I know I'm rubbish at updating this blog!

I have been pretty busy with the summer holidays and generally being a Mum to six fabulous kids (mostly). We had four birthdays over the summer break, a big extended family gathering and having Grandparents visiting, which was great.

I knitted a gorgeous Peacock Shawlette in a green merino/silk blend with added sparkle.

I really need blocking wires as I enjoy knitting shawls so much. Maybe Santa will bring me some this year! My partner does read my blog from time to time. Do you think he will take the hint?

The pattern is very pretty and opened up nicely.

This was my first bottom up shawl. 

Next project Pomatomus socks by Cookie A. I loved knitting these so much, they are my first patterned socks and I knitted from a chart!

I bought the yarn when I went to Wonderwool Wales from Easyknits the colour way is called Witches Brew. These are my favourite socks at the moment.

We had the Guild exhibition in August as last year there were so many lovely things. I put three items in for display only. I was happy to hear that people were disappointed that they were not for sale.

I will post again soon!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good


I have been busy knitting and using up some of my handspun.

These skeins are what I spun last year during the Tour de Fleece. They have been dyed an amazing shade of grey.

It is being knitted up in the shape of a February Lady Sweater for me.

I should really remove the blue stitch marker now as it is very obvious which is the right side and the wrong side.

The lace pattern is very simple and looks very good.

*****

Next up is a shawl.

This is made from the blue sparkly batts, the pattern is Little Shells.

This is going to be a Christmas present.

*****

I have spun my finest yarn so far.

This is silk, two different blends of merino and some angelina. I love sparkles!

Which became lovely fluffy batts.

Being spun.

End product.

98g enabled m to spin and ply 538 meters of sock thickness yarn!

Here is a comparison shot of my first plied yarn and my lovely thin green yarn. What a difference a year and a bit makes!

*****

I have a lot of spinning equipment now. I get very excited about getting new tools I forget to blog about them. Here is a picture dump of them.

My much loved Ashford Traveller. This was the wheel I wanted from the start.

Freshly assembled, she is sporting the jumbo flyer nowadays.

I find a drum carder invaluable, spinning from batts is great. I also love blending.

My yummy Trindles! 

Lovely fibre and a Trindle.

I have no idea why I didn't get a Sunflower Swift sooner.

In action with my ball winder.

Wonderwool Wales 2011 - The stash

The day was great, the people were lovely. It was so good to be around so many people with the same interests as myself.

Now for the pictures!

A Kindred Knitters bag was purchased with the proceeds going to the Air Ambulance.

A sock knitting project bag from Nics knots.

Some sock wool from Brownberry Yarns.

I got this from Freyalyn. It is a wool/nylon blend.

I got these buttons from Textilegarden. There was so much to choose from.

These came from Easyknits.

These came from MandaCrafts. Acid dyed silk caps and space dyed Falkland tops.

This Shetland came from Bluefaced. I asked for 200g and weighed it when I came home and it is just over 400g, a nice surprise.

The Spin-off and the Angelina came from Wingham Wool Work. I think there will be more sparkly batts here soon.

This is dyed Firestar (nylon) from Felt Studio UK.

Dyed BFL from Felt Studio UK.

Dyed baby camel and silk 50/50 blend from Felt Studio UK.

Dyed faux cashmere and black viscose blend 50/50 from Felt Studio UK.

There was so much I wanted to buy. I think I need to start saving for next year!

The excitement is building!

This week can't go fast enough for me. On Saturday I will be going to Wonderwool Wales with members of the guild. To say I'm really looking forward to it is an understatement!
I've been told off about turning every conversation into something about the trip by Mike. He is getting fed up with the subject, it's a good thing for us that we get on well despite our differences.

This is my first fiber related event I know I will return loaded with plenty of fiber-y goodness. There are so many stalls that I want to visit. I hope I can cram everything in in the time I have.

There are going to be real Cornish pasties there!!! Being a proper Cornish person this is something I miss.

I will end on a picture. I started spinning the blue sparkly batts.

I really should use my sliding hook flyer in a more uniform way.

2KCBWDAY7 - Day Seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.


The vast majority of my crafting is done in the evening once the younger children are in bed. I have a favourite spot on the sofa where I can stretch my legs out and relax whilst knitting or crocheting.

Hand knitted sock keep my feet extra toasty. The good thing about knitting, crocheting and spinning is that I don't eat while doing it which is helping the diet.

When I use my spinning wheel I sit on the sofa which isn't the most comfortable position for spinning. I should use a dining chair as the height is much better for my posture.

I have really enjoyed taking part in the knitting and crochet blog week 2011. I have read some great blogs over this last week. 

Today is Mother's Day and I have been well and truly pampered. I had two gift boxes from Lush, the best bit was the handmade cards from the kids. I also had a long undisturbed bath, it was fab!

I will try to update my blog much more often.

Happy crafting and happy blogging!

2KCBWDAY6 - Day Six: 2nd April. Something to aspire to.

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.


In terms of crochet I would like to learn how to do broomstick lace crochet. It sounds complicated but looks very good.
I keep putting off starting the neat ripple blanket because I know it is going to take me ages. I want to make it large enough for a double bed. 


For knitting I want to learn how to read lace charts. 
These are just the tip of the iceberg for me. I would like to have mastered these skills by the end of the year.


I want to learn to spin longdraw which also means I need to master my hand carders. I end up injured every time I use the carders. Arms are not meant to be carded!


Sorry for the lateness of my post. I spent some time carding a couple of batts today and they need to be displayed. Plus I think my blog is worthless without pics *big grin*.

This picture shows the colours well.

In this picture you can see the sparkle. I added some angelina in the wisteria colour way.

2KCBWDAY5 - Day Five: 1st April. And now for something completely different.

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.

There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

• Wordless, photographic post
• Video blog post
• Podcast
• Cartoon/sketch of an idea
• Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
• Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?
• A poem or piece of rhyming verse
• Stop motion animation

Crazy Hair

Todays offering is inspired by Neil Gaiman's poem 'Crazy Hair'. I have embedded a YouTube video of Neil Gaiman reading the poem.

No toys were harmed during this project, counselling is on offer to any toy who has felt mistreated.

Apologies for the blurry pictures, it isn't easy taking pictures of your own head!