am I still knitting?

 Hi, Sorry I've been quiet but we've had a bit of house drama which I will fill you in on in another post.

Back to the fibre crafts, I have actually been spinning and knitting and more importantly prepping fleece ready for or next trip.

There's a bit of everything in here, Romney, Shetland, Jacob and some of Pete's dyed fibres. I'm not sure how much will be spun up but it doesn't weigh much.

On the Argonaut I have some Portland, one bobbin down so far and its nestling on a rather colourful hat that I'm thinking of embroidering with tapestry wools that I've been hanging on to for years.

On the needles I have mitten, I'm still using up a lot of old hand spun that been lying around for years.

My last spin of Jacob and white faced woodland has now morphed into a couple of hats ( nearly) and there should be enough yarn left over for another one.

Also on the needles is something rather unusual for me, some commercial yarn which I will review in another post as I have had a few thoughts about it. This is the first time I've knit with anything other than my own yarn for a good long time but I'm knitting these mitts as a KAL with some friends as they venture into stranded knitting.

I will gift them once finished and that has dictated the colour choice. The pattern is Starla Mitts by Traci Scott, a free pattern on Ravelry.

Soed Idee Jubileum weeks one to fifteen

 A quick update, as I forgot to post week 14 I've decided to show all of the sampler stitched so far. This is up to date including this weeks band.

                    I think that I will have to start hemming the next piece of fabric soon.

New Colours to spin

 A few days ago I spotted a giveaway on a good friends facebook page. Some of you may remember Wikkidknitter who would feature on this page some years ago, after uni and starting a career he still hasn't lost his love of fibre, spinning and knitting.

Pete now has a facebook page selling dyed fibres and a couple of days ago I received a box from him.

                                                Beautifully wrapped inside was some goodies

the gorgeous fibre

 

                                              and a couple of extras, tea and stitch markers.

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the Easter egg hiding in the box as well as the draw was made on Easter Sunday. Thanks Pete x

I now have two of his braids to spin on our next trip and one on the nano which I really need to finish up soon.

First Fleece wash of the year

 I ordered this fleece a couple of weeks ago but its been sitting in the kitchen untouched due to a minor domestic disaster involving water and a ceiling!

Today, the forecast isn't too bad and in fact next week is looking even better so I thought that I had better get my finger out and wash it. Also, having had to remove the raw fleece stash from its hiding place ( the disused outside loo) it has become apparent to both of us how much I actually have.

This is a Shetland fleece, just over a kilo in weight. It looks pretty clean and open so hopefully it will be an easy spin. 

sorry if the photos aren't brilliant but I had to use my phone as the battery had run out on my camera.

It washed up pretty clean and very soft.

In the meantime I found another box, this one dated July  2025 containing a black cheviot shearling so guess what I'm doing tomorrow.

Soed Idee Jubileum week thirteen

 Friday, 3.30pm I finally finished with the crowns whilst relaxing with a coffee, No special additions this week but I have a few ideas in mind for future stitching.

I am enjoying this Stitch - a - long and hope to keep up with the instalments ( 50 in total )

the sampler that isn't cross stitch

 Home now and I've had chance to take the sampler out of the frame. As I thought, its stitched on needlepoint canvas in wool rather than cross stitch with cotton.

The actual sampler has been glued to the backing board at some point but the glue was so dry that it came away at the corners .

after this sneak preview of the back I carefully eased away as much as I dare to reveal the true colours.

Interestingly, the light grey at the bottom has smudges of purple in it and when I compared it to the alphabet it shows as a purple grey.

The stitches are a bit chaotic but I think that I will chart it and at some point stitch it as a cross stitch in the original colours to hang alongside it once I've had it reframed.

Back on the road, day nine

 The last two days were spent travelling home but I have a photo or two to share. First a moody goodbye to Skye.

and a quick stop at the Falls of Dochart

Now to catch up with things at home before we head out again.

Back on the road, day eight

 For the first time this week we woke up to a clear blue sky, also rather frosty but definitely dry. So on the last day on the island I will just leave a few photos from our morning walk.

Tomorrow we head home but will be stopping in Scotland for one more night.

Soed Idee Jubileum week twelve

 I plan to add place names and maybe some of the sample details as I go along but for now week 12 is finished as at 25.03.26

I then went on to add the names of the places where we stayed overnight and the name of the sampler that I purchased whilst we were away.

Back on the road, day seven, a brief glimpse of the sun and an unexpected purchase

 We saw the sun, had a bit more rain but the wind has dropped a bit. Decided to go down to Kyle lochalsh on the mainland to pop into the recycle shop and also have a wander round as we used to catch the ferry from there many years ago.

Somewhere I have photos of the bridge being built, the buildings that you can see through the bridge are the fish factory,

WW11 mine in the grounds of the now closed Kyle Hotel although it does look like someone may be making an attempt to do some work on it.

This is Kyleakin where the ferry used to pull into on the island. Now a very quiet area as all the traffic goes over the bridge and straight up to the roundabout to go up or down the island. We remember waiting here in a storm having being woken by our landlady with candles and apologies for having to provide a cold breakfast !

when I first saw this sculpture, I thought it represented the arc of the Skye bridge. Further investigation revealed that it is music but I'm not sure which tune. Skye Boat song doesn't seem to match :-)

A quick stop off at the antique cabin in Broadford saw me walk out with a surprise purchase, one which will be having its own post in the future but for now , meet Emma Brown age 12 1870

The glass had been broken by the shop owner so the price was reduced , once I have found the best way to remove the stitching from the frame I will try and look at the back ( as long as its not glued) and see what the original colours were like. Not the neatest of stitching but I like it,

By the time we got back, the water level in the beck had dropped by about a foot.

Back on the road, day six

•  Not much to say, after a night of 60+mph winds and rain,
• Rained all day,
• Went out for coffee
• Went back to cottage.

update at 10.30pm, still raining, still windy and the water in the beck next to the cottage is a torrent.

Back on the road, day five

 In case anyone is wondering why we are not visiting all the tourist sites on Skye, we have been regular visitors for around 38 years so if the weather is awful we just stay in and chill.

Day five started with more snow on the hills behind the cottage and again we had been woken by windy gusts of hail against the windows, leisurely breakfast before driving across to a friends farm shop.

Yasmin owns Island at the Edge selling yarns, knitwear and croft tours. I had originally intended on taking some photos of her animals but was deterred by the driving rain. However the wood stove was on in the shop so we caught up on the gossip.

We bought a present for Yasmin, I hold it doesn't annoy her too much ( she loved it)