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!!!

Dreaming of Dubai

Ive been carding like mad, both my orders of fibre arrived practically on the same day so I have 20 batts worth to get through (about 2kg worth). so far I've managed 10, and I'm dyeing to start the next colour, but I'm trying not to overload myself (i tend to bite off more than i can chew, and that leads to trouble), so I'm taking a little break today.
anyway, here are some sneaky peaks of what will soon be in the shop. hope you all like them. I've been thinking about foreign climbs, so several are named after cities.

this one is called Dreaming of Dubai

and this one is called Damasdus, maybe ill make one called Istanbul to go with them.

the weather cant seem to make up its mind at the moment, right now its blustery and cold but very sunny (when the clouds don't sneak over) yesterday it was absolutely baking in the morning, then decided to downpour, even though it had been stormy overnight. very odd. more sunshine would be nice, then all the tomatoes will be nice and ripe, just ready for picking. the chicks have inherited their mothers Houdini like traits and are now living in the veg patch (we cant get them to stay in the run, they just escape every time we shoo them back in), this is good news as far as pests go, but bad news for my pak choi, as they seem to have taken a liking to it. they are incredibly cute though, so i can probably forgive them munching my stir fry staples.
I finally finished the 4 ply that is eventually going to be the strap for my bag, all i need to do now is sow everything together and then put the button on and it will be done.

hopefully it will be ready to wear very very soon.

Yarn Update

Just a small selection of some beautiful yarns I've had cooking for a while.

I really need to get spinning, I have so much fibre (all of it deserving to become something beautiful) and only limited storage space. I just don't seem to be able to find the moments to spin it, life keeps interrupting.

I have a great batt mixture in the works though, very middle eastern colours, cant wait to see how it cards up. but for now I'll sneak you a peak at some of the yarn ive been making.

the tomatoes are starting to drop of the branches in the greenhouse, and everything is bountiful in the veg patch. I love this time of year, when everything on our plates (except the meat) is our own home grown. I hope everyone else is having a good harvest season, with enough veg to enjoy some next year.

Head Space

I decided I needed to knuckle under, I've feel like I've been waiting for something to happen which is back to front, people can spend their entire lives waiting for something to happen, you need to get out there and make something happen. so, I've got myself in a good head space and am now spinning up new stock, which seems like a positive thing to do and what needs to be happening. at the moment I'm working my way through 200g of Tree Nymph batts, I've don't 100g so far and am just starting on the next spindle full. cant wait till they're done. I love the greens, and every so often you get a surprise splash of the shiny turquoise nylon which is such fun.

Pour Passer Le Temps

Just a short post today, thought I'd show you all what I've been up to.

these two skeins are hopefully going to be knitted into a stripy pair of arm warmers as theyr so soft and lovely I couldnt bear to part with them.

As I haven't been feeling very well I decided to treat myself and test out some of  JazzTurtles new fibre, I mixed it up with a load of other stuff from my blending box and these beauties are the result.

As you can see I've been keeping busy. The bag will soon be done as well, I found some beautiful batik dyed cloth in the local fabric shop and have used it to line the inside, all i need to do now is spin a nice chunky 4-ply for a strap and then sow it all together.