"Pick A Boo!" - it's the Summer Shawl KAL 2013
- The CftC Knitalong group on Ravelry
- Instagram with the tag #pickabooKAL
- Twitter with the tag #pickabooKAL
- The CftC Facebook page
- The new Flickr knitalong group
- If you are blogging about the Kal, I will provide a widget for your links on Thursdays.
I hope that you are as excited about this Kal as I am, and for those who were wishing for socks - never fear, we'll be having another sock knitalong in the Autumn, so why not join in and... Pick A Boo!?
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Do not adjust your screens! (Aka "Ooh La La" Sock Ta-dah!)
Farewell, sweet lady
Unfortunately, as a stock image, 'my' lady started cropping up on other knitting websites and I took the decision to have something designed that would be unique. Thanks to several recommendations I was able to choose from a few great designers, and found someone* who immediately understood what I wanted and who interpreted my ideas into a cohesive and unique design that I loved at first sight.
WIPs, Books & Excitement
Spinning Show & Tell: Ready for Colour
Spinning these lovely shades made me think about how to colour my fleece. To help me decide, I spun and plied 50g of North Ronaldsay to use for experimentation. This is how the yarn turned out...
It's a bit thick and thin - I've also been experimenting with spinning and plying, trying different hands (that's really not working out so well - my semi-ambideterity doesn't so easily extend to spinning) and basically messing about with different variations on how to hold it etc. For now, the process is more important than the outcome which is really quite liberating. In the end this was plied from both ends of a centre-pull ball which was held in my left hand while flicking the spindle with the right (rolling on my thigh isn't going so well either)...
Next to decide which methods and colours to use to dye it! The Kool Aid tutorial from AYLM looks really simple and effective - I might give that a try, although dyeing with natural ingredients is really appealing, so that needs more investigation too.
And so onto the fleece. For those missed my previous post, the plan is to see the entire process through 'from fleece to garment' and this week, thanks to YouTube, I figured out how to use handcarders and spun the first few grams (I have washed and dried only a small portion so far), to see how it would turn out. Turing the first tentative rolags into yarn felt like magic, although the carding was slow going - I'm sure there is much room for improvement - and at this rate it would be years before there is enough for a garment. This is what I have so far...
I'm hoping my friend Christine will help me to use her drumcarder (either the rollers are set too far apart, or I'm doing something wrong!) so that I can do it more efficiently. That should make for much quicker progress.
Taking care of business
- Plans for the next Knitalong will be published at the start of July (if you have any preferences/comments, please leave them below this post or on the Ravelry group discussion)
- The blog will be getting a brand new look in the next week or two
- I'll be reviewing some online courses next week
- There are a couple of new recipes/patterns in the works
Socks, socks & books!
I've been reading quite a bit and have finished The Universe Versus Alex Woods which I really enjoyed - despite it being a novel about assisted suicide. Defintely worth a read - very quirky and some great characters.
Edited: Pictured is The End of Your Life Book Club which I've just started dipping into and forgot to mention - more on that next week.
Today's links are Tami's WIP Wednesday and Ginny's Yarn Along. Enjoy!
Spinning Show & Tell: Obsession
So here's what I've been up to this week...
Washing and 'thwacking' it to set the twist (thanks Chrissy for teaching me the technical term!), and letting it dry alongside the Gray Jacob I had already plied. Yes, you can see the hour of sun we had earlier in the week in the picture!
Well that's my update. I'll be back with some little knitting WIPs tomorrow. I'm on the lookout for great blogs with spinning content, so I'd love to have some posts to read. If anyone would like to 'Show & Tell' their recent spinning, here's a Mr Linky:
Thanks for visiting today. Hope to see you again soon!
A colour fix
Despite many different roses of various shades (all planted by the previous rose-loving owners), the colour of the alliums and humble chives is hard to beat...
I have a friend....
Image Source: British Wool Marketing Board. |
So today I find myself with a HUGE bag containing a whole fleece. Anyone who has worked with fleece, or been in close proximity sheep, will be familiar with the unique aroma. Needless to say, it's going to be living outside while I figure out exactly what to do with it!
The fleece is from a local Southdown Sheep (pictured above) which my trusty British Sheep & Wool Guide tells me is a breed established in the UK, pre-17th century, but improved in the 1800s particularly by the work of John Ellman of Glynde. Apparently the wool is extremely fine and dense and has a very soft handle. It's a true local breed - the sheep it came from lives in the Sussex Downs where the breed has roamed for centuries. I have long said that I'd like to see the process of 'fleece to garment' through from start to finish and now that I can knit and spin AND I have a fleece, there are no real excuses not to get on with it.
Of course, there is more to it than just spinning and knitting. This huge bag of smelly fleece will need to be washed, carded, dyed and spun. At this point, I'm not even sure which order it should be done in or what else might need to be done to it!! I feel excited and perhaps just a little overwhelmed - but I love researching and trying out new things so it should be interesting. The plan is to be able to make something which is 'beautiful and unique' at the end of the process - although at this point I have no idea what it will be. If you have any great resources / hits / tips for this transformative process, please leave a comment.
I'll be blogging my progress at each stage (I seem to write about spinning on Tuesdays, so keep an eye out for updates then if it's something you're interested in) and tagging any pictures on Instagram using #fromfleecetogarment .
There is nothing new on my needles so far this week, but I've been turning a stunning skein of yarn into two balls to start a new pair of socks. I'll show you more on that, and the book I have almost finished, in the next WIP Wednesday update.
On the spindles and in the bowl
So little balls of plied yarn and singles are slowly appearing on my shelves, it's fun to see how different they look. For the first time today I put the three completed yarns side by side and I think I need to add more twist when I ply the next one . The purple/brown yarn on the right was my last, and I don't think it's as good as the grey Jacob, although I have knitted with it and it was fine - what do you think?
Year of Projects Update #23: Looking Forward
5 of the Best: for the weekend
Well that should be enough to keep you out of trouble for a couple of days. For those who can get to London for the WWKiP event, I hope you have a wonderful time. I won't be able to make it, but you can follow my antics on Instagram - I'm doing something exciting, and will also be looking out for people knitting in public!
What are you doing this weekend?
Socks, books & collapsible balls
For the current socks, I'm using Drops Fable Spray Paint (pink/brown) which came in the type of ball that is prone to prolapse. In this case I have put both balls in mesh bands to lend extra support and am knitting from the centre of the ball as normal, but I am also working from a RosyRetro project bag which has poppers along the top...
P.S. Spell-check doesn't check the post title for typos!!!!! *d'oh!*
Knitting in Public
If you can get to London on Saturday 8th June, there will be a fantastic event taking place in St Pancras International Station concourse from 10am until 5pm which is being hosted by loveknitting.com and Rowan. There will be two fantastic workshops lead by Rowan's Sarah Hatton, lots of goody bags and a chance to win an amazing hamper too - everyone is invited, including complete novices. If you fancy it, you can read all about it here.
EDIT: I found some great resources for WWKiP on Craftsy and will post more info shortly!
Pinning it Forward and some tips for new Pinners!
You have probably seen the "#Pin it Forward UK" icon on various blogs over the past few weeks, and today I'm delighted to tell you a little more about it, and also to say a big welcome to anyone visiting for the first time as a result of this fun initiative from Pinterest. My thanks to Lindy of Lindy's cakes for my introduction yesterday!
If you've been here for a while you'll know that I was a relatively early Pinterest adopter and have been "pinning" for over two years. For anyone who is still not sure what it is - quite simply, Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organising things that you love. Millions of people use the website and/or apps to plan projects, create mood boards, compile wish lists and keep a track of all sorts of things. It can be very inspirational and, in my case, quite addictive.
I pin some things for my own future reference and some because I think people following the board might find them useful. I pin when I'm researching or planning a project, or just because I find something beautiful. My boards all have different raisons d'être - I currently curate 46 boards with over 2,800 pins. There are crafty boards (crochet, gorgeous knits, useful things, yarn storage to name a few) and other random things which are totally unrelated such as hairstyles, kitchen ideas and one board entitled "I just love it, that's all" which started out with a cute kitten and now seems to have become full of tattoos! Browsing Pinterest over the last cup of tea of the day has become a nightly ritual.
If you would like to give Pinterest a try, but don't know where to start, here is what you need to know:
- You can join Pinterest here (using your email address or by linking to facebook/twitter). TIP: If you are linking to a social media account you may like to set your preferences so that your pins don't all post to your feed/ timeline which can be very annoying for your friends - especially if you become a frequent user!
- Once you have set up your account, search for people (or brands) you already like and 'follow' them so you can see what they have been pinning each time you log in.
- Use the search option to look up keywords, or if your interests fall into one of the pre-set categories (see image below) use that to browse for pins you might like.
- Click on any images you find interesting to go to the original website and if you like what you find, you may want to repin it for future reference.
- Start pinning your own 'finds' to your boards. TIP: New boards are automatically set as 'public' which means that anyone might see what you've pinned. For the most part this is recommended, as the sharing aspect is what makes this so much more fun and useful than a personal scrapbook. However there are times when you might not want this and it's now possible to set up a limited number of 'private' boards (e.g. a friend of mine started pinning baby items long before making any official announcement!)
- You can add a 'pin it' button to many common web browsers so that you can add things you come across whenever you are using the internet. If you're using a Pinterest app and are looking for something in particular, you can also search the web from the built-in browser so it's easy to pin the things you find.
- Many websites have "pin it" buttons next to their products and articles - you can use these to add things to your own boards. TIP: If you have a blog of your own, you might like to make it easier for people to pin your posts by adding 'pin it' widgets to relevant posts (like I have, above). Pinterest is a great way of driving traffic to a blog and some of my recent posts have had a startling number of hits after being repinned many times.
I could write about this all night, but that should be enough for starters and the rest will follow, which means it's now time to Pin it Forward! I'm going to pass the virtual torch to two lovely craft bloggers whose Pinterest boards you may also want to follow. The first is Jessica of Yiskah Knits - she has an absolutely beautiful blog full of all sorts of loveliness (knitting, food, various DIY tutorials...) and lots of great pins. Secondly, please say hello to Kate of Mini Eco - where you'll find lots of eco crafting, kid friendly projects, fun tutorials and printables. You can find Kate's pins here.
Thanks for stopping by today - I have lots of posts planned for the coming week so stay tuned and happy pinning!
One afternoon and £50 for a room makeover
- To make the room look neat and less cluttered while still having everything to hand.
- To clear the windowsill behind the sofa.
- To remove the clutter from the door, while keeping my things accessible.
- To make the sofa look less like a bed (ie get rid of the pink bedspread), and more co-ordinated with the rest of the room.
- Any changes had to be in keeping with the vintage cabinet previously rescued from the recycling, so modern-looking things were definitely out!
- £5 - Folding wooden table from charity shop. This was my first find and the perfect size for my laptop. When I'm not using it, it folds up small enough to slot between the sofa and the cabinet.
- £3 - Hanger for the back of the door from TK Maxx - (damaged / some ceramic beads missing). With everything hanging on the back of the door, it's all out of sight from the hallway and it doesn't matter that there are missing beads, although they would be easy enough to replace with fimo.
- £19.99 - Blue throw from TK Maxx. It's woollen, it's blue and it has stripes the same colour as my cushions. What's not to love?
- £22 - Vintage cabinet - half price sale in charity shop!!!
The cabinet is big enough for all my things (the cupboard at the bottom is hiding a multitude of papers and magazines) and looks so much nicer than the rickety old bookshelf that was there before. Most importantly it totally feels in keeping with my other storage and the vintage vibe and somehow, it has made the room feel bigger.
- Photo frame used to mount my first handspun swatch at the side of the window
- Green cushions
- Granny blanket