Teeny weeny things.

Aware I had been slacking a bit on the baby knits front, I finally knuckled down a bit and got on with it.  Turns out baby knitting is great and the near instant gratification is very satisfying.  So...

The Offset Wraplan is done.  It’s really cute and was quite easy, but there were stitches to be picked up, numerous ends to be sewn in and buttons to be sewn on.  None of these are my favourite things to do so I probably won’t knit it again.  As you can see I also whipped up a little matching hat (pattern here) which took me no time at all.  Both are made from Debbie Bliss Merino DK which has been in my stash for ages.

 Next I cast on for this in some James C Brett Kool Kotton I’ve also had hanging around for years.  I’m very aware that even though there is still snow on the ground here it could be quite warm by the time baby arrives so I’m trying to knit most things out of cotton.  I’ve made one and a half fronts and I’m really enjoying this knit so far.  I love the colour of the yarn and will probably use some bright pink ribbon for the ties, just for a bit of contrast.

And in other news, here is a nice big plying ball just waiting for its turn on the spinning wheel.  Hopefully next time I’ll have new yarn to share.

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Oh no! Snow!

Dreaming of a bbq summer?

Yesterday it snowed.  This was not good.  Ordinarily I love snow, but I love it it in a way where I need to run around around in it and throw it and slide around on it in a sledge.  None of these things are practical for the 32 weeks pregnant lady.  Bummer.  So, instead I stayed indoors and looked at it a bit and then got one with some spinning instead.  My first wheel spun yarn is completed, plied, washed and dried.

It looks ok I think, a bit squiggly in places, but perfectly adequate.  It is 85g and around 243m, as usual I have no idea of the yarn weight, I'll work it out at some point.  The finished yarn is not the softest, but that is likely down to the fibre and it will probably be just fine for a hat or gloves.  Obviously having an empty wheel was not desirable, so I've moved on to spinning some merino I've been hanging onto for ages.  It started life like this (left).

I've tried spinning it a couple of times, but I was never really happy with the way all of the colours mixed together and went brown.  This time I have split the top into really thin strips and managed to preserve some of the brightness.  The plan is to make a 3ply, with two plies made of this and the third just plain black.  Hopefully this will be just the thing to lift my mood while I try to forget how much fun I could be having outside!

Fluff

When my spinning wheel arrived it came with a very nice £15 voucher for fibre from the Wingham Woolwork.  I in no way procrastinated about spending that right away and a few days later I have added 800 grams to the stash for the mere price of postage.  I mostly went for things I hadn't tried before and hopefully will add a couple of breeds to my love to spin list.

That said, one of these is 100g of BFL (right), I couldn't resist, I do love BFL. In the middle is 200g of grey falkland.  Looks like I got so excited I accidentally put this in my basket twice.  I don't mind though, I may dye 100g of it blue or green and make something stripy from the yarn. On the left is 100g Jacob.

 This is 100g of alpaca (I think there is a matching lot of pink on it's way too).  I have spun an alpaca silk blend before but I look forward to seeing if this spins any differently.  I plan to make two 3 ply yarns, one with 2 pink strands and 1 purple and vice versa to knit something with subtle stripes.

This is 100g each of Shetland (left) and Cheviot (right), the shetland I think I'll leave as is, maybe just adding some dyed firestar for subtle sparkle, but the cheviot I think I'll dye something bright as is a bit lighter than all the others. 

Hmm now, what to spin first?

Sloppy blankie of apathy

 Today I finished a fleece blankie for baby and I’m rather pleased that the recipient won’t really give a monkeys about how it looks because it really doesn’t stand up to close scrutiny.  It is what it needs to be, warm, soft and washable so we’ll pass over the little fudges I had to make all the way round because I didn’t cut the pieces exactly square and the fact that the ribbon doesn’t go round the corners properly.  All in all, it’s quite cosy and has tiny strawberries on it, I guess that’s enough for me.

 

Done. Finally.

 They have been nearly 3 years in the making, but I’ve finally done it, the alpaca socks are done, and it’s a good job too because all of a sudden it is fffreezing here.  These socks are completely indoor socks and have been doing a wonderful job keeping my feet toasty while I sit on the sofa and knit.  Also they are so soft and lovely, I can highly recommend the Artesano Inca Cloud, in fact I could quite happily just wrap myself up in the stuff and wait for this cold snap to pass.

I’m still having a lovely time getting to know my spinning wheel.  Despite having a couple of frustrating moments, I have completed my first bobbin and am now about halfway into my second.  The fibre is a British Breeds blend I got from Fondant Fibre a couple of weeks ago, split end to end to make a (hopefully) striping 2 ply.  With any luck it should be done by the end of the week, it certainly looks like having a wheel will be good for production!

Splurge

My sooper dooper treat to myself arrived yesterday, via the very nice man next door (thank you Don!)  Here is what was in the box

Can you tell what it is yet?  Stu took pity on me, grabbed his tool box and started assembling it for me.  He’s a good boy.

The strange shadow along the bottom is probably cat ears!

And here she is all finished. 

My very own Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel!  Purchased from Wingham Woolwork, who very kindly included a £15 voucher for fibre, which I will very much enjoy spending.  I didn’t have much chance to try it out last night, but I think we are going to be very good friends.  I was a bit worried that the transition from spindle to wheel would be very difficult, but the only real problem I have been having is in getting the right amount of twist in to the yarn and that really will just be a matter of practice..... and I intend to get a lot of practice.

Goodness gracious....

....great balls of fibre!  Yep, three little balls of singles can only mean one thing, it’s plying time.  These were originally this

which I spun up in the hope of getting a yarn which phased from green to purple to blue.  Unfortunately upon winding them into a plying ball one strand had completely run out before the third had even got to green.  My plan is to cable ply the remaining green from the leftovers and add it later so all is not lost.