I'm a wreck!

Yes, I'm a complete wreck today. Although the painkillers are doing their thing and i'm feeling better now. This morning however, I had a throbbing headache. And when I say throbbing I really mean THROBBING!!! I get these horrendous headaches and just moving around makes me feel like my head is going to explode. The reason for the pain and headaches is that last week I over did it massively. From dyeing and sending out hte Sockamania PLUS yarn, family stuff etc it was far too much for me and I knew it. Saturday I felt really quite ill. It felt like someone had nailed a metal place across my shoulders and top of my back. Apart from baking and decorating Em's birthday cake on Saturday I did very little and Sunday was much better. We had Em's party in the afternoon. We started out with a trip to the Monkey Sanctuary. Em took 5 friend along and they all loved it. They liked looking at the monkeys and spent ages in the adventure playground. Then we went home and I made pancakes and they all had ice creams aftewards. Yesterday started out wet and horrible looking but in the afternoon it brightened up and we had glorious sunshine.

Yesterday evening I finshed spinning and plying the Yarn Yard April Fibre Club fibre. I love it. Wasn't too sure aobut the roving when it arrived but it looks gorgeous spun up. Can't wait to knit iwth it. These pics shows the yarn unfinsihed. It's now been soaked and finished. Just got to dry it then tomorrow I'm casting on.

Today I'm spinning this gorgeous fibre which the lovely Joy gave me for my Secret Santa present. The colours are gorgeous. I'm nearly halfway through now. Due to the pain I decided to have a lazy day today and have done lots of relaxing spinning. And soon I'm going for a massage.

Only hick up today is that Em has been sent home from school ill. She's running a temperature and feeling sick. Let's pray it passes quickly.

And I promised last week I'd get pics of hte gorgeous angora/merino from Peachy Knits.

This is why the Lace Variety Club has been selling like hotcakes for the las few days. Peachy has written a wonderful review. This is the 2nd time my shop has been featured in Lime & Violet Daily Chum. Peachy has her own Etsy shop too. And I bought some merino/angora laceweight from her which arrived last week. It's stunning. And I've just looked in my folder for pics of it and i've not taken any yet. So I'll try to remember to take some pics tomorrow and post pics over the weekend. In the meantime check out her shop for some gorgeous yarns. Peachy's Lime & Violet shop reviews are dangerous though. She's got a real eye for seeking out the most gorgeous yarns on Etsy.

Talking about the Lace Variety Club. There are now 3 memberships left on Etsy. Once they're sold I can't list more. I've already got more members than I initially planned and I want to keep in manageable and exclusive. If you read this, are desperate to join and find all the membershps sold out. Let me know and I'll put you on the waiting list for next month.

I do have some gorgeous fibre and yarn pics for you today. My Crafty Yarns n Threads Secret Santa present arrived today and my Secret Santa was Joy. Joy knitted a Forest Canopy Shawl for me last autumn and this time she treated me to a pair of Cranford Mitts designed by Jane. I think the pattern is available through the Yarn Yard. I've been admiring the Cranford mitts lately and these are gorgeous.

In the parcel was also 2 skeins (55 gr each) of Shades of Cashmere Cashmere Lace. This yarn has a small amount of Lurex in it which I'm assuming is the sparkly bits. It looks gorgeous and I can't wait to knit it up. I also got a pattern to go with the yarn.

And a plait of Merino Fibre from the Yarn Yard. I love Natalie's fibre and this colour is perfect. I'm so desperate to start spinning this up straight away but I've got to finish the Yarn Yard Fibre club fibre for April first. I've done the first half and started the 2nd half tonight but someone has mucked around with my wheel. It felt awful tonight and it was perfect last time i spun last week. I've adjusted the drive band and break band but it 's still not right so gave up in the end.

I promised I'd tell you about what I did yesteray but it's getting late again so I'll save it for next time.

Nite x

Just a quick one.

Just finished an Etsy update. There's lace - Cashmere/silk, cashmere and merino, sock yarn and kits.

The Lace Variety Club is selling out quickly and at the time of writing there are 4 spaces left. These are the last 4 spaces. And if they sell out before 1st May there may not be any more memberships available for 2 months. So be quick if you want to get in.

More yarns tomorrow. It's late, I'm tired. It's been a fab day and I'll tell you more tomorrow. Other news tomorrow too, or actually maybe later today as it's now past midnight on Thursday but to me it's still Wednesday. Time I got to bed. Got shopping with Ness tomorrow as her teachers are on strike.

What happened?

Trying to think why I've not blogged for over a week. Got no excuse other than 'got out of the habit'. So here's a quick update for you: We did the Big Move last weekend. The big move was basically the girls moving rooms. We've now gotten rid of our spare room. Ness has moved in to the spare room giving her a bigger room. Em moved into Ness' old room, which was Em's room before hte girls swapped about a yar ago. And Em's room, the smallest bedroom is now my studio. Yeah. Simon also stores some of his books in there so it's not exclusively mine. I've got a big desk in there for yarn dyeing. Chest ofdrawers for storage and two micrawaves for cooking yarn. It's working brilliantly so far. I've still got some tidyeing and sorting out to do but it's so much better than dyeing yarn in the garage.

Have finished spinning some of the BFL Humbug. Here's the fibre before spinning (the pic is a bit dark), singles on the bobbin and a skein of 2ply I've still got more to spin too. Thnk it'l lbe around 200 gr in total. Love it. Not quite sure what to knit with it yet but got some ideas and it'll be a new design.

Later today I'll be listing 'Two of a Kind' on Etsy. It'll be available as a pattern only and as a kit. The kits listed first will contain either Luscious Lace or Merino Lace with some Cashmere Lace kits coming soon. The kits i'm listing today are likely to contain these colours among others:

Ive also got some more yarn which is nearly dyed including some fab new colours of Luscious Silk. As soon as it's dry it'll be photographed and listed soon.

Just realied it's lunch time and my stomach is rumbling so back another day.

More Amazing Lace

I wasn't going to reveal this design yet but when I blocked this I just had to share pics as soon as possible. It's called Two of a Kind and will include two varieties of the pattern. Pixie has kindly test knitted one version in Cashmere Lace for me and again she was superquick. I sent the yarn and pattern to her just before I went on holiday and the shawl arrived back yesterday. I was amazed when I blocked it as it doubled in size. It's turned out to be a generous size and it's so light and airy, yet warm in the cashmere. In fact, we went out for my mother in laws 70th birthday meal tonight and I was wearing a top with the same red colour in it as the shawl so I slipped the shawl on too and I was glad i did as it was a bit chilly in the restaurant.

I'm working on the other version in Luscious Lace but I'm only halfway through. Pixie's version has the flower lace in the middle and leaf lace each side and is worked in stocking stitch. My version has the leaf lace in the middle and the flower lace each side and I'm working mine in garter stitch. I prefer stocking stitch though. Although it'll be interesting to see what mine looks like when it's blocked.

The construction is 3 triangles and it's worked from the back of the neck down and outwards, starting with just a few stitches.

And a few close ups of the pattern, taken during blocking.
The pattern will be for sale on my Etsy site soon. This pattern is also likely to be used for the Lace Variety Club sometime during the first 3 months.

Amazing Lace

It's late and I should be in bed, but on my way to bed I realised I'd not checked my e-mails today. Which is very unusual for me. I must have broken the internet habit while on holiday, normally I would have had withdrawal symptoms by late afternoon.

Just realised that sign ups for the Lace Variety Club will have to close in two days. I'll be dyeing the yarn on Thursday and Friday so get in quick. I've had a few sign ups off Etsy too so it's filling up for the first month and I'm only doing a very limited numbers for the first month. The pattern is probably likely to be one of these:

It's mainly a yarn club but I will include a pattern each month too. The pattern may not be a new one and won't be an exclusive club only. I've got several new lace patterns in the pipe line so you're likely to be first in line for those if you join the club.

The yarn will be Merino Lace, Cashmere Lace and Luscious Lace (Silk/Cashmere). But not necessarily in that order. When you get the Luscious Lace you will ge 2 skeins as they come in 55gr skeins and you need two for a shawl. They're £18 a skein normally so this is a real bargain. For the other two yarns you will get one 100gr skein, which is plenty for a decent sized shawl.

Here's an example of lace yarns I've dyed in the past to tempt you, the club colourways will be exclusive club only. I'm not sure yet which yarn will be used for the first month but it's likely to be cashmere/silk or cashmere.
And after that bit of enabling, I'm off to bed. Pics of some new fiber additions tomorrow.

Nite x

Check this out

Just browsing over at Knit n Caboodle which are stocking some of my hand dyed yarns, namely Bamboo Sock Yarn. And at the moment they're offering free postage. So get over there and order some now.

They've got lots of other cool stuff there too. Don't look at the Alpaca Lace for sale though until I get mine ordered.

I'm back

I'm back from holiday and should be feeling refreshed and rearing to go. Instead I'm tired and spaced out. LOL. But I had a great time on holiday. We went to Butlins Skegness for Spring Harvest, which is, for those who don't know, a Christian holiday week. There are worship services, bible teachings, seminars and lots of other stuff going on. Including kids clubs for 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening. The programme starts at 9am and there is stuff going on until 11.30pm. You obvoiusly don't have to go to everything. in the morning there is a short family worship service at 9am, then the kids go off to their clubs at 10 amfor 3 hours, while we had bible teaching for an hour, which I watched on the telly in the chalet. Then we went off to a question and answer session with the person who did the bible teaching. Then back to chalet for lunch with the kids. in the afternoon the kids had no activities but could use the Butlins Fun Fair and swimming pool and other facilities. For adults there were lots of workshops, seminars and lectures to choose from. There were lots I'd like to have done but I had to restrict it to just a few otherwise I'd been exhausted. At 7pm the kids go off to their evening club, and we went to a Worship Celebration in the Big Top marquee. This is a fantastic session with wonderful worhsip music and excellent preaching. I left the Big Top jsut before the sermon as it was better for my neck and back to watch it on the telly in the chalet than sitting on the chairs in the big top.

After that there was more seminars and lectures and late evening entertainment in the form of bands, comedy stuff etc from 10.30 to 11.30pm. Yazz (remember she had a hit with 'The only way is up' in the early 90s) was there. She's a fantastic singer and did a concert the first evening. I'd have loved to see her but I was too exhausted. She sang a song in the Big Top that evneing and she was fantastic. I did go to see Beverly Trotman (from X Factor) who is another talented singer. The problem was the band was so loud we couldn't actually hear her sing so we left halfway through. Also went to see a Christian comedian called Joe Fisher. He's hilarious. Saw his show last year too and he was just as good this year.

So alhtough I tried to pace myself and be careful I still overdid it and came home in a lot of pain. The girls went back to school today, s and most of the unpacking is done and I finished the washing today. The rest of the day I treated myself to lots of spinning and a bit of knitting.

I dug out this BFL Humbug (on the right in the pic) and have spun up a bobbin already. Searchign for an empty bobbin now so I can carry on. It's a dream to spin.

Have you seen the Sockamania socks for April yet? if not, here they are

That's also the April yarn for Sockamania PLUS. If you'd like to join in time for May hurry up over to Etsy now. May is a special month for Sockamania as we're a year old.

I'm also taking sign ups for the Lace Variety Club. I've reduced the price considerably. The clublats for 3 months and you'll receive 100gr of Merino Lace and Cashmer Lace and 110gr of Luscious Lace (Cashmere/Silk) , but not necessarily in that order. So it's a good deal especially as the Luscious Lace is not a cheap yarn but pure luxury.