Yarn on the Brain

the weather is so beautiful outside, sunny and warm with a light breeze from the SW,  the bay tree is in flower and the garden is filled with the sound of insects. perfect weather for spinning in the garden and walking around barefoot on the grass.

I finished the scarf, something I've needed since before Christmas as the one i have just isn't enough, just in time for all this warm weather were having...typical. never mind though, once id got the hang of not YO for the last stitch (and subsequently causing me to be very confused as to why i had 13 stitches on the needle and not 12)  it went like a dream. its so comfy to wear and is warm as toast. the cowl project I've been planning to do next may get postponed though as if the weather continues on in the same vein i wont get to wear it till October.

I spent most of yesterday trying to distract myself from the beautiful handspun silk/wensleydale  DK sitting dripping in the garden. i sat there trying not to think about how much i wanted to finger crochet it into a summer hat or imagining how it might come out (slouchy, lots of big holes, maybe something like fishnet stitch).  this morning i come downstairs all chirpy, thinking "it has to be dry, its had two days now, including one spent hanging in the sunshine for hours, it has to be dry" and what do i find? damp yarn that's what. looks like today is going to be yet another day of trying not to think about finger croched, summer hats patterns or that wensleydale silk handspun in the garden.

at the moment (in an effort not to think too much about aforesaid yarn) i am halfway through spinning this

its going to be lovely, ive added lots of beads in and i hope my friend, whome its intended for, will like it. it should make amazing pixie hair when its done.

All Golden

The Summer sun seems, finally, to be creeping over the horizon. spring is definitely in the air and, due to being held back by the harsh winter, Cornwall is painted with golden fields of early daffodils. we are literally smothered in them down here, you cant go for a walk without falling over the things. the beaches are beautiful and the water is clear, if bone chillingly cold. the wintry winds are still roaming around though leaving a toasty day to turn chilly very fast, so keep that coat on a little longer, you might just need it.

I think i may have finally figured out why I've been in such a slump with the spinning, I started a spinning journal the other day (something I've been meaning to do for ages) and suddenly realised I'm making the same yarn over and over ...semi worsted, slubbed, aran, 2ply, spun short draw,  ....I'm am the proverbial record stuck on a scratch. so i consciously chose to do something new, something i haven't tried before, something that would push the envelope so to speak. and this is what i ended up with...

And I Loved it! i had so much fun and really enjoyed it, even when i overdid the uneven plying and one of the singles gave up the ghost it didn't phase me. well, OK, i did swear a bit when it wouldn't splice back together but a nice square knot sorted that out a treat.

Since i haven't blogged in a while (yes, yes, very bad me) i have loads of lovely yarns to show you. and this one (Weedy Seadragon), and its identical twin, are going to be a lovely scarf in this pattern. I've got the yarn, I've found the knitting needles, now all i need to do is work out what on earth a YO and TURN consist of and I'm in business.
Anyway, enough of that for now...Bring on the eye candy!!

 Cherry Red, hand dyed Falkland spun super bulky

 Sweet surprise, hand dyed Falkland spun bulky

Perfect Day, merino, nylon, mohair, throwsters spun bulky

Freezing fingers

Summer has definitely given way to autumn now, the wind is cold and the air has that strange fragile quality to it, the leaves are already thick underfoot and it won’t be long till the first frosts are coating the veg patch with spirals of silver. so I've decided to attempt to make a pair of fingerless gloves (cold fingers and spindles not being the best of friends), and this pattern for hand warmers I found on Ravelry appealed to me as they look well within my current ability level (otherwise known as the "what am I doing with the pointy sticks again?" stage) as they're knitted flat then sewn up the side and don't have finger holes (which are apparently "tricky" ).

so far they seem to going reasonably well, even though I seriously considered chucking the whole lot out the window after having to redo the first two rows at least 5 times (thankfully the parent showed me what I was doing wrong before I did anything I might have regretted).

Hopefully they’ll work out as I’m planning to make a pair for a friends birthday. I've alredy started spinning the yarn which, so far,  has been very interesting as although I’ve blended for texture and colour before, I’ve never blended for different fibre characteristics. As gloves the yarn needs to be soft and warm but also durable. So I decided to blend super soft merino fleece with some angora and llama and a bit of BFL and astle milk morrit to increase durability. This seems to be working pretty well but I cant realy tell how well its worked till I start knitting it up.

Colour my world

I've been a busy bee this week, yesterday i woke with the overwhelming desire to dye some fibre. so, I got the kit out and mix the stock solutions with no clear idea of what colours I wanted, and this is what came out the other end...

I was a bit enthusiastic with the chopstick when it was in the pan and accidentally felted it ever so slightly in a couple of places, I've definitely learned to be more gentle next time. It finally dried overnight and I ran it through the ram carder this morning with some other goodies to turn out this beauty

I found the perfect pattern for my next knitting adventure, a lovely pair of fingerless gloves I found on Ravelry. My hands always get cold when I'm spinning in the winter and these look perfect, you knit them flat and then sew them up leaving a thumb hole. sounds nice and strait forward, especially as its got some stitches in the pattern i haven't used before. I've spun up 100g of  falkland/merino top dyed by BabyLonglegs, in a lovely turquoise/purple/blue colourway (Its actually brighter in real life) 

I've also spun a slightly chunkier skein in a matching colour, think I may knit it into a hat. I swear I'm going to end up with more hats than I'll know what to do with, maybe I should consider making some as Christmas presents or something.

I started spinning up some of my new silk batts, fresh off the carder. they were so nice i just couldn't keep my hands off them. I think I'm going to call them "nothing but blue skies"

the bee's are gathering up the last of the summers nectar, its getting cold and they're becoming less active, soon they'll go into hibernation in their burrows, snuggled up warm against the cold. I know how they feel, the sudden cold is making me want to curl up on the sofa in front of the fire with a nice cup of hot chocolate and stay there till spring comes round.

Yarn Dreaming

I've been spinning like a daemon, well, except for yesterday where i got slightly caught up in carding some beautiful batts. I usually name my yarns after the blend, so the first is called candyfloss carnival. I haven't named the second one yet, I usually don't name hotchpotch batts, but this one is so special i think it deserved one...have to have a hard think and see if i can come up with something appropriate.

I've also started the knitting project with the the green yarn (subsequently decided to name it sea green), no pictures as yet though as its at the visually uninspiring stage. I feel a bit like I've jumped in at the deep end. previously all I've ever knitted are scarves, and the typical plain all the way down variety at that. this is a hat on DPN's and I've also had to learn to cast on, which was rather intimidating to say the least. haven't quite got the hang of the juggling you have to do to knit with 3 needle's in your hand at once, its trickier than it looks. anyway, hopefully it will be far enough along soon that i can take a couple of pictures to share with everyone. hopefully it wont drive me nuts before then (this is my first attempt at actually enjoying knitting, so far its going quite well as i haven't thrown it across the room yet),hopefully this will continue.

Bountiful Promise

Another scorcher of a day and the veg are beginning to look a bit desperate, have to get the watering can out this evening or wave goodbye to any hope of fresh salad in the near future. Really reminds you how close starvation is if you rely totally on what you yourself grow, drought suddenly becomes a much bigger problem than "oh dear, the lettuce have copped it, have to pop down the shop and buy one instead". On the bright side, we have baby veg appearing, cant wait till its all big enough to be picked and eaten.

I've been drum carding again, and though more pics may appear soon, this one is so lovely i had to share.

think i may call it something like Candyfloss Carnival, Its so lovely and fluffy, all cormo and alpaca and throwsters, with a big handful of merino thrown in for good measure

I'm also currently working my way through 200g of Falkland (isn't it lovely), spinning it nice and thin, just right for summer.

Mini Batt Madness

I really enjoy making minibatts, I made quite a few since i brought my carder I'm really getting into my stride with them, I think I'm even beginning to develop my own style (which is nice). I carded a whole load of them over the weekend so I'm just going to show you some of my favourites.

Aren't they lovely, sadly no matter how many photos I take I just cant seem to get them to look as beautiful as they are in real life. more practice needed on that count I think.

this is whats on my spindle (well, one of them  anyway) currently.

I'm attempting to do the felt add-ins technique from Lexi Boerger's book Intertwined. I have to say I'm struggling with it, but then again whats the point of choosing to do something challenging if it doesn't stretch your abilities. now i come to think about it, possibly my decision to vito the auto wrapping may not be helping, but ive got so far into it i may as well just keep going as i am.