KnitCave - Ramblings of an Obsessive

How to spell Llama

2011-10-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is so cute. A font, made of llamas galavanting on the page. I too can now have a herd of Llama's.

Wattle's all that then!

2011-10-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been a busy person and I don't really feel like I've had a chance to catch breath let alone blog recently. It is strange because I sure miss the blog and think about my blog but it sometimes seems difficult just to sit down an write.

I have been busy decluttering. Sadly, this seems to have made a bigger mess in the cave but things are going and, to be honest I am finding it a bit of a relief. I'm eager to move onto other areas but I must stay focused on this one project for the moment.

One of the bonus's about decluttering is it frees up some money. Well, in my case it freed up a reasonable amount of money so I am waiting for a certain special something to arrive at my door. When it does, I'll tell you all about it. However, as I have been waiting patiently and one of my favourite supported spindle makers listed some spindles I couldn't resist nabbing one.

This beauty is made from Wattle (known as the acacia tree) and has some really cool and funky markings. Made by Spanish Peacock, I feel a very lucky person.

Just in case you are thinking I'm very greedy to have so many supported spindles it is so I can dress each one one after another and then move onto plying. Well at least that's what I tell myself.

Do you like my spinning bowl? Turn it over and it makes a funky tea-light holder. It appears there is madness in my method.

I also snaffled this cute little elm bowl when Iain and I went on holiday this summer. It has a little sweet spot for my new spindle.

Crafting

2011-09-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have been busy crafting but terribly bad about blogging about it recently.

At the moment I should be knitting socks - 26 pairs this year to be exact. Well, I've been keeping up fairly well but just needed a break. So, I have been working some crochet. I'm making a bag based on the one made by Lucy of Attic24 blog. I'm using Rico Creative Cotton and I love it. I was lucky enough to find the lining fabric the other day, that itself was a steal at about £2.99 a metre. I think it looks perfect. I'm working on the handles and a couple of decorative flowers so I'm nearly there.

When I've finished the bag I will need to get the sewing machine out to line it. At the same time I shall sew my little retro 50's inspired half apron. I just so love the chickens. They make me smile. I should also have enough fabric to make a little cushion. How sweet.

I have also warped up the rigid heddle loom. I got to a point where I was worrying I didn't have the right yarn and started surfing the web to buy some. So, I broke out a couple of my weaving books, looked though for some inspiration and ideas on what dent to use and raided my stash.

A few years ago Natural Dye Studios and Fyberspates released a special edition yarn called Unicorn comprising of Llama, Cashmere and Silk. I treated myself to a minimum of a skein a month and this stuff is too delicious to use in socks. I carefully selected two skeins that would work together.

I warped with the pink using a 10dent heddle.

It was my first time direct warping and it was good fun.

Then, it was time to pass threads over each other and very quickly I had the following softly plaid fabric which is so very lovely and soft. Just like a whisper.

I forgot how enjoyable the whole process is. Luckily, I should have enough yarn left over to reverse the colours and make a second scarf. I am really interested in seeing what effect this has on the look of the finished item.

I have also agreed to join Miss Elle Knits podcast KAL. The pattern is so cute and I'm using a bit of alpaca handspun. I promise some pictures later.

Finally today I shot over to Great British Yarn's new showroom. It is fantastic and Sharon is so friendly. I am hugely pleased to have a place I can visit to buy Jamieson Spindrift and Knitpicks yarn after fondling. I made a couple of purchases including a lovely pattern by Tiny Owl Knits.

Such fun.

Art yarns agogo

2011-08-31T07:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the most amazing time with a whole load of people, making new friends and learning newness. I also discovered I am better at spinning than I thought although I occassionally overspun my yarns.

I was truely excited when I discovered the owner of FeltstudioUK was hosting an art yarn workshop in my neck of the woods. I have bought lots of her lovely fibre and batts and admired her funky skeins at several shows around the UK. So, despite the fact it took place on the weekend of our wedding anniversary I booked a place and a hotel room even though the venue (Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset) is close to where I live. I didn't want to risk getting caught in bank holiday traffic and miss a minute of the workshop. So having packed a lovely single on my bobbin, my cute Wendy wheel and large box of fibre I travelled down and stayed at the Travelodge in Ilminster.

Preparing for the workshop itself was great fun as it involved stash diving. For those who don't have a big stash (which I do) it is always great to have an excuse to rummage around and find braids and fluff that I've forgotten about.

So the day started with us all getting to know a bit about each other, although several of us have met previously. This was followed by a quick lesson on how to spin thin (my default) and thick (something I have stuggled with for a while). After that, we learnt how to make coils, twists and knots.

Coils are just totally yummy and it is great fun to make knots by jigging one of the threads up and down. So pleasing. See how cute it loots on the bobbin.

Next we spun a slub yarn. Oh, how I struggled to make this. I need more practice as some of my slubs were a bit monsterous and my poor Wendy has a small orifice which wasn't to accommodating for most of the yarns I made. But I'm quite pleased with my first efforts, especially when we made a 'bead' yarn.

That's my "beaded" yarn, the red and yellow ones in the middle.

Davasdu made the most amazing ones, they look like tribbles on a string! I also love how they co-ordinate with what she is wearing.

They make a gorgeous textured fabric. These are Rosanna's coils which she knitted up before dinner on the Saturday night.

Then it was time to add things to our yarns. I went for an understated yarn with beads plied at regular intervals. Very Tilli Tomas. I have more of the fibre and beads so will make another skein, I love it so much.

We were then shown how to spin items straight into the yarn (not using a carrier yarn).

The inclusions yarn is the one on the top and was a bit fiddly as I had to add my inclusions behind the orifice as they would not fit through. We were also shown how to add things such as silk coccoons and locks. I shall have to try these later as I wanted to finish my beaded yarn so didn't make any on the day.

The middle yarn was spun with a single thread carried at the same time. Again, I really liked this technique and will finish off the roving in the same manner. I used a lurex thread so it adds a bit of sparkle and should look lovely knit up.

The bottom yarn was made on the second day and is a core yarn. I made it from this mad batt.

After a day of fun and laughter we had all produced a table full of gorgeous and interesting yarns.

Several of us then had a delicious dinner at The Farthings Hotel which is opposite the hall hosting our workshop. Isn't it pretty? Oh, and for those that are interested I had moules mariniere with chunky chips presented jenga style. I love mussels and so does Widowtwanky now!

The second day of the workshop involved making batts. We arrived to a table groaning with fibre and everyone who had bought a drum carder placed it on the table. I added a whole bunch of fibre and inclusions to the table, as everyone else did.

Wow, I learnt so much about drum carding and also fell in love with the full size louet drum carder. Man that is awesome. Maybe I'll upgrade in the future but first I have to really play with my Ashford.

Lots of gorgeous batts were made and then we had a lesson on spinning core yarns. I showed you a picture of mine earlier in this post.

The batt table was the perfect chance for a photo opportunity.

From left to right - Jillybean, Mandacrafts, VickyW, Widowtwanty, FibreStudioUK, Rosanna, Huskytailbone, StrandedYarnsUK, WinghamWoolworks, Davasdu, me and NinjaBex. I've given their 'handle' and where possible a link to their site or blog. Don't worry you guys, I can remember your names, honest.

I made one final batt and yarn, which I love. It made me squeal with delight as I spun it.

It was a totally amazing weekend and, if you ever have the hankering after making art yarns, I would really recommend a FeltStudioUK workshop.

Finally, here are some shots of the final table showing lots of lovely yarns.

Aren't they just to dye for! (Pun intended DH, pun intended!)

A large helping of Jelly

2011-08-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today I managed to shoot over to Bradford on Avon to see my lovely friend Elle. Well Tuesday is knit and natter at Jumble Jelly so we took a walk to this lovely shop and joined the fun.

At the moment I have taken a break from knitting socks and started a crochet bag, based on the one made by Lucy of Attic24 fame which I am finding huge fun. I am however finding the Rico cotton I am using to make the bag a bit sticky on the hook so I grabbed a metal hook at Jumble Jelly with secret plans to make it into something special.

After a lovely morning talking and crochetting I couldn't resist a quick shopping spree. I managed to get a lovely haul which will keep me busy.

I managed to get a skein of Woolcake yarn to make some chunky socks, it is so soft and fantastic colour. There is also a Simplicity apron pattern and some fabric to make a pocket apron. I am on a bit of an apron kick at the moment and as soon as I saw the great hen fabric I knew it had to come home with me.

Also in the little package is an aluminium crochet hook. You can see a better picture of it below.

Believe it or not but it is the same hook. I have just padded it out with a bit of polymer clay. Really it could do with a bit less "padding" but for my first ever, I love it and can see me making more. Oh, and it is sitting on the bag I'm crochetting. I'm really enjoying the bright colours which change every row.

It was such fun to spend time at Jumble Jelly and, when it was time to go we decided to have a quick look at the Saxon Church and to visit the Millenium Embroidery which was created by some hugely talented embroiderers and we were lucky enough to talk to a couple of them. It took them over three years and the majority of the work was done in chain stitch with accents of bullion and french knots. Large portions were stuffed, in a similar manner to stumpwork to give depth.

My favourite scene was the one depiting the homecrafts of spinning and weaving prior to the introduction of commercial mills. Unfortunately, I did not take my camera with me and this is the best photo I could find (bottom panel in the picture). If you scroll through the pictures you can see the quality of the work.

We then walked back long the canal, past the Tithe barn and home.

A lovely end to a great day out.

Spinning Madness

2011-08-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

I love spindles and have been stalking a specific spindle maker for a while on Ravelry.

Well, after seeing some of Bristlecone's recent commission work, I had to take the plunge and put in a custom order. He is a wood and glass maker and has joined these skills to make a unique spindle which he named a 'Glindle'. His glindles fly, both when spinning and when they are listed in his shop so it was proving impossible to catch one.

After a brief discussion and a short wait, I was shown pictures of my glindle and, once I approved it I then had to wait for the post man to deliver this:

Which contained (there was also a chocolate but that didn't last long)

Further unwrapping lead to

So now you need some closeups of this beauty

It was important to give it a quick dress in the lovely which fibre it came with, just to get to know it.

Then it was time to choose the batt for it's new dress. The batt is from the lovely Lavender Cottage and I purchased it at Unravel.

See, they were meant to go together. And my glindle asked to be named, she is called Sprite.

I also purchased an Ann Grout Turnip with bowl this month. I had been after one for ages and finally decided I had to buy one. I purchased mine from Phylleri at Steam Valley Fibre and after some discussion I decided to purchase mine based on colour alone, not having seen a photo of it. She kindly held on to it for a week and a half as I was going away on holiday. Now I call that service.

The spindle came with 30g (yes, that's right - 30g) of her own fibre, from her goats. What is more she colourmatched it to the spindle.

The fibre is beautiful, it spins like a dream and the colour is so lush. Called Summer Sky it is a 50/50 blend of Border Leicester wool and fine Mohair. The goats that donate their fibre for this yarn are called Ginny & Lavender. I want some more but I am trying my hardest to be good as I have so much fibre.

See, it is so beautiful. Again, this spindle insisted on being named and is Denim.

Yorkshire ... here we come!

2011-08-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

My goodness, time flies past at the speed of Concord. I have so much to say but have already been sucked into playing on Ravelry for hours more than I should.

Summer holidays have come to the Cave and DH and I are having a fabulous summer holiday together - nearly 5 whole weeks of fun, chores and a smidgen of work to keep us sane.

We have used this time to GO AWAY. We flew up the motorway with our bikes on the back of our mini and spent nearly two weeks in Yorkshire. It was lovely and I really enjoyed thinking about visits to my grand parents and driving over the moors with my siblings and parents.

We had some lovely days out including a visit to the lovely but ruined Rieveulx Abbey.

We then spent a lovely day out in York and went to the Jorvik Viking Centre which I have wanted to visit for ages. It was great fun and I'm really pleased we went. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the outside of the Minster, sitting in the Minster gardens and a visit to the very lovely Merchant Adventurer's Hall. I just love old buildings and the interior of this one is stunning.

I also really liked the stained glass.

The colours were gorgeous and reminded me of natural dyes.

We also had dinner at El Piano, which was yummy and left us very very full.

It would have been wrong for us to be in the moors without taking a walk to Mallyan Spout. Well, most of it was a walk but there was a fair scramble along the stream but was delightful and we had a picnic amoungst the heather.

Of course we couldn't be so close to the coast without visiting the three most famous seaside towns: Scarborough, Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay. They are all different and charming in their own way.

Whitby has a fantastic flight of stairs which lead to the parish church, sort of like the Stairway to Heaven. The road that runs by the steps is unbelievably steep so we took the stairs.

The views from the top were worth the climb, such a lovely place to linger and enjoy the view.

We also spent a lovely afternoon in Robin Hood's Bay, a place packed full of charm. We spent the most fun time rockpooling.

I found the COOLEST thing ever - a real live sea urchin. It was so funky and was waving its feeding tubes. I claim to be the winner in "best finds in a rock pool", can't wait to see how DH trumps it.

We also visited what I believe to be the most beautiful village in England - Hutton le Hole.

It just seems completely idyllic and I would be happy to live here.

I have to admit, Hutton le Hole also has one of the most charming museum I've been in for a long time - Ryedale Folk Museum. Packed full of buildings and items from Ryedale it was such a pleasure to stroll around and investigate. They also have three looms set up so people can try their hand at weaving - an iron age inspired upright loom, an 8-shaft table loom and a 8-shaft floor loom with treadles, each warped with hand spun yarn. They also carry out re-enactments on certain days.

I hope you have enjoyed revisiting some of my holiday highlights.

Lucky Me!!!

2011-07-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have been very remiss as I need to post about the Newbury Coat and some other exciting stuff that has happened but first, I really must tell you about a bit of luck that came my way.

As most of you know I tweet away and it regularly seduces me away from my blog. A couple of weeks ago, well the 24th June to be exact I won a prize. Yep, there was a competition on Twitter and I won and my prize is beautiful!

The lovely Seasparkle ... what are you still here? Click on her name and go and have a look at her super lush website. I'll wait.

Told you it was good.

Anyway, as I was saying Seasparkle ran a competition to win a pendant. What a beaut it is. I wear it lots. The quality of the pendant is fantastic and I can't wait to wear my sea jewels to the beach this summer.

I guess I should let you see my pretties. I feel royally spoilt.

And a closeup to show the detail.

Thank you so very much, Seasparkle.

All set for Newbury

2011-06-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Oh, my goodness. I can't believe this Saturday I'm going to be in Newbury at a stupid early time, leaving home about 6.30am!

I and Elle (of Miss Elle Knits fame) will be joining the Kennet Valley Guild and members of other local guilds to participate in a totally mad challenge - to recreate the making of the Newbury Coat. I'm already feeling nervous as anything (gulp)!

Here is a link to the original Newbury Coat challenge.

Here is a link to the madness that is taking place this weekend.

I may faint!

To every season ...

2011-06-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

So summer is acting a lot like spring. Seems fitting as spring was like summer.

Yesterday was guild day and there was a fleece sale at Steeple Ashton. I managed not to purchase any fleece or yarn. Despite there being some lovely Zwartbles, Alpaca and exceedingly lovely Shetland. I really love Shetland. I didn't dare linger as I already have several fleeces lined up for spinning.

Don't think I didn't spend a little bit of money at the Guild though. Joan and Clive were visiting from Woodland Turnery and I couldn't resist buying a mini niddy noddy for those little sample skeins of yarn.

Joan gave a talk detailing how Woodland Turnery came into existance and they had bought her Leicester wheel as well as the chair wheel. I really love the chair wheel, it is so comfortable. Joan also showed samples of her pyrograph art.

As always, it was lovely to see Joan and Clive and have the opportunity for a chat, especially as I won't be attending Woolfest or Fibre East.

Just so you know I have started spinning some lovely fawn Alpaca. Last night I put the remainder of the fawn through my drum carder. I am planning to ply the fawn with some yummy chocolate and hopefully have enough yarn for a top by the time I've finished.

By all rights, I should finish this post with at least one picture. So I have decided to share a place I drive pass every time I go to the Wiltshire Guild in Steeple Ashton. It catches my eye every time I drive by.

And the details are fantastic.

Oh, no mojo!

2011-06-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

I've had a strange week in the Cave and by Friday evening I had only managed to crochet a couple of rows on a shawl and knit a couple of rows on a sock in the whole week. Totally not like me at all.

Friday evening came around and my crafting mojo returned. I finally completed a couple of projects. I do need to take good photos but managed to grab a shot of a very cute Lisa Lam purse I made last night.This was made from a kit which was really clear, great fun and I can't believe how professional it looks.

I also finished some bunting I made from a kit by GillianGladraggs which I purchased recently from the very lovely new shop in Bradford on Avon, JumbleJelly. I haven't had the opportunity to take good photos of the completed bunting yet, but this is what a couple of the felted sheets looked like before I cut them up.

I am really happy to have the mojo back.

Knitting in the Sun

2011-06-12T11:11:00.001-07:00

JumbleJelly, the fab new haberdashery and wool shop iin Bradford on Avon hosted a Knit in Public event in the park yesterday.

They provided a gazebo for us to sit under and I took my newly completed quilt to sit on. It was a wonderful afternoon full of fun and laughter. I met lots of lovely new crafter's and chatted away.

I'm not sure too much actual 'work' was done even though there were plenty of scrummy projects on view.

At one point I was trying to explain spinning from washing a newly shorn fleece through to plying including explaining the differences between plied and cabled yarns. I think poor Chris's head might have exploded but he did keep asking questions and I do like to provide answers.

My friend Elle took time to interview fellow public knitters yesterday and these can be found in her podcast (http://misselleknits.blogspot.com).

So, as I mentioned, I have finished my quilt and I love it. The picture will be at the start of the post because that is what happens if I use my phone to post an entry.
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Hello!

2011-05-22T14:00:00.001-07:00

You poor neglected blog. I have been ignoring you. I have lots to blog about. Promise to visit you soon with photos and chat.
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A bit of fabric fun

2011-01-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

Well, not quite yet.

A while ago I was given a big bag of yarns by a lovely lady. As it is mainly comprised orphan yarns I decided to split it into colour groups and create some cloth on my rigid heddle.

Using yarns at random I direct warped the loom. The picture shows the warp which still needs to be tied on. I can't wait to see how the cloth works out. Honestly, it could look ... well ... different.

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Alchemy

2011-01-05T15:38:00.000-08:00

After a problematic start I am making progress on my sock. The top 3 patterns are now complete.

It is time to start the cross & diamond leg pattern. Once started I think it will progress quite quickly as the pattern is established. It is also the point where shaping starts so there will be less stitches per row.

I am loving this pattern and the zauberballs. Good job as I have a second sock to knit as well.

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Childhood memories

2011-01-02T02:48:00.001-08:00

When out shopping the other day, I found these. I used to have these as a kid but you don't find them in the UK.

They taste just as I remember them tasting.
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A is for Alchemist

2011-01-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

I have signed up to take part in an alphabetical sock knitting challenge in the UK sock knitters group on Ravelry. This was inspired by my lovely friend and podcaster Miss Elle giving me a sock pattern for Christmas.

It is a challenge where participants can knit as few or 26 pairs of socks in 12 months and I have lots of socks I want to knit and a rather large stash of sock yarn. So today I have cast on and started knitting my first A-Z KAL pair - A is for Alchemist.

I think they are looking mighty fine so far.

I think I might need more knitting needles ...
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The ending of 2010

2010-12-31T09:06:00.001-08:00

So, after not blogging for ages I felt it was worthwhile just 'driving by'. I do have the urge to blog but then worry out sorting out photos and writing lots of text. This means I hardly ever blog.

So, as the year draws to a close, I thought I might just change my blogging style and see if that works.

I have had a great 2010, full of ups and downs. Through out I have been fully supported by my wonderful husband and my friends. I am so fortunate to have you all in my life.

For 2011 I have agreed to join a KAL concentrating on knitting socks from A-Z, a total of 26 pairs in 12 months. Luckily, I don't have to knit all pairs as it is possible just to dip in and out. I have plans to knit at least one pair of socks for Iain and one for my sister.

I have noticed is that my theme for 2011 also seems to be colourwork. I plan to knit a 'v' neck tank in fair isle in 2011 as well. I also would like to finish crocheting a blanket, crochet a cardigan, finish a shawl and continue dyeing, spinning and weaving.

I may need to organise my time as I also have to ensure I see lots of my friends in 2011 too.

I hope you all have a good 2011.
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I'm in love

2010-08-21T04:49:00.000-07:00

A while ago I visited my good friend Puddytatpurr and got her started on her spindling journey. She is an accomplished spinner and always used a wheel. Needless to say, she had a play with my trindle and before I could say boo she was spindling away and had started a spindle collection. She has progressed to supported spindles and loves them.

We always manage to enable each other - go figure. I was intreged when she showed me her latest spindle from Gripping Yarn. It was a beautiful Russian. Well, I just couldn't resist and had to have one of my own.

Purchasing my custom spindle was a brilliant experience. I watched Lisa's videos and then emailed her. I stated I was interested in trying a Russian and a French hand held spindle and that I loved walnut wood but wanted something different. Lisa emailed back and suggested I purchase her Rose design as it can be used both ways and sent me a list of woods she uses together with a suggestion of based on my love of walnut.

Choosing the wood was difficult, to be honest I could take one of each and be a hugely happy bunny. I was seduced by the redness of Redheart but was worried by the fact it can fade in sunlight. I just love African Blackwood, Cocobolo and Ziricote to name a few but I finally settled on Bloodwood as it has a gorgeous glow and reddish tint.

Well, my Rose arrived today and it is even better than I hoped, it just feels so sweet in my hand and is a pleasure to twirl. It also spins well as a Russian although it is going to take me a while to get good at this lol.

It also came with a small chunky batt from Desert Garden Farms, which consists of Rambo, Silk Noil and Angora which is a total pleasure to spin with. Do look at their store, they have some lovely fluff.

I already have plans for ordering a Russian spindle in Lignam Vitae which is a wood that develops a green tinge and smells like roses. I just need to save the money lol.

Exhibition and Sale

2010-08-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! As you may know I am a member of the Wiltshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers which I love. At the moment I am busy helping to prepare for our annual textile exhibition and sale. What is more, I have a couple of pieces of weaving and some yarn in the show.

The exhibition is being held at the West Barn in Bradford-on-Avon. The exhibition runs from 11 to 15 August and will be open from 10.30-5 each day. The admission is 50p with children free when accompanied by an adult.

It promises to be a lovely exhibition and will showcase some of the beautiful work by Guild members. There will be plenty of woven articles to look at and purchase as well as yarns, jewellery and the most gorgeous fascinators. There is usually a spinning demonstration and this year there will be the opportunity to have a go yourself. There will also be a raffle, which will include a range of prizes including a 'start dyeing kit' containing acid dyes and some yarn so the lucky winner can experience the joy of dying their own yarn.

Bradford-on-Avon is a lovely town, well worth a visit in its own right. The West Barn is a beautiful building and is situated near the Tithe Barn, a gorgeous structure. There is also a lovely cafe down by the locks; it is always very busy.

A little weaving

2010-08-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went camping with my friend, Hen, in Exmoor National Park. I met Hen online a while back and we had been hoping to meet for the last 6 months. She makes the most lovely baskets - I have a little one of hers hanging from my Pipy wheel. It holds my different whorls and other spinning bits and bobs. It is brilliant a great shape, it has an off-centre handle so it can hang from a door knob and that it came with a sprig of lavender and an orifice hook. I have been looking forward to meeting Hen in person as I am also in awe of her trail craft.

I arrived where we were camping and it is so beautiful with disused trails, woodland, views of fields and the sea. A perfect spot that is well sheltered, I put up the tent and settled in. It was then a short drive so we could take a stroll along the Coastal path. We spotted dolphins playing in the sea and we sat and enjoyed their frolics; it was such a huge privilege to see. Having watched them until they disappeared from view we continued our walk, coming across several wild goats climbing on rocks and chewing the grass.

It was great to spend the weekend under canvas as I love camping but it isn't something I do enough off. We had also agreed to do a skills exchange and so Friday we cooked some eucalyptus leaves over the fire ready for dyeing the next day.

The weather forced us indoors so I broke out the spindle collection, carders and several varieties of wool. I showed Hen how to card wool and spin using a drop spindle although she already spins on a wheel. I seem to demonstrate spindling wherever I go and people seem to really enjoy it, which I love.

On Saturday the weather improved be sunny and warm - ideal for a bit of target practice. For the first time since I left college I was let loose with a bow and arrow. It was brilliant fun. When my mum was much younger she was an archer and it was lovely to feel that connection with her all over again.

Then it was time for a car journey as Hen then took me on a woodland walk to Watersmeet. This lush walk on a clearly defined path took us along a river with plenty of waterfalls and deep basins, edged with a range of plants including wild raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pennywort, wood sorrell and mushrooms.

I would really love to live in a house in such a stunning location.

We finished dyeing the fibre with eucalyptus and we modified some with iron and some with copper to arrive with 3 beautiful shades.

Saturday night was spent with Hen teaching me how to weave a basket base. It was brilliant fun and she is such a great teacher and very patient.

Sunday loomed, a beautiful sunny day. The weather was a bit hot for making baskets easily as the willow dried out quickly but I was shown how to make a sun.

This then became a sculpture.

Hen then taught me two different weaves.

And finally, after several hours I had a completed basket.

I am hugely proud of my basket and really pleased with it even though it is full of kinks and is slightly uneven and the wrapping on the handles could be better. I loved making it and my hands are recovering nicely. It took most of the day to finish and I did feel a bit mean that I had to run when I finished as it was getting late. Sadly, it was necessary for us to go home and our adventures were over.

It was such a special weekend, one I hope I'll have a chance to repeat in the future. Afterall, despite the fact we talked masses we still have loads to say. But you knew that would be the case, didn't you?

Shop Update

2010-06-14T16:04:00.000-07:00

A small update has gone into my shop. This includes my new sock yarn - Grotto - comprising of 80% superwash merino and 20% bamboo it has a lovely drape, slight sheen and is ideal for summer knitting. I've also listed a new top to spin - 70% British black shetland with 30% tussah silk, scrummy and different.

Shop Update

2010-05-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

Aren't bank holiday's wonderful? I have done my biggest ever shop update.

Shop Update

2010-05-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

I have been busy recently and hope to do a blog about craftiness very soon.
Meanwhile, I've been creating some loveliness for my shop. Some of the yarn colours are part of my Egyptian Myths series.

If you haunted twitter at the beginning of May there was discussions about Egyptian myths and my brain started seeing colours. It became important I share them with you. So the colours inccluded are Anubis, Isis, Sekhmet and Bast.

I am also pleased to include my first fibres - a beautiful mix of 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel.

Of course, Iain saw the tops and took a shine to a pink, violet, turquoise and black. I shall be trying to spin and knit him some socks.

Shop Update

2010-04-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have just updated my shop with yarn and a new project bag.

Wonderhaul, Wonderwool, Wales

2010-04-28T04:42:00.000-07:00

It took a while but this is my haul from Wonderwool, Wales.

I have already started spinning the Ryeland fleece and the Camel/Silk.

Wonderful, Wonderwool, Wales

2010-04-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

Coughs

(This post is not for the feint hearted. Nor should my husband read it, just in case he realises how much fibre my already considerable stash grew by this weekend.)

Those of you in the know will realise that this weekend was Wonderwool, one of the best excuses to visit Wales beside the scenery. I am going to try and document some of what I did and I am so sorry if I forget to mention you, I met and talked to so many people, spent 10 hours in the car and got high on fibre fumes. I was also ably supported by my gorgeous and lovely friend Puddytatpurr for the whole weekend. We were so easy to spot as we were the really noisy ones squealing, laughing, talking, touching, and it seems buying as much as we could.

Before I dive fully in, I have a huge thank you to give to Jeni for gifting me some gorgeous angora from her lovely bunny. I shall do a separate post on playing with Hartley but it was great to get a chance to meet in person.

I also need to thank the ever wonderful Lynda. She recently purchased a Tekoteko Wendy and we had some great chats as her's needed a bit of work. A couple of days ago she supplied me with a couple of small oak dowels, which I was really happy to receive and on Sunday we finally got to meet and she gave me:

I can see you are as excited as I am! those two shaped dowels are from the wonderful Mr Philip Poore, the original maker of my Wendy. She arranged for him to make and send me this pair of bobbin supports as mine were missing. Wendy and I are very happy with this brilliant gift.

One of the most fun things was to have an opportunity to meet up and talk to the masses of people I have met, those I know through Ravelry/Twitter and new people because they are there. It would be impossible to mention everyone I spoke to and a huge list would just be boring so, just quickly just because there are photos - I met:

Longdrawjames, so helpful and fun and look at his Saturday haul!

The lovely Wyndwitch, happy as always with red, she left with a Knitters Loom - it could be messy.

Babylonglegs who I have wanted to meet forever. Her fibre was the second hand dyed fibre I ever spun. I still have it and love it and one day I'll knit with it. I think she was happy, that is her Cherry Matchless.

Jeni (with Babylonglegs and me). Jeni has been great and is so generous with her time.

Freyalyn - her knitting is as delightful as her fibre. She was probably bored of me by the end of the show as I kept popping in and saying 'hi'.

Guzzisue couldn't stop smiling - she had been covetting a Sonata and on the last day had one of her very own.

Julie, Ursula (The Laar Bear) and Puddytatpurr.

Ian, (at the back), Bellgrove and Puddytatpurr from the IST stand.

The lovely Puddytatpurr, ToadofToadHall, (so sorry, I didn't get a chance to talk to you so I don't know your name), Guzziesue, Brian and Picperfic at the end of day one.

And last but definately not least the wonderful Ambermoggie and Mr Mog!

I'll post about my haul tomorrow.

Folksy Friday

2010-04-09T04:07:00.000-07:00

I am so happy! I was Tweeting as I do and I received notice that Craftyjemima had included my yarn in her Folksy review on her blog. My yarn!

Go!

Check it out!

Don't forget to stay and look at her blog. Nerys is very talented.

Thank you for making my Friday :)

New Yarn!

2010-04-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

It is time for some shop news.

I have introduced a new core yarn: Cavern.
This is beautifully soft and it is hard to believe it is 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon. Giving an excellent 425m per 100g there is no fear of running out of yarn with just a toe to go. Cavern will replace my first yarn Merino/Nylon. All the stock I have of Merino Nylon is currently in my shop.

Cavern takes colour beautifully and I shall be loading the following in the shop:

A Spring Morning

Moody Sea

Dusk til Dawn

Mint Choc Chip

Powder

Pangea

I am so excited I am also a contributor to the wonderful Fibreholic's sample box scheme. If you are not aware of this Fibreholics issue boxes filled with samples from inde dyers and spinners and boxes are available for yarn or fibre. This month I submitted samples of A Spring Morning.

This seems to be an update for new yarn as I would also like to introduce you to Supershine, this yarn is soft and so very shiney with great drape. Wonderful for knitting shawls and garments where a fine stitch is needed. It will also make lovely, shimmery socks. The yarn contains 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel for the sheen and drape. There are 333m of this beautiful yarn to 100g. It is machine washable but, as with all my yarns I recommend hand washing to maintain colour.

Hail

I hope you enjoy my new yarns and colours as much as I have selecting and making them.

Shawls!

2010-03-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard on my 10 shawls in 2010 challenge and completed two shawls in March (making a total of 4). Both the shawls also fit the large category. Don't worry I have bigger shawls planned.

So, without futher ado I would like to introduce to you Sock it to Eva. This shawl is a simple crochet pattern. When I say simple, I am sure it is when you are good a crochet but I had to frog and start this shawl 3 times. Guess I really shouldn't be a perfectionist. There are some errors towards the end but by that point I just did a quick fix and I'm not sure I could point them out even if I felt like it, which I don't so don't bother asking.

And a quick close up of the shawl:

To summarise the pattern is Eva's Shawl by Milobo, and I used two skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn, a total of 771yards. I only did the first row of the border as I preferred this.

The second shawl I finished was Pudding Swap.

The pattern is Multnomah by Kate Flagg and was made in my handspun from the Scrap Swap I took part in in February. The fibres, including mohair and gotland were spun in a pudding fashion giving me these lovely singles.

The shawl weighs 159.9g and took 502yards. I love knitting with my handspun.

And the Winner Is ....

2010-03-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

The time has come to draw the winners in my shop opening give away. I have been blown away with the interest in and lovely comments about my products. I know you really just want me to get down to business and tell you who won so, without further ado.

So that I could draw the winners I made a list of entrants, dividing them between sock yarn and project bag. I then gave each entrant a unique number. The first winner to be drawn was for the sock yarn so I hopped over to Random.Org, filled in the details and pressed Get Numbers.

And the winning number was 25, which was Deirdre and she requested Hail as her prize.

As you know, I am also giving away a project bag and again I used Random.Org.

The winning number was 10, which was BB Group and she requested Hippy Skulls as her prize.

Congraqtulations, please contact me to claim your prize :)

Once again, thank you all for taking part in my giveaway.

A Hint of Purple

2010-03-13T14:48:00.000-08:00

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments, the giveaway is still running this week and there will be some new colours coming up. Here are some drying on the line.

Elle and I were discussing how much we like black and I just couldn't resist a blast of American Gothic, soft greys build up to dramatic charcoal.

The back skein shows how the yarn was dyed and the front shows the yarn re-skeined. Do you think I should show the yarns in my shop re-skeined, although I think they will be supplied 'unmixed' so to speak? I think the re-skein shows the yarn to best effect.

I also painted Rainbow. This is slightly different to the colourway Miss Elle so kindly knitted for me as I have changed both the dyes and amended the method slightly. However, I really love how the colours work and flow together just like a rainbow.

I also created a violet (top) and a purple (bottom) colourway. I should have photographed them this morning while there was plenty of light but I'll post pictures anyway.

I also dashed off my first solid colour, I've named it Lacey as it is great for really fancy patterns.

Lastly, I had some BFL roving in my stash and I really wanted to play with some greens. I am very happy with it and think I'll keep it all for myself as I love the richness of the greens and pinks.

I have also been knitting and working on my fourth shawl for the 10 shawls in 2010 challenge I am doing. The pattern is Multnomah (Rav link) and I am knitting my own handspun yarn.

Shop Opening and Giveaway

2010-03-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

Since announcing I was opening a shop, I have received several enquiries. So that I didn't disappoint, I decided to open shop a bit early. My two shops are now open.

To celebrate I have decided to give a prize to two lucky winners. One winner will win a project bag and one will win a skein of my Merino/Nylon hand dyed 4ply sock yarn. The lucky winners will be able to select from my shop.

All you need to do to win is to visit either my Folksy or Artfire shops (they both carry the same stock, Folksy invoices in GBP and Artfire in USD). Have a look around. Come back and leave me a comment as to which item is your favourite. Don't forget to say which prize you would prefer to win and to give me a way to contact you.

The winner draw will take place on on Friday, 19th March. I will divide commentors based on the prize they want to win and assign each a unique number. I will then use a random number generator to select the winner.

Good luck everyone!

KnitCave's Artfire Studio

2010-03-09T02:56:00.000-08:00

I am so humbled, there has been such a buzz since I announced I was opening a shop on Artfire. Because of this, I have decided to open earlier. I am currently preparing the studio update and will post shortly, once I have it all loaded.

Also, I will be running a give away to promote my new store. I'll post details on the official opening post.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2010-03-06T01:04:00.000-08:00

I was made redundant at the beginning of January and, in between looking for work, I have obviously taken the time to enjoy my passions. Well a gal just has to keep herself happy.

I have been bouncing an idea in my head for a while and have deccided the time is right - I will be opening a little on-line shop on Artfire called KnitCave next Friday, 12th March.

To start with there will be Merino/Nylon sock yarn, project bags and small handbags. I do hope you will visit my store when it opens and hope you find something you like.

A Crafting Holiday

2010-03-01T12:21:00.001-08:00

This weekend I went to stay at Sam's house on the Isle of Wight. I had such a blast and we pretty much talked and crafted the weekend away. It was amazing.

Sam spent Friday and Saturday finishing the singles for her 2ply BFL humbug laceweight and made a start plying it on Sunday. It is beautiful and soft.

I too played with my travelling wheel and sampled again for the Sleeves in Your Pi project, this time carding rolags instead of flick combing the locks. On Sunday I made a start on knitting the actual project and am loving the way it is turning out.

I also spent most of Friday evening and Saturday to spin 50g of the twinkle braid I bought from Picperfic's Fluff-n-Stuff. It is as beautiful to spin as it looks and Sam gave me some bamboo so I can dye it black and use it as the second ply. Thank you!

It wasn't all spinning as I managed to finish my Ravelympic DNA scarf and the never ending Dragon Socks while I was there. So, added to the aerial unwind (happi cardi) and the 18 skeins of hand painted merino/nylon sock yarn I had a very successful games and managed to update Ravelry when I arrived home, hafter wwatching the 3rd period and extra time of the Canada v USA men's ice hockey final.

I was also allowed to play with Sam's drum carder and produced these rather gorgeous batts using her hand dyed English wool. It was such fun I am now saving my pennies and am on the hunt for my own carder.

Sam's two youngest celebrated their birthday's over the weekend so I was fed Chinese and home made cake, delicious. Sam makes a brilliant almond slice and iced coconut cake but the star was her chocolate cake.

I can't believe we had such fun and managed so much crafting.

I'm looking forward to my next visit when maybe I'll see more of the island.

Mohair Tickles

2010-02-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

I had a great day at the Wiltshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers on Saturday. I took part in a workshop run by Jane-Ann of Hammond Mohair. She then gave a talk on keeping angora goats and her business.

I have have spun mohair from commercially prepared top but never from the fleece. The different ages/grades of mohair were discussed and we then had the opportunity to spin them.

The three grades relate to age but a goat can show the different characteristics. Kid mohair is normally the first three clips and has the tightest curl. It is also the softest of the three, young goat is normally the next three clips and is less curly and looses a small amount of softness, the last type of mohair is adult, which has the least curl and has lost some of the softness. It is possible to spin all three grades with a good level of softness although I found that kid was definately the softest and springiest of the three, although none of them have the elasticity of wool.

We carded each batch, which lead to some amusement as the rolags we produced were fuffly and similar to angel hair. I really enjoyed carding the fibre as it takes the minimum of work and the rolags were very easy to spin with. Although mohair requires a certain amount of twist, keeping this to a minimum makes a soft yarn and it was difficult to tell the difference between a soft spun young and a soft spun adult mohair.

This is a lustre fibre and is naturally bright white, althought it is possible to raise coloured goats. These are apparently grey and so not as popular. The lustre is due to the smoothness of the fibre, unlike wool which when viewed under a microscope has barbs. Because of the smoothness of the strand, it is harder to felt mohair so it is not as susceptible to thermal shock but it is possible to felt it in a washing machine or use it for needle felting with wool. It also has greater fire retardancy than wool.

The fibre takes acid dyes beautifully and gives a great strength of colour. The photo shows kid at the top, young in the middle and adult on the bottom. The colours are not correct, see the picture of the flower for the right colours.

I then decided to crochet them into a flower, flared rose from 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield. I'm not very good at crochet but really enjoyed using the mohair. It is a firm yarn but I found it easy to see the stitches. The flower uses all three yarns with the kid making up the central section. It is possible to see the difference in the fineness of the fibres by eye.

When selecting mohair fleece, it is really important to check the bag. It is not a cheap fibre to buy so check there is no or minimal contamination and ensure that the locks are fairly intact. Also, the softness of the fibre and lock length can be gauged. Ideally a lock should be 6inches in length, the fleece grows at the rate of an inch each month.

The goats are shorn two times a year and, although they are hardy they are less hardy than sheep and like shelter from the rain. In really cold spells Jane-Ann provides certain members of her flock with jumpers so they can stay warm and always ensures they are shorn before kidding in March. As they usually have twins it is a busy time of year and easy to double the flock. Strangely, suckling does not always come naturally so she can easily spend a couple of hours with each birthing doe to ensure the kids have a good meal. This level of husbandry has kept her losses to a minimum in her 30 years of breeding.

Jane-Ann also explained cashgora fibre, which is sometimes available. Cashgora is the term for a fleece from the offspring of a dairy/common goat and an angora buck, so each generation needs to produce a girl. After 5 crosses the cashgora goat becomes a pure angora. This helps to introduce fresh genetics into the breed. Cashgora is normally refered to 1st cross, 2nd cross etc. The fibre takes more processing as it has kemp, long guard hairs, that need removing before spinning to ensure a soft fibre. I would believe that each cross would have less kemp necessitating less work.

Hammond Mohair is a family run company that sells dyed and undyed fleece, yarn and hand knit articles direct to the public. Rita, Jane-Ann's mum, knits a wide range of beautiful items and Jane-Anne also sells her crochetted work and patterns. It was a lovely day, learning about such an interesting animal.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star

2010-02-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

A while back, the ever lovely and talented Marianne posted some twinkle fibre in her shop. It was beautiful and it sold out within minutes, before I could click on the 'buy' button.

Obviously, there was only one thing for it and that was to commission my very own braid. Now, Marianne also twitters so I sent her a message and, despite having her arm in plaster she dyed me the most lovely twinkle.

Here is a bit of it unbraided

It is beautiful and soft and will spin an absolute treat. Sadly, it needs to wait until I have cleared some bobbins.

Marianne is multi talented and all her yarns/fibres come with a special present. Here is mine. I now have three different ones, each matches the yarn it came with and it is delightful to receive such a lovely gift.

If you want to find out more about Marianne, you can also drop by her blog.

Friends are just amazing

2010-02-17T03:34:00.000-08:00

I tweet, sometimes I tweet too much. I know some people don't get twitter but I love it.
I have made some wonderful and amazing friends on twitter and slowly I am getting to meet them in person as well.

Today, I received a package from one of my friends, @mulene.

It contained

Now, how totally cool, wonderful and amazing is THAT!

I admit, some of you might not realise why I am so very happy with my present. The bag goes with

The latest book by my all time favourite musician.

Thank you so much.

Scrap Swap

2010-02-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

At the end of November Limegreenjelly suggested participating in a fibre scrap swap on Ravelry. Of course, the suggestion was too good to turn up and in the end 28 people decided to join in the fun.

Today, I received my scrap bag full of beautiful portions of roving, each beautifully soft and lush and forming tight little sweeties.

Of course, I couldn't resist unravelling each piece and laying them out. Look at how beautiful they are.

Of course, the next stage is to spin them and Sjames suggested breaking down each piece of roving further and randomly spinning them. I have never done this so this is my plan. Once I have created my single, I shall ply with a plain colour. I just need to decide what colour.

Get Knitted Dye Workshop

2010-02-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

This Saturday I was lucky enough to attend the Dye Workshop held by Jeni of Fyberspates at Get Knitted.

I have been wanting to do this workshop for a while but each time it was full so I was pleased when there was availability and that it fell on my birthday was a complete bonus.

The dyeing is carried out in doors, above the shop and we were amply supplied with cake and drinks. After a health and safety discussion we were let loose on a range of bases, hand painting them with acid dyes. It was such fun, and it was lovely to change a base yarn from this super shiny merino tencel:

To this multi coloured paint job.

To this completed yarn.

The shine on this yarn is amazing.

Next, I was lucky enough to play with Scrumptious Chunky

and pulled this out the bag

Next I gave myself a serious lace fix, dyeing 3,000meters of Tai Silk in a gold colourway.

As though silk isn't sparkly enough I then dyed some sparkle sock inspired by ripening vines.

Finally, I finished with a lovely turquoise and blue colourway which will be great for a pair of highly patterned socks.

My one real disappointment was the silk hankie. I shall try and rework it but I couldn't be bothered to photograph it. Afterall, who wants to see the pants stuff.

As I mentioned, it was also my birthday and once again I was royally spoilt by those around me. I received another SIGNED copy of The Death of Bunny Monroe and a CD of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Royal Albert Hall. Can't beat a bit of Nick.

I also received foam mats for blocking my knitting, a Romi shawl pin (I'm waiting for it to arrive but it's on its way) and the following:

I really love the Rose of England, La Traviata, Maple Garland although Iain is now concerned I might cover all flat surfaces with lace table cloths and doilies.

On top of this are two lovely sets of stitch markers from my friend Claire. She made the perfect choice, a set for lace as I love knitting it and some gorgeous green markers. I'm not too sure how much knitting will be done when my project wears these as I may just sit and look at the markers.

Finally, I also received some gorgeous cashmere yarn from my friend Elizabeth.

I think it is destined to become a melon shawl from Victorian Lace Today.

Sleeves in Your Pi Challenge

2010-02-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

I have been working slowly working on my spinning challenge - Sleeves in your Pi.

I am using a grey shetland fleece I purchased from the Guild last year for £8.00. The fleece is from a sheep called Stelatta. Details of the challenge and washing the fleece were posted on 1 January 2010.

I started washing the fleece in December and it is now all washed. I am combing the fleece and this is proving time consuming. Because of the small locks I have been using quite a narrow gauge dog comb but have decided to see what result I get with a flick comb I received with my Wendy wheel.

The sample was spun and plied on 29 January on my brand new Wendy wheel. I plan to spin the singles on the Wendy and use the Pipy for plying. Obviously, these changes will mean I shall have to check I am producing the same yarn.

The spun sample is knitted on 5.5mm needles and I have perfect stitch gauge, I am sightly short on the row gauge but as I am knitting the large size, I don't think it will be an issue. I will just need to check and add extra rows if needed.

I am so happy with how the sample looks. It makes me eager to crack on with this project.

Welcome Wendy

2010-01-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a new lady came into my life. She was expected and she was planned. She was also a bit dishevelled due to travelling.

You see, she had flown in all the way from New Zealand and space was a bit tight.

Of course, the only thing I could do was to give her a good oil, rubbing her with teak oil as well as oiling every joint as I put her together. She is a very cute wheel, the only sadness is that the bobbin supports have been replaced by some painted dowels. But it would be rude to point out such a defect.

Of course, importing a second-hand wheel from New Zealand isn't the cheapest way to purchase a wheel. I could probably have sourced a variety of second-hand travelling wheel in the UK for the same or less money, not that I really tried to find one.

Buying a wheel is a serious consideration and when buying a second wheel I really wanted the flexibility of being able to work on the same project away from home. In order to do that, I needed a wheel that would use the same bobbins as my existing wheel. It also needed to be small enough to stand up in my car. After a bit of hunting I managed to locate Wendy, the smaller sister to Pipy.

Also I find it interesting that the little sister (Wendy) was made by Philip Poore, the original designer, and that my Pipy was made by Ray Chisholm who ran the business after Mr Poore retired.

They are both a joy to spin with, shame I can't use them at the same time.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

A walk with death

2010-01-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

Tuesday I visited the JobCentre in Bath as I am now officially a Government statistic. It was interesting as I was given an appointment that was earlier than their opening time. However, they were very pleasant and also put me in contact with JTL who provide job advice, assistance with CV's, skills identification, training and advice on becoming self employed. I am exploring all options so it will be an interesting start to the year.

Once finished, I decided to take a stroll up Walcott Street and continued walking home that way. Viewed from Bathwick Bridge Bath still looks impressive.

I then took a walk through St John's Church, Bathwick. The church yard is lovely with yew trees, holly and ivy jingling and jangling amounst the grave stones.

This one really caught my eye - it says 'This Grave is Full'.

Next door is St Mary's Churchyard. This is no longer active and indeed the mortuary building is now derelict. The grave yard itself had fallen into disrepair but is now being maintained. Gravel footpaths have been laid and graves of note have been marked. There are some beautiful tombs in this atmospheric ceremetry.

Continuing my walk home, I couldn't resist having a quick look at the canal. I was delighted to find it frozen.

In the cold snap we finally received some quality snow. Iain succumbed to some snowy fun and made himself a snowman.

Step away from the washer ...

2010-01-04T08:41:00.001-08:00

Your brain is mush.

The last pair of socks I knit last year were a bit of a trial. I started them when we went to Cornwall in September and ended up frogging nearly an entire sock as I refused to try it on even though I knew it was too small.

Finally, I bowed to the inevitable, went up a needle size but added in an extra couple of stitches. This would have been perfect EXCEPT that the yarn pools unattractively so I ripped it back.

I then recast on without the additional stitches and knitted a pair of socks that fit snuggly but as they were wool they'd give just enough to make them perfect.

I wore them once and they were really comfortable and I loved the colours.

This morning, feeling a lot better than I have in the last couple of weeks and believing that the cold fog had lifted I put a load of darks in the washing machine.

Let me tell you, Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in Misty Moor does not withstand a 40C wash without some felting.

It may be a while before my niece can wear these knee high felted socks!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

A Scarf for Iain

2010-01-03T15:33:00.001-08:00

Last year, Iain asked if I would spin and knit him a scarf. Of course, I jumped at the chance but progress had been slow.

I am spinning BFL humbug and hope the yarn will be a smooshy soft as the top I have been spinning from. Since the New Year I finished the first bobbin and spun all the second bobbin. I only have one more bobbin to spin and then I can ply the yarn.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Sleeves in your Pi - A Challenge

2010-01-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Last year, rashly Puddytatpurr and I decided to carry out a spinning and knitting challenge. For me this will be the first time I've spun for a specific project and, being people who like a challenge we wanted to leap frog onto something slightly more spectacular.

The pattern we are working to is Sleeves in your Pi (Ravelry link) and we start today and aim to complete by Woolfest.

Last year I purchased a silver grey Shetland fleece that came from a sheep called Stelatta. I am using this beauty to make my Sleeves in your Pi. Slight problem is, I haven't finished washing it yet. I do have enough washed fleece to start the project though and this afternoon I will be spinning for Iain's scarf and this evening for my Pi.

A word of warning, there follows some rather dull photos showing green fleece, and drying fleece. If you're not interested I'd stop scrolling now.

The fleece being unrolled - it has already been skirted (sigh).

The darkest pieces removed from the fleece ready for washing.

The first load drying. The colour variation is clear to see.

The top layer is from the back towards the top of the neck.

At this stage I am slightly concerned I will not have enough fleece to make the whole project. I will have weigh and do some calculations. If I don't I'll be hunting for a Shetland fleece.

Christmas and New Year

2010-01-01T05:31:00.000-08:00

Oh my, I can't believe it is 2010 already. We had a really quite night playing Wii and I shared a Crafters New Year Party on Twitter with some of the lovely people I have met.

Of course, before that was Christmas and I just want to show off some of the lovely things I was gifted.

From Sam came the beautiful purple laceweight from the Yarn Addict. It is soft and smooshy and there is 2,200m, that is going to make a BIG shawl.

The other 3 yarns were from my sister. She doesn't craft but totally loves receiving anything I make and I was stunned, delighted and touched. When Sue attended her village fair she came across a spinner called Mavis de V. Ashbee. Each yarn is gorgeously soft and they are: white - local icelandic wool raised in the village (now that is local!), the magenta is white suffolk, red merino and rose silk and the lilac is alpaca and bourette silk.

Also nestled in the pack is The Yarn Lover's Guide to Hand Dyeing by Linda La Belle which I am really looking forward to reading and practicing with.

DH gave me a Wii (squeeeee!) and also a SIGNED edition of The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave. My husband just spoils me rotten. He also gave me these cute buttons from Badge the Badger. I shall smile each time I see one.

Anyway, happy New Year to you all.

The Wiltshire Guild has a New Home

2009-12-19T08:57:00.001-08:00

Today was an important day at the Guild. We had an important discussion this morning regarding the future of our Guild and it has been decided we will move into new permanent premises in Steeple Ashton. This new venture will mean a lot of work but is hugely exciting as we will be able to have looms and offer workshops in a variety of fibre crafts and all forms of weaving. The Guild will also be able to grow their own dyer's garden in secure grounds so they won't be damaged.

Some members would have preferred the status quo which is to be expected as everyone has slightly different requirements and/or expectations.

I think it is very exciting.
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I'm A Winner ... Again!

2009-12-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Oh, my. I could say I never win anything but it appears that would be a lie.

Recently I won this lovely glove pattern from Jackie of JL Yarnworks.

And on Thursday, I won a prize in the daily raffle run by Lush on Twitter.

My prize arrived very quickly in its cute box

and it included the following loveliness:

A small size of SnowShowers the new limited edition shower jelly, a small Dream Cream which is a totally gorgeous moisturiser and a honeycomb of Honey I washed the Kids soap.

Lovely!

Thank you Lush.

A Right Pudding!

2009-12-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

Every year we buy a Christmas decoration for the house. Not for us the sophistication of colour co-ordinated decoration. We prefer the riot of colour and the memories of past holidays as each item is pulled out of the box for another year.

I still have my dad's first Christmas decoration, the glass silver glitter has tarnished to a dirty green and the white glass has faded to a mottled cream but I love it. I look at it every year and it makes me smile.

With all that has been going on, I was going to suggest to my husband that we forgo this ritual for 2009 when he presented me with the cutest Christmas pudding.

If you like it too, check out StitcherScribbler. She is on Folksy and Etsy .
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Christmas Market

2009-11-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

There is going to be a Christmas Market in Green Park Station! I can't wait to visit as there will be great stalls including hand made textile gifts, handmade organic soaps, delicious food and mulled wine. The weather won't matter much because it is also under cover.

I'm A Winner!

2009-11-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

I have just won my first ever prize through Twitter. It is a really cute fingerless glove pattern from Jackie of JL Yarnworks.

I really shouldn't but I'm gonna cast this on tomorrow in some lovely yarn from Gothic Yarns (unfortunately, she no longer dyes which is a real shame).

The Craft of Natural Dyeing, Glowing Colours from the Plant World by Jenny Dean

2009-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

As a novice dyer, I have dyed one skein of yarn using Kool Aid and a couple of skeins of yarn using Natural Earth Dyes. I have been looking for a book that will provide me with a bit more information about natural dyes but that doesn't concentrate on growing the plants themselves. Jenny Dean herself is a renowned natural dyer who lectures on the subject. At first glance this is a compact book with large clear colour pictures and generous sized text. The information provided is succinct and reasons are provided for them, such as the use of metal or glass stirring rods or separate wooden stirrers to prevent contamination of the dye batch. Jenny advised how to mordant fibres to achieve different colours when using the same dye bath.She also explains how to use assists such as cream of tarter in the mordant bath to minimise waste and maximise safe disposal whilst still providing the same results with less mordant. She provides a range of mordant recipes for animal, vegetable and cotton fibres. The dyer is provided with information on light-fastness of colours and how to carry out a simple colourfastness test which would be useful when dyeing for specific projects. In the second half of the book Jenny Dean provides a list together with photographs showing obtainable colours broken down by dyestuff, fibre type, mordant and light-fastness. She also recommends a list of 7 plants which the reader could grow and still obtain a wide range of colours by the use of colour mixing or over dyeing. This book contains a large amount of information in a concise and useful way. I myself plan to follow her recipes for mordant baths and believe this will be a useful book for both the novice and intermediate natural dyer.
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What, more fabric!

2009-11-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

I had today of work due to a hospital appointment. Nothing serious but it meant I couldn't drive to work.

As a treat to me I was naughty and purchased the attached charm pack by Moda. It couldn't be more different than the fabric I've been using for my quilt. Comprising of paisleys, hollies and florals the colours include light sage, baby blue, red and chocolate.

I can't wait to play but there are too many things in the queue before it.

The other good news is the wadding and walking foot are on their way.

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A crafty time

2009-11-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

I have had an enjoyable and productive crafting fortnight.

My brother and sister in law are expecting their first child in the Spring. It's the type of news that demands crafting and so I cast on a ripple blanket using Patons 100% Cotton DK. Just under 2 weeks later I am over half way.

I really like the mix of the tomato with the more neutral kiwi, stone, white and black. I hope Matthew and Sam do too.

I also finished the front of my quilt. I can't wait to do some more work on it.

The centre panels

Showing the inner border and outer panel, which has now been sewn on.

I am currently waiting for the wadding and my new walking foot for the sewing machine to arrive. I can then start machine quilting this baby. I like the idea of quilting in the ditch for the central panels, a random braid for the inner border and diagonals for the outer border, but that just might change.

Also, as I have been uploading photos, I thought I should share images of my completed Lizard Ridge blanket. I finished it in September while I was on holiday in Cornwall. Each night as it became cooler, I added a row to the blanket and then crocheted the border over two nights. By the time I had completed it, it was cold enough to need a blanket on top of my summer weight sleeping bag.

I couldn't resist posting the last picture, although it is a bit dark. As you can see, we camped in a tipi in Cornwall. The site was lovely and the space and height in a tipi is pure luxury. We are hoping to try a Yurt next year.

Yum, yum, yum

2009-11-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today is my friend's birthday. I spent a lovely evening talking and eating the lovely food cooked by her partner.

As always, it was a great evening. She sent me home with a doggy bag for Iain, whose back is playing up again.

Thank you for letting me share your birthday. I hope you had a great time.
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Bathing at the Weekend

2009-11-03T23:39:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend. The house was full of people, I cooked up a storm and was a tourist in Bath. This was because we had visitors. My friend Sam and her youngest came to stay.

I originally met Sam on Twitter and we met up at Fibrefest for the first time. We got on great that day and so, when she decided to tour in her new campervan I jumped at the chance of seeing her.

We had great Friday eating pizza and chatting. On Saturday we visited the Roman Baths. I forget how big the actual complex, the number of finds and the information given is great and we were all tired by the end. In fact an early dinner and Strictly Come Dancing was followed by an early night for all!

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to try Sam's Joy complete with it's WooLee Winder. It is a really smooth wheel and I really liked the feel of the Winder. I would really like a smHarvest Madnessall wheel that could just pop into the seatwell of my car but the downside of the Joy is the fixed ratio so a lace flyer could not be used. Having said that, I believe it would be possible to make a fine single on the Joy.

I also had the opportunity to teach Sam how to use a sewing machine, she left mine with a draw string bag made specifically for her WooLee Winder.

Fibrefest 2009

2009-08-25T15:00:00.001-07:00

Hello Blogland, I have been away so long I'm pretty sure no-one will remember me. I have so much to tell but thought I should start with the most recent event that is on everyone's knitty lips – Fibrefest.

This is my first time visiting this show and I just loved it. I think that I appreciated it all the more for being a spinner as well as a knitter. As you may be aware, Fibrefest is held at Coldharbour Mill in Uffculme, Devon. The Mill itself is now a working museum showing worsted spinning and, when the water levels in the River Culm are high enough, runs several machines using water power. The mill itself also has two large ovens used to power the beam engine, they fire these up throughout the year and it would be lovely to see on a cold winters' day. These huge oven/boilers used to be powered by large lumps of coal but they now use broken pallets as this is cleaner and comes from renewable sources.

The mill itself is well staffed by volunteers who are more than willing to discuss the production process and demonstrate the machines. It was interesting to discover that some of the terminology currently used by spinners and sellers of prepared fibre different to those used at the mill.

The first machine produces top, so called because the machine separates the short fibres from the long and these come out of the top of the machine.

The tops are then loaded into the drawbox. This machine stretches the tops into Slivers and this is the first winding onto bobbins.

The Silvers are then placed on a new machine are stretched until they become slub. This looks remarkably like the above machine. Slubs are then stretched to become roving (this is sometimes sold as pencil roving) and from this it is possible to make all thicknesses of yarn such as aran, DK, 4ply. One woman could look after 4 of these machines, making sure that the bobbins were kept full. In this mill a different frame was used for stretching rovings to make specific yarns; the bobbins would be reloaded and passed through the rollers as many times as necessary to obtain the correct thickness for spinning.

Before plying the yarns, the rovings are then spun.

And finally they are plied.

Each bobbin is then wound off the bobbins using a skeiner and can then be sold or processed onto cones or wound into balls.

The most terrifying equipment in the mill was the warping frame and the weaving frames. I think part of my horror is the fact I am seriously attracted to trying to weave and scared that I would love it as much as I love spinning, knitting, crochet and dyeing. As I already need to work full time to feed this habit of mine, there just doesn't seem to be space to slide in another (albeit related) hobby.

There is much more to explore, the above is just from the bottom floor of the mill.

I was lucky enough to spend the rest of the day meeting friends, viewing animals and shopping. A lovely chat with Emma (Atomic Knitting) and her husband lead me to buying the cutest set of eye stitch markers, they will ward off any evil mojo coming my way and hopefully reduce the amount of tinking I need to do. Sarah of Brownberry Yarns had HiyaHiya needles. I loved the fact that they make short circ needles useable by shortening the tips. Sarah kindly let me knit with her pair and, for metal needles, they were really nice. I understand they make them in bamboo as well so I shall have to buy some as I don't really knit with metal tips. My one concern is they are not as sharp as the KnitPros. Gemma of KraftyKoala fame was sharing a stand with Sarah and selling her delicious yarns and slivers (based on the lesson above). I purchased a braid alpaca/camel/silk/merino and one of the faux cashmere (I liked the fact she wanted to call it 'I can't believe it's not cashmere', but was sad it wouldn't fit on the tag). As always, her colours were lovely.

Marianne, her husband and Millie were taking photos and it was great to meet her. She was the only person senible enough to have a camera and, once I have beaten my computer into submission, I will post the picture she took on KraftyKoala/Brownberry's stall. By the way, I have some of Marianne's fibre and she is a talented dyer as well as photographer. I also met up briefly with Tamsyn and was sorry I couldn't spend more time with her but unfortunately the coach was beckoning. As it is a fairly local show, I also had fun bumping into several people from the Get Knitted Knatterers, and I can't wait to get over for a meeting soon.

There were several other purchases and I can't wait to try the hemp yarn as I have been looking forward to knitting with the hemp yarn from The House of Hemp and the ball of Noro from lovely Lisa who runs First 4 Yarns with her mum (which will let me finish the Return of the Lizard Ridge).

I totally loved my day out and thought the location was spot on for such a festival. I really liked the fact that the show felt intimate and there was so much to do, apart from just shopping. Now I just need to spin my way through my lovely purchases.

And the foot is treadlin

2009-07-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have seriously started to doubt if I'd ever find the time to blog again. Time just shoots along and I end up holding onto its tail struggling to keep up. But, it has been loads of fun in the Cave, just busy doing things.

This last week though, I haven't really been knitting or sewing. No, indeed I have been spinning. Spinning on my lovely little wheel and spinning on my drop spindle.

The reason for all this spinning is because I joined Tour de Fleece, which runs alongside the Tour. It is such good discipline to spin every day (except for a rest day).

Firstly, I spun some singles from a batt of herdwick x jacob.

These little babies are slightly over-plyed so I plan to remove some of the twist. I shall then ply them both together with a fine single made of silk. I have never spun silk before so I am looking forward to that.

Then, I finally bit the bullet and navajo plyed the lovely merino/bamboo single I purchased from Krafty Koala.
This is only the second time I have n-plyed and I really enjoyed it. I also managed to not over ply so the yarn still feels soft. It is 90g and the colourway is Citrus. It reminds me of sunrise.

Then I dashed off a quick 100g 2ply yarn spinning roving from Babylonglegs.
My good friend, Elizabeth, purchased this on my behalf when she went to Ravelry day.

It has turned into the softest and most balanced yarn I have spun so far. Thanks, Elizabeth.

I am currently working on two new projects. The first has involved me changing my wheel to a Scotch Tension wheel so I can spin lace. My first attempt is with BFL in Lime Shot from Flutterby Creations. This will probably end up as a heavy lace weight but I don't care. I love how it is spinning and that I am spinning so finely.

And last, but definitely not least, is my lunchtime fun.

I have been a busy little spider in my cave and hope to have lots more to share with you soon.

And the Winner Is ...

2009-07-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all the interest in my small little giveaway. It was lovely to receive such lovely comments and to see it being Twittered. It made me feel very loved.

Unfortunately, there could only be one winner as there was only one bar of soap. Each comment and tweet was assigned a unique number between 1 t 11 when it was received and then the winning number was drawn using the random number generator at www.random.org.

This makes the lovely Amylane my lucky winner. Amy, please drop me a line and let me know where to send your prize.

Once again, thank you all so much for dropping by and entering, I've enjoyed it so.

St-st-st-stalling

2009-06-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been concerned that I lost my knitting mojo. I have hardly knitted over the last fortnight and when I have I have found it less than satisfying.

Now, the main projects I am working on are both lovely:

I am on square 17 of Return of the Lizard Ridge. This pattern is normally enjoyable but I had to slog my way through number 16 and force myself to cast on number 17. Also, I originally knitted this pattern as a collaborative effort for a friend's wedding and for me to knit something for a second time is unusual but I found it a really fun knit.

I am also working on Dragon Socks by Amanda Perkins using The Natural Dye Studio's Dazzle sock yarn. These are really cute socks and the yarn is just delicious but still I am suffering from second sock syndrome.

Although I still love both projects, I am just a bit disinterested in working on them to the point where I was scared I didn't like knitting anymore. The projects seemed such a drag and yet I love the yarn, I love the colours and I am still excited about the finished product. Somewhere I just stopped loving the process.

Today I was having a conversation with a friend and showed her Liesl by Ysolda Teague. She suggested I should knit it and so, when got home I pulled out a ball of Peaches n Cream and cast on. There followed a totally enjoyable evening of knitting.

It appears I haven't lost my mojo but I just needed a break from the two projects I have been devoting the last two months to. I shall continue to work on Lizard Ridge and Dragon socks and, when they become a chore again, I shall pick up Liesl for a bit of lace relief.

You never know, next post I might even include pictures of them all!

Soap Giveaway

2009-06-28T02:21:00.001-07:00

It is Glastonbury weekend, and this year DH and I have been watching it from the comfort of the sofa. There were many personal things happening when the tickets were on sale so we decided not to buy them. Of course this is the year that Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Nick Cave all play! Glastonbury has been our major summer holiday for 7 festival summers (and 12 for DH), I am missing being there and there is a part of me missing the Glastonbury mud.

Anyway, to celebrate access to hot water and a clean flushing loo, I thought it would be fun to host my first ever give away and what could be better than to offer a lovely hand made soap from Green Ore Naturals and a sisal soap sock?

I have been using the same soap for a short while and it lathers really well and leaves the skin feeling moisturised. The packaging can also be planted to grow lavender plants, so it completely reduces waste. What a fab idea.

Anyway, the winner will win one of these lovelies, it will be a brand new and unopened soap.

How to win? Leave me a comment on my blog and/or tweet about this competition. Please include my tweet handle "@knitcave1" so I can keep track.

I plan to close this competition on Saturday, 4th July so you have plenty of time to enter. I will then select the winner using a random number generator.

WWKiP, Bath

2009-06-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go? It seems only moments since World Wide Knit in Public day, although I did loose most of the week to a terrible cold.

We all met up in the Foyer of Green Park Station in Bath and knitted (or in my case, spun) away having lovely chats between ourselves and with passers by.

The projects on display were gorgeous and my friend, Elle, gave me this gorgeous scarf made from Artesanso Hummingbird. How kind is that?

Also, we were really pleased to be joined by Alison aka Laughing Yaffle. She has been selling beautiful hand dyed sock yarn for a short while, and several of us were knitting with her yarn. We also had someone come to learn how to knit and several people were interested in our regular knitting group.

So, all in all, it was a fun and successful day and my thanks go out to the lovely and energetic Janine for her hard work and to the owners of Green Park Station. I can't wait to start arranging the WWKiP day for 2010 and hope to have more knitters and yarny fun such as competitions.

Knitting in Public 1

2009-06-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is World Wide Knit in Public Day when knitters world wide grab their pointy sticks and yarn and take to the streets.

The aim is to have fun, raise awareness that knitting is not just for grannies, recruit new knitters and to know you are knitting on the same day as people in Australasia, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, India, Europe, countries from the former Soviet Union and hopefully people working at the poles.

The Bath Stitch n Bitch knitting group has organized its own event and will be knitting from 2p.m. to 5p.m. in the Foyer of Green Park Station in Bath.

As a spinner I am gamely taking along my wheel so people can see fleece being turned into yarn. Fellow knitters will be displaying articles they have made in the past and there will be an opportunity to see some local yarns and naturally dyed yarns.

If you are free drop by; all are welcome to have a chat and a laugh whilst clicking away.

Don't think you can't come if you don't knit, we are happy to chat. We will try to teach anyone who asks the basic stitches and if you don't knit but crochet or do another craft, you will be very welcome.

Hope to see you there.

ADHD Fun

2009-06-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

Firstly, please forgive me that a large proportion of the links in this post are to the Ravelry website. This does mean you will not be able to view them unless you are a member. If you are not a member but knit or crochet, ask for an invitation the site is awesome.

A while ago I was looking at baby patterns and I came across the most adorable pair of booties with pretty roses. I couldn't resist faving the pattern and a world of new adventure opened to me.

Firstly, the designer, Gail, invited me to join her Ravelry group ADHD Knitters. Stalking through the posts I came across a large number of talented and witty people intent in sharing, swapping, supporting and having fun with each other.

Wacky knitting projects made me wonder why I was lurking as I tend to knit 'serious' projects. Not for me a knitted pair of boobies or a garment to cover my pussy. No, I buy my bras from Marks & Sparks and my pussies come complete with fur. However, everyone was having such fun I wanted some of that for me.

In April ADHD announced a swap. Not any old swap as that wouldn't be special enough. The swap was to be a mystery yarn ball and I couldn't resist. A while back I had read about gift balls where presents are wound into a ball of yarn and these are unwrapped as the recipient knits.

Having signed up and been given my swap partner, Kittynutter, [at last a non-Rav link!] I spent time getting to know her and she spent time doing the same.

In due course I received my MYB and it caused squeals of excitement. See, look at the odd shape.

How pretty is that yarn? It is Opal Neon and will make a really fine pair of socks. Also included were some lovely silver lined beads, I think I might make Rolling Thunder socks [another non-Rav link].

As I unwound my ball DH had to prise it out of my hands so I could vote. There were so many gifts in my ball and I love every one.

I now have a 3mm and 3.5mm double ended KnitPro crochet hook. I can't wait to use these as I am really enjoying crochet. Also, there is a KnitPro viewer and needle guide, KnitPro cable needles, purple point protectors for larger needles, a pretty felted brooch, and non-slip paws for my socks. All this was secure around a jar of marmite which wore two balls of Rowan Kid Silk Haze, Princess Leia style.

How she managed to pack so much loveliness in one gorgeous ball of yarn, I don't know. I'm just happy she was my swapper and she spoilt me so.

She is planning to cycle across China with some friends in aid of charity. Drop by her cycle China blog and give her your support, such a lovely challenge.

Catch Up!

2009-05-25T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've been on a bit of a rollercoaster the last few weeks, which caused me to have an enforced rest. I spent most of my time with my computer, talking to some amazing friends I have met through Twitter and Ravelry.

Several of them made me realise I should get of my backside and actually do things instead of just talking about them. So I am. I had been wanting a new project bag and finally got my sewing machine out to make myself one.

I decided to use fancy fabric both on the outside and inside, this means the bag can be used inside out if I am planning to knit with a light coloured yarn.

Inside, the bag you can see a treat for me ... this is Coral Reef by Laughing Yaffle. I have to admit I was really unsure about this colourway when I saw it in the skein but it is so adorable how it knits up ... a real feast of colours.

Yarnwise, I have been busy spinning and have finished Blue Skies, hand dyed roving by Flutterby Creations. It spun really well and I totally love it.

I was very flattered when my designer friend, Alison, agreed to do a yarn swap and she asked for some handspun. I spun Heathland, again dyed by Flutterby Creations and I was so pleased Alison loved it.

In return, I received this sweet sock yarn from The Yarn Yarn. The colourway is ice cream and it reminds me of neopolitan with a dash of lime on the side and additional chocolate.

I have also been busy with my needles and am now over half way on The Return of Lizard Ridge. I do still love this blanket and have been fairly monogomous, something that has shocked my friends.

I also managed to finish Kicking Kermits. These are based on Wendy's toe up sock pattern which is enjoyable. Unfortunately, they are slightly too big. You know how it is, you talk and knit and kerpow! the thing it too long. I did frog back but not bravely enough. Anyway, I do think they are beautiful although they share slighly less characteristics than I thought.

Isn't the yarn stunning though? They were knit using Fybrespates Echo Self Striping Sock Yarn in Kermit using 2mm needles and the intensity of the colours and gorgeous patterning is just amazing.

DH and I have also been to a couple of concerts. The first was hosted at the Spiegeltent, a wonderful caberet tent errected on The Rec in Bath.

With booths, cut and stained glass and a velvet ceiling, it is a magical place.

Who did we see? The wonderful The Handsome Family who entertained us with songs of romantic songs about insects, birds, holes and swamps. If you haven't heard them before, do listen, they are funny, witty, and great story tellers.

We also saw the wonderful Seth Lakeman at Komedia and his new songs sounded excellent, can't wait for the new album.

Frome Shopping with Love

2009-05-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday DH and I decided to spend the afternoon in Frome, it was just a last minute whim and I am so pleased we decided to do it.

It has been a long time since we wandered around Frome and I am pleased some things haven't changed, as much had since our last visit.

We took a lovely walk up Catherine Hill. This used to have an excellent junk shop full of magazines from the 30s, 40s & 50s and lots of other lovely memorabilia but it has now closed. Generally Catherine Hill has become a great shopping street with boutiques, antique shops and a yarn shop.

I have known about Woolly Notions for a while but only visited it once, ages ago. It has recently changed hands and is run by Marmalade Yarns. I had a lovely time admiring the granny blankets and yarns; they are stockists of Rowan and Debbie Bliss but do carry other brands and talking to one of the owners.
I just love their open sign.

I found these two lovely yarns by Adriafil: Fusione and Fruttamix. They are both 100% cotton, multistranded, soft and affordable. I have been crocheting wash cloths with Fusione and they look very nice.

Marmalade Yarns have plans to hold workshops and start a club. I plan to visit again.

Also on Catherine Hill is Millie Moon, I didn't get a chance to investigate further than the window display as otherwise DH might have thought the only reason I asked to go to Frome was to enhance my stash. However, I hope to visit in the not too distant future.

We had such fun wanding up and down the hill, looking at the beautiful streets.

Of course, no visit to Frome is complete without a visit to Raves from the Grave and the Wholefood Shop on Cheap Street, where I purchased several types of tofu.

Cheap Street also has a great greengrocers and I purchased these

Broad Beans

Asparagus

Morels

I am so naughty.

I will blog about the rest of our day soon.

Wonderwool Delights 2

2009-04-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

One of my friends works for Simply Knitting magazine and when she heard I was going to Wonderwool for the first time, she asked me to contribute to their blog. Pop over if you would like to see it.

Does Wonderwool Wales live up to the hype?

I am feeling very proud to have been asked to guest blog.

Wonderwool Delights

2009-04-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

The drive to Wonderwool is like a perfectly crafted sock. With clear roads that are twisty enough to keep you interested but not so complex they taken your full concentration it reminded me of knitting a simple patterned sock. Even the stretch of motorway could represent that small point when you wonder if you will ever finish it.

Anyway, we made great time through the lush scenery of Monmouth and the Brecon Beacons and arrived at our final destination about 10:30, just before the car park started becoming busy.

We proceeded to spend the morning looking at the lovely stalls and, I tried to cover both halls before purchasing anything. I was doing so well and then we went on to Fybrespates' stand. I already knew I was in trouble, based on Jeni's last blog post. Well, it was too difficult to resist and I purchased a beautiful batt containing merino, silk, mohair and sparkles. The colours reminded me of a landscape just as the starts setting. I am looking forward to spinning this as it will be my first batt and seems really airy.

I also purchased this lovely scrumptious roving. Aren't the colours great! I just love the amount of white left in it and hope I can do it justice. At the moment I plan to spin it as a single which should accentuate the splodges of colour although I am finding it difficult to image the finished yarn. (Sorry about the blur but the fibre is shy.)

Also in the hand dyed goodies range is this citrus roving from Kraftykoala. It is a merino/bamboo mix and I love the different way both fibres have taken up the dye. Also, it is not a colour I would normally buy but I am definately falling for coral colours. Maybe this has something to do with summer?

Seen, admired but not purchased from was Spindle Frog, Artistis Palette and several other indie dyers. Unfortunately, with limited funds I had to pass up the tempations on offer from a wide range of stalls. I was specifically looking for spinning goodness so tried to stay away from the temptations of pre-spun yarn. However, a certain special something from The Natural Dye Studio was purchased by Elizabeth and I.

As if the above was not enough to keep a girl happy, I also managed to get the following:

100g of BFL fleece, scoured but still recognisable.
A big bag of Alpaca in oatmeal, caramel and chocolate.
A Manx fleece.
100g grey Gotland top (my cat loved this, she smelt it and then rubbed her cheek against it - and I though it was only me!)

The later came from Hedgehog Equipment who also allowed us to try their range of Majacraft spinning wheels. It was the first time Elizabeth had used a spinning wheel and declared it was more fun than a drop spindle. Soon my conversion will be complete and I will have enabled my Enabler!

I will say that the BFL, Alpaca, Gotland and Manx is due to be shared with my friend Jess as she could not make it to Wonderwool this year.

I made two other purchases. The first was planned (sort of) and comprises of an Earthues five day starter kit from Debbie at DT Crafts. Why Earthues? During our lovely conversation Debbie mentioned that the outcome with natural dyes is less predictable. This statement finally made my mind up for me. More and more, society seems to relish uniformity and the idea of working with something that is quirky really appeals. I'll just have to see how I get on.

My final purchase of the day was not in my plans but I have wanted one for ages. Yes, it is the regulation Patons & Baldwins beehive woolholder and it is scrummy.

I shall post about other things that caught my eye later.

Fearsome Friday

2009-04-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday and I have been in an odd mood. The day did not go as intended and I believe this put me a little off track. The business of the day certainly helped it pass quickly and I have spent a lovely evening working on a mystery project. But I am still slightly off kilter.

However, tomorrow is Wonderwool and a day with friends.

I shall post of my adventures.

A Rye Spin

2009-04-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

It has been a horrid week at work because the economic reality hit us hard. However, I have decided to go to Wonderwool. It is very important to support these events over this period. I also want to score some fleece.

At the beginning of the week, the summer top I wrote of was swatched and cast on. I am knitting this in geranium Patons Cotton Top. This yarn has been discontinued for a while but forms the most soft fabric and I kind of like its kinky ways. I am half way through the patterning at the base of the top and have come to a grinding halt. I promise pictures later but daren't pull it back out incase I get seduced!

Don't worry, there is no bad reason for it I just have been asked to crochet a really pretty summer top and need to finish it by the end of this month. I can't tell you anything else about this crochet project for a while, but will let you know about it when I can.

I scored this pattern for 50p in a Glastonbury charity shop. If I was rich and a size 8 I'd make it using an Amy Butler fabric but I'm neither. Next month I plan to visit a local fabric shop and buy some cheap cotton fabric and make my first garment since I left school some (many) years ago. It can't be too difficult, can it?

Last night, I stayed up late in order to spin half a bobbin of yarn and ply it with one I prepared earlier. This was the second bobbin I have ever spun using a wheel and also the first time I plyed. Whilst it isn't brilliant I'm pleased with it.

Anyway, today was meeting day at the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild in Rode. I was fortunate enough to be trained in the dark arts of carding yarn and spinning woollen using long draw. My trainer was the totally lovely Anne, who is hugely talented and I believe a master spinner. She also helped my friend Jess start spinning on her Frank Herring wheel.

I think Anne has an unusal way of carding, however, it is very elegant and surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, she declared my carders were 'grippy' as I could easily produce rolags and leave a clean carder with hers but not mine. I do have another (as yet unused) set which are curved Ashfords. I shall assemble these and see if they are less grippy than the others.

Anne kindly gave me some Ryeland fleece to card and spin as shorter staples are very suited to the long draw method. This method feels amazing and I am looking forward to practicing it tomorrow on the last 5 rolags of Ryeland I have.

Anne also gifted me with a handful of Manx Loghtan which is a pretty caramel colour. I really want to spin this long draw as well but want to make a thicker yarn. This will be a challenge as I have a tenancy to try to spin a fine yarn.

I just want to say that sheep are really cute!

Today, I also purchased an apron: working with raw fleece is a bit dirty and gently coats the knee with lanolin, something I would prefer not to do.

It's Easter

2009-04-12T04:07:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up to find an envelope by my bed.

The envelope contained a pretty card and clues for an Easter hunt. Such fun for a Sunday morning.

After a bit of hunting, I found bunny number 1.

Then bunny number 2.

Bunny number 3 proved to be very comfortable and took some coacing before it would join its friends.

They then had a party with some primroses.

Have a great Easter.

It really is a frog

2009-04-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

I am not happy, not happy at all. For several evenings I slogged my way through 5 inches of 2x2 ribbing and had just spent the last couple of evenings working on fun stuff.

Now, I know it is probably criminal to admit this but ribbing is not my favourite pattern in the world. For some reason it feels clumsy and slow. Yes, to me it feels slower than purling does and I have to keep my wits with me as I find it easy to adjust the pattern by a little k3,p2,k2,p2 action.

So, it was with increasing dread that I worked 2.5inches of colourwork before deciding to take the project off the needles and try it on for size. Well, my guage was telling me the knit should have been smaller than it was in reality. Also, it was not just an inch too big, no it wasn't. This baby was nearly 6 inches too big.

There was nothing to be done but to frog.

I do like this pattern and really will knit it but I am tempted to start a summer top in geranium pink.

What to do??

Snug and Warm

2009-04-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight I feel very snug and warm. This may have to do with being tired but a large proportion of the snugness is caused by seeing the dull weather in the garden while sitting next to a gently humming radiator. The sound of the Decemberists is floating up from the kitchen where Iain is cooking dinner and all I have to do is plan tonights entertainment (and tidy the kitchen, of course).

Shortly, I shall make my way downstairs and make a pot of tea. Smoky earl grey tonight seems appropriate. I shall serve it in Darwin 'I think' mugs and enjoy blowing the steam away.

When driving home this evening, I really fancy knitting in colour. Realistically I have a choice to make. I can knit on my lace project which is peach and mint and rather attractive. The soft pink of the hexagonal storage box goes so well.

OR I can knit on these lovely colours.

Unfortunately, they both projects require the use of 3.25mm needles and stupidly I only have one pointy set of circulars this size. The other 3.25mm needles I have would be usable for my lace shawl EXCEPT for they are too blunt. This means I will need to remove the lace from the needle. This is something I shall do and the Spindrift has been calling out to me for several days now and I really fancy some colourwork madness.

We had a new person join our knitting group this Tuesday and she asked me to teach her how to knit. I am so happy, not only does she want to learn but I got to teach her. It was a pleasure and she has been practicing. So I could demonstrate stitches to her, I felt it was important for me to take a project using big yarn. OK, it is Aran weight yarn but trust me this is big for me. I seem to be knitting on laceweight, 2ply or sock yarn most of the time.

So, on Tuesday night I cast on Mitred Hanging Towel by Cristina Bernardi Shiffman from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines and finished it off yesterday evening. This was knitted in Peaches n Creme, which is a joy to use.

Also finished is Cecily by Amanda Perkins, which was lovely to crochet and was done in her sock yarns. You can also see my new haircut, which I love. Please forgive the slightly mad stare but it is really difficult to take good self-portraits.

Finally, a picture of my spearmint arrows. Finished at last.
The pattern is a short version of Latvian Socks by Nancy Bush and they were knitted using Natural Dye Studio's Darling sock yarn on 2mm needles.

Have a great weekend.

A Bit of What You Fancy

2009-04-05T10:26:00.001-07:00

I have had a great time recently. The Komedia opened in Bath and it has proven to be a great venue for live music. Iain and I have been going alot and have been to see the following:

We also have tickets to see Sheelanagig & The Pete Roe Band, Seth Lakeman and Half Man Half Biscuit. As part of the Bath International Music Festival, we shall also see The Handsome Family in the Spiegel Tent. I am so pleased DH and I are really embracing live music again.

We haven't yet decided on our festival of choice for this year and so it may end up that we don't attend one. Of course Latitude looks good and would give me a Nick Cave fix.

I also enjoyed some yarny goodness with the knitting group at Get Knitted on Saturday. I was so good and nearly only purchased the things I had planned. I will admit the skein of Cascade 220 Heathers was not on the list but the colour is gorgeous and it is destined for a moebuis basket.

Of course, when I arrived home the only reasonable thing to do was to cast on the basket. As you can see by the picture showing it unfelted, I did not use the yarn I purchased specifically for the project but instead raided my stash and used up the last of my Garnstudio Eskimo. The unfelted basket doesn't look too promising but once it has gone through the wash with a pair of jeans, I do hope it looks cute. I'll post before an after photos later.

Also, I finally finished my spearmint socks. I knitted these using Natural Dye Studio's Darling, which has been in my stash for a couple of years. As is often the way with handdyed yarns, I ran out before I could finish the toes and they have languished in my knitting bag while I tried to find a close colour match. Recently Amanda started selling collections of mini skeins. Of course, I couldn't resist their loveliness and I found a really good match for my socks.

Some of the other mini skeins are being turned into a moebius neck warmer, I think it looks really beautiful. The pattern was published in issue one of Inside Crochet magazine. I took out a subscription for this as crochet has caught my attention and I am really pleased with the first issue.

Sunday morning was spent watching the grand prix whilst working on Fairy Moon. Not long until I finish her hair.

Let them eat cake

2009-03-28T05:53:00.000-07:00

This is funny Cake Wrecks. Found thanks to Susan at Martha's Vineyarn Fibre Farm. I love her blog, especially for the pictures of her expanding flock.

What a Week End

2009-03-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

What a week that was. It is now Friday night and I can't believe how quickly this last week has passed by.

As you know, I went to the Stitch & Craft show at Olympia and had a great day with Simply Knitting and the team from Future Publishing. It was fun discussing knitting with people and giving them help and ideas. I totally love spending time with yarn and there is always something that encourages people to share and talk. It seems to be a good introducer.

My toe up socks caused quite a stir with several people and indeed the Fybrespates Echo Self Striping yarn was much admired as well. The colour is Kermit, I am knitting a plain sock so the stripes can shine through.

I also took time to meet Kerrie and Alex of KAL and was lucky enough to see a proof of their new magazine, Inside Crochet.

Other things that caught my interest (and I managed to take photos of) are:

These adorable little houses by The Nutmeg Com pany. I love the idea of making little villages in cross stitch.

I just totally love these tatoo tapestries by Emily Peacock. The colours are lush, the traditional tatoo style, and the fact they are created in yarn just make me smile.

I was also able to purchase a copy of A Stitch in Time by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford, who kindly signed my copy. This book is lush and it was a complete pleasure to view all the samples and see them being warn. How could I resist, virtually everything is made in 4ply and I do seem to like working in thin yarn!

Of course, there was a purchase of yarn and (don't faint), it is DK in baby blue. I won't bore you with a picture but it does have angora in it.

Saturday was spent at the Natural History Museum. If you haven't been I so recommend it. The building itself it awesome. A cathedral to creationism and science designed by Alfred Waterhouse the building itself is worth a visit.

We had a great time visiting the Darwin Exhibition and wandering around the galleries.

That evening, we had a lovely dinner at Nineteen in Stretham. The food was delicious and the service very good. The wine flowed well and the rest of the evening finished in merriment and a bit too much alcohol. This lead to a lovely lazy Sunday, chilling with friends. Of course, we had to do a tourist shop at Fortnum & Mason.

Of course, I haven't left cholera behind and we had to have a drink at the John Snow pub, which is where the Broad Street pump was located.

All I want for knitting is a Beatle

2009-03-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

I have been wishing for a new project bag. It is a case of desire not need though. Having found the following two project bags at slippedstitchstudios Iain might be tempted to buy me one :).

slippedstitchstudios also carries matching needle rolls. She makes these items in a wide range of lovely fabric and I love the look of her kits for knitters. These come with magnetic pattern markers, stitch markers, 10 handcrafted care cards and a lovely printed tin.

What! Another Post?

2009-03-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Happy unbirthday to me!

Happy unbirthday to me!

I have been accumlating sock yarn, again. I don't think this obsession will ever end.

The yarn I have purchased has come from Gothic Yarns, I just fell in love with the colourways and there was no hope for me. No hope at all.

As always, the yarns came supplied wrapped in red tissue. The skeins look like a coptic bundle, tied with black ribbon

and guarded by a skull stitch marker

Inside, the fun did not stop. I had purchased Carrie (top) and Poison Apple (bottom).

Carrie is beautiful; the vivid orange becomes burnt as it merges with the red tinged black and the red is lightly speckled with spots of black.

Poison Apple is lovely and reminds me of the rosy apple sweets I had as a little girl. Small accents of citrus lemon become zesty lime and spring green. A rosy pink has coloured the cheek of the apple and I just love it.

I won't bore you with the details of my recent shopping expedition to Get Knitted, except to mention Fybrespates Echo Self Striping Sock lemon, lime, fresh green, deep green and teal).

and Malabrigo in Turner in chartreuse and olive.

Weirdness, Cholera and Bellowhead

2009-03-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

There is some mad, crazy stuff out there in the world:

Fish with transparent heads.

Unusal cousins to octopus. (Don't worry DH will correct my grammer for that sentence.)

I know the above form only a knat's whisker of a knat's whisker of oddness in the natural world.

With this in mind, Iain and I are off to the Natural History Museum next weekend and we am very much looking forward to seeing the Darwin exhibition. We have nothing else planned for the day as this wonderful museum will happily fill the day

Also, I have been wanting to visit Highgate Cemetery for a long time. Maybe we will manage it this time? Click here to see some the majesty of this Gothic necropolis.

We also want to go to Body World. I guess we will have to see what we get up to. Iain has promised to buy me a pint at The John Snow pub in Broad Street (as was) to "celebrate" the cholera outbreak of 1854. Although there isn't a song about the outbreak (as far as I know), Bellowhead have recorded a song about Cholera Camp. If you like the sound, go to last.fm and listen to them on radio, then go see them live. They are excellent!

Gothic Yarn

2009-03-09T12:52:00.000-07:00

I was catching up on blogs the other day, as I am very behind with everything and I saw the recent lovely dye additions at Gothic Yarns. I had seen her yarns on eBay and Misselle mentioned they were really nice.

Of course, having been given the word about good sock yarn I couldn't resist and purchased Gothic Rose and Full Moon Rising. The yarn is so lovely and shiny and Full Moon has exactly the right colour grey to send me dancing into the night.

I do believe that these are some of the nicest packaged yarns I have ever received.
Just the perfect little present for myself. And look, a sweet wing stitch marker is included.

Several of us were lucky enough to be given a cupcake by a famous person yesterday. It was a lovely gesture and had us giggling very well. Hurry up and open your cafe, we love a good cup of coffee.

A Guild Meeting

2009-03-02T10:45:00.000-08:00

Having recently purchased a spinning wheel, it only seemed right to finally take the plunge and visit the local Spinning Guild. Accompanied by my friend Jess we took our drop spindles and fibre and set off for a meeting in Rode. As first timers and complete wheel novices, we felt that spinning wheels could wait for another day, especially as I haven’t managed to fix mine yet.

On arrival, we discovered the hall filled with spinners working at their wheels. We were also advised that half the members were attending a workshop in the back room. It was very pleasing to see it is a well attended Guild. As newbies, we were warmly welcomed and one of the members, Rosemary, kindly showed us the basics of spinning.

She supplied us with a lock from an unwashed fleece and had us prepare and spin it by hand so we could get a feel for the behaviour of yarn. I found this very useful, even though I have been doing some spinning; it gave a real feel for slipping the yarn. It was definitely felt more intuitive than using the commercially prepared tops I have been spinning. Based on Jess’s first attempts with her drop spindle, I do think this is an exercise that is totally worthwhile. Afterwards, Rosemary kindly ran through maintenance and set up of a spinning wheel, which was informative and will help me as I fix my wheel and give it a general overhaul.

Unfortunatley Jess couldn't stay for the afternoon session. It was a real shame as Anne Lane, another member, showed a range of fleeces together with skeins spun using wool from a variety of rare and common breeds. The main emphasis of her talk was decorative yarns.

The samples passed around comprised a wide variety of decorative yarns including slubs, pompom, tuft and striped yarns. As she sat there, Anne carefully made a range of batts and proceeded to demonstrate long draw technique. This made my jaw drop in amazement at the range and quality of the yarn she produced and I never recovered as she ran each technique through her wheel. She then demonstrated tuft yarn using neps raised when spinning long draw.

Finally Anne placed two bobbins of hand spun silk in two handmade lazy kates (of the shoebox and knitting needle variety) and started to spin knotted silk yarn. Carefully stopping the silk from winding onto the bobbin she passed the right hand silk back and forward over a short portion of the left hand silk, forming an elongated knot. Once this was completed the silk was allowed to wind on slightly before repeating the process with the left hand silk forming the knot.

All too soon the meeting came to an end. As a new member of the Guild I can't wait for the next meeting.

Sorry there are no photos of the lovely yarns.

To knit

2009-02-22T10:23:00.000-08:00

I took this from Elle's blog. The things I have done have been marked in bold, the ones I plan to do are marked in italics and I really can't be bothered with the rest. It will be fun to revisit this sometime and see how things changed.

Afghan
American/English knitting
Baby items
Bobbles
Buttonholes
Cable stitch patterns
Cardigan
Charity knitting
Combination knitting
Continental knitting
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Darning
Designing knitted garments
Domino knitting
Drop stitch patterns
Dyeing spinning fibre
Dyeing with plant colours
Dyeing yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Free-form knitting
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Gloves
Graffiti knitting
Hair accessories
Hats: Cuff-up
Hats: Top-down
Holiday related knitting
Household items
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewellery
Kitchener stitch
Knitted flowers
Knitting a gift
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting art
Knitting for a living
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting on a loom
Knitting smocking
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars
Knitting to make money
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with camel yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Knitting with dpns
Knitting with linen
Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with wool
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Participate in an exchange
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book
Purses/bags
Rug
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers
Socks: toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Tassels
Teaching a child to knit
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern

There doesn't appear to be much I haven't or don't want to try. If something looks interesting, I'll give it a go. If only I could be so brave with other thigs.

In a Spin

2009-02-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

I am getting a spinning wheel for my birthday. Lucky me!

Can't wait to collect it on Saturday and I promise to post pictures.

Do hope my spindles aren't jealous.

The 'Teser Begins...

2009-01-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

And so it begins, my lace starts teasing me nearly as soon as I start working on it.

Two nights work and I have only just finished two repeats. At this rate the Maltese Shawl will take over a year to complete. However, this appears to be the least of my problems. This is a 4 row repeat and I don't seem able to stop myself making mistakes. Two repeats and I have already ruined the faggotting.

The only saving grace is that I don't like the airiness of the lace. I have knit it on size 3.75mm and am going to drop to 3.25mm. Although I have added an extra 19sts repeat, the lace panel is 21 inches wide (talk about mixing measuring systems!). I believe I have scope to use slightly smaller needles.

So, before I go to bed tonight, I shall frog the piece.

I am still loving this project and the yarn. It is just that lace has to beat me up a bit before I can get it right.

Malteser

2009-01-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know anyone who doesn't love a chocolate treat as a malteser. Well, I know one who doesn't but I think it is because maltesers don't love her :((

Anyway, today I have taken possession of a glorious laceweight yarn called Angel, from The Natural Dye Studio. I love the yarns that Amanda sells and her delivery is great.

The Natural Dye Studio's Angel, Colourway Roma

'Malteser?', you may ask. Well, this yarn is destined to become a Maltese Shawl by Jane Sowerby [Ravelry link].

This is part of a knit along with the Victorian Lace Today group on Ravelry and Yahoo.

Anyway, I'm off to cast on.

2009-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last year Oxfam started a campaign to create a giant baby blanket, with each square knitted representing a mother who did not survive pregnancy or childbirth to be able to care for her baby, because she couldn't access the medical care she needed. Each square represents the number of mothers who could have been saved in that time if decent healthcare had been available.

On 17 September, more than 14,000 squares were handed over to the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Brown, at Number 10.

It wasn't possible to assemble all the squares that were donated into an entire blanket. However, Oxfam is now arranging for the squares to be made into blankets. The finished blankets will then be put on display at galleries, exhibitions, town halls, and other public places - as part of Oxfam's campaign to raise awareness of the lack of decent maternal care in poor countries. Oxfam also plan to sell the blankets in their shops or at festivals to raise cash for Oxfam's work to overcome poverty.

I admit I did not knit a single square for this worthwhile campaign. However, I have signed up to sewing a blanket. Each blanket is comprised of 48 squares (6 squares across and 8 down).

Below is the planned layout for the blanket I am working on.

It is lovely to think of all the people who have given their time and love to provide knitted squares. I shall try to sew the blanket with as much care as possible and to weave in caring thoughts for the person who purchases it.

A Great Break

2008-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

I am so just enjoying chilling and not being at work. Today, I have spent most of the day catching up on blogs and sorting out photographs. I have (with Iain's help) sorted out the bedroom. I have drastically reduced my shoe collection and will finally be saying goodbye and eBaying my collection of DM boots. I am sad but my feet have grown over the years and I fear I will never fit UK size 5 again.

The good news is that my DH gave me the loveliest pair of boots for Christmas.

I am hoping my sister will drop by tomorrow. I will then be able to thank her for my presents, which included:

Yes, that's right - both Mason-Dixon books. I think these are great, they are fun, informative and encourage you to do your own thing. I really want to make the following:

a mitred blanket and also a log cabin blanket (not pictured)

A knitted quilt (this one is flying geese).A swatch blanket. I just love the denim blues.

I love this dotty blanket and think this would be perfect for Kauni yarn. Yes, I am aware I seem to have a fixation on blankets since knitting Lizard Ridge.

I also loved this simple but clever shawl in Rowan Kidsilk Haze, something I seem to have quite a bit of in my stash.
I love the bodice of this cardigan. Maybe the lyrics from a meaningful song:

And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
Into My Arms by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

I think my neice would like a huge stocking for next Christmas...

Talking of Christmas knitting, the only thing that has saved me this is year is I don't see everyone before Christmas so I have been using my Christmas holiday to finish off the knitting. I shall bve very happy to finish the last of them tonight.

Finally, I have a really cute reindeer:
He is staying with us until 12th night. Then he shall hide away until next year (boo hoo)!

Anyway, DH and I are spending the New Year with Matthew and Sam. We will also be joined by Mel, all the way from New Zealand. I can't wait to see them all.

Santa's Coming

2008-12-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all.

It has been a busy couple of weeks involving Christmas shopping, cooking, the annual Christmas party and, of course, knitting.

I still have a couple of gifts to finish but as I will not be visiting them until the New Year, I still have time.

I did manage to make some mittens for the new(ish) babies at work. A fun pattern (Bold Banded Mittens by Zoë Mellor) to knit and very easy to memorise. A good stash buster as well, these were knitted in Debbie Bliss, Baby Cashmerino.

I admit I have cast on a project for me, I know I shouldn't but I really couldn't resist. As you can see it is a very cheerful cardigan and the yarn is really nice to knit with. I purchased it cheap on eBay and it is by Royal Fibre Spinnery.

Having spent the purchasing and preparing food. DH is having filo haloumi parcel for main and I have made some white chocolate Christmas puddings but forgot to put the breadcrumbs in. I hope they still taste good.

Anyway, it is nearly time for bed so the festivities can start on waking!

A short fuse?

2008-12-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

I just love the glasswork of Teresa Belmont. Every year I purchase a new fused glass decoration from her. I also purchase her glassware as presents for other people.

I'm sorry the pictures are not so good. Her work should be available shortly at Beau Jangles Glass.

A Crafty Weekend

2008-12-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

I have spent the loveliest weekend; I feel very contented at the moment. Three days away from work and I feel like my batteries have been recharged.

I spent a wonderful Friday catching up on some housework. Unfortunately, I can't say I caught up on everything as my office and the bedroom need a good dose of organisation. Also, I still have the contents of the conservatory and shed in my dining room and it currently doesn't look as though the conservatory floor will be finished before Christmas. Poor Iain is so busy working late into the evenings and at weekends I sometimes forget he is in the house. This is always Iain's busiest time, which is a shame as today it would have been lovely to take a walk in the woods.

Anyway, I spent the rest of Friday knitting presents and I am pleased to say the first present has been completed and I have nearly finished the second present - these are for my sister and BIL so I can't really post photos, just in case they decide to look me up. Only two more presents to go after these (and one must be complete by the 19th!) and I have finished gift knitting. Yippee!

On Saturday, several of us visited the Knit and Natter at Get Knitted. As this usually involves quite a bit of talking, I decided to cast on a cardigan for myself. This is loosely based on Sedna by Katya Frankel [Ravely link] but will not carry the cables. I am really hopeful I will have enough yarn to do the sideways bands but I will have to wait and see. I do have some concerned regarding the yarn ... it is a damn sight more colourful than I thought when I bought it off eBay. It is also more colourful than it looked in the skein. I have decided this will be my Depressed Cardi. It is like a party and I just hope I am brave enough to wear it when it is finished.

The yarn itself comes from a small independent spinner/dyer Royal Fiber Spinnery and is a medium tight 2ply worsted (aran), although I think it is closer to DK than aran. It is really lovely to knit with. The skeins are the biggest I have ever come across and are way too big for my yarn swift. Consequently, it took me nearly 20 minutes to wind just one. I have 4 more to go. I have received an offer of assistance (thanks Elizabeth!) which has made me very happy.

Of course, I couldn't resist making several purchases while at Get Knitted. It would have been rude to use their heating, lighting and coffee facilities without swopping money for yarn, right? I purchased two skeins of Manos del Uruguay for my Woodland Shawl by Kathy Merrick.

I also purchased two skeins of Alpaca Sock Yarn by UK Alpaca. These are called rose and sapphire and will make a gorgeous pair of socks.

My final purchase was this lovely skein of Echo Self Striping Sock Yarn by Fybrerspates. This colourway is called flowergarden and I am very excited to own this. It might not be knitted up for a while, but is definately a favourite with equal billing to my Zen String Bambewe. These two yarns excite me so much it is obscence!

The afternoon and evening was spent at Elizabeth B and Kendric's house-warming party. It was great fun and Kendric laid on a feast, including pigs in blankets vegetarian style. I am trying out his receipe tonight to gauge Iain's thoughts. I am also making bread sauce ... yum!

We decided our next collaborative project and are going to cross stitch Elegance of the Orient for Elizabeth S's mum over in the States. We have decided we like to make people cry by craft. It is very satisfying.

All this talk of cross stitch prompted me to pick up a FO and start working on it again. The design is The Fairy Moon and is designed by Nora Corbett under the name Mirabilia. I totally love her designs. I have a sneaky suspicion I have a couple more charts in my crafting stash so I really must spend more time on cross stitch.

Sunday afternoon was spent wondering around the Christmas Market. Unfortunately, we were not able to visit in the evenings due to Iain's work commitments and it really does look its best at night.

My favourite stalls were:

Button Company, Chichester carries a great selection of buttons, ribbons, and other crafty items - very useful for the knitter, quilter, sewer and card maker.

They also showed a variety of quilt and folksy kits. These are carried by The Eternal Maker and I shall be ordering THIS one - In My Folk Art Garden by Cinnamon. The colours, quality, design and textures are just lovely. I just need to get paid first.

Another lovely stall, as always, is Walcot Woollies. When Maddy is bigger, I shall buy her a fleece or a dress from here. Their garments, hats and booties are beautiful.

These mugs are cute, especially the sheep and penguins. They were on the ECP Design stall.

Surprise, Surprise

2008-11-30T13:08:00.000-08:00

I have had such lovely yarny fun this week. Unfortunately, I can't say anything about it until mid-January!

I have, up until this week, been working hard on present knitting. I am totally lusting some patterns I have recently come across:

Heathered Skies by Claire Montgomerie (published in Yarn Forward Issue 8) [Ravelry link]
Tidewater Wrap by Nancy Shroyer (published in Interweave Knits Summer 2008)

At the moment I am totally delighted by stranded knitting. I am currently knitting a present using this technique and it is very enjoyable. I love the use of colours in the above two projects.

The other two patterns grabbing my attention are crochet patterns:

Woodland Shawl by Kathy Merrick (published in Interweave Crochet Fall 2008)
Spanish Moss Coat by Tracy St. John (published in Interweave Crochet Fall 2008)

I believe I have a lot more to learn before I can tackle the coat so this might be a project for next autumn. The shawl, however, is a different prospect.

Several of us are planning to visit Get Knitted next Saturday and I might purchase the yarn for the Woodland Shawl then.

Anyway, I feel I should show you a recent present made and given to a friend - thrum mittens. She did confuse them with boxing gloves but has reported they warm her hands up well in cold weather.

Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

2008-11-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

I have been bursting and wanting to write about one of my favourite projects for ages. However, it was a special present for my lovely friend Jess and her husband John.

Jess organises our knitting circle here in Bath and, when we heard about her wedding, several of us joined forces to knit the lovely couple something special. The idea was posited by CausticAngel [Ravelry link] and Lizard Ridge by Laura Aylor was decided upon.

With Elle, Elizabeth and Betsan also on board the project flew off the needles. We settled on a modest afghan 3 squares wide and 5 squares long knitted in the recommended yarn Noro Kureyon. It was a pleasure to shop for the different yarns and I think we produced something to be proud of.

I think wrapping the present was as much fun as making the gift itself.

I had so much fun making it. I loved working on a project with friends. I loved the fact this project removed my fear of purling and I now enjoy this stitch. Sewing the squares together was enjoyable, and I no longer shirk from such a job.

Everyone involved was so positive about this project and I believe we all loved working on it.

Together we have made a friendship afghan and I hope it wraps Jess and John in love whenever they use it to keep warm.

Lazy Saturdays

2008-10-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

I had a most enjoyable Saturday. I believe this is due to me losing grip on reality.

I spent most of my Saturday ironing. See! I am mad.

Anyway, I was working on a gift and this involved me, my steam iron, a wet tea towel and the TV. DH had to go to work so this left me free to watch several Nick Cave & The Bad Seed sessions. Bliss. I think this might be the reason why I ironed for such a long time as I danced and sung my way through the ironing pile.

I think I need to go to a concert. It has been a while afterall.

As a lazy day project, how about knitting and felting your own netball game (as spotted at Glastonbury 2008).

I am in vinyl love. I really would like this limited edition set by Eels. However, I can't afford it :(

On the knitting front, I you have time pop over to Woolly Wormhead's site and provide her with your head measurements as she is aiming to work out valid small/medium/large hat sizes.

Tuesday Night Knit Club

2008-10-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

Had a great meet this evening. It was a small cosy group this evening so lots of gossiping.

Anyway, I have cast on a cute hat for preemies. Thank you very much for the pattern Woll-Ecke. I have been promising to carry out some charity knitting and have kindly been given some yarn (absolutely masses of the stuff!) by a friend of mine. Anyway, this means I must put my pointy sticks to work and start knitting.

The only thing for it is to try to dedicate little blocks of time. I am loving the pattern and hope to finish it tomorrow.

Ripe Wheat Doily

2008-10-20T14:27:00.001-07:00

Ripe Wheat Doily
Originally uploaded by Captains & Mates

I'll whisper this bit ... I am suffering from doily madness.

This has caused me to cast on this project.

I really loved this doily that was crochetted by CharlotteUlmer (Ravelry link). I spent days trying to ignore it. It wouldn't go away.

DH is having palpatations ... he doesn't think we are old enough to have a doily.

I don't care. I have to make this one!

Time! It flexes like a ...

2008-10-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, madness has been happening at work and it has taken up almost all my energy. I have had a certain David Bowie line trot around my head as each time I look at the clock I discover another morning/afternoon has passed and my to do pile hasn't deminished in the slightest. Luckily, we have a new person in our department since the beginning of the month early and this will really help.

On the plus side (there is always a plus side, right?) I have managed to shake a few things off my needles. I am pleased.

Vera - the glorious VLT pattern is off my needles and off the blocking board. I have been wearing this loads but haven't managed to take a picture of it without pins. Soon, I promise. Meanwhile, enjoy some lace porn.

I also managed to finish All the Fun of the Fair (so called because I purchased the yarn at All the Fun of the Fair, London a while back. I love it and only have about a 1m of yarn left over. I am so happy although I was scared of running out of yarn.

Socks have been causing me some problems recently (did I boast at a knit club?). I have some gorgeous Natural Dye Studios sock yarn and have tried to made a certain sock pattern 4 times. The last time, I had to admit defeat. I love the pattern but the yarn hated it. Finally, I listened to the yarn. Afterall, a good knitter should follow the yarn where it leads her ... Nancy Bush's Latvian Socks (aka Spearmint Arrows). My sock yarn is happy and I am happy. I have wanted to knit this pattern for ages and finally it is on my needles. It makes me happy.

I have also cast on a pair of Thrumb mittens for a girlfriend. She works in a warehouse and her hands become really cold. I thought these would help defrost her fingers during break. They are mad and DH hates them. They really make me laugh. Just need to knit the left.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

2008-09-28T15:19:00.001-07:00

My in-laws celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary last weekend.

Merriment was held at my BIL house and the weather was so kind we were able to enjoy an afternoon in the garden, drinking tea, eating cake and, later, quaffing wine. Although that warmth seems a long time ago as I have been cold this evening.

After a glass of champagne (so necessary at all festivities, although DH disagrees), we were treated to a lovely dinner at La Flambe.

Following on from all the festivities, Sam and I played netball on Sunday morning. I don't know who was more surprised - Sam that I actually turned up or me that I could catch the ball! Certainly, it was not like playing netball at school. I used to hate the seriously competitive edge matches had, maybe because I always felt useless and was one of the last chosen. I'm really not bitter and twisted by school sports (although I hated the majority of them), but it is refreshing to discover that ball games can be played for fun, with much laughter and the odd jostle.

For the afternoon, we enjoyed a sunny walk around the circular drive at Westonbirt Arboretum. The autumn colours are starting to come through, and there are plenty of berries on the trees.

Russets always look spectacular and light up the greens around them.

I just loved the splash of purple against the lime of the leaf.

I was surprised by the glorious show put on by the hydrangeas, although I do love their blousey lazy look.

I think the perfect view of the day was this heavily ladened tree. Each branch was perfectly lit and looked like a shower of lights in the sunbeams.

I have been knitting too, although you might not think so. I am desperate to finish All the Fun of the Fair and Vera. I am very close to finishing both of these projects but have been devoting time to knitting presents.

My friend, Mandy, returned to New Zealand this Wednesday. I have discovered she has taken up knitting, generally reusing garments from charity shops. I really hope to see some of the stuff she has been working on. I was able to send her home with my EZ Hat, which should help keep her warm next winter.

I will be running the Trading Hut in the village this Saturday. Whilst I hope to get some knitting done during my shift, I also hope it will be busy so we take some money.

Happenings

2008-09-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

As Amy so rightly stated, it didn't take me long to die and suffer forced retirement from Hat Attack II. I love my death weapon but am secretly pleased not to have to knit at the required gauge. My hands hated knitting such a thick yarn on such small needles. Madness and my mind is still trying to recover.

Anyway, thank you M McClurg for my woolly death, it is lovely.

Our village held its annual Flower Show on 13 September.T he night before it looked as though the marquee would be washed away but on Saturday morning we were all greeted by a lovely sunny day.

With certain members of the village not entering a Victoria Sponge or Fruit Cake this year, I felt sure I would be placed. Oh, foolishness indeed. Although I thought they both tasted lovely, it appears that Soya margarine is not the type of marg the judge likes. I must return to the traditional type of marg next year. (The fruit cake is a set receipe.) Even worse was the fact that a very small portion of my Victoria Sponge was not thoroughly cooked. Now, in our house this is not a problem but in the competitive world of cake baking it means the cake will never be placed. Not in a month of Sundays. Drat. This also meant I could not entice people to purchase my prize winning cakes at the tea stand. Not this year anyway.

Roll on 2009!

On a much brighter note, I obtained a 3rd place for my first ever entry in floral arts. So happy. My husband is very concerned that the pink container came home with me. However, it is cute. I just need to think of a use for it.

After my bitter disappointment last year when my lace shawl received a second place I am very happy to be placed 1st this year. Last year, my lace came behind a well knitted pair of stocking stitch socks.

This year, I entered my socks Purple Perils (above), lovingly blocked onto my Fibre Trends sock blockers. I was up against some stiff opposition this year, the cardigan, necklace and blanket were lovely.

Also, there was some glorious needlecraft in the show this year. I am not sure who the entrants are but I am in awe of your work.

I will be uploading images from the Flower Show shortly in Flickr. I will advise when they become available.