMG_2852 Kempele

IMG_2847 road trip

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I like the street lamps in central Oulu.

IMG_2865 oulu

We wanted to go to the museum in Oulu, but we couldn’t find it before my bad ankles stopped co-operating… I wanted to look at the kind of backstrap riddle heddle looms we have in the Nordic countries, but it’ll have to wait. Maybe next time. I’ve said so for the last 20 years. I think there’s an evil spirit preventing me from going to the museum in Oulu. But now we thing we know in which area it supposedly is, hiding and lurking amidst the trees in a park.

On the way home it was totally black except for the electric lights and car lamps. You may have seen the photos of the lights on earth: it’s impossible to see the stars in many parts of the world. We can still see the Milky Way where hubby and I live in the countryside.

IMG_2879 kokkola

If we don’t get our roof fixed within reasonable time we may see the Milky Way from inside the house… roof tiles came down in the last storm, luckily only a few of them. We’re waiting for a person who’s promised to come and have a look and maybe do something to get the tiles back. It’s not the nicest weather for roof work today. The day after the storm was clear and bright, as it so very often happens.

IMG_2832 huset tak

The Open Door

The Open Door. Please read, and contemplate. How many of us handspinners buy raw fleece from other countries than our own? And for how long will we be able to do that? And do we really have to buy raw fleece even if we like to work through the whole process from fleece to yarn?

I don’t have the answers. But I’m contemplating.

Wovember yarns

I’m still exploring six Nordic Short Tailed sheep breeds’ wool: Finn, Kainuu Grey and Åland sheep from Finland, and Finull, Gotland and Värmland sheep from Sweden. I have now spun a few samples of Finn, Finull and Värmland. I hope to continue next week with Gotland and more Värmland.

Kainuu Grey, Värmland, Finn, Finull, Finn on the bobbin and as rolags

Kainuu Grey, Värmland, Finn, Finull, Finn on the bobbin, dyed Finull rolags

Finn and Finull are so similar that I’m not capable of distinguishing their fleeces or yarns from each other. That goes for all of the colors. Both breeds come in white (main color), brown and black. This is Finull. It could be Finn as well, but luckily I had tagged the photos:

Swedish Finull

Swedish Finull

If you haven’t already noticed: Kasper is always helping me. I love that dog.

Swedish Finull

Swedish Finull

The hand of the two wools is also the same. Soft, nice, much of it is next-to-skin wool, but there are also more robust fleeces. It’s wool that can be used for many purposes from soft baby clothes to blankets, upholstery and even rugs. It’s often short here in Scandinavia as the sheep are sheared twice a year. 5-7 cm is an average.

Värmland is another type of wool. I will return to it later, so let’s only mention it’s a primitive type of wool. Double coat, everything from very soft to harsh. All colors from white to black. A very interesting wool, as primitive wools often are. This is an older photo of Värmland I spun a couple of years ago. The triangular lock structure tells you there’s both long guard hair and soft undercoat. The guard hair can be picked or combed out if you want two different kinds of yarn from the same fleece.

Lock, 2-ply guard hair and undercoat, singles guard hair, 2-ply undercoat

Lock, 2-ply guard hair and undercoat, singles guard hair, 2-ply undercoat

I have written about Kainuu Grey here.

Half of Wovember is gone. I have loved reading the Wovember blog (link in the Blogroll).

Maybe I should honor Tom of Holland by mending something, and also showing some of my mended socks in another post. Yes, I think I will.

Reuse: cardigan becomes sweater. Wovember work

Cardigan becomes sweater

Cardigan becomes sweater

I knitted this cardigan from small hand dyed skeins and a teal commercial yarn. The mini skeins were dyed in beautiful blue, brownish, lilac and green shades by spinning friend Ingrid in Sweden. I loved the cardi, but the last couple of years it felt as if it didn’t quite fit me anymore. Today I turned it into a sweater by simply sewing the two front pieces together. Voilà – sweater! And it fits me again! It only needed to be more firm at the front.

On request after publishing this post I added an old photo of the back. There are several photos of the knitting progress in my Ravelry stash.

Cardigan, back

Cardigan, back

I think this fits very well in the Wovember theme. Reuse, mending, pure wool. I’ve always wanted pockets in the cardi, but never got myself to making them. I think I’ll make pockets now. Pockets for things I use when working: small scissors, yarn gauge. Knife. Phone. Needles. No. No needles. Those I attach to my jeans, forget where I put them, and find them the next day. Eventually.

Pin cushion

Pin cushion

wal_badge

I couldn’t resist showing my red socks also. Because, very soon I will change from sandals to shoes indoors, and I will see my socks only in the mornings and evenings. It’s snowing. Sandals go to sleep like bears in the winter.

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In celebration of two beautiful books…

… I finished my Shetland lace yarn:

Shetland lace yarn

Shetland lace yarn

Shetland lace yarn, close up

Shetland lace yarn, close up

200 grams, 2-ply, wpi 30, 1340 meters. This can be used in a Shetland lace shawl, even if it’s not as fine as the skilled spinners in Shetland would spin for the finest shawls. Top from Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick.

“Shetland Textiles 800 BC to the present” is a beautiful book. The title says what it is about. Awesome photos, great information written by experts on all aspects of Shetland textiles. You can buy it here. Yes it’s expensive, but I’m sure you won’t be disappointed! It would be a great present for someone who loves the textile tradition of Shetland.

IMG_2774 Shetland Textiles

“The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting” by Shetland lace expert Elizabeth Lovick is a book for lace knitters. It explains all techniques you need for designing you own shawls and scarves, and it does it in the way Liz always does, exactly, easy-to-read, enjoyably. The photos have great contrast, which makes it easy to see details. It’s a colourful book as the samples are knitted in dyed yarns. This also is a very beautiful book printed on high quality paper. I highly recommend it for all lace knitters! You find it in several bookshops on internet, and if you hurry you can buy a signed copy from Liz. Details on her Ravelry group “Northern Lace”.

IMG_2775 The magic of Shetland lace

No walk with Kasper

Bergenia

Bergenia

Morning sun

Morning sun

Mushroom with lichen

Mushroom with lichen

Mushroom with lichen

Mushroom with lichen

Sorry, I'm not coming with you!

Sorry, I’m not coming with you!

I was going for a short walk with Kasper this morning. But when he saw the camera he turned back, went in (I had left the door open), took hubby’s walking shoe and carried it out into the yard. “I want to go with Kari”, he announced. “No camera, much more interesting walk. No standing in one place watching“, he declared. So he didn’t see the squirrel.

Squirrel in morning sun

Squirrel in morning sun

Spinning for lace

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Spinning Shetland on Hansen Minispinner

I’m taking a break from the survey of Finnish and Swedish breeds I’m working on. I love the white Shetland top I bought from Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick in 2010. I’m finally confident enough to spin it, not only practice spinning it. I don’t spin it as fine as some of the spinners in Shetland, but I think it’s fine enough for a Shetland shawl.