Still here, at a 2 metre distance.

I think this was week 5? I'm not sure now as the edges are a little blurred. My routine for the morning is established and my afternoons tend to be in my craft room as my other half is usually back home by dinnertime.

I'm still baking but that may have to stop soon unless I find a source of flour, apparently the problem is more to do with the lack of domestic size bags than a shortage of actual flour.

As I'm still officially employed, I have confra calls with the management and on the social side I'm enjoying social video calls with other spinners.

My spinning mojo comes and goes along with everything else so this week I blended a remnant of dyed top with some Ryeland shearling fleece and spun up around 100gm, looks good. I finally got round to washing all the recent handspun and labelled it up.

This bag is all the skeins that are 100gm or just over. I have a couple of big squidgy skeins of Shetland that are 150gm which are waiting until I start the next bag.

My swift was temporarily re-purposed as a bobbin stand and I've started some more lace.

That is pretty much that for the time being, not terribly productive but that doesn't really matter :-)

4 weeks in...

HI

First, I apologise to anyone who tried to read my last post as the photos weren't showing, no idea why !

This weeks main achievement has been finding out how to use zoom which has given me chance to speak to my local knitting group and meet some spinners . We are also both very grateful to all the musicians who have been proving live performances from their homes, great music and an insight into their lives.

Now for the weekly round up of craft work, not a huge amount to show though.

Knitting...none
lacemaking...none

Spinning, yep, I've been prepping fibres and spinning some up.

Cheviot, Suffolk and the mixed fibres from John Arbon in the middle. All are now waiting for a wash on a hot sunny day :-)

I'm currently working on some Shetland which I will hopefully be spinning during the week.

The rest of the time I've been baking, tackling the housework and spending some time with Ian between his unsocial shifts. I also seem to be thinking a lot about long term projects, whether any will become a reality will remain to be seem.

Take care and I'll check in next Sunday.

Another weekly update

Hi,

I seem to have a problem giving myself permission to craft ! Being at home all the time still seems to mean constant housework at the moment, once things are a little more organised it shouldn't be so bad.

 My plans to spend time clearing out the house have been put on hold due to charity shops and local tips  being closed for the time being.

I intend to give myself one task a day then reward myself with some spinning etc. I think the next task will be sorting out the linen cupboard as |I have a small project in mind that may involve an old sheet.

Anyway, this weeks achievements ( the main reason for continuing with this blog )

Workroom, slightly more organised, at lease I can get across the floor now !

Spinning, one skein of Jacob waiting to be washed and 50gm of mixed fibres currently on the wheel.

Lacemaking, In spite of sharing daily photos of my lace on Instagram in January, its actually been a few year since I really made any lace. I'm starting to reteach myself by working through "an introduction to Bucks Point"
And I treated myself to a flexi light so I can see the pricking ( pattern) without the shadows from the pins.

Mandolin, little and often (15 mins daily) as my finger tips still get quite sore :-) the skin will harden after a while but its been years since I played guitar so it will take some time.

The weather has started to warm up nicely so washing now gets dry and put away the same day! I have been baking most of the week and in spite of this, I have lost weight over the last 3 weeks which has pleasantly surprised me.

Have a great week, stay safe xx

weekly round up #1

This has been my first full week at home, a bit strange and weird but I will get used to it. At the moment I'm spending time doing extra house work ie wiping everything with disinfectant, washing my partners uniform as he is still a key worker.

I'm even spending more time making meals due to his altered shift times !

I've been baking when I can get hold of flour, just basic biscuits and the occasional cake. I hope to lose weight in spite of this and so far I seem to be successful and hope to slowly shift the pounds as I no longer have access to crisps, chocolate etc which were always a huge challenge when I was working.

Most importantly, my work room needs some attention, I would like to pick up on some crafts that I haven't touched for some time but at the moment I can't access the cupboards.

Yep, that is my mandolin, bough a few years ago and hardly touched! I'm now picking it up most days and trying to get my fingertips used to the metal strings at the moment.

I have finished another hat, this one is black cheviot with an unlabelled white, both handspun. I'm pleased with the results.

IAs you can see from the photo, my espinner has been in use and I've spun a couple of skeins of Portland fleece, spun up as a aran/chunky. I spin a thick yarn every so often for practise as I usually spin four ply for my knitting. I've also spun up a braid of dyed british wool ( I've lost the label) Dyed by Velvet sixpence and purchased a couple of years ago. Its a bit weird spinning dyed fibres, not something I do much of these days.

Meanwhile, in the garden spring has finally arrived and the blossom is on the cherry tree. I'm hoping to have some outside seating sorted for the summer since it looks like we will still be confined to the house with few exceptions.

Well, that's about it for now, I'll check in again next week :-)