Saturday 20 February 2010

Handspun Chic!


Well, here we are again and once more I am extremely recalcitrant in my blogging! I've been ill and also had a busy week, and in fact have a busy week ahead. But it's the weekend and Ellen and Saartje are here and so it's time to relax, unwind, chill....oh, and shop of course - mustn't forget the shopping!! We went to the Fair Trade Market, and as ever, I wanted everything but ended up buying nothing because I couldn't choose. At Lush it was a different matter of course and I bought some heart-shaped soap and a couple of bath ballistics- and Saartje and I secretly bought Ellen a Mother's Day bath ballistic 'lolly', in the shape of a flower! Must drop hints to the boys for my own gift!
I also received - from Nederland, though I believe they are available here now - some Yes to Carrots stuff:a fab little gift kit containing face and body items which smell gorgeous!
I finished Saar's hat and it looks fab - and she looks fabulous in it (she looks fab in everything which isjust as well as she is the sort of little meisje who can be dressed immaculately with braided hair first thing in the morning and by 9.10 a.m is looking like she's been dragged through a bush!! That's the best sort of kid - a real kid! Of course she never stops talking either....but it is actually quite cute listening to her. She is of course Thom-Cat's very best friend and Thomas' response has been to go into "Devoted Animal" mode, even allowing her to tickle him and stroke his fur the wrong way!!

Excuse me amoment while I shout at the TV; Supernanny is on and there is one of those new breed of 'Mums' who keep their toddler like a baby, in nappies,with a dummy and (baby) bottles of formula, and refer to themselves in the third person....As an advocate of self-regulation and autonomy in infancy and childhood I watch such programmes with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance!!

Anyway.....I made some delicious soup at dinnertime; was going to make pasta but Ellen is carb-free at the minute, or at least low-carb. I made the soup with onion, carrots, leeks and red lentils and it was amazing. El ate two bowls of it. Saar did her usual thing of asking for an egg then not actually eating it but she ate her slices of turkey and her broodje up fairly quickly when I said she could have some ijs after she ate her food!

I received the fibre I ordered from Lime Green Jelly..........

Strawberry Fields Forever in 70% Merino/30% Bamboo

Yesterday's Dreams in Cashmere/Silk
.........and I have ordered some more gorgeous blended stuff from Friday's shop update:

Be That Easy in Merino/Silk which I may ply with something else for a scarf)

Sweet Dreams in Merino/Cashmere/Silk

I already have that in Merino/Tencel. I am going to do lots of spinning this week, and I have at last decided on a new spindle, a really good one from 1st Crafts on the Isle of Wight.

This place was recommended by Jo; I decided to try seeing if using a really good spindle will save me having to buy a spinning wheel. I got the hang of spinning using a spindle and although it is now a lot easier, the spindle I got to start on, to see if I took to it, is dire! I can't imagine not ever spinning again! Totally hooked,especially with gorgeous fibre available. I even got some undyed merino the other day which I intend to hand paint and maybe sell it. Handpainted fibre - when it is done really beautifully - is highly sought after these days, and if I find I'm good at it I shall buy some good quality merino in bulk and a few colours of wool dye and then get stuck in. I also want to try designing my own patterns but I need to get a couple of stitch 'bibles' first!

Speaking of which, the other day I went to the new library in town and I snapped up a copy of Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns by Cookie A! And have ordered a few books for reservation - yes, all knitting books!!

Finally, what's on the needles at the minute? Nothing much at all really: the second of a pair of April May wristies I'm knitting in Colinette DK, and Kernel which is hibernating.I have bought some Silkwood sock yarn and some Noro Kureyon. The Silkwood will be great for one of the Cookie A projects and the Noro might be nice for some armwarmers - long ones. At the minute though I'm looking for a nice pattern to knit with some Cash Iroha I have, so I'm going to finish here for today!

No comments:

Post a Comment