New Year, New project.............. Gansey sampler day five

 The back is now complete, next step will be to knit the front ( I assume)

BTW, Sill coughing :-(

crafting list for 2026

 I'm slowly tidying up and destashing again and I'm finding projects that really need to be finished.

So, I've made a list of 10 things that need working on and will not be touching anything else in the category until I've finished one of the outstanding ones ( this doesn't mean that these are the only  half finished projects)

Lets see how long this approach works for haha.

Knitting         Gansey sampler ( see previous posts )

                       Hat ( only cast on yesterday so no pic yet)

Cross stitch    Sheep ( see end 2025 post for progress )

                       Fox and Rabbit SAL 2026

                       Fox and Rabbit sampler 2023

This has become a favourite for stitching in the van as I now work from the PDF on my phone.

Spinning                          Argo     one jacob bobbin complete

                                         Nano    one polworth bobbin complete

 Both need the other bobbin spinning and plying, these will probably be cafe spins over the next couple of weeks.

Embroidery             Small flower pic.

Bobbin lace                  Finish Buck Point Sampler, this is ongoing as my Wednesday class project

                                    

                                      Add one project, to be determined but probably something easy for when out                                               and about.

Once I've finished a project, I'll add another. Will this work or will I abandon it half way through the first month? What do you think ?

                                                      *****************************

Simple list version to copy and paste going forward, I will cross out and date as I complete things

knitting       hat

                    gansey sampler

cross stitch  sheep

                    Fox and Rabbit 26

                    Fox and Rabbit 23

lace              Bucks sampler

                    another, to be decided

Spinning      Argo  Jacob

                    Nano  Polworth

embroidery  small flower

New Year, New project.............. Gansey sampler day four

I have now reached the point where I'm knitting the back on two needles. Knitting on two needles is actually fairly alien to me as pretty much everything I knit is in the round except for the occasional shawl. Also reading the pattern and remembering what stitch I should do is interesting but I am doing this as a challenge to get myself away from my safe place.

I've just noticed, I'm using a bobbin lace pattern as a bookmark for the knitting pattern :-)

New Year, New project.............. Gansey sampler day three

 I'm still laid up with the cough which has lingered on from the slight cold I had at Christmas, how can such a slight sniffle give me the cough that takes hold every time I move I don't know. Anyway it is slowly getting better.

So its back to the Gansey, first thing o state is that I prefer fairisle  !! Still, I'm learning as I go.

I've started the underarm gussets, one looks ok, the other a bit weird but nethermind. Next I will be looking at knitting the front and back flat which is going to really test me !!

New Year, New project.............. Gansey sampler day two

 A bit more about the sampler, It's designed to teach the traditional techniques of knitting a gansey without the commitment to a full size version. I will be knitting every part as if it was a garment for myself but in reality it will only fit a teddy bear.

I'm hoping to learn some new techniques and gain some understanding of the construction of these garments, who knows, I may eventually knit myself one.

progress so far

( I doesn't really sit flat due to the two ribbing sections overlapping and the rib seams )

I'm sure that once finished and blocked it will sit more like it should.

New Year, New project.............. Gansey sampler

 Hi, I've hand it in mind for a a year or so to try the sampler pattern from this book. I don't knit large items but the idea of knitting a small Gansey to try out the techniques.

As usual I'm using hand spun yarn and I suspect that at some point I will end up confused but  I'm going to give it a go.

To end the day we have  a decent sunset, not bad for the first day of January

The last spinning and knitting of 2025

 Hi,

I had a bit of a break from the knitting needles in September but since October I've slowly got back into the whole spin/knit thing.

The Nano still has a spin on it. This is hand dyed Polworth gifted to me by Petes Fiber Studion.

I had actually emptied the other wheels although the Argonaut now has a bobbin of Jacob on it. Did I mention that I now have another e-wheel?

Here she is.

border leics cross in progress.

So the last of 2025 spinning looks like this excepting the 2/3 skeins being knitted into hats.

plus this one fresh off the wheel

                                                                     not too shabby :-)

Knitting recommenced slowly, I have noticed that I seem to be developing a bit of arthritis in my thumb so I'm trying not to overdo things.

  

Next year may be more stitching than knitting, we will see how things go.

Quick knitting update

 Hi, I'm sat in a coffee shop , on my way to the Notts and District branch of the guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and I've realised that I haven't posted a knitting update recently.

                                         This beanie is my current knit, nice simple repeat.

This hat was a commission that I finished last week, the one below is a beanie from the same pattern.

I took a lot of oddments away with me when we went to Wales.

All but two pairs of mitts and the cowl were holiday knits.

My plan is to finish this beanie before the start of tour de fleece although I will always have knitting in my bag whilst out and about.

I'm in love with this shop... Ewe Felty Thing

I don't often post about yarn stores, mainly because, as a spinner, I use my own yarn and my personal restriction of only spinning British breeds ( I have Saxon Merino and Bowmont but both sourced as fleece in the UK ) and always spinning from fleece means that my shop purchases tend to be knitting needles.

However, I will often have a look inside when the colours call my name, I came across this lovely place last month whilst we were wandering slowly around Shropshire and North Wales.

Nestled in the the old town of Conwy I spotted a sign outside one of the old buildings.

                                                                  Ewe Felty Thing

With this view from the door step, how could I resisit ? The colours called out but to be honest, the spinning wheels shouted to me as well.

 I had a lovely warm welcome from Andy who was looking after the shop and he was happy to show me the spinning wheel collection, even making sure that I didn't miss the one in the vault. I will add here that having worked in a bank for 42 years I am always amazed how many times I walk into coffee shops etc and recognise the signs of its former use, most of the ones that I have worked at have been reborn as coffee shops over the years.

The shop sells yarn, needles, felting supplies, looms and wheels however the antique wheels are not for sale and they are being retained as a complete collection. They are beautiful.

There are over 20 wheels in all, different shapes, sizes , from different countries around the world.

However, I do think that we have an interloper, I may be wrong but the next one looks more like a bobbin lace bobbin winder.

I found this on Pinterest to show what I mean

there are a couple of winders in the picture.

The last of February spinning and knitting

 Today is sunny, cool but its also the beginning of March. Feels so much better than most of February when the country appeared to be trapped under a layer of cloud.

This is a quick round up of spinning and knitting from the end of February, I honestly cannot remember what else I've worked on but here we go.

This is the remains of some of the shetland fleece spun on the nano. I also have some light grey so may use this for something lace once I've checked the yardage.

These mitts are a Shetland / Dorset cross and feel really warm, I like the added texture in the body of the hand.

The hat is knit from oddments of fine spun Shetland held double.

200gm of Jacob, This will be car knitting on our next long trip, plain or textured hats, aran weight. around 135 yd in each ball.

I think that this just about rounds up the end of the month. We are busy this month with different adventures so possibly not too much in the way of spinning and knitting but there will be some lace and possibly embroidery to come. x

empty out the bags.

 I usually only have one knitting project on the go, two at the most, I knew that I had a shawl in my knitting bag that has been ignored for some time and after getting it out I decided that if I wasn't going to enjoy knitting it, it could go.

It been frogged back, skeined and washed ready for the next project.

I though that was it, just my current project but no.... I found a pair of mitts in a bag just needing about 10 rows to finish them. I do remember these, I was knitting them on one of our van trips and I suspect that they just fell behind the fleece bag rather than being deliberately ignored. I finished them.

Back to just one project, rustic mitts in Jacob and Ryeland.

On the wheel I'm still working through the bfl/texel on the Ashford e-spinner.

Nothing on the Nano at present.

Storm Bert is raging outside ( 8am Sun 24 November) nearly 50 mph gusts coming down the valley so I don't think that I will venture far today.

cross stitch basket of horror

 My knitting skills were definitely lacking last night so my knitting project is in sin bin for the time being.

It's time to start sorting out the cross stitch/embroidery pile starting with the project basket.

This basket should only contain current projects but it looks like much more has been crammed in over the last year. Current projects (that I may or maynot finish) are...

As you can see, a severe case of startitis haha I do pick them up from time to time and I would like to see a couple of them finished next year.

At least they fit neatly into the basket now, I just need to see if I can get all the excess bits and bobs into the BIG BOX OF STITCHING DOOM

I'll let you know x