Spinning into Spring 2011

So here we are at long long last, blogging again in 2011! I have been extremely neglectful of my poor blog, but I'm making it a sort of New Year sort of resolution to make it regular again!
Here's a quick reminder of what this blog is about, i.e our delightful cats, and of course knitting and spinning! First off, Spangle, our gorgeous fluffy 8 year-old female (also above):

Then of course let's not foget Thom-Cat, the devious, manipulative and extremely spoilt tabby, he's almost 3 years old and it's a miracle he hasn't come to a very sticky end! (Please please don't send in emails of complaint about cruelty to animals; it's a joke! He is also a very cute, affectionate and loving creature - when he wants something that is! But we love him very much and even though he is the most evil animal on the entire planet and the naughtiest cat I have ever had in my life, I wouldn't part with him for the world!)

We have a third cat, Pete, but rarely manage to take photos of him as he runs away! So next is a photo of my latest knitting project, some ribbed handspun wristwarmers/fingerless gloves. They are knitted using merino/tencel from limegreenjelly over on the fabulous Etsy. The colour is "One Life Stand". Those of you who knit fingerless gloves will know there are several ways of knitting the thunb, and for these I've chosen to knit a gusset (in stockinette rather than the 2x2 rib of the rest of the glove) I cast on 64 stitches onto dpns using a ball of yarn which was different shades of purple, then alternated between other balls in three slightly different shades. I haven't really followed any pattern, I was going to make "Toasty" but then decided to make them ribbed, because they would be much more forgiving!
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The photo below shows where I'm up to with the second glove. I've just begun the thumb gusset.

At Christmas I took part in a fibre swap on the limegreenjelly forum/group (what is the difference?!) and recently received a fabulous package of goodies! I received 100g each of black merino from Forest Fibres (more on them in a moment) and gorgeously soft BFL/Sea Cell from limegreenjelly. I've seen this fibre in the shop before and I wanted to try it but then didn't in case I didn't like it. My mistake; my loss!! I shall be buying more of this fabulous stuff as soon as I can! It is quite simply wondferful. Anyway, my Swappee has spun about half of each then plied them together to make the lovely yarn you can see in the bottom left hand corner of the bottom pic. Also included were a set of hand made buttons from Shunklies (another of my favourite Etsy shops!), a beautiful handmade-looking knitting project bag (big enough for several smaller projects or a larger one; and with small pockets all the way round the inside) and a wooden/rubber ink stamp which will look brilliant using the gold ink I just happen to have a pad of; I intend to use this to make little hand-made labels for my handspun/knitted gifts!

Sadly you can't see the box of Belgian chocolte truffles which were also in the package because they were eaten immediately! I've lost so much weight over the past six months that I can now afford to stuff my face with goodies every once in a while. But I can assure you they were lovely!

Anyway, I mentioned Forest fibres: this amazing little online shop sells everything a passionately loony hand spinner might need. They sell different types of fibre, everything from hand dyed to natural rare breeds fibres. And they also sell Ashford spinning wheels, looms and so on.

I've been looking at wheels for several months now, trying to find a good quality used one and also looking at new ones too. Forest Fibres is where I've decided to buy from, and at last I've got it down to a short list of two: the Traveller, for the fact it is very portable, and the Kiwi because it is so reasonably priced. I'll probably end up going for the Traveller because it's suitable for beginners and also for different types of yarn.

That's all for now, but as I have a whole week off at work (unless I am asked to cover at very short notice) I intend to catch up properly and let you know about all the desirable stuff, new patterns and other coveted items I've found recently online!

2010: YEAR OF THE YARNIE

It has snowed non-stop on and off, if that isn't too much of a contradiction, for a week and the snow, where undisturbed, is about 20 cm deep! I have not seen snow like this since my childhood, when we would make bobsleigh runs in the tracks made by trucks going down the many hills leading off our road. While it looks beautiful, it is becoming a nuisance for people who have to drive in it. Joshua arrived home from college at lunchtime today and said they were closing it down because there were so few people turning up. His class was the largest today, with only 6 people! The cats have not even gone near the back or front doors! Thom was standing on the windowsill at the top of the stairs last night, up on his hind legs and trying to catch the falling snowflakes! Mostly he has, like the other two, spent his time at the windows or sleeping on the sheepskin rug on the sofa.

I have been extremely recalcitrant in my blogging of late and my new year's resolution (if I did resolutions, which I don't) is going to be to blog more regularly!

I have fallen into spinning in a big way! I have only just begun to achieve finer yarn and I am frustrated that I have to keep removing the small 'singles' from the spindle because they affect the spin after a bit. Having a spinning wheel will give me more control and consistency, and I will be able to spin the finer yarns I love so much! For the moment the spindle is okay for the chunkier yarns I want for Saartje items and the sock yarn weight I like for gloves, non-lace scarves etc. In fact I called one of my yarns' colours Saartje after her love of pink and purple.

I have named my hand spun yarn Spingle - yes it's a cross between Spangle, spin, and 'single' as well as being the cute name Saartje has for Spangle! The reason for calling a yarn after one of our cats? Well, obvious if you know her, but by way of explanation, the 'tops', pre-spinning, are soft and fluffy, just like Spangle's thick, luxuriant fur.

I am waiting for Amy's Rainbow and Shunklies to list more, but in the meantime I am more than happy with Lime Green Jelly. I have just received five lots of tops from there - yes, I know - decadent, but I had to sepnd my Christmas treat money on something and since I already had Lush and L'Occitane stuff aplenty, plus loads of new books, and I do not tend to buy general 'stuff' I decided that buying some merino would be three times the treat: once when it arrives and I get to look at it and feel it etc; once when I spin it and see the resulting yarn and then once when I have knitted it up into something truly unique and gorgeous. Also, someone else gets pleasure, not just me, because whoever I knit for gets a lovely (hopefully - ha ha!) hat or scarf or pair of gloves.

So.....these are my lovely treats:

Sweet Dreams (70% Merino/30% Tencel)

I Know where It's At (70/30 Merino/Tencel)

Edge of Heaven (100% 21 micron Merino)

A Fine Romance (50% Merino/30% Baby Alpaca/20% Silk)

Girl Talk (100% British Blue Faced Leicester)

Needless to say the BFL above is going into Saartje's Hat and mitts, and the Merino/Baby Alpaca/Silk is going to be made into a fine yarn to make myself a scarf and gloves.

Speaking of gloves, I finished two pairs of wristwarmers just before Christmas. One pair in Freedom Spirit for myself ....

......and the other for Schnatz in some gorgeous blue/purple/turquoise sock wool, the same as the ones worn by her favourite "Twilight/New Moon" character Alice. I got the pattern from here. Needless to say she is absolutely thrilled with them.

I have just begun knitting some "Jaywalker" socks for Nicola, in Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino (shade: Winterberry) and just this evening cast on for some wristwarmers which Fiona has commissioned; I am knitting a basic wristwarmer/sock leg pattern from Knitty Fall '09 with an added thumb, using Fiona's choice of my suitable available yarns - Royal Platinum Alpaca (shade:Santa Fe Skies):

So....I have three W.I.P's left from 2009: Cold Mountain - shown as it has been knitted thus far;

Kernel (on back burner until Cold Mountain is finished and which, hopefully, I will finish in time to give to my schoonzus Ellen when I see her in early Spring/Easter); and the Catses' Blanket in Patons Inca. (Why was I going to type Sirdar Peru, which I have never had?!)

New Year was okay. Then on the 2nd Hev came round and we talked and drank some wine. On the 3rd - Sunday - I was making apple crumble and was a bit overzealous with the apple-chopping and ended up with enough apple for two crumbles, so I made an extra one for Hev and Keira and as soon as they were ready I ran round the corner to give it to them while it was still hot from the oven. I do love surprising people, and sharing my apple crumble!

Well I guess I've caught up to this week. Tomorrow - Thursday - is normally an easy day for me and I intend to have a lie-in and read some more of my book (Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts) then get up around 11 and wander down to the Garden to see the guys and find out what's what for next week's work. Then I'll spend the late afternoon/evening on Fiona's wristies. What a tough life, eh? Oh well!!

I'll end with this lovely photo of a mischievous little Saartje playing in the snow over in Leiden:

Tot ziens......