knitting update , as promised.

Okay,

Quick update, I really knuckled down and finished a couple of hats which have been hanging around.

Beanie, Manx and Norfolk horn fleeces.

Kep, bfl cross, Shetland and Norfolk/Suffolk cross

I've now just about run out of yarn and I'm steadily knitting up oddments between prepping more fleece ready for getting the wheel out again.

I'm still off work, hoping to go back early next week :-)

A good but painful excuse for a whole lot of knitting

Hi,

Its New Years Eve so I'll start with a quick knitting update.

The Kep cast on just before Christmas has come to an abrupt halt..... I've run out of white yarn and the reason for not spinning some more will become clear further down this post.

But I am really pleased with the progress so far and it is really, really soft. Shetland, Norfolk X, BFL X.
Next on the needles is a quick hat which I think has a mainly vintage feel about it, mixed fleece ( mainly Shetland) hand dyed etc. I'm not sure yet whether I like it or not.

I've been thinking about the New Year, do I resolve to lose weight, save more etc etc But I think really I just want to travel, maybe reduce my working hours and enjoy my spinning. Maybe 2018 will bring some changes, maybe not.

As for the no spinning, the hospital that told me that my foot was just bruised with soft tissue damage and I was ok to walk on it phoned back on Wednesday to say they have had another look at the x rays and I may want to go to the local A&E if I was still having pain from it. This is the reason for no spinning.....

I may have to break out a drop spindle or two :-)

Have a great New Year xx

the weekend

So, its the weekend again! Pete aka Wikkidknitter and myself decided to visit the local guild of weavers , spinners and dyers as its over three years since we were members attending every month. I must admit that we were a little unsure as to whether we would know many people but found a very warn welcome from the members we already knew and many of the others. As it was the January meeting, members were able to have sales tables to sell off any excess equipment. We noticed several ball winders and carders amongst the books and other bits and pieces.

One of the members was destashing due to moving and I took the opportunity to purchase some more lace bobbins. Some to join my best pillow, and some plain ones for when I take my lacemaking out with me.

a couple of books also jumped into my bag, 5000 years of textiles has been on my wish list since c&g days so the chance to pick up the paperback copy for 50p was irresistible.

The art of embroidery is one of those beautiful inspirational embroidery books and will join the other two volumes that I already have on knitting and felt making.

I now need to get rid of several books to make space for them!!

during the week, a Shetland fleece turned up that I ordered before Christmas so all in all my plans of not spending money on books or fibre etc in January went straight out of the window! I now declare February the new January and will try, very hard not to increase my stash, in fact I will be trying to downsize it yet again.

as for the latest fishermans kep, there has been some progress and here is a rare shot of my trying it on to check how it looks, please excuse the red face but it was rather warm wearing it with the heating on!!

just a quickie

Hi, I'm about to go work but here is an update on the fair isle kep.

I'm having great fun knitting this one! I also received a parcel of Shetland fleece yesterday so it look like I am going to be seriously busy :-)

slow time of year

Hi,

I can't believe that we are already 3/4 of the way through January, not sure where the time goes!

Firstly a confession, I've stepped down from the embroidery challenge as after a day or so it just didn't grab me. I think my head isn't into thread at the moment, just fluff and yarn!

We did manage a day out last weekend, headed off to the east coast and watched some sand racing but it was very cold and wet so didn't hang around for long. I only took my small camera which really doesn't like being cold so not many photos.

After  we had thawed out in the café we headed down to Skegness and trawled the charity shops for books, cds and dvds.

The previous day I had been out with my mate and popped into the nearby Oxfam shop and came out with these.

               

I like the Journal book as it also has squared paper in it so you can chart your designs for fair isle although most of mine have mistakes in them... must not do this when tired, just leads to frustration.

The purple hat is completed and I've decided that this one is mine !!

and I've started another kep, this time Jacob. manx loaghtan and Portland in the mix.

I nearly forgot, I bagged this book from Amazon as it was on sale at £4.99 so much for my desire to stop buying books etc!!

Still, I have plenty of fleece to spin, at the moment its more of the grey Ryland :-)

Have a great weekend xx