A bit of this n that

Thank you to everyone who's complimented me on the Diamonds socks in Yarn Forward.

I've got some finished stuff to show you today. I've been in a bit of a finishing mood lately.

First here is a hat I knitted for Simon, it's done in 4ply Possum Wool. It's 40% possum/60% wool. I think it's Touch Yarns and I got it www.spinayarndevon.co.uk. Got lots left over and not sure what to do with the rest of it.

And here's a pic of the wool before I knitted it.

Do you like my new assistant by the way? Not named her yet, or is it a he? But here she is with Vanessa's chef's hat on. Do you like the glasses? They're Vanessa's old ones.

We're doing a Round Robin Gift Exchange on Crafty Yarns n Threads. The idea is that we all make a small bag and fill it with goodies. We're not allowed to spend much money and the bags are small. Then send it to the person below us on the list. Then the next month we send it on to someone else. It's the first one this month. So over the next few days I'll be searching for things to put in the bag. It's about the size of a tall mug. I knitted it in my Merino 4ply which is just gorgeous to knit with. Very nice, even stitches and so soft.

Been having a play iwth dyeing fibre again. I've done some merino pencil roving which has turned out brilliantly. This skein I'm keeping for myself.

In fact I've already started spinning some.

This one will be listed on Etsy, hopefully tomorrow. It's a 200gr skein. But i might split it into 2 100grams.

There are a few more drying as well so there will hopefully be more for sale by Monday.

Yesterday I had a practice dyeing some Merino Fibre. I broke off 4 strips and tried different colours. The idea was to work out how strong the dyes have to be and how long to 'cook' it for. My previous attempts ended up slightly felted but this is gorgeously soft. This lot is for me to spin. I may spin it all into one yarn although it's 3 different lots of colours, I htink they go well together.

Will also be listing some Merino Worsted over the next fewdays. Not dyed a lot of it and I'm keepign a ocuple of skeins for myself. Done some swatching with it nad it's like knitting through butter. So incredibly soft and smooth. This yarn is from Uruguay and is spun in the same way as my Merino Lace and 4ply. It's single ply and seems to be very typical of yarns from Uruguay. I've got a few designs planned for this yarn. And it's lovely to be knitting in aran weight for a change. done so much sock and lace knitting lately.

I'm so excited

Have you seen the latest issue of Yarn Forward?

For those of you who may not have heard of it before, it's an English magazine run by Kerrie from HipKnits . The first issue came out just over a year ago and it was a rocky year for the mag last year. The content has always been brilliant though and the new issue is fab. Lots of informative articles and gorgeous patterns. There is a bit of a purple feel to the new issue, which is my favorite colour. I don't very often get around to knitting stuff from mags but I'm considering one or two of the patterns from this issue, mainly one sweater which is knitted in Malabrigo Worsted which is very, very similar to my new Merino Worsted which will start appearing in the shop later this week.

But the reason I'm really,really excited is that I had a pattern in this issue. It's the Diamond sock pattern. It's knitted in Yarn Yard yarn but will look equally gorgeous in my own merino sock yarn. It's an easy fair isle diamond pattern with contrasting cuff and toes. Here are some of my pics of the socks, which I took before I sent it off to Kerrie.

And here is a pair I knitted for myself:

Look out for the Spring issue of the Mag too, as I've got a pattern in that one too. Not saying what it is. But I've worked flat out on it lately. I've sent the sample off to Kerrie today. It's all very exciting.

I've also finished a pair of fingerless mitts this week. I've used the fair isle pattern from my Kaleidoscope socks and added rib on the top and the bottom knitted in pin stripe like the sole on the socks. The mitts are knitted in my Merino 4ply. this is an incredible soft merino fingering weight/4ply from Uruguay and is very simmilar to other yarns from Uruguay.

Here are the socks which matches. The I've been doing some more dyeing today. I've started dyeing the merino pencil roving I got before Christmas. I've got two lots of 200gr each which are dry. I'll try to get pics tomorrow and show you tomorrow or Thursday. Not sure whether or not to list it in the shop or keep it for myself. One of the colourways I think I'm keeping. May test spin some of it tonight. Anyway I dyed some more of the roving today so it'll be in the shop hopefully by the weekend. Any spinners reading this, can I ask if you prefer to buy roving/fibre in 100gr or 200gr lots? My pencil roving comes in 200gr skeins which is what I've dyed them in. Don't know whether or not to split them into 100gr skeins. Any opinions?

Also plying some merino/silk at the moment. It's looking gorgeous. Got a bit more of it to spin too. Should have about 200gr when it's done and it's 4ply/dk weight I think. Not decided what to knit with it yet but I'm kind of wanting ot knit a shawl for myself in my own handspun.

Got to start packing up the kitchen this week. B&Q start installing out new kitchen on Monday. I'm so excited about having a new kitchen but I'm dreading clearing out and ripping out the old one. We're or rather Simon is, taking out the old one ourselves. This means no dyeing next week at all, then the week after my dyeing moves into the garage.

For my PIF recipients, I haven't forgotten. I've got the yarn and have decided on the pattern. Going to cast on tomorrow.

My neck has been really bad this last week and I've been extremely tired. Went to Weight watchers this morning, and I lost 3 pounds, very pleased! Then i came home and fell asleep in our recliner chair. Woke up after a while feeling cold so went and grabbed a warm merino shawl and fell asleep for another hour. Meant I got nothing useful done all morning. Bit annoying but I was just so tired. The neck pain is really getting to me right now. IT's been bad for weeks. I'm trying to slow down a bit. But with my urgent deadline knitting last week, trying to dye as much yarn as Ican before the kitchen shuts down and everything else it's not easy. Next week I'll take it easy though as house will be chaos anyway with work men here all week so no point doing housework and can't dye yarn. Lots of relaxing and knitting and spinning.

Busy, busy, busy

What a week. It's been quite busy. I've also suffered a lot with neck/back pain and head aches for the last few days although it's been better today. This means I'm a bit behind with club parcels. I'm hoping I can get them all out tomorrow although they should have gone today.

Have some yarns ready for an Etsy update but just realised one of my favorite programmes of the week is start in 5 mins so no time for an Etsy update but I'll give you a preview. The update will be sometime tomorrow. Only a tiny one. Although I've got some more yarns downstairs which will be listed as soon as they're dry.

I had a delivery of Merino yarns from Uruguay on Monday. There's lace, fingering weight and worsted. It's all so soft and gorgeous .Not had time to dye very much of it this week as I had to finish the club yarn too. And my neck/back pain has put a stop to too much dyeing this week. Also got some urgent knitting commitments and deadlines

Did some plying a few days ago. Had some merino silk from the Yarn Yard I'd spun and some merino silk which I dyed msyelf. Plied the two and it looks gorgeous. The purple/lilac is Yarn Yard, the blue is mine. Still spinning the blue and then I'll finish plying. Just did a bit to make sure i was happy. Love it. Should have around 200gr at 4ply/dk ish weight. Definitely going to knit something with this but not decided what yet. Maybe a scarf.
Blossom Merino 4ply:
Blush Merino Sock Yarn:
Confetti Merino 4ply:
Spooky Green Merino Lace. Got a skein of worsted in the same colour.
Sky blue merino worsted.
Have a great weekend. I'm off for some more knitting and telly watching. Having knitting deadlines is not bad really. Good excuse to watch my favorite TV programmes.

Club yarn preview

Can't believe how the days have flown again. Okay, I'm starting to sound like a broken record so I won't mention it again.

I've been busy dyeing the first batch of the club dyeing this week. They're still drying but are nearly dry now. I'm even thinking about reskeining them all this month to make them look even prettier. Even Simon commented on how pretty they looked. I started knitting the Feb socks iwth my yarn this morning and it knits up perfectly. And as a sneak preview, here's a pic:

yes, I've taken all the colour out of the pic. You didn't think I was going to reveal the secret before sending them out did you? If you want to find out what htey're gonna look like head over to Etsy now to book your place in the Sockamania PLUS Club. There are only two spaces left for February. There is a possibility of another 2 or 3 spaces possibly becoming vacant. So if the club is sold out, e-mail me through Etsy or the blog and I'll put you on the waiting list and let you know next week if you're in. Just waiting for 3 people to confirm whether or not they're renewing their club membership. So don't waste any time, sign up quickly.

Here's this month's club yarn. Ilove this colourway. IT's my favorite so far, or was, until I dyed Feb's colourway which is now my new favorite.

Some new yarns listed this week. Here's a bit of a taster:

The same 'Girly' colourway in merino and bamboo.

Some before and after reskeining pics:

A group of beautiful yarns:
A couple of more of my faves listed on Etsy this week:
First, merino/seacell cobweb lace

and some Cashmere Lace:I'm working flat out on a design which needs to be with an editor by the end of the month. Also started (yes, started) work on the Feb sock for Sockamania. So panic mode now. Lots and lots of knitting on those two projects and only those two for the next week. Was awake at 4.30am this morning though and as I was in too much pain for knititng I allowed myself an hours spinning. Pure Bliss! I'll show you a pic of what Ispun next time I post. Got a bobbin full of merino/silk now.

Off for a mid afternoon nap after my sleepless night. got the latest copy of Spin Off today so going to read it until Ifall asleep.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

Gorgeous yarn & Get Knitted

Time to elaborate a bit more on my trip to Get Knitted on Saturday. Think I've just about recovered from it now although I must admit I'm exhausted again today. Went to Plymouth today and met up with a lovely lady I met at Spin A Yarn. We had a lovely chat in hte Theatre Royal Cafe and a fingerless glove knitting session. She's started knitting Fetching from Knitty. She's not knitted using dpns before nor had she done cables so she's very brave to be starting with the Fetching fingerless gloves which, if you're one of the few who havne't done this pattern (I haven't) they've got cables. So we went through how to work in the round and how to do cables. Had a lovely time. the drive to and from Plymouth was a nightmare as there had been a fatal accident halfway there and the road was closed when I was going to Plymout hand coming back which meant lengthy detours. Not done much at all since I got home. Barely had the energy to knit. Therefore I'm planning a quiet evening with telly and spinning. NOt spun for several days now.

Okay, promised pics from Get Knitted. I didn't actually take any pics there although I had my camera with me. But I have photogrpahed my haul since I got home and this is what I got:

Handmaiden Lace Silk - isn't it gorgeous.

Handmaiden Mini Maiden (merino/silk) in Blackberry - it's a sock yarn but this gorgeous yarn won't become socks.
Handmaiden Great Big Sea which is a mix of wool, seacell and silk in Sangria.

Mirasol Baby Llama. This is so soft and squishy. Not sure what I'll knit with it yet but maybe another moebius or a hat.

And two balls of Trekking sock yarn. Don't buy non hand dyed sock yarn very often any more but just loved these colours.

Also got some needles, namely Knitpicks Harmony Options Set and dpn set. Aren't they fantastic looking. FAb to knit with too. Great points especialy for wood needles.

Got a purple Know Knits pouch to replace the green one I got 18 months ago which is now worn out.

And Clare from Sunflower Swifts and Sublime Spindles brought me this gorgeous Niddy Noddy. Was great to meet Clare nad her husband. I already have one of thier swifts and spindles and all thier products are fantastic quality and workmanship.

And now I'm going to introduce you to my new assistant - my Ball and Skein Skein winder. I agonised a while over whether to get a manual or electric one. I went for the manual one in the end because of price and shipping costs. It's fantastic. It's made skeining my merino sock yarn off cones and reskeining yarn so much easier. And the best thing, Em can skein yarn off hte cone for me now and she loves it. Yeah. I don't know how I managed without this before. It's fantastic and highly recommended.

The top pic is how it arrived once I'd taken it out of the box and below assembled by me! I was really proud of myself as I don't do self assembly. But i was so depserate to use it that I had a go and managed to do it althoug hthe instructions didn't make much sence at all to a numptie like me. Now I can hear my spinning wheel calling to me. Nite!

.

Where did the time go?

Just looked at my last post. Where did last week go? I can't believe I havne't blogged since Tuesday. well I've been busy since Tuesday. Quite a lot of dyeing last week, mainly for Pam's new online yarn shop stocking indie dyed yarns. I can't wait till she opens to see what yarns she has. It sounds like it's going to be gorgeous. I'm hoping to get my shipment for Pam packed up tomorrow. The yarns are taking forever to dry though. Roll on summer. I just can't wait for some long sunny days, not that we always get an awful lot of long sunny days here in Cornwall. But when the weather is nice it's gorgeous here. And when it's awful it's truly horrendous. If youdon't believe me scroll down a bit to see a post of me really enjoying a walk in the rain (and if you heard me say that sentence you'd hear the sarcasm in my voice). It's been the same sort of weather this weekend. Lots and lots of rain.

Did very little today. went to church this morning. We visited a church plant from our church in Bodmin. They only started up in November but are doing great.

The rest of the day I've been trying hard to stay awake and control the pain. Done some kniting on a new hat for Simon, knitted in possum wool. It's very soft. He's a bit fussy though so just hope he likes it.

And the reason I'm tired is because yesterday I had a fantastic day at Get Knitted in Bristol. Mytilus (did I spell that right) from Ravelry gave me a lift and we picked up Clare from Plymouth. We had a great drive up and got there in spite of my poor map reading skills. Although I knew if we followed signs for A4 Bath, we'd go right past the shop, but don't think Jen (the driver) really believed me. Unfortunately my map reading skills on the way home weren't any better although we did end up on the right road. I blame it on the awful sign posting in Bristol. I'm a brilliant map reader.

Met lots of online friends at GK and had a great time. Don't remember the names of half hte people I talked to and there were lots I didn't get a chance to talk to. And it was great to finally meet people I've talked to a lot online. More on GK tomorrow though when I'm a bit more awake. And I'll sort out pics of my stash enhancement tomorrow too. It's all still in the bag from yesterday. I'm keeping it hidden so I'm not tempted to cast on for anything new as I really, really need to finish a few things.

One of my main projects right now which is rather urgent has hit a major snag when I realised on Friday that the border repeat doesn't match up with the main pattern repeat. BLAST!!! Think I've worked out how to get around it without having to frog everything I've done. Will have to frog several rows though probably. I hate frogging lace. Going to rechart the design tomorrow when I'm a bit more awake.

So you get the message? Yes, I'm tired. So off to read a couple of blogs, put Ness to bed and them I'm off to bed myself. Tomorrow I've got lots of reskeining to do on my new skein winder. More on that and pics tomorrow. Lots of pics tomorrow of hand dyed yarn, GK haul and skein winder.

Nite!

Celebrating

Yes, both girls were back at school today (actually Ness went back yesterday) and Simon went back to work today too after being off for 2.5 weeks. Okay, so I do like having them at home but I like it when they go back to school too especially after holidays that last more than a week.

So to treat myself today I decided to go to the Spin A Yarn monthly Tuesday morning knitting group. I should have stayed home and done lots of housework and tidying up but knitting club sounded like much more fun. Don't you agree? There were only two of us there this morning which was very unusual. The other lady was new and very lovely. She was working on a pair of fingerless gloves so we spent a bit of time talking about glove constructions etc. She also asked for advice and help with a few things. It was nice to be able to pass on a bit of knowledge. Just before I left she cast on for 'Fetching' from Knitty. It's a pattern I love but have never gotten around to knitting. What was really nice today was that Joyce had time to sit down and knit and chat with us for a while.

And ofcourse I shopped while I was there. Well, who could resist sitting in a beautiful knitting shop for 2 hours without buying anythign. I got this gorgeous possum/wool yarn to make a hat for Simon. Okay, hwile I've been writing this post I've also been editing and downloading pics from my camera and it's gone on strike now and won't do any more pics. - eta got the pics now. It does this some time so possum yarn pics will come tomorrow. Same with Kaleidoscope Mitts mentioned below. Flipping camera!!!

And talking about gloves, well I was a second ago. I'm in the process of making some 'Kaleidoscope Mitts'. I only started these last week and had to planned to work flat out for 3 days and get them finished in timr for the Knitty submission deadline on Saturday. But i failed. I nearly got there. Only had half a glove left. A few other things distracted me. So they'll go in my Etsy shop instead.

When I got home I decided to cast on for a pair of New Years mitts. Using the same stitch pattern as for the New Years Socks, this month's sock pattern for Sockamania. And talking of Sockamania here are the New Years Socks and this month's sock yarn for Sockamania PLUS. There are only 4 places left for February so if you fancy joining us be quick. I'm already working on the pattern for February but haven't decided on yarn yet.

Just been listing some yarns on Etsy. Just a small batch of bamboo sock yarn. More to come in a few days, probably Thursday. They're listed at the New Years Bonanza sale prize.