THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

[Deleted User]

Way to go D for V, embrace your inner crafter and learn to dye from natural materials the wondrous yarns you spin. He Who Knows mum was a knitter and got herself a Louet Wheel, learned to process from the fleece to the knitting needle and all stages between. She was a complete liability when she started yarn dyeing though and would gaily saunter into peoples gardens, parks, civic displays and grab all the seed heads or bits she wanted for the colour she intended to dye the wool. She knitted Kaffe Fasset designs and some of them on a round needle but whatever she gave us was unwearable as it was pure wool, always itchy and I'm allergic to it! It has to be admitted now that on the day she announced she was going to dyeing(dying) lessons (spell however you mean it to sound) we were all sorely tempted to pay for them if she meant the meaning in brackets!

Mary will they still be able to come seasonally?, will the government still allow unlimited numbers to come into the UK after Brexit?, will they need any kind of permission/visa to actually be able to get into the country after Brexit? if they do will it be worth their while to actually come or will they find other easier to enter countries and go there instead? If the EU will no longer cover Health for Brits abroad even with an EHIC will the Eastern Europeans be able to afford Health insurance here and a visa payment, it might not be worth their while bothering?

maryb

Mrs L those are all good questions. But if we need them, it will eventually get sorted out. Employers will probably be allocated block visas for example. And I suspect it will be worth their while until economic development accelerates back home. And younger, fairly fit workers could probably be insured fairly cheaply - the employers have to have liability insurance as it is

[Deleted User]

I wonder if the government here might just take the stance that we have enough young (not at the moment fit but soon to be that way if they do the work ) people to do the work needed to grow and harvest the food for the nation and actually decide not to let other nations in to the UK. It's a possibility and would be incredibly good for our youngsters too, not every one can be a white collar worker after all.

DigForVictory

MiGod MrsLW, you had a dyer in the family?
They are a full on hazard to shipping, they go through pans like , like, (ach he's not likely to read this) m'father cooking but with the end result not of a cooked meal but with pans unusable for all cooking functions thereafter.

As it happens, (she admits blushing & sketching half circles on the floor with the toe of her boot), I do have some dyers seeds but I refuse to have anything to do with it until I've sorted a "dyers bed" (it usually takes 2 years growing to get plants to a colouring stage) and several enamelled pans clearly intended for hazardous uses, let alone the assorted Mordants. Now thems nasty fatal chemicals which lock the colour in. (OK I have three iron nails awaiting the role, but I'm a firm believer in expectation management for safety...)

I've even got a Louet (but can't get it to work).

To be scrupulously fair, Kaffe Fasset is an artist, but I'm unconvinced I'd wear his stuff. I was thinking needlefelting a blanket at some stage (as the initial dying batches will be small) and then moving on from there...

mardatha

Keep talking about Kaffe Fasset. I've got a ton of wool lying around and lost me knitting mojo. I'd like it back!
I can spin - with a wheel and a spindle, but prefer to knit, no patience for spinning. I like it for ten mins then get twitchy
If the weather goes downhill the way they are saying it is then knitting might be a grade A skill to have for the future.

thriftwizard

DFV, what's wrong with your Louet? My main wheel's a Louet S75 (pretty DT version) and there's really not a lot to go wrong, unless the wheel's so warped it throws the belt.

MrsLW shame your MiL never discovered alpaca, or the finer fibres like shetland, or merino - the finer the fibre, the more wearable things are.

Dyeing - I'm banned from natural dyeing whilst there are still Offspring living at home. Acid & food colourant dyes are OK as the mordant is vinegar & they think they're getting F&C for tea. That said, I'm about to shibori-dye a handful of old tablecloths for a major project, which of course are linen, i.e. bast rather than protein fibres, so will be using fibre-reactive dyes & "proper" salts etc. Kitchen chemistry, here we come!

[Deleted User]

If we're talking Alpacas they are the one livestock that I would love to own, I adore them! should (highly unlikely though it would be) we ever get rich enough to be able to buy some land then alpacas are what I'd have to run on it. MIL only did sheep but got into rare breeds and spun from Jacobs, Manx Loughtan, Soay etc. smaller fleeces and tough as old boots but they made a nice 'homespun' coloured yarn that knitted well and were very warm too. I could only wear what she made with full long sleeved and high necked jumpers underneath though or spend all my days covered in a horrid itchy rash!

maryb

Dh goes through lambswool jumpers very quickly because he wears them out on the neck edge. the rest of the jumper is fine. I have unravelled a couple of them but the wool is very fine. If I doubled it up to make 2 ply it would be good to use. Could I use a spindle for that?

ivyleaf

I seem to be ok with merino, but I have a couple of jumpers that are [STRIKE]merino[/STRIKE] alpaca mixed with something else (wool and a bit of acrylic, I think). I also have a cashmere one and that's not itchy at all, and I'm astonished that something so thin and light can be so cosy.


As it's chilly (or at any rate, I'm chilly) and the heating's not due back on for over an hour yet, I'm wearing a Jacob wool hoodie on top of a thermal vest and a fine-knit acrylic jumper. Ridiculous, as the thermostat tells me it's currently 22 degrees in the room I'm in, but I'm feeling the cold more than usual atm. Waiting to find out if a recent blood test showed low thyroxine like the last one did!

DigForVictory

maryb wrote: »

Could I use a spindle for that?

You could, but getting the twist and feeding them in together might be a swine by hand. It's where a machine helps.

Well, so I'm told. Ask at any fibre fair - they'll steer you towards some group of like minded souls who'll teach you. (All my teachers were historians, so my dropspinning's dreadful [but period correct], & the Great Wheel lady doesn't teach unless she knows you can walk for three hours & maintain an informed conversation throughout. As I had the chaps with me, I couldn't offer the time.

Neither the Louet S15 nor the Ashford traditional cooperate with my brand of hand-eye-foot coordination in spinning, let alone plying, but for pre-spun lovely wool, it's got to be worth a try?! Then think of all the garments abandoned in charity shops that could be modified a bit?!

We did a bit of "natural dying" in my primary school. The entire open plan building stunk when they were brewing nettles. School dinners tasted *good* that week.

Oh aye & this morning taking cuttings, I looked up at a bleating noise & there were two alpacas & three kid goats, all with coats I yearned to shear & card & have another go at... Number 2 son is popular with them critters (always takes them handfuls of fresh greens) so the farm up the hill may get a visit from me clutching a comb & a few neatly folded bags and a hopeful expression...