Moonchild :)

And so the finished Yarrrn!!! The roving practically spun itself, and it also gave me the opportunity to practice my long draw...hence the slubby bits...hehehe

It is so soft and squishy...and will be perfect for the project I have lined up for it :) I've called it Moonchild, because the rovings were called Wild Child and New Moon.

I still have about 1/2 the Wild Child left, and maybe a 1/3 of the New Moon....

On the bobbin........

I have spun about half of it up......and am going to spin the same of New Moon today :)

This is earmarked for a special project, for a impending baby :)

Latest Handspun

As promised, a picture of my latest handspun :) Both singles are Bluefaced Leicester, on hand dyed, one natural.....

Its my Birthday on Monday!!!

I will make a post first thing on Monday (28th) .....leave me a message, and I'll write all yer names down and get Dan to draw the winner out of a hat first thing on Tuesday....

I'll send the winner something fluffy, and maybe a something that smells nice......

hehehe

Spread the love around!!!

What I did this week

Have been really busy.....dyeing, spinning and knitting up a pair of custom longies. The longies have one more leg to go and the handspun is still drying, so I'll blog them later ;)
I dyed some more Blackberry Ridge, and I finally think I have the hang of it. Dip dyeing is the way to go with it, most definitely, as the constant temperature is what it needs to produce an even dye distribution. It takes a bit longer, but it is SO worth it!

This colourway I have called "Berries and Blue Sky"

This one is "Storm" again, a custom dye for a Super dooper KnittyMama :)

Hello Blogland!

I realised last night I've not blogged for ages......was reminded of the fact by my good friend BigBird....and felt so duly chided I thought I'd better come up for air :)
I am quite excited actually, as she's joined the queue for Ravelry !!! Trace is one of my oldest chums......we've had quite a few drunken sessions, till she upped sticks and took her clan down to Saltash...

Me and Bird

Berries and Cream Crops

Large size, made with Hand dyed Organically farmed merino. The customer wanted maximum longevity, so I suggested crops, as they can be worn as longies now, and then as her little one grows, they can become crops!

Well, thats the plan anyway :)

Candy Pi

This is a WoollyWormhead design, from her book, Going Straight
It was quite obvious from the start this was gonna come up short……so I picked up 72 stitches at the brim and knitted a band :) I also had to add 2 extra panels to it as well…..
I am just so pleased the way my handpun has striped!!! I was saving this yarn for Rainbow Warrior, but I am so glad I did this pattern instead. The colour repeats arn’t long enough for a chullo :)

Slow cooker results :)

This roving I braided before putting it into soak and then dye, I wanted to see if doing this would reduce felting issues. We shall see if its worked when it comes to spinning it up, but it seems to be a little better....

In this detailed shot, its got a real "kettle dyed" look.......

This is the last of my natural handspun to be dyed up. There's one single of BFL and another of corriedale. The colours are so vibrant.....

I love my new slow cooker *big grin*

Midweek Mutterings......

An okay week sofar....with lots of lovely things to show and tell :) First off.....my Knitpicks Harmony Circulars from Get Knitted.....ooooooohhhh hhhhmmmmmm....and I got some sweeties and a free pen!!!

As I said on Monday, I've been experimenting in dyeing my new slow cooker....I did 100g of BFL on Monday, in pinks and purples.....and its turned out not too bad :) Ends are a little felted, but thats okay. I just need to work out the timings now.

Its spinning up okay.....!!!

I braided some more roving last night, and dyed it up in the braid.....so we shall see how that has turned out :) I am really enjoying the randomness of the dyeing......I am usually such a precise person, its nice to "allow" myself some "Lets just slap it on and see what happens"..... quite liberating in fact....hehehe

What Fibre are you???

Try it out for yourself, here

Nicked from the Lovely Lixie :)

Happy Monday :)

Woke up feeling a bit urghblah.......its the dark mornings,cold and rain I guess.....coupled with the fact I HATE Mondays......
Anyway, I had to take the kids to school, as our car is going in for its MOT today, so I got up and did the lunches etc I also was planning to nip into Loughborough, to get a ceramic crock slow cooker, after being completely inspired by Alyclepal and her wonderful crock pot dyed rovings :) There's one in Argos for £8.49
Got to Loughborough about 9.30am and got the slow cooker (*bonus* I spent some nectar points and got it for £3.49!!!) and got a call from Sasha about meeting for a coffee......so I moseyed up to Big W to change a crappy Christmas pressie of Dan's and got some nice sleepwear in the sale *woohoo* and some new black vests......then met Sasha for a lovely chat and coffee.....then back on the bus for 11am!!!!

I currently have 100g of roving in the slow cooker.....lol...of course I have I hear you say. When I am prolific and creative, there is no stopping me, but when I hit a slump, and do some hole-dwelling.....thats another story, eh?

Used this tutorial here will no doubt blog results later on in the week!!!

Hope everyone has a great week......despite the crud weather......

***HUGS***

Storm Handspun

The 50g of "Storm" handyed roving, plied with some teal and yellow merino I had sitting on a bobbin, made this :) 90g, 176 yds of aran weight loveliness.....

My ever growing fibre stash :)

Was truly unable to resist this beautiful fibre.

I bought it from Perchance to Knit on Etsy...

Its Superwash merino roving, the blue one is called "New Moon" and there is 3.3oz (93g), and the multi-coloured rovings are called "Wild Child" and there is 5.5oz (160g) there.

I think they will go together beautifully!!!

Old Dogs, New Dogs......

Have been searching high and low for some new shoes.....my faves are now getting a bit threadbare, and are starting to hurt my feet. They are Rocket Dog mules, and the comfiest shoes... EVER. So having had my feet spoiled for a year, I couldn't find anything I liked. I have odd heels, and struggle to find shoes that don't leave me in agony, so I prefer to buy mules.....
Anyway, these Dogs have been on my eBay watch list for ages, and so after my vain search for a new style, I've plumped for these again, just in a different colour. I got them from Silks and Shoes on eBay They were great value, and I got first class recorded delivery (worth £5) in with the final price...so now my feet are happy once more :)

Fun Friday :)

Woke up feeling a bit miserable yesterday, so I decided to cheer myself up dyeing this lot :)

About 60g of BFL roving, in a colourway I've named "Storm"

Above is about 200g of Blackberry Ridge 2 ply Merino Medium weight, again in the "Storm" colourway. Had a bit of trouble getting it to absorb the dye evenly though, I am unsure if BBR has different yarn *needs* when it comes to preparation....must do some research....

Its also a very spongy yarn, and matte, doesn't have the same lustre as say BFL. Its got fantastic yardage though, 250yds per skein....

Lucky, Lucky Me :)

Just got a parcel, my blogversary prize..... from the lovely Lizet

I am just so stunned!!!

She sent a knitting project bag, in a beautiful batik fabric (now you can't have too many knitting project bags) an entrelac washcloth, two 50g balls of Noro Silk Garden...ooohhh, and some undyed BFL fibre!!!

AND also, she sent two bars of chocolatey goodness (yum yum), a jar of my favourite-est coffee AND a vanilla scented candle (which I have lit straight away...he he he)
Theres also two little gifts in there for my boys.....so I shall blog those tonight after school.....

THANKYOU so much, Lizet....!!!!!!!!!

Back to Work :)

These are a medium size, made with KraftyKoala's "Planet Earth organically farmed Merino Aran......yummy scrummy colourway, and a really joyous yarn to knit up :)

These two yarns I dyed up myself. Above is "Berries and Cream", and below is "A Rainbow for Gabriel", both for January custom orders. Base yarn is again, organically farmed Merino Aran.

Ooh....look *BIG GRIN*

Remember this???

Look what my very talented friend, Miffyrabbit has done with it!!!! Its a Woollywormhead Tri Peak hat.....

Handspun Gothika

Just finished plying this :) Need to set the twist now, but couldn't resist a picture!!!

221 yds, 116g.......hand dyed BFL in pinks and purples, plied with a single of black merino :)