YARNIE ESSENTIALS

I have received my new tips for my Knit-Pro interchangeables.....ooh-hoo-hooooo!!! Thy are gorgeous! I did not have any tips thick enough to knit Saar's hat,the 6mm were just that little bit too narrow for my handspun. So when I found these "Spectra Flair" in bright pink acrylic in p2tog's Ebay shop, I immediately had to buy them. That's most of my spending money gone for this month now (the remainder being earmarked for fibre from LGJ, of course!!)

Also essential to my needs were these Knit-Pro Symfonie wooden dpns ( a gal has to have matching needles, now!!) I do have a massive set of 12 set of dpns in bamboo,but the 3.5mm ones are starting to bend due to these being the most regularly used, so I decided to treat myself. I wish you could buy sets of tips without the cables; surely I can't be the only one who has more cables than they need?

As for spinnning, I have found what, to me, is the perfect solution to my spindle 'problem': it's called a Kick Spindle, which is basically a spindle attached to a wheel which you can spin with your foot or hand. It's an inexpensive solution to me wanting something as bit different but without having to buy a spinning wheel. It's here, at ford4him's Etsy store

Perhaps I can get one for Mother's Day or Easter? At only $48 plus $38 shipping it work out around £50, much less than a spinning wheel, which would take up too much space and cost too much anyway. People do spin really fine yarn on spindles, some of the best spinners I have found on various sites, including through LGJ's Flickr and Ravelry groups, do not own a wheel. And as one person pointed out, the money you save by buying this, rather than a wheel, you can spend on.....yep, of course....more fibre!!!!

My plan now is to use up or sell/swap/give away my stash of commercial yarns (even though they are decent) and build a new stash of gorgeous handspun yarns, spun by me mostly but also by the likes of Wild Fire etc. I've said this before but I shall say it again: buying gorgeous fibre rewards you three times (or more?) First when you receive it and can drool over the soft fuzziness and lovely colours etc. Collecting beautifully dyed/painted fibre could in itself be a hobby even if you didn't spin!! Barmy perhaps, but still.....
Secondly, when you have spun the fibre and achieved some lovely yarn and feel all proud of yourself, and thirdly, when you've actually knitted it up into something (And then someone else gets pleasure from it too!)

I'm thinking of keeping a 'fibre diary', which will contain a little piece of each lot of fibre I get and the resulting yarn(s) spun, plus notes and descriptions of fibre content, where purchased from, what I knitted with it, who for etc etc. for one thing, it will give me a viewable, physical account of my learning to spin!!

Josh is back from Rick's - I've really missed him! The house feels 'right'again. The cats immediately crowded him, sniffing all around him and rubbing their cheeks against him! Thomas in particular has - visibly - missed him. Josh has spent the past week in a doggy-lovers' home, so to the cats it must seem like he reeks of dog, though it is obviously a clean home because we can't smell anything. You can alway tell immediately if someone has been in a house with the combination of dogs + lack of cleanliness. And unlike cats, dogs are not fastidiously self-cleaning all day long! Worse still is the combination of dog smell plus cigarettes.

So, the house has the right energy and everyone is content. I am watching House, then going to post Fiona's wristwarmers, then I will be coming home to begin Saar's hat. I am actually going to make the pattern up, starting with 3- or 4-stitch I-cord length for about 30m, then use the 3 or 4 stitches to begin ear flaps (I hope that works, can't see how it wouldn't) Two of those, then cast on for the front of the hat, knit the first flap stitches onto the needle, cast on for back, knit the other flap's stitches on, then work in the round in a semi-ribbed, semi-lace pattern until the decrease for the crown. If it works I shall be writing the pattern down and maybe submit to Ravelry or Knitty (though the latter are quite fussy and rather choosy!)

Ha ha, I shall need new business cards saying "Designer" LOL!!

So watch this space to see how the hat develops......