Spinning worsted style - or the short draw method

The last few days I've been learning how to spin using two methods - the short draw and the long draw. Until I read a book on spinning a few months ago, I didn't know there was more than one way, I mean spinning is surely spinning right? Well, it all depends on your fleece and how it is prepared for spinning. Roving uses short draw, and carding tops into rolags uses the long draw method. After watching this video I found out I use the short draw method with rolags!!!! So I decided to set myself the challenge of trying them both out - properly:-)

The top video shows you how to spin using the short draw method. I tried this one first because it works with combed roving and I have some lovely dyed roving but can't use it til I get the hang of this.

Yes, my lovely roving from Fibreoptics and Needleworks pleasure respectively. And now I've been learning how to use it. Okay, not straight away with the good stuff though! I've been experimenting with some undyed merino - still very yummy - and I'll dye it when I've finished. I tried to spin this before with mixed results just before my wheel broke and I never got back to it. I was still feeling my way back into spinning - still am - so I resorted to using the method I knew I could do, working with tops and carding it into rolags.

But after watching this video I realised I had missed out a vital step of preparation - splitting. The whole idea of splitting is to take the roving and split it lengthwise all the way down. Now if you want a super chunky yarn you could spin it now but I definitely don't! So I split each length again - now 4 pieces. Still this is too thick for me, so again I split - 8 pieces, split again, 16 pieces. I stopped here and tried spinning this thickness but if its still too thick, split!

You have to even the thickness along each length you split so it will spin evenly. I found a really good video on You Tube that shows this method of splitting and preparing the fibres -

It has made my life a lot easier now I know what preparation I should be doing before spinning and I learn visually so this is great. And here is my work in progress....

I've done twice this amount now but it only weighs around 22 gms. This single yarn can be fixed as is or can now be plyed - two yarns together. As my first effort isn't as even all the way through and gets very thin in places I think I will ply this together to make it stronger. I don't know what with as yet. Maybe my undyed spun fleece straight from the sheep? But each fleece will take the dye differently so it could be a lovely contrast - or not!!! I could also spin it together with a thin manufactured yarn to eak out the roving as it's not very cheap to buy, or I could spin another bobbin of the roving and spin two equal thicknesses of yarn together. That is my preferred method and I will get a sturdier yarn.

So, still some short draw spinning to do then on to mastering the long draw! I think I'll save some of my dyed fleece for that experiment. 100gms on the nose and I didn't even weigh it! Onwards and upwards!

Poseidon and Firestarter

Got a killer of a headache today so not much knitting is being done that requires any concentration - or maths! But I can show you the progress I've made knitting my new sock yarn as well as my newly dyed fleece and yarn from yesterday's dyeing sesssion. The fleece hasn't taken the dye as intensely as I would have liked but I'll try a different way of dyeing next time to see if I can do better. If anyone knows a surefire way of getting rich colours, I'd be pleased to hear:-)

I dyed two more skeins of sock yarn, aiming for more semi-solids than stripes this time as I started knitting the emerald green yarn but it is too stripey for more detailed patterns and just fights it as you can see.

The stripes on their own are very nice but the lace is just lost. This sock pattern is called 'poseidon' and I even watched the new version of the poseidon adventure while knitting it. Ah, well, all ripped back now.

So this aquamarine semi-solid is made especially to handle lace or cabling patterns on socks. I was aiming for these greeny/blue midtones but I think it would be really nice in deeper more peacock or petroly blues as well - yum. Note to self:-)

This one is called pink orchid, lots of subtle tones of pinky reds and plummy purples. Hopefully this will be subtle enough not to be too stripey! No plans for this yarn as yet but I have just got Cookie A's sock book at the weekend so it may be destined for a complex pair of cookie socks:-) Here's a good review if you are thinking about buying it. I was recommended it - which is the best review of all!

The orange mango stripey yarn is also being knitted up as we speak - well, when the headache decides to shift:-) On the sock needles at the mo is Firestarter designed by Yarnissima. It uses a self striping or plain yarn and adds cable detailing up the sides of the sock - lovely. It remains to be seen whether my yarn is bordering on too stripey!!

I've just started the side cabling but there isn't much to see as yet. It may well have to be ripped back but I'll knit a little more first before I decide. Still loving the stripes though:-)

All we need now are some sunny days without rain so I can sit outside and get in some quality knitting time! Enough rain already!

Dyeing stripey sock yarn

No blogging over the last few days has been a sure sign I've been busy doing something. Now I have got to the end of this process, I can get some decent pictures to show you just what I've been doing. Dyeing stripey sock yarn!! You'll be very proud of me, I remembered to document each stage as I went. This means though, my post will probably be rather long:-)

You may see a slight resemblance in my yarn to some Schoppel-Wolle I bought this week:-) I wanted to know how it was dyed so I analysed the yarn, measured out the stripe sections and started planning my own stripe variations. Then I started winding the yarn into sections for each colour stripe - 9 in all, with the colour reversing at 1 and 9. See, I've been working hard!

So the yarn is wound, the next step is to soak the yarn to make sure it is degreased (becoming a familiar step to me after all that fleece...). While that is soaking with some synthrapol or some soap powder - to degrease - and the acetic acid (better than white vinegar, no smell) - to prepare the fibres for the dye - I started mixing the colours I wanted. (For wool you use Acid dyes which require heat as the method of fixing. They also need the acetic acid to make the fibres accept the dye when being fixed with heat.)

There we go. Nine stripes, nine colours. 5 graded greens and 4 graded red/oranges to contrast. I painted them out to check the tones but paper was too absorbent and left the colours dull so I taped a small pieces of yarn to some card and tested the colours there. Much better. Now all that is left is to decide the order of the colours.

I wanted to make a self-striping yarn that meant I didn't have to change the yarn and get a lumpy seam but also to ensure the stripes would always have a nice contrast. So instead of a subtle gradation, I went for alternated colour grading - dark-green, yellow, green, orange, mid-green, vermillion, lime, red, light-lime, red, lime, vermillion etc.... And because of the way I wound the skeins, this should keep repeating between the dark to light greens and back again till the end of the skein. Cool, huh?

So dye ready, check. Yarn soaked long enough, check. Okay time to paint the skeins. There are lots of ways to do this - Kettle dyeing in a pot on the cooker, a slow cooker, painting by hand, dip dyeing etc. but today I want to control the colour process so I am painting by hand. To fix the colour I will steam the yarn which will be wrapped safely in clingfilm inside a re-sealable freezer bag. I have steamed yarn on the cooker and using a microwave and both work well, but since the micro is quicker and causes less condensation in my kitchen, I will be using this method for now:-)

Warning - don't totally seal the freezer bag as it will explode in the microwave:-))))) Leave about an inch gap for the steam to escape!

All skeins painted in order and wrapped in clingfilm. Ready for microwave blasting. I usually blast on full for 30 seconds and leave for about 30 seconds before starting again. In theory your yarn shouldn't need more than 3-5 mins but I usually find as I use more dye that I probably need that it takes a bit longer for all my excess dye to evaporate. I usually know it is ready when the clingfilm is shrinking and all stuck together:-) and most of the dye has gone from inside the bag. If you are unsure, blast it for another minute or so. I find it better to be safe than sorry. I would rather take more time now than see all my dye run down the sink because I didn't fix it enough!!!

Warning! - the bag will be very hot!!!! It needs to cool down first before you try to open it. If you have no patience like me, run cold water over the outside and gently prise the cling film apart under the cold tap. Wear marigold gloves to protect your hands and keep your face at a distance! The hot steam will scald if you are too close.

Okay, now you are ready to wash your yarn. There should be very little dye left in the yarn so not much washing is needed. Wash with some gentle hand wash soap powder and wash till the water runs clear. Then gently squeeze out all the excess water and spin in the washing machine. Just spin! No water to agitate the yarn at this stage, we don't want felted yarn at the last hurdle.

And there you are. Skeins ready to hang out to dry. Once they are dry, you can wind them into a ball or skein ready to knit, weave or crochet with, whatever you fancy.

I found my clever winding of the stripey skein back and forwards a bit of a nightmare to unwind. I will have to work out a better method to save me time and agro! But it's all done and I've wound it like the schoppel-wolle balls to compare the two. What do you think? Pretty close?

While I had some dye left, I also painted up a few stripey solids in the orange and green. I do think winding in balls shows off the yarn well.

Well, the proof will be in the knitting and I have been knitting away today to see how these yarns knit up. I'm finding it hard to match the yarn to patterns at the moment as they are just a bit too busy for more complex designs. Some pics for you tomorrow on my progress.....

Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball!

Oh. My. God! How yummy is this? It's by Schoppel-Wolle and these graded colour balls are the new Zauberball sock yarn. Look at the richness, the intensity of the colours! Heaven would be a Schoppel-Wolle shop with a nice, comfy knitting chair and an endless supply of free yarn:-)

This one is called tropical fish. I love the way the colours are so bright - they really are that bright - and it is so soft to the touch. It makes me realise that the noro I'm working with right now doesn't feel quite so nice. I feel like I've slipped back into the 80's with a rainbow colour palette and I'm loving it! Nothing subtle about this yarn!

This one is called Fuchsia. As you know a lot of my projects have fushia, or fuchsia if I spell it correctly, in the title so this will be quite at home. I'm thinking stripey socks, or stripey cardi? It may be a bit luminous to wear as a top - even for me! I think I will just live with them for a while till I can think of the best use for them. No rush except my impatience to see how they knit up!

But the range isn't all bright and in-your-face colourways. I also love the more subtle Almond pictured here. The more subtle tones are just heavenly. So rich and close in tone, you know they will just drift into each other as you knit and it will be gorgeous without trying. Can you tell I'm smitten?! And there are 9 colourways in all with more subtle tones like cranberry, denim and blackberries. There's a green one I like too - very jade - but I haven't found it in a UK shop yet.

At £9 a ball, it's an expensive 'smitten' so I will have to save up my pennies or learn to dye my own! I got my zauberball at modern knitting - it's a very user friendly site and so easy to navigate around. And talk about quick delivery! I only ordered them yesterday at lunchtime and they were here this morning!! Well impressive!

I also decided to try out some Addi circulars. I've been using my knitpicks 40cm circulars for my socks but they seem a little small in length so I thought I would try the 60cm length, and also see what the fuss is about Addi's. But silly me will have to wait as I forgot to order two! So lets hope that modern knitting will be as quick on the postage tomorrow;-)

Talking about socks.......

I've got this far with my noro sock. I was following a knee high pattern for the increases but today when I tried it on, it doesn't seem to be the best fit. The problem with changing the increases is that they start about 4-5" above the heel. That's a lot of ripping back. Will this sock ever be knitted?!!! Do I care any more? ;-))) Well, yes, but it's turning into more of a fiasco tester for new techniques!

If I rip back that far, then I should really test out that new heel so I don't have quite so obvious a ridge on the short row wrap and turns. And if I'm going to rip back to the heel, I really should do something about the line that is forming down the side where the colours switch. It's creating an obvious bump and I now realise from looking at a few knee-high patterns that it should be down the back of the leg - like a seamed stocking - rather than where it is naturally forming at the side. And possibly using a slip stitch.....

But I could be here forever on this sock so I'm thinking change the increases and fix all the rest on another pair. But will I be happy giving these as a present or wearing them myself, knowing I could have fixed them to make them a much better sock? Oh, perfectionist gene you are a pain!

Thank goodness, I have more sock needles on the way:-) The Zauberball is waiting to be knitted and I don't think I'll be waiting for the noro socks to be finished!

Works in progress....

Well, here we are! Progress on the forest canopy shawl! I have left this so long, I'd pretty much forgotten the lace pattern repeats but it's very simple and didn't take long to get back into the swing of things. I even managed to watch some tv and not make too many mistakes:-) Now that is progress!

I've got to the end of the repeats now and I should be starting the edging border but I still have a bit more yarn than I'll need overall. I'm thinking I'll be able to add at least 2-4 extra repeats to make this a bit bigger - obviously remembering that the rows get bigger every time I increase and that will eat up more yarn!

I've also been working on and off on the stripey noro socks. This is attempt no 2 using two different colour schemes and it was going very well until after the short row heel. Then the colours started to go funny. That damn green/black bit again. But worse, it hits the equivalent yucky bit in the other ball. So altogether it's a bit bleh! Not wanting to be too hasty, I've lived with this for a week or so to see if I had a brainwave - or should I say miracle - before ripping it all back. While this was sitting cogitating its yukkiness, I decided to start another stripey sock.

Stripey sock no 3. After a while of mulling the problems of clashing stripes and colour schemes, I had a bit of a brainwave - just as I was drifting off to sleep. Of course, I wanted to get up and try my idea out straight away but I managed to restrain myself till the morning:-)

So, my brainwave was this. Instead of taking the original ball and splitting it into two which gave the green/black clash, instead of making them both go in the same direction - the very short lived yukky green and red toe - I decided to avoid all these problems and quarter the balls. I also did a bit of colour editing so I could start on a nice colour with both balls:-) If in doubt, take a chunk out!!!

So these are my half-knitted quarter balls, running very nicely thank you. I may not have quite an even length - due to my editing - but I should get a mid to knee length pair of socks out of just the original 100gm ball. To be honest, if I had thought about editing the yarn, I should have just taken out one of the green/black bits when knitting the original sock and saved myself all the hassle of ripping it all back and doing mental gymnastics with colour stripes.

But I was so into seeing how the yarn would knit up in its original state this never actually occurred to me, I must admit. Also, as Noro is expensive, it never occurred to me to be so, well, cavelier with it! In reality, noro sock yarn is rougher to the touch than most sock yarns, spun very thin in places and seems to have one yukky colour gradation, well to me anyway:-) But the bright, yumminess of the colours generally makes up for a lot!

So, now sock no 2 is no more, ripped back into a lovely roll of colour to become the matching second sock for stripey no 3. I had actually come to hate that icky top bit so I took great pleasure in ripping it back this morning:-) So, hopefully, this means I can get these stripey WIP's finished and off the needles.

Saying that, I've just found a new way to turn heels that looks better than the method I have been using. It is tempting to rip back just a little to try out the smoother join, don't you think?

Urchins!

Well, you go and upgrade your computer and suddenly you are days behind on all your blogging posts! I have done quite a lot this week - knitting, washing more fleece, painting the house:-) - but I thought I would indulge in showing you some Finished Objects. Yup, FO's!! A long time since we've seen any of those:-) Everything has been ongoing, its beginning to hang over my head a bit so it's time to clear the decks and get some of these projects finished.

So, today it is two urchin berets. The first is the lovely multi-coloured red Urchin knitted with the majorly chunky Adriafil baba that I waited ages for in the post so I could finish knitting it up. So now it is finished, I've realised it is HUGE! While I was knitting, it didn't seem any bigger in circumference that any other beret but the band for your head obviously has too many rows and the hats falls down past your nose:-) Sigh. So after all that wait, and I must say an enjoyable knit, I think it is destined for being ripped back and knitted into something else. Maybe a circular bag....

The beret is precariously balanced on the dummy's head so it doesn't slip down her nose:-) It is really bulky at the back too and unfortunately in this jumbo scale not very flattering on! But I decided to knit another urchin in a thinner yarn to compare and contrast.

Same large pattern size but look at the difference. Little baby blue and jumbo red! It's a shame as the red yarn is really lovely and warm and would make a great hat. I think if I wanted to use it for an urchin I would have to create an extra, extra small version:-)

The blue Urchin is knitted in the Paton's Symphony I was swatching with earlier. All I needed to do was use 7mm needles instead of 8's and knit the large size to compensate for the stitch reduction. Saying that I could have got away with the small or the medium hat size as it still has a little more slouch that I would like. That may be due to the tension being a little looser than I would like as well - maybe 6mm's would be the answer:-)

Anyway, this is a very quick knit and the short rows just fly by using super chunky. I finished the last 5 wedges out of 8 and grafted the seams in about an hour or so this afternoon. This fits a lot better but still I don't find the style that flattering on me. I wonder what a much finer gauge would knit up like? With a little pattern tweeking, and maybe using st. st instead of the textured garter st, it could become a whole new hat in its own right. Thinking cap on......

Well, I have cleared my work space and I have pulled out another long overdue for finishing WIP - the fushia forest canopy. I'll work on this tonight and show you how far I get tomorrow.....

Happy knitting!

Carding the fleece and spinning

It's been a while since you've heard anything about the fleece I was washing so I thought I'd give you a little update on its progress. Some of the fleece has been cleared of all the little twigs and bits that didn't come out during the washing stage but it's such a long, boring process that I'm breaking it up into stages:-) So I started to card the smaller amount of totally clean fleece into rolags - small manageable rolls of prepared fibre - ready for spinning. The idea is to get all the fibres evenly carded in the same direction so when you are spinning it makes it easy to pull out and create an evenly spun thread.

There we are, nice rolags in a row. I don't make them too big or it gets a bit unwieldy on the carders. Better to have lots of small evenly carded ones:-) I've been doing this outside as the weather has been lovely today but after a while I got a bit too hot so I took my little pile of rolags inside and decided to see just how much thread they would make.

This is how much 3 rolags made - not bad. I thought it would take me a little bit of practice to get an even thin yarn but the problem was more spinning too thin! I tended only to get uneven lumps when I had missed a lump in carding so its more the carding technique at fault than the spinning, I'm glad to say. I played around with the tension on my wheel and the more pull I gave it the more likely my overly fine yarn would snap. So I'll stick to a lot of treadling for now until I feel more proficient. As long as I get enough spin in so it doesn't unravel when I ply.....

10 Rolags in and I'm on a roll! My spinning technique is getting better - more even but also generally thinner than when I started. I will have to practice deliberately trying to achieve specific thicknesses of yarn - lace, fingering, DK, aran weight etc. I think I'm thinking once this is plied then it will be twice as thick so don't make the single too thick but at this rate it won't be thick enough!!

The other problem I was having was the fleece was a bit sticky. I read that this is a problem when too much lanolin stays in the fleece so it looks like either using salt doesn't work or I didn't use enough. I deliberately didn't de-grease the fleece as the lanolin was meant to make spinning easier. So either I de-grease the remainder of the undyed fleece and spin it, or I de-grease and dye it now before spinning. I'm leaning towards the dyeing myself as spinning off-white is getting a bit monotonous!! Imagine selecting all the subtle colour variations to spin together! A colour paradise!!

But I am already prepared:-) I ordered some Synthraopol (de-greaser) from DT Craft and Design a few days ago and it fortuitously arrived this morning. Perfect timing, I think.

It may take a few days for me to get the fleece de-greased and dried, dyed and steamed but watch this space:-)

The sock that never was......

Once upon a time, as all good stories start, there was a lovely ball of Noro 92 Kureyon sock yarn wanting to be knitted into wonderful stripey socks. The bright rainbow colours promised a stunning and enjoyable knit. So off we went, knit, knit, knit. Toe done. Knit a bit more and the yarn starts to show how lovely these stripes will be.......

For the first time knitting with noro it's looking good. The colours are strong and are contrasting well as we go. Yum, yum, yum. Worth a close-up look:-)

On we go to the short row heel. Now this should be interesting - short rows and making sure the stripes meet up on the way back and when I rejoin the sock. Thought this would be tricky but it's deceptively easy. I shouldn't tell you that so you can be stunned at my prowess!!! I am mighty proud of my first efforts!

And a close-up of the heel stripes so I can remember how I did it the next time:-)))) I love the little green oval at the bottom! I'm liking these socks!

So on we go, knitting up to the top - the home run.....

Oh dear! I start to run into stripe problems - you knew it was too good to be true, didn't you? It's not so easy to see at the top of the full sock, so have a look at just the top closer up.

To explain my sock predicament. To get two socks out of one ball, you use the inside end and the outside end and alternate the colours every four rows. But if you use this method, the colours run the opposite way from each other. Okay, you say so why is this a problem? Because no matter where I start in the ball, one colour will always meet the same colour coming the other way.

In this case, the green. After the heel, the black is drifting into green but the green is now drifting into black and there is a section at the top of this photo where all stripe definition disappears completely. After such a punchy sock this won't do! So what can I do?

Apparently the answer is to have the colour sequences running in the same direction. I do wish I'd known that before I started and knitted such a perfect heel! So to resolve this problem there is only one solution - rip it all back and start again. I paused first and lived with the sock for a day or so before doing this as maybe I would decide I could live with it, but no. This is a present and I do want to get it as good as I can, so rip, rip, rip. I rewound the yarn back into two balls, both going the same way, ready to begin again.

But another problem lurks now. Both balls start at blue - no contrast! So I wind off a chunk and move the sequence on two colours - the only option that will leave enough for a full pair of socks. And then I can start again.

Sorry for the poor photo. I just snapped this quickly in artificial light before ripping it out in disgust. The red which looked so lovely contrasted with the blue now looks vile next to the green. The photo doesn't do the grossness of the clashing colours justice - thank goodness! So what was a lovely sock experience is deteriorating into a fiasco. There is no other way of winding the yarn without taking off too much to get a better combination and its just NOT NICE. I won't knit that. Nope, No way.

So what is a girl to DO? Buy more yarn!!:-)

If I can't get one ball to give me a stripey effect, then some people have used two contrasting colourways to great effect. And you can get 4 socks out of it! The problem buying yarn online is you really can't gauge whether it will work with the colour scheme you have. So I bought two just in case. The top purple one is prime candidate to work well with the blues and greens. And the pink I thought would be lovely with the lime colourway - knee highs? Magenta and Lime. Yum.

So, the ending of this tale is our little sock is now no longer with us but it is happy being reincarnated alongside some purple noro to be the little sock that could!

Giveaway winner!

Well, the rug giveaway has now closed and the lucky winner is....... Glowgirl! The rug above is the rug of glowgirls choice and isn't it lovely? I didn't find that on my search. Just goes to show just how many rugs there are on the CSN rug site!

Glowgirl, an e-mail is on its way to you now so we can get the rug to you as soon as we can! I'd like to thank everyone for taking part, the choice of rugs was really interesting and I wish everyone could have won! It's been good fun to run a competition and I might have more giveaways from now on!

I have my second blogiversary coming up in a month or so, and I think to celebrate I may have a yarny giveaway then - sock yarn dyed in your own colourway? And maybe some dyed fabric for the quilters and collagers out there. Still thinking. What would be your ideal prize to win in a competition? I think there should also be more than one winner:-) Three is a nice number and spreads the happiness around! And worldwide! I'm happy to post anywhere :-)

Thoughts?

Last Day for Giveaway!

Just a little reminder that the rug giveaway is finishing tomorrow, so if you are a US reader, don't forget to enter! The winner will be drawn at random and I will post at the weekend to let you know who has won. If you are the lucky winner, I will e-mail you ASAP!

On the knitting front, the Adriafil Baba yarn has finally arrived. All that time waiting, I'll have forgotten the urchin pattern. But it is very simple so it shouldn't take long to get back into. But I must finish the front panel of the wicked vest first so I don't forget where I am in the neck decreases. Nearly there! Soon, only the last front panel to do and then sewing up! I really hope it has a lot of stretch as it's looking on the small side. Sister dearest, it may well be winging its way to you if it doesn't fit!! But I know you'll like the fushia colour:-)

It will be good to get two WIP's finished and then I can catch up on the forest canopy shawl and the sunflower scarf - remember them?

It has been a while:-) And then there are the noro socks.........More on them tomorrow!

Irish Cottage Knitting

Thanks to a lovely suggestion, I have been looking into Irish Cottage knitting as a way for throwers to speed up their knitting style. This video makes fascinating watching. Look how fast Yarn Harlot knits!!! No wonder she produces so much knitting as well as writing books, going on book tours and lectures:-)

I'd heard of a Shetland style that held one needle still under the armpit - sometimes using a little holder - but I never knew what it was called or seen it in action.

I think this will take a bit of practice to get the hang of but I won't be bothered by miles of st st patterning again if I can crack this!!

Wicked Eyelet Rib Vest aka Wicked fushia

While we are still waiting on the yarn for Urchin - I know, a week waiting already - I've been getting on with a few projects, this lovely eyelet vest pattern and pair of stripey socks with my new noro. The noro socks are a whole story in themselves which I will save for another day but its fair to say there have been trials and tribulations with those socks!

So back to my wicked fushia. It's a lovely pattern with twisted stitches mimicking cables which develops into twists and eyelets up the ribbed section which flows into lovely eyelet detailing on a st st background. It's a simple pattern to follow and each pattern section is charted clearly. Once this is blocked the eyelet detail will be more obvious and as this is a 35" size for my 36" it will be stretching a bit anyway! I plumbed for this size as its meant to be a neat fit and the next size was a 39". Well, if it doesn't fit, it can always be a present!

But this is such a me colour! It will already be fitting well with most of my wardrobe:-) I don't usually wear shirts but this style does look nice on the model. I'll wait to see if I can carry it off!

I've got a little further than the photos show. The back panel is complete and I have started the first front panel. It knits up relatively quickly and the pattern is easy to remember so this is an excellent tv knitting project. So far, I have watched Sleeping murder - miss marple - and Star Trek Insurrection. Now I'm about to start the Lord of the Rings trilogy - extended version. Well, that's a good 12 hours of knitting right there!

See you later!

Rug Giveaway!

Today, I've got some good news for you! I'm hosting a rug giveaway!! The kind people at CSN Rugs are offering one US reader the chance to win any rug from their extensive collection up to the value of $55.

The rules are very simple. To enter, just pop over to the their website, look through their extensive range of rugs and choose your favourite rug up to the value of $55 but not over, and come back here and leave a comment saying which rug it is you like. Do make sure you leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

The competition runs until next friday 19th June and will end at midnight (GMT) where the winner will be drawn at random. So plenty of time to have a good look through the rug collection.

They do host a very comprehensive range from soft florals, geometrics, art inspired, contemporary, traditional, oriental, designer, stripes and natural styles so there should be something for everyone there.

Unfortunately the offer only applies to US readers at the moment. I hope we can hold another giveaway sometime in the future that will include more of us as it's a lovely opportunity!

So, remember to say which rug it is you like, leave your name and your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. And the winner will get their chosen rug sent to them absolutely free! This is so cool! I love presents in the post!

So, off you go! Have good browse and let me know what designs you like. I look forward to seeing what you choose!

Noro kureyon sock yarn

Today my lovely yarn arrived in the post - not the Adriafil baba for my Urchin however. That is still somewhere on its way. But this lovely sock yarn for some stripey socks. I was smitten by some mad greeny/blue stripey socks I saw knitted up and although I tried to get the same colourway, it was all sold out. But to be honest, all Noro is lovely! I don't normally treat myself to the very expensive yarns but I really wanted to try this sock yarn out.

From the front, these yarns look muted, as if they are all subtle colours and tones but look inside the end and it holds a full spectrum of yummy colours. Much more rainbow like. I bought these two colourways seeing a knitted swatch at Pavi yarns but I also saw some knitted socks in these colourways too so it gave me a good idea of how these are going to turn out. The top one is colourway 92 and the second, colourway 95.

I also discovered to get the lovely stripes I want I will have to knit one stripey band using the outside end of yarn and the other from the inside end. That way the stripes will always contrast. How I will then match the socks to each other will remain to be seen. I imagine I won't have enough yarn to be totally accurate so maybe I should just go for deliberate inaccuracy! Or use the yarn for a shawl - there are some lovely stripey kureyon sock yarn shawls. Too many choices! You'll have to wait and see what I decide.

Now one of these balls is for a present and one is for me. Can you guess which one? To be honest, knowing that I love all colour and especially all bright and contrasty together, you may be tempted to go for the first one - but no! I am actually preferring this more subtle limey green with hints of fuchia. I do appreciate tonals and complementaries too. In fact I just love colour.

When it first arrived though, I thought I'd made a bad choice for my first noro purchase. It looked so bland and I had to check that yes, these were the colour numbers I ordered. No pink anywhere and today being a dull day here, not much oomph in the colour department either. Until I looked inside. Aaah. Now that can keep a girl happy:-)

Oh happy day! Tomorrow I can be knitting some stripey socks:-) I might even have to put a hold on Urchin and I was loving knitting that. Watch this space...... If I don't return in the next few days, I've been sucked into noro sock world. Will I ever escape?! Do I want to? :-)

Urchin

Some knitting has been going on this last weekend. In fact I'm in the middle of two new projects, Urchin and the Wicked fushia vest:-) Today, I thought I'd bring you up to date with Urchin, a lovely super chunky knitted hat designed by Ysolda. It's designed sideways so you are knitting the wedges of a pie with short row Wrap & Turns (W&T) - which are more commonly found in short row heels for socks.

Have a closer look:-) the first time I saw this I thought, that yarn looks familiar, I'm sure I have something similar in my stash that would be perfect, but couldn't find it at the time so put the pattern into my file and forgot about it for a while. Recently though, I saw some lovely finished examples on Ravelry and thought hmm, yes, I never did start that, I'll see if I have any yarn that would work. And this time I did!

My first choice was Paton's blue super chunky Symphony. I used this a lot for some crocheted cloche hats and slippers a few christmases ago and I was experimenting with the chocolate colourway for my chunky glove pattern last christmas. I knitted a swatch to get gauge and it just would not work. When I reached gauge, the knitting was so loose that it was virtually lace! So back to the stash I went. Rummage, rummage. I pulled out a range of all thicknesses for this and eventually I got gauge with this super lovely Baba yarn from Adriafil - very yummy!

Yarn found, I plunged right into knitting the pattern. As usual, a lovely pattern that is very enjoyable to knit. I was steaming away with this and then realised that one ball was not going to be enough. Nope, not even with a very close margin! 5 wedges out of 8 knitted and the inevitable happened - yarn gone.

The problem with a stash is sometimes balls lose their labels and this one was label-less and bought 'somewhere' online. I thought it was a hopeless case and it was time to rip it all back and start again with another new yarn but the next day, I woke up and suddenly remembered what shop I bought it from. I had no idea the brand or how long ago I bought this, although I was estimating about three years ago? The way fashions and colours change, I wasn't expecting to be lucky but what do you know! There it was, Adriafil baba in multicoloured reds. Whew!!

So one multi-coloured red urchin can soon be finished when the postman decides to deliver my yarn..... Come on, come on! I didn't want to stop knitting this and I can't wait to start it again!

Vintage embroidery

I've been meaning to show you these hand stitched vintage textiles I picked up at a car boot a few weeks ago. (It's weird to call something vintage that is only about 50 years old!) There was loads of old style linen, quite a collection, and a few caught my eye because of the stitch detail. My favourite was this apron with hand stitched flowers in a variety of soft colours and a lovely cross fastening of the straps on the back.

Someone must have spent a lot of time sewing away on these pretty flowers and they have paid close attention to the placement of the colours too to get a good balance overall. I love the little dots and dashes that make up the flower heads! I've just noticed the flower on the left has a yellow stem when all the rest in this section are green. I wonder why?

But they are yellow on the pocket and yellow at the top so maybe it was to stop a total green band at the bottom to soften the feel. The pocket is a little damaged and it needs a wash too but it all adds to the charm of the piece! You can just see in the top left of the picture where the strap joins the apron with a button fixing.

A little close-up of the pocket stitching....

I found quite a few long runners I will show you later on but I wanted to show you this small sachet. It has been very prettily embroidered and it seems like it has been loved and cherished in its time. It's sad to think this was someone's collection of prized belongings that are now sitting in a car boot sale for any and everyone to rummage through the essence of their life. Any sentiment, meaning or memory is gone.

This is looking a bit worse for wear and it's yellowed along the top fold but it still suggests secrets safely hidden or maybe it was more prosaic and held tissues:-)

But still, someone spent time and effort making and decorating this and I shall keep it and start building new memories for it to hold.

Friday favourite

Just a quick blog today to tell you about a textile giveaway going on at The Textile Blog. If you live in the US or Canada, you can enter to win a free cushion/pillow up to the value of $100! I'm so miffed I'm not able to enter:-) So get over there, have a look and leave a comment. Wouldn't it be nice to win one of these?

These two are my favourites. Something about red and white contrasting graphic patterns - yum! But there are literally tons to look at so enjoy a visual feast! You have till friday the 12th June to enter......

'Urchin' knitting is happening but I ran out of yarn and only got 2/3rds of the way through. So I'm waiting on another ball to arrive in the post and then I can get it all finished and photographed. It's just I get impatient waiting when I'm on a knitting roll:-)

Awesomely gorgeous!

About a month ago, I answered Sonnetofthemoon's wish for a wool winder. I had a spare collecting dust so I thought it would be much better being used and for once, I could help someone out! As you do in crafty circles, you put a few extra nicey's in there as don't we all like presents? Especially when it's a surprise? Well, imagine my surprise this morning when this big box came to the door as a thank you. To say that I was speechless was an understatement! (and if you know me that's quite a feat!!) Really the generosity, the awesomeness of these gifts has stunned me. So the rest of my blog today will be to show you all the yummy loveliness in my parcel. Lots and lots of photos of gorgeousness.

Unwrapped and opening box - a definite pink tinge peeking through...... Do you think Crystal knows I like pink?!

Wow! Pink city! How yummy is that? A full box of fabric loveliness:-) The box is full of table linen - a long runner, 6 double sided napkins and drinks coasters, 2 hot plate mats - all quilted in the most gorgeous matching fabrics. The amount of time this must have taken to make!

In my excitement, I rushed upstairs straight away and fetched my camera to take pictures to show you everything. The set of drinks coasters...

Look at the stitch detail - how straight are those lines? That takes a lot of sewing practice;-))

And the hot plates mats - these are just so yummy close-up. There is patchwork detailing on one side and lovely solid pattern on the other.

Patchwork and quilting close-up for you....

And everything is bound and hand stitched down - what time and effort! What perfect little stitches:-)

The napkins were all perfectly presented ready to go on the table. And I suddenly thought 'Why not lay them out on the table?' But our room is quite dull inside so I used the table outside in the bright sunshine and I think it looks brilliant. I so want an outside party with these!! All we need is some wine glasses:-)

Close-ups of the double sided napkins......

But there is more! The most beautiful long double sided patchwork runner as a centrepiece. All these fabrics are so lovely and work really well together. The white strips really sets them off well, don't you think?

Detail of the fabrics on the runner......

Look at the straightness of these lines:-))

And it's double sided with a completely different visual feel on the reverse. The patchwork detail matches the plate mats perfectly. So much attention to detail and in the balance of the design. As well as pure unadulterated yumminess:-)

Thank you so much Crystal. I can't tell you how much I love these. I keep looking over and seeing the lovely fabrics and colours, and I'm overwhelmed again by your kindness and the amount of time and effort you have spent making these for me.

It has been such a wonderful day getting such a lovely present and it has really inspired me to get going and start being creative with my sewing machine again. Thank you. Watch this space;-)))

Washing fleece for spinning

Well, guess what I have spent my weekend doing?! I was lucky enough to get five free fleeces last friday - unwashed - and of course I wanted to get going straight away. They looked reasonably clean in the bags, three are lambs fleeces and two are from older sheep. Of course, I forgot to ask what type of sheep they were but I'll try and find out. It was forecast beautiful weather over the weekend so I thought perfect for washing my fleece! So I picked a bag at random - think this is a bigger adult fleece - and laid it out to see what I had. BTW, it is advisable to do this OUTSIDE!! They stink!! Unwashed fleece tends to smell strongly of lanolin, the natural grease in the fleece as well as 'animal matter' I think is the polite way to describe dried poo! Maybe a baking hot day didn't help as it was a bit ripe:-))

One large fleece laid out full. That is a lot of potential yarn! Since this is my first full fleece I have no idea how much this will make. Maybe spinning will just eat it up. And it will depend on how thin I spin too.

Anyway, I gemmed up on how to wash fleece. I learned sooo much online. I learned that everyone has contradicting methods:-) And I learned that it is vital to get as much crap, twigs and such out of the fleece before you wash it and especially the 'animal matter'!! You cut it off, as it's never going to be worth saving!! And as the only place big enough to wash this fleece is my bath, I really don't fancy decorating it with animal poo. Pulease! I shudder to think of the hygiene issues:-))

But the most important thing I found out is that you wash the fleece differently for spinning compared to felting. Who knew?

So my golden nugget of information for you today is if you want to felt the fleece you must get rid of the lanolin and the best thing to use is dishwater tablets or washing powder - but NOT soap! If you want to spin it like I do then you need to keep the lanolin in - as it makes spinning easier - so you can't use soap, washing powder etc AT ALL. So how do you get all the dirt out? You use SALT. Salt? Yup. I thought okay, lets give it a try and if it doesn't work then I can always use a little washing powder after.

So here we have my fleece soaking in a bath of hot water with added salt. Enough water to cover the fleece and give it room to expand a little so the dirt can escape. As to how much salt, I just guestimated and poured a bit along the length of the bath for the first few washes. If the muck is coming out then its working!

The key to not felting your fleece in the bath is you must not stir, agitate, squeeze or otherwise prod, poke, swish or cause friction of any kind. WALK AWAY! Leave it alone and let it do its stuff on its own. This is very hard people! I wasn't sure if it was working so I had a little push here and there and then I got impatient and tried a little swish. Okay, one little swish won't totally felt the whole thing but it is very hard not to disturb the fibres when you pour the water out. You want to automatically squeeze the dirty water away. I must admit to forgetting here a few times and this will be the main cause of felting if it happens. If you have the room and a big enough container, you can lift the fleece out and refill the tub so the fibres aren't agitated. But I didn't and it was fine and dandy.

Once I got to three washes, I felt the fleece wasn't going to get any cleaner being packed in like it was so I halved the fleece and let the fibres open out more in the water. This helped get the rest of the muck out and the water was running clear. (I didn't add salt to the fourth wash as I saw it as more of a rinse) Once the water is clear then you are done and out it goes to dry - if you have a scorchingly warm day. If not, you can spin your fleece in an old pillowcase or a laundry bag as long as it is closed so the fleece doesn't go everywhere in the machine. If you have a spinner, or a machine that can do the spin cycle only, then this is fine to get the excess water out your fleece. If it is going to add water then this is a no-no. It will cause friction which we don't want.

I used the warm weather to dry mine so I haven't tested the spin cycle myself yet, but I have used my washing machine to spin my dyed wool yarn with no felting at all, so I am confident there should be no mishaps. But I will test a bit before I put a whole fleece in.

Now my fleece is dry, I'm picking out the remaining twigs and such that I missed and it is looking lovely and clean. I'm sure these would come out in carding but as I'm doing that indoors, I don't want all of that on my carpet - call me pernickity:-) Once I'm finished this process, I can get to spinning!! I can feel the lanolin still in the fleece but it's not as greasy as before and the fibres feel - moisturised is the best word to describe it. I think this will spin up a dream.

So, one fleece down and four more to go.

Speed knitting

Well...... I find this a bit depressing! I knew knitting continental style could be faster than throwing - (yarn in right hand) but this really takes the biscuit:-) How fast is that?

I'm a thrower and although I can knit reasonably fast, now I'm knitting bigger projects, it would help if I was a little bit faster than I am! Knitting styles have always fascinated me. Everyone seems to knit just a little bit differently from each other. I was teaching a class the basics of knit a few years ago and the other teacher said I knitted weirdly. Weirdly? Yes, she said. You move your whole hand putting the yarn around the needle. But I can knit fast, I said. Yeees, she demured. With the word 'but...' hovering in the unspoken conversation. Okay, I said. How do you 'throw' and why is your method faster? So I got a demonstration of the yarn wound around the index finger and she literally 'threw' the yarn from the index finger around the needle and the rest of her hand didn't seem to move. Oooh, I said. You see how this could be quicker, she said. Yes, I said, but couldn't seem to get the hang of it as I kept wanting to knit 'my way'. Sigh. So I quietly forgot about my weird away of knitting and carried on as normal:-)

But now I'm wanting to knit faster and I'm thinking, should I learn this quicker throwing method or should I learn the continental one? It does seem even faster to me..... Or should I bother?

This is something I have been thinking about for a while now and more so since I watched Ysolda's video comparing throwing and continental knitting styles. I've watched and watched this to try and compare my knitting style to Ysolda's (she's fast!) and mine just looks different and is a lot slower! I mean, I know it shouldn't matter as I can knit and make everything I want to using my method albeit slower. My mum knits like this and her mum did too. So in a way I am continuing a family tradition. Would I be cheating if I modified my style so I could knit faster? More to the point, can I? Am I too set in my ways:-) These are the habits of a lifetime, the things you do automatically, like driving, playing the piano and knitting complex patterns. If you stop and think about what you are actually doing, it all falls apart;-))

Well, these are the thoughts buzzing around in my head while I am knitting away.

It's funny. I was knitting buttercup watching miss marple, who is forever knitting:-) and every time she had the knitting out I was watching her knitting style. Forget the plot - which I know pretty well off by heart anyway - and watch the knitting! She - Joan Hickson - is a thrower but holds the needle on top of the hand instead of under, with the yarn wound around the pinkie. Not so much movement maybe? I'm sure one of my grans knitted like this and it brought back memories of me with my 'grown-up' knitting, furiously knitting beside them trying to keep up!

So is speed so important and am I analysing this way too much and taking the fun out of the whole process? Or am I just curious enough to take my knitting one step further?

Buttercup and serendipity

Wow! I didn't mean to be away so long. Five days? How did that happen? Well, that's what happens when you get bitten by the buttercup bug. Sounds addictive - and it is! But you will be pleased to know that Buttercup is now officially finished, bar photos of me wearing it in good daylight - if you are very lucky. I may use the dummy instead if they look too awful to post:-) Today the weather is rainy, dull and misty - did I say dull? No light whatsoever to take decent photos of the lovely buttercup. So, we'll have to make do with the slightly bleached photos I took after blocking. But it's the details we want to see!

Okay. First up we have the gorgeous feather and fan neckline which you saw modelled before on my dummy (in a slightly brighter yellow). On the flat, you can see how the eyelet pattern aligns with the edge of the feather and fan stitch. I blocked the crap out of all the lace edgings so I could get nice stitch definition but maybe I went a bit too pointy on the neckline?! Hoping once this is on it will settle into more gentle curves:-) This pattern is noted for being a bit 'low' on the chest so I will probably wear a long sleeved tee underneath anyway.

Nicely blocked feather and fan lace edging at the bottom - if I say so myself:-))) Love, love, love it! I really hope this does keep its shape as I like the ripple edging. Not bad matching with the vertical eyelets either. I didn't manage to complete the whole of the increases that the pattern stated though as I knew once I got to the sixth out of the seven increases I was running out of yarn big time and the full length just wasn't going to be. So I sat down and thought of lots of alternatives:

1 - reducing the rows between the increases - but I thought it could go out too much too quickly and look a bit bell-like:-)

2 - knit as long as I could and then knit a simple edging that would match the pattern of the sleeves. Not a great option but maybe the only realistic one.

3 - Alter the feather and fan repeat. It uses 18 stitches repeat (6x3).

The main problem was that 18 could only be divided evenly after the full seven increases. So I was stuffed, I thought. Then while knitting closer to decision time, it dawned on me to change the 6 to a 5. 5x3=15 stitch repeat. And guess what? I was on 240 stitches which divided by 15, sixteen times. Evenly. What are the chances of that? Serendipity!!

So that's what I did. And I decided to go with the flow and add a few more rows of feather and fan for the bottom edging. I was aiming for 4 repeats but as I was rapidly running out of yarn, I thought three was pretty good and looked nicely balanced. Just as well as this was all the yarn that was left.....

A very, very close thing indeed! I couldn't have planned it better if I tried. Knitted as long as I could have with the yarn I had and just enough to cast off - with all my modifications. I'm thinking that watching far too much miss marple has stirred my brain into gear on this one:-)

Buttercup, Buttercup

A little peek at what I've been furiously working on over the last week. I found this tunic pattern called buttercup, knitted in a soft pale yellow with feather and fan lace detailing. I thought the style was one I would wear a lot, although I don't normally go for yellow, and I impulsively cast on! It was literally a matter of have pattern, have buttercup yarn, will knit!

My main reason for not wearing strong colours of yellow is the jaundiced look it tends to give me - positively ill looking! Like how buttercups under the chin reflect their colour. But I've found the softer tones are much better and mean I can get that colour of the spectrum back into my wardrobe:-)

It's knitted top down, which is good because if I run out of yarn I can just lop a bit of the length off the bottom:-)) It's the first time I've knitted a garment this way and although it makes for heavier knitting being all in one piece, I feel now I'm past the sleeves that the bulk of the work is done and I'm just knitting round and around till I get to the desired length. The pattern itself is a simple A-line tunic with slightly puffed cap sleeves, raglan shaping and feather and fan lace detail over the front neckline.

The vertical eyelet detail I added myself as I tend to suffer from stocking stitch boredom after about an inch of plain knitting:-)))) Round and round... the eyelets just help break up the monotony and make a pretty feature on the front while I'm at it! If I have enough yarn - eyes the ball nervously - I would like to add the feather and fan lace detailing to the sleeves as a lace edging as well as a longer lace detail on the bottom. But we'll have to wait and see. Fingers crossed the yarn doesn't run out.....

Self-striping sunflower

It's really interesting how this yarn is knitting up. It was difficult to tell in the previous small sample but now I've knitted up a bit more, you can see how the colours are meandering around creating lovely stripes in the fabric. It's a lovely subtle contrast with the greens complimenting the yellow ochres and browns. Yum. Very subtle for me ;-)

That's what's so fascinating about hand dyed yarns. How will they knit up if the colour is painted just so. And if the length of skein is different you just add new variables. And do you weave, knit or crochet it? Crochet tends to eat yarn so I try not to use it with variegated's and if you can get the right pattern knit is lovely, but weave I think shows these complex coloured yarns off the best. Again you mustn't kill it with over complex patterning but I think this is something I would love to explore more sometime soon. Playing with colour could keep me occupied forever!

As for the sunflower scarf, I think I have quite a bit to do yet! It has grown, a little, since the photo but I just knit away on it as I can, a few inches at a time and we're getting there. But the pattern now seems so easy! What was I making all that fuss about before? No idea. Maybe a solid year of knitting is actually improving my skills and it takes something like this for me to notice. Isn't that the way, going back to old stuff. You see just how far you have come but only when you really look!

Anyway, the scarf has been suffering these last few days as I have impulsively started a new project. A much bigger knitting project than normal and I've been furiously knitting away to feel like I'm making any progress. But more on that tomorrow when I'll take some pics for a sneek peek! - if I knit enough tonight, that is:-)

Stripey gloves are finished!

Got the stripey gloves finished a few nights ago - aren't they nice? Just very fun and funky! I love the mad way the colours go at the fingers:-) Matching the stripes on the second glove was a little tricky - well more finicky than anything else - and I did have to take a few fingers back to get the right proportions of colour to match the other hand. Funny how you can use the same amount of stitches, the same amount of rows and tension and still it's not exactly the same for each glove. One of the mysteries of knitting that bugs me:-) But not enough to stop me knitting another pair!

These are for a present so I will have to reluctantly part with them but I can always knit more! The pattern is really good for sizing - XSmall, small-medium ladies size and medium, large mens sizes. So something for everyone. All knitted at 4ply/fingering weight. It came free with my ball of Opal sock yarn but you can buy it here at the Get knitted pattern page if you are interested. It's a very easy pattern to follow with clear, precise instructions - just what you want.

They took about two-thirds of the ball to knit and I added an extra inch to the ribbed cuff as I like it to be a good snug fit to keep the cold wind out. I could probably get one sock or one glove out of the rest. Maybe I can keep it for jazzy heels and toes on a solid coloured sock:-) Or for variegated stripes with a solid in a scarf or hat.....

Or maybe I can get another ball and make a matching pair of gloves and socks!! I'll be all Tonked out!

Right in or write off?

The pink slouchy 'beret for all seasons' is now finished. The question is whether it will stay a beret or not. This was knitted in aran weight deliberately, rather than the double knit stated, and seemed not too bad as I was knitting. A little bigger, which was to be expected but not too big to be a write off. Problem is, now it's finished, I'm thinking 'write-off'.

Slouch it definitely has! I know slouch in your beret is really 'the thing' but this is a bit too much! This is so big my biggest dinner plate was too small to block it properly! With this portent of doom, I was apprehensive about trying it on when it was dry. I mean the pattern is lovely, the eyelets swirling in a lovely spiral from the centre and it's clear as a bell using the solid pink colour.

It also has a nice chunky feel - warm to the touch and snuggly. BUT it is huge! I really don't think it's meant to look like this on!? Even for a big head, this is BIG...

So, I don't know. Do I know anyone who loves extra, extra slouchy berets in pink who would wear this? Or do I rip it back and make a nice pink cable waistcoat out of it? Or a cabled bag for me? I don't feel precious about it. It was a quick knit and as it just won't get worn by me maybe it should just be assigned to the 'frogged' pile.

Or maybe I could thread a ribbon through the rib and make it into a little drawstring bag?! Or felt it into a bowl?

Fushia forest canopy shawl

Just on the needles this last week is this lovely lace shawl called 'forest canopy' designed by Susan Lawrence. The yarn is the fingering/4ply weight sock yarn from Needlefood called 'kitchen's on fire'. As this yarn is such a lovely blend of fushias, this has now become known as the Fushia shawl (original). The yarn is 80% merino and 20% nylon and has a lovely soft feel as you're knitting. I also decided to knit this on larger needles - 4.5mm instead of 4mm - as I think the lace pattern would benefit and actually stretch more when it's ready to be blocked. The Ishbel didn't have quite as much give so hopefully I'm gauging this one better. If not, I'll try 5mm the next time!

I've knitted about 5 pattern repeats so far and it's knitting up very easily. I've realised the Ishbel shawl maybe wasn't the best lace shawl pattern to start with but that's all the better as this feels a nice and easy knit now! The pattern is nice and logical to follow and visually symmetrical so it's easy to remember and see any mistakes as you go. As usual, lace on the needles doesn't make for very inspiring or clear photographs but I think the colour is pretty close to the real thing this time:-)

I decided to block the sample so far to give me a clearer idea of the finished lace pattern. So, unblocked - above, blocked - below.......

Okay, the pink of the playmat is totally ruining the subtlties of the colours in the yarn - again - but it does give you a much better look at the lace design, doesn't it? Look at the s-t-r-e-t-c-h!!

Much better! This has a light floaty feel to it, unlike Ishbel which is a denser knit. But I bet Ishbel would be this floatly in laceweight:-) You can see the slight colour variations in these close-ups too. Enough to keep the yarn from looking too solid but not too contrastly to fight the pattern. Excellent.

Of course, I know what's going to happen with this shawl. The pattern can be knitted small or large and I'm going to get to the end of the skein and want to go for the biggie. Maybe I should just give in to the inevitable and order another skein now!

Sunflower scarf - take two

Okay, so this is where we left the sunflower scarf last week. About an inch or so of the so-called scarf pattern. This was just a sample to help me work out what this lovely yarn would look like knitted up and I was super-pleased with it. So, just before I ripped this back and cast on for real this time, a friend suggested another pattern that I might like to try with this yarn. Yup, you just know what's coming.....

This is the scotty's sunflower yarn knitted up using the Prismatic scarf pattern. A lovely pattern and it has great stitch definition in the original pictures so I'm thinking - great! This will be one for me! I do like this knitted up and I think there is great subtlety using this yarn with this stitch. But is it showing the gorgeousness of the yarn as much as the so-called scarf? I don't think so. But if you want subtle then definitely yes.

As this isn't actually for me, I decided to ask my partner (his pressie), which one he would prefer to wear as a scarf. He liked the so-called scarf, then he was swayed by the prismatic scarf's subtleties and then swayed back again to the so-called scarf as the colours looked better. So, I'm going - whew! Sorted. Now I can get knitting. But..... you know what's coming next, don't you?

Yup. Yet another pattern. This time it's a lovely star stitch pattern called holding hands, feeding ducks. The original picture following the link looked perfect. Even better stitch definition and a lovely textural finish. Excellent, I'm thinking. I'll just knit an inch to see what it looks like and then we can decide - again.

But somehow, my stars just don't look as defined as theirs. I know I'm using much thinner yarn but it shouldn't matter. After persevering for a bit, I had to conclude the stars were fighting my lovely colourway and the pattern was doing the yarn no favours. So, back to the so-called scarf. Again.

You know, there's a lot to be said for going with your gut feeling! But then if I hadn't explored I wouldn't have found two new patterns that are lovely and can be saved for another day - with a different yarn:-)

Stripey gloves on the go!

Weyhey! The stripey gloves are on the move! At last they are knitting up and a lot better for changing yarns. The Happy yarn was lovely but just not right for self-striping gloves. The Opal however, is just perfect. It's got a good combination of solid and speckled stripes to give enough variety.

Not how I imagined it knitting up though, I must admit. On the ball, it looked more striking, as in punchy, more saturated colour but it's actually turning out softer and well, heathery. Mottled colouring rather than over-saturated. I don't mind this look at all, it just surprised me. But then, I do like being kept on my toes:-) That is why I love self-patterning and variegated yarns - you never know how they are going to knit up from the ball or skein.

In keeping with making my life easier, I decided to use stitch markers to keep track of the gusset for the thumb. Do these look familiar? Yes, they're my new stitch markers made by Marcie that I got free with my yarn from Needlefood.

Don't ask me why I haven't bothered to use stitch markers before now because it was a hell of a lot easier and one less thing to have to check as you knit along. I think it's that 'of course I don't need stitch markers. I should be able to knit this without them' attitude. Like not using a lifeline in a complex lace pattern - but you'll be absolutely stuffed if you drop a YO stitch!! Ha! Well, I've decided to tell that little superior voice that I'm quite happy to use any technique that will make my life any easier, so tuff!

This yarn is knitting up well and I've made a lot of progress in a few evenings. One glove is done and I've just cast on the second one - even remembered to match the stripes:-) Hopefully a little tv watching this evening will get me on my way again...

Stripey green socks finished!

As I was thinking what to blog about today, I suddenly realised I'd completely forgotten to tell you that these stripey green socks are now finished! After the length of time these have been dragging on, I can't believe I forgot :-) It's like a huge weight has been lifted now these are done and dusted. I do like them, don't get me wrong, but sometimes a project just needs to be finished so you can move on and start something new.

It's my own fault though as I put them away to 'get back to'! I got to the heel of the second sock and look, the stripes don't match. How come one is so much bigger?! Perfect heel though, which I was pleased about but not so pleased that I would have to rip it back to sort out the stripe patterning. So it kind of got sidelined by other projects. But it kept niggling away at me saying 'you've got to fix that heel, you know'. And I'm saying, 'Yes, yes, but the ishbel/albem/beret is nearly finished and I'm on a roll, etc....' And so it went on:-)

But it got to a point where the drip, drip, drip got to me! So out the socks came and what do you know? In about one evening they were past the heel, up the leg, being ribbed and cast off! One evening! I had been sitting with the weight of this unfinished WIP all that time for one evenings work?! Seriously, a big lesson learned!

But they are nice, aren't they? Perfect stripey socks that now match all the way up ;-) I may have to knit the rib on a smaller needle size as they feel a little loose on me but I'll try that on the next pair. Remembering not to experiment with alterations on the second sock so I don't end up having to take it all back to match the first!!

Next up on the sock front? I think the Wendy happy that was going to be stripey gloves may have to revert to socks again. The stripes are so wide that the gloves look very sad and not funky at all. But if the stripes insist on being that wide, I could easily get a very funky pair of knee highs out of the two balls I have of it. That would mean shaping up the calf of the sock - a new thing to learn and master:-))

And the gloves? I do have some Harry Potter Opal 'Tonks' that is much more stripey that would do very well indeed. Well, that's my TV knitting sorted for the next wee while!

Now, where to start? Shawls, gloves, socks, sunflower scarf, unfinished pink beret.....

Magenta Ishbel finished!

After a concentrated burst of knitting on the Magenta Ishbel, it is now finished! Once I got going the pattern was actually quite easy. I think all the stopping and starting I did actually made it more difficult to get into a flow and remember the pattern changes. In fact, I found this easier to get into than the beret. But then again I did do that in small bits too!

So after all that knitting, I had to wait to block it as I didn't have anything big enough to use. So lovely pink playmats to the rescue, home delivered from Argos in two days so I could get to block my lovely scarf.

These mats are great. They fit together like a jigsaw so I can make a square, or a long line if I'm knitting a long lacy scarf rather than a triangular one. I wasn't sure how big each mat was or how many were in a pack so I got two just in case. Turns out each mat is 60cm x60cm and you get 4 in a pack. So I probably didn't need two but you got the second half price so it was worth it. I was also thinking what if I did a really BIG shawl?! You never know!

So I pinned it two nights ago when I was tired, quite late and I didn't realise I'd done it wrong - I pinned the wrong bit of pattern as a point and wondered why it didn't work. Lesson learned - look at the picture before you start and don't do it late at night when you're tired!! Yesterday, I wet it again and pinned it correctly this time and it is fine. The points aren't as pointy as some finished Ishbels I've seen but either I didn't stretch it enough (but I did pull until the pins wanted to pop at the top), or the acrylic yarn I used only stretches so far.

But it's my first lace shawl and I like it. I can get plenty more practice blocking for my next few shawls lined up - the woodlands shawl and the forest canopy shawl. Both good patterns for beginner lace knitters that can be knitted small - same size as this - or full size that would totally wrap around you. Lovely! But a lot of knitting and a lot of yarn! I think I will work on the smaller sizes for now until I find my lace knitting feet and then I have some yarn all ready for larger projects.

But for now, I'm going to start the Forest Canopy shawl in my new fushia yarn from Needlefood as the pattern only needs one skein and it will be lovely and soft being merino. No more Acrylic for me:-)

The knitting has been quite slow this weekend as the garden has been claiming a lot of my time. It started with the bench that arrived with my playmats from Argos. We had to clear a space - imagine a BIG heap of earth, weeds and grass tufts - then pave it so the bench had something solid to sit on, and then actually assemble the bench. Sounds simple but my poor hands are complaining at all the landscaping, carrying and fitting bricks. But it was worth it. Now that's done, the surrounding bits are looking neglected and the earth path needs finishing......

But the bench looks lovely - I love the rose pattern on the backrest - and it didn't take someone long to find a new perch to sit and watch us at our toils!! Now my hands just need to recover so I can get some knitting done:-)

Sunflower scarf

Well, I didn't wait long to wind my new skeins into balls ready to knit:-) I thought long and hard about patterns that would show up the lovely tones in this yarn and after looking at a lot of scarves, socks and gloves patterns, I decided to go for the so-called scarf design by Allison Isaacs. Yes, this is something I have started before, if it sounds familiar. I never got round to finishing my first one as I kept losing stitches and got fed up having to keep taking it back. So why am I setting myself up for this? Didn't I learn the last time that me and so-called scarf don't get along?

Well, two reasons really. One, is that my disaster could have been just me watching tv when I should have been concentrating more and it is a lovely pattern and should be given a chance. Two, I'm damned if I am going to let this pattern beat me!!! So look! A full inch at least with no mistakes or lost stitches! Okay, I did have one false start where I dropped a stitch two rows down to the cast on so I just ripped it back and started again. But this inch is perfect - tada!

I even used a long tail cast-on to get a neater and stronger edge - liking it a lot. But the best thing, the absolutely best thing is the way this yarn just blends and contrasts as you go along. The PSSO st that makes the sloped pattern contrasts with the blended tones underneath. Every row, every stitch is different and it's fascinating to watch it all emerge. I haven't knitted enough yet to decide whether the overall look is what I want but at the moment, it's all looking good.

The only thing that is a teensie weensie problem is the gauge. I'm not using the given weight - quite a drop to 4ply/fingering weight actually - so I'm estimating the number of stitches needed. I increased the number from 30 to 50 thinking that would be plenty for a scarf but I forgot to account for the type of stitch this is. Your normal stocking st, garter or rib would stretch and have some give but this is much more dense, more like a woven fabric and it pulls the knitting in from the cast on. So I'm averaging about 10sts per inch. That means my scarf is now only 5 inches wide - not so good. So, I'm considering this my gauge sample and now I can start the real thing:-)))

Rip, rip, rip..... Back soon. I've a so-called scarf to master!