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

Suprise!!

yes, i know. you didn't expect another blog entry quite so soon. well I just had to share the good news, I've finally got my head in gear and photographed some of my freeform finger crochet hats, which also means everyone gets to have a look at what I've been up to for the past month. Enjoy!

Sleigh Bells

I don't know if its the cold making me sluggish, but all i want to do at the moment is curl up with my crochet/spinning in front of the fire. It snowed again in the night, and the garden is dusted white with it, looks like we may get a white Christmas! I've put all the decorations up in my room and am feeling really christmassy, I may even spin a Christmas yarn to celebrate (I'm thinking something along the lines of "sleigh bells")

I finished the Hat/Scarf (still haven't come up with a better name for it though), and I'm so happy with it. its really comfortable to wear and really really warm. just what the doctor ordered in this cold weather. I sewed some lovely vintage buttons on it and also left some of the ends on as little tassels, which i think gives a really nice effect.

I had my birthday at the beginning of the month, so have a lovely new pile of fibre (and some books) to add to my stash. right now I'm half way through Debbie Stoller's "Happy hooker" crochet guide ( i thought i  might as well see what I'm actually supposed to be doing as up 'till now all I've had is an A4 sheet with the basic stitches on it and a couple of very nice ladies who taught me the basics), I'm really enjoying it and have even bought one of her other totals "Stitch and bitch, the knitters hand book" to see if i cant get a hang of this knitting lark.
I must have made about 10 hats by now the scarf/hat is number 6 or something (I'll take some photos next week of some of the others), some I've given away, but I'll have to start doing something with them very soon, before they take over my what little space i have left that isn't full of wool, yarn or fibre equipment







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A Crocheter at Heart.

the snow has been coming down in sheets..well sheets for round here anyway. we've had at least 2-3", and its bitterly cold. everything is frozen, even the doors and hand brake on the car were frozen yesterday, and my father had a rather nasty moment with the brakes as well. thankfully I'm keeping myself warm with hot drinks, copious amounts of clothing and the toasty cat sitting on my lap. I've also been finger knitting neck warmers and hats to keep myself busy. I'm halfway through making a hat with a scarf attached (I know, not the catchiest name in the world. I'll come up with something better eventually).

me in my finger crochet hat from last week and my snazzy new neck warmer which is super toasty, now if only i could work out how to make gloves with fingers and id be set.

my half done scarf/hat thing. its the first hat I've crochet from the top down, rather than from the bottom up, and i think i definitely prefer this technique. you get a hat that fits much better.

the bag i knitted ages ago, but neglected to photograph till now

I feel like I've really hit my stride with finger crochet. its funny, it never really clicked for me when i was using a hook. I suppose i just work better when i get hands on. with knitting, I found I'm doing it for the end object, with finger crochet, I'm doing it to enjoy the process of making something. Ive heard people say that your either a knitter or a crocheter (a saying i always thought couldn't be right, why couldn't you be good at both), I just suppose I'm a crocheter at heart.

Camera Troubles

I have just spent the last 4 hours in an epic battle of wills with my brothers new camera, in an attempt to get at my photos. But I've finally succeeded and here are the fruits of my labors, photos of some of my newly spun yarn.

I've been very busy, it seems to be the trend this winter, making things, spinning yarn and getting organised. I even discovered a new craft to fall in love with...Finger Crochet, which is great as crochet has never really clicked for me before and I'm now hooked on making crochet hats. As Ive finally got the camera to talk to my computer I'll have to take some photos so everyone can have a look. As I seem to have finally reached a lull point in all the busyness, hopefully I will be able to update the blog on a more regular basis.

                                                

Just couldn't resist this batt

Autumn Chrysanthemums, hand dyed by me, I'm very happy with the colours I maneged to get 

Love those neps, such a bright colour

Buisy, buisy, buisy

Life has gone nuts recently, Ive got a couple of fairs coming up and I suddenly realised i didn't have enough stock. so, as is traditional, I've been working like mad to make everything I think I'll need. the good news is that there should be some up dates to the shop very soon as I've been spinning skeins, dyeing top and knitting some pretty funky gloves. as i cant fit everything I've made into a post i thought id put up a small selection of my favourites for everyone to drool over. enjoy!

these are some of the Mad Mitts I've been knitting, their so textured and gorgeously soft. the ones on the right are hand dyed by me, the others are going to be my mothers Christmas present.

some of the Falkland I've been dyeing

one of my newest hotch potch batts, which will make an awesome hat when its done.

anyway, back to the madness that is currently my life.

If you fancy seeing my shop in person I'll be at the following fairs.

23rd Nov, Lizard Christmas market, Lizard reading room.

6th Dec, Helston Eco fair, coinage hall.

If any ones passing by, stick your head in and say hi.

Drained

Unfortunately, this week i have succeeded in contracting a lovely cold bug that my brother very thoughtfully brought home. due to this wool production has ground to a halt, which is very annoying as i was planning to do some dyeing. I wanted to dye a whole slew of reds, and so far the fibre has been sitting in a bucket of vinegar water for 4 days now as Ive been unable to manage it. I've spun some beautiful yarn as well and was planning to set it (again, something that isn't currently happening). hopefully by next week, I'll be over this enough to take some pictures as they're relay lovely. including these batts, which have been transformed into a lovely thin single full of unexpected goodies.

so, till next week everyone! 

All Blue

Happy Wool Week everyone!
I finally finished the gloves, they're lovely (if a bit loose), I had to adjust the pattern for the yarn, but i obviously didn't get it quite right. never the less, they're lovely and warm, and super soft. I even made a pair for a friends birthday.

Ive had blue fingers all this week, but its not from the cold, its because I've been dyeing . so far I've come out of it with 500g of some lovely falkland top and 200g of fleece, all of which I love.

some of the colours didn't quite come out as i thought they would, mainly as i hadn't squeezed quite enough water out, but they're beautiful and i cant wait to spin them 

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.

Why tidyness in a bad thing

I had a bit of a tidyup the other day and suddenly realised just how many batts I have carefully set aside over the past couple of months with the intention of spinning and then accidentally forgotten about . so it seems, as there is such dire need, I will have no choice but to embark on a spinning session of epic proportion. I've been at it for 2 days so far, with a bit of batt making thrown in for variety, and have so far produced 3 skeins (as well as 4 very large batts). hopefully today will be equally productive.
I've decided to enter one of my skeins in the local harvest festival show, how could i refuse when they had a  section labeled "craft work- any other medium". so far I'm halfway through spinning up some of my hand dyed fibre and whichever is my favourite is the one I'm going to put in.

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.

It's that time again

Yes, Lady's and gentlemen. I have finally got my head in gear and pulled my finger out to get spinning. There are only a couple of items, but it's my intention to get another post out soon. I just need to finish carding the last of the batts, taking some photos (weather permitting) and packing everything and then it can all go up. so, for now please enjoy the delicious selection of fibery goodness available.

But enough of that, I have even bigger news. I Finally finished the hat!!! and i did it with no help so I'm very chuffed. I still cant quite believe I managed it as i had to learn loads of new techniques, but whats more amazing is i think may actually have developed a taste for knitting. so expect more knitting projects here soon. possibly a hat if i can find a good pattern.

 but anyway, on to the piccies.

Doesn't it look lovely. Just  incase anyone wants to make one of they're own, here's a

link to the pattern on Ravelry. Enjoy!

these arm warmers are what i went on to do after the hat, they're so toasty and soft. I had such trouble taking a picture of them though.

All I have to work out now it what to knit next...any idea anyone?

HOW TO...use a nostepinne

I'm a big fan of nostepinnes, I like them for their simplicity and portability, and since all my yarn comes in skeins i thought it might be nice to do a tutorial about how to go from a skein to a ball of yarn using one. so with a little sunshine and a helping hand to take some of the pictures, here you have it, my first ever tutorial.

all you need is a skein of yarn and a nostepinne (though anything from a loo roll tube to wooden spoon handle works just fine)

open up the skein and place it over something like a chair or your knees, though if you can find a willing victim  volunteer to hold it open they work best.

untie both the ends so the skein so it will reel off freely.

wrap one end of the yarn around the nostepinne about half way along (if your right handed its easiest to do this from right to left). I tend to wrap the yarn over itself as it stops it from slipping off when your not holding it.

wind the yarn around the nostepinne until its covered about an inch...

then begin to wrap over that yarn, from the bottom right up to the top left turning the nostepinne slightly as you go so each new wrap sits next to the one before.

continue to do this until you run out of yarn, then tuck the last few inches under one of the previous wraps to prevent the ball from unwinding.

wriggle the nostepinne out from the ball, and there you go, one nice, tidy ball of yarn ready to knit.

Happy knitting everyone!!!