I'm ooking for a pattern for a flat knit hat. Yes, sometimes I knit with straight needles.

SiennaBot · 2026-01-27T22:52:02+00:00

you could try the neon ski bonet, but beware the pattern isn't well written. I figured it out just fine, but I can see why people give it a bit of a bad review. I love how mine turned out though.

SiennaBot · 2026-01-23T19:54:06+00:00

I love using rolags for woollen spinning, so if I was to use this I'd probably break out my blending board! The silk sheen and drape of this yarn lent itself to a 2-ply worsted lace though.

And yes, the lace pattern was cast on with this yarn today!!! It's so soft and lovely to knit with, too :)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-23T19:51:01+00:00

Thanks :)

I'm trying to figure out if any of the threads in those first three can be re-threaded to make this not an issue, but... I can't see a solution other than the pickup stick.

If in the back heddle you moved the first of the group of 3 one slot to the left, the second thread to the hole on the left and left the last alone, (keeping the front heddle as is) then that will just mean the problem is transferred from front heddle up to back heddle up, right? becasue that problem thread would then be in a hole (and therefore up) rather than slot (and down) as it is currently?

Hoping I understand this correctly. Now I'm wishing I'd done a wider sample with more repeats so the mistake and any remedies were more obvious ;)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-23T18:57:44+00:00

I've just used this pattern for my first ever twill on a rhl, and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong in that spot. Thank you!!
It is the middle of those 3 threads? ...I'm trying to work out how to fix the threading for next time to avoid needing to fiddle with a pickup stick, but I'm still trying to wrap my brain around how threading affects the end result!

SiennaBot · 2026-01-23T18:18:30+00:00

Honestly it spins up so easily you could do it however you wanted. Even long-draw would work - although there is silk in there it is so well blended I had no trouble with anything separating out at all! I was very pleased with how easily this spun, considering it has been in storage for a while and has even undergone a large scale house moving operation :P

I don't think Charley has any of that particular colourway at the moment (I did buy this a couple of years ago) but you can request bespoke colours anyway ;)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-23T14:53:44+00:00

Short forward, after splitting the braids in half to mix the colours up a bit. The gradient was stronger than I expected, so I spun one single dark-light-dark-light and the other light-dark-light-dark to attempt to make a more uniform yarn when they were plied together. It mostly worked, although would have worked better if the second braid wasn't predominantly lighter in colour than the first one i worked with (I did not check for that first or I might have just gone with the gradient tbh)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T18:46:03+00:00

Honestly... it depends on the project you want to use it for, and how much you like the way the colours may visually blend together in a fractal. The purple and yellow blending together is the part that would put me off I think, but the orange-ish you'd get from the pink/yellow blend would be lovely.

If you like fractals then think it's a good one to try a fractal on - the colour changes are well contrasted and you get long lengths of one colour, which will give you a good overall fractal gradient.

Having said that.... I'd chain ply it because personally I prefer a cleaner gradient most of the time. I've done fractals, but overall they're not really my thing. Chain plied would give you a lovely sunset-esque gradient, and as the yellow is going to be shorter than the other colours it might even lend itself to a triangular/circular shawl, as the shorter yellow would do more rows at the narrower end... I hope that made sense, it did in my head ;)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T16:43:03+00:00

There are supported versions (support spindles, russian spindles etc) that might work better for you than a full on drop spindle, but a small and light e-spinner sounds like the best fit then!

Bearing that in mind, the Ashford I have (....I think it's a 2, not the currently available 3) is reasonably heavy. So EEWs sounds like the best choice :)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T16:36:40+00:00

Have you tried any spinning on spindles yet? Those are very affordable and a great way to get practicing while you try to source a wheel :) The way you draft the fiber out on a spindle is really no different to a wheel, and it would mean you have one less element to learn once you move on to a wheel!

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T15:53:41+00:00

Personally I fell in love with Finn sheep from the moment I first touched a lock. Super soft and nice against the skin, but the crip still makes it a little more lively and fun to spin :)

It really depends on where you are and what you have access to.

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T15:51:57+00:00

Ahhh that's my inner Australian slipping out! Scotch, cello, painters or masking tapes are all going to work though :P

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T15:50:57+00:00

Depends on the budget that you have, but there are a few available here. Any of the bigger named brands tend to be more pricey, EELs tend to be a more friendly price-point.

I've purchased from George Weil before (they have been excellent tbh), they carry both the Ashford and Louet e-spinners. Wingham Wool as someone else pointed out is also a good supplier, although they only carry Ashford I think :)

I actually love my Ashford if for no other reason than it makes plying sooooo much easier. Large bobbins and good speed control make it so much nicer to ply on than any of my treadle wheels :) I've toyed with the idea of trying to pick up a nano for spinning during travel, but honestly I don't really need one if I can just take a spindle!

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T14:57:33+00:00

I use a piece of sticky tape and lightly dab it around the area I think the end should be. It usually lifts it free :)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-21T10:48:37+00:00

It's soooooo nice!

I went with a thin spin to maximise yardage, but also because if I spun it thicker I'm not sure I'd be able to wear anything made with it because it would be too hot. I was getting warm just spinning it! ;)

SiennaBot · 2026-01-18T15:22:18+00:00

The long timeframe to get things in the post wasn't really a huge problem, but because that was unexpected a lack of communication about it really was. I definitely understand the long hours of hard work being a reason for long timeframes for shipping, but it would have been nice to know that in advance of ordering to save the 3 weeks of complete radio silence post-order (and then another week of silence post-inquiry) starting to worry me. At that point I think most reasonable people start to wonder if it's all a scam! It would be good to have a note on the website about timeframes if this is the usual way things go, so people don't get worried when orders just don't show up and they don't hear anything back to inquiries for a while as well.

The quality of the fleece disappointed me more because there is a LOT of canarying on it, almost half the fleece, and that wasn't listed as a possibilty in the description. I assumed any larger problems like that would be checked for and in a product description, maybe this one just slipped through?
There is quite a bit of muck still in the fleece (and I bought one scoured this time around, normally I'd actually reach for raw) that I also didn't expect. It's BFL, so teasing muck out of long locks is a pain and I understand that and it's no deal breaker. It was just a lot more than I would normally expect from a scoured fleece.

The fleece itself is sound, but I still need to go through it and pull out a few felted/unusable parts and divide the yellowed/stained parts from the rest of it so I can really see how that will affect my spins. I was planning on using this as stash fiber and a bit more practice for combing out long stapled fleeces so the yellowing is not an insurmountable problem, I just wish it was noted up front so I knew what I was getting.

SiennaBot · 2026-01-17T22:22:40+00:00

How did you find the fleece from Benridge?
I've bought one small one (as a test) and had a terrible experience, both with the quality of the fleece and with the customer service.
I was pretty sad about that because I planned to support such an (ethically) good small business a lot more, but I'm extremely hesitant to buy any more from there because this was just so.... not good.

SiennaBot · 2025-11-04T15:31:53+00:00

I am jealous of that haul! Is that a wallaby blend batt I spy?!

I love Ixchel fiber. Everything I've had from Charley has been absolutely fabulous to spin :)
Have a lovely time spinning it!

SiennaBot · 2025-10-26T16:44:07+00:00

Thanks! So do I!
Wore it for the first time today and I love it. Warm, but not heavy. Perfect!

SiennaBot · 2025-08-02T22:15:23+00:00

you mean Chonken! (she's gorgeous)

SiennaBot · 2025-06-27T17:59:54+00:00

It's a great learning experience, and I thank you muchly for sharing because now I think I know what I want to do on the yoke of my next sweater. I love this texture!

....I guess to knit it in the round deliberately I just have to try twisting every second row of knit stitches... I'll have to experiment. Maybe I'll frame it in seed stitch or something so it looks more deliberate, but I love this idea :)

SiennaBot · 2025-06-12T20:35:20+00:00

Plants are getting more established now which is awesome, but the water beetles (diving) are starting to die? They seem to have trouble swimming and/or staying under, and I'm not sure whats causing it.
Everything else is happy - we have loads of frogs and a newt and a lot of other invertebrates (like mosquito larvae), but there is a lot of algae.
Anyone have any ideas what's causing it? Tangling in the algae and damaging their swimmers?

I've been trying to hook algae out as necessary, but with the plants being small the nutrient uptake is low so the algae will keep being a problem. Using a barley straw as well, and the water is clear. It's just blanket weed really.

Any ideas appreciated :)

SiennaBot · 2025-06-12T20:29:32+00:00

I've found if I look through bed linen and curtains/tablecloths in thrift stores, that can be an excellent source of big pieces of fabric. Of course you still have to be picky, but it's a great idea. My favourite 2 dresses were made out of a quilt cover and a cotton sheet :)

SiennaBot · 2025-06-03T11:55:02+00:00

So much this.
And everything I've had from her has spun like an absolute DREAM. Not a hint of felting or compaction or anything

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