SpinSpinSpin!!!

This is a custom spin.......still have a bit left to do.....but there is 170g sofar :)

A skull for Joely!!!

When we moved, I found all my batik stuff. Before I had kids, I used to do a lot of batik and screen printing.....

Well, I thought I'd get it out today, and have a play. The colours could do with being a lot stronger, but I am pleased with it!!!

And Joel loves it..... :)

Just me and the 'Olester

Joel and I are all alone this week because Dan is away at a week long drama school. He's always singing, and he's also good at doing choreographed dances at discos (like the Macarena for instance), so we decided he might enjoy it :) He's staying with his grandparents, and his cousins are also doing it.....
The show is on Friday afternoon......!!!

Double Frill Crops

I am so please with how these have turned out.... I've never tried doing a double frill on the leg cuffs before!!! They are a little heavier than a standard pair of crops, because of the extra yarn used...but that will help with the drape :) I used DK for this very reason....a double cuff on an aran pair would have made them very heavy.

I had 100g of Merino/Alpaca DK in ivory, and the same again in pink.....and I dyed them both identically and then changed colour, throughout the garment, every 9 rows. This helps avoid pooling, and just generally makes the colour scheme a little more interesting :)

Custom Fibre

200g of Merino/Silk top, done as a custom order for a returning customer.......
Was meant to post it today, but it was way too ht, and I too tired, to go to the post office...... hehehe
No, its not an excuse, I'm not trying to keep it ALL for myself ;)

My Swap Goodies :)

I recieved the most fantastic parcel today, from Yvette, for the UKSpinners Ravelry forum swap :) Thankyou so much, Yve....its is all so beautiful..... :)

Some gorgeously vibrant handspun.....spun on a Louet too ;)

Some Spunky Eclectic Fibre, we have BFL at the top and Merino Cashmere at the bottom...oooh....can't wait to spin THAT!!!
Then some wonderful notions......a tool to pull your single through the feeder hole in your wheel.....and some wicked buttons....the big square one is already earmarked for my next handspun project ;)

And here is some yummy chocs, some fabulous handcream and some felt flowers :)

Spinners swap yarn :)

I spun this yarn for my swapee Yvette on the UK Spinners forum (Ravelry) and I am really pleased with it........it will self stripe too, so maybe enough for a scarf/shawl r maybe a hat and some wristlets :)

It was very hard to part with.....

Time out

We went away on a mini holiday last Thursday :) 'Twas good to have some time away to celebrate the good fortune of selling our house, and spend some quality time as a family....to help us remember why did did it all, I guess!!!

Thursday saw me and Phil in Cobham, Surrey, taking a sneaky peak of the new Corvette from GM (General motors)

Here it is, in all its glory. It's a 6th generation 'vette...but supercharged. It can go from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, and its top speed is 205 mph......I googled for ages though, and I couldn't find out what its carbon footprint was ***winks***


And for my younger, more impressionable veiwers... don't try this at home :)

On Friday, we all went into London, and visited the Natural History Museum :) It was brilliant, and the kids loved it...

The kids also got to see the new Wembley stadium, as our train journey into the smoke takes us through Wembley. The poor guy with the window seat though, he was a real sweetie, foresaw that he was gonna get mugged by two excited children, and moved so they could see :)

Saturday saw myself and Phil off on our own again, over to Chartham, just outside Canterbury, to a gig, in which he was playing.

We had great fun, its been a very long time since I had lots of fun in a field with some mates :) Phil and I camped over, and we were the only ones still going at midnight, so I made him sit out with me, in the middle of this field in the moonlight. You see the sun all day, but you very rarely get to bask in really bright moonlight ;)

A fantastic weekend was had by all.......I feel re-energised, hopeful about the future....and boy does it feel good :)

Enchanted cropped Longies

These are medium size.......and I love the way they have turned out :) Hardle any pooling...!!!! Not that I mind pooling, but it's nice not to have any sometimes!!!

One down, two to go :)

Here's the first bobbin of my custom spin........only 2 more to do!!!

Rainbow Handspun Shorts

Duuuur...I almost forgot.....

......on Friday we finally, after 12 long and stressful months, sold our house!!!
****WOOOHOOOOOOOOO****
Its gone, thank goodness........and we're moving onto bigger and better things........

We can start thinking about renovations, and an extension, to this house. We are planning a 2 storey extension to the side, for a music room, and a studio for me, and then upstairs, a fourth bedroom and another bathroom....

Exciting, huh?

A time for celebration

Yesterday was mine and Phil's 11th Wedding Anniversary....I can't believe how the time has flown by! We've been together since May, 1991, we met at a Uni Rock Night. I was eyeing up some other guy at the time, some blondie with a nice bum....hehehe
Phil came up and asked me if I wanted a drink, and of course me being me, never turned down a freebie ;)
And that was pretty much that, we've been inseperable ever since!!! We've done so many things together over the last 17 years, graduated from Uni, travelled around the world, made two beautiful children ... and then made homes to keep us all safe and warm.
Its not been all plain sailing, but the storms have all been navigated together, working as a team. We always support each other, talk about everything, and never take each other for granted, and I think that's some of the reasons we are still very much in love with each other. Sure, we've changed, in fact I wouldn't call it change, its more "evolving" ...and we've even done that together :)
Phil is my best friend too, a constant support to me in my bad times, and a companion in the good. This of course, is reciprocated without question.......

Happy Anniversary, my beautiful man.....may 12th July, 2009 find us here again :)

Deep breaths......

We're meant to be completing the sale of our old house tomorrow......so I kept myself from chewing my fingers off today by dyeing this lot up :)

I've called this one "Sophie", as its an extra 200g I did to use up some mixed dye for a custom order, for someone called Sophie ;) I used just primary colours to dye it too, so am a little chuffed!!! I am usually so lazy and used pre-mixed colours, but I felt like a challenge today :)

And this one I have called "Gloria"......I really love it actually......gonna dye it up on some fibre tomorrow :)

All of the above are over on etsy, if anyone wants a a looksee!!!

Another Rose Garden combo :)

These seem to have taken forever, mainly because right from the off I've never thought the customer will like them.....

I love them though, they've turned out beautifully, and made all the better for having a little touch of Mrs Flowerpot on them :) She sent me the crocheted flowers ages ago, and I hunted high and low for them to make this set look extra special :D

Therapy

This is a colourway thats been on my mind ever since Woolfest :) I dedicated a colourway to Lottie, so its only fit and proper to do one for Olivia too....so here she is, meet "Olivia"

I had to rethink my colours for the custom spin....the purples/plums/salmon just wasn't sitting right in my brain....

Here they are all together......feel much better about it all now......

I tell you, being artistic is a right pain sometimes ;)

I would have gone mad today if I hadn't made myself do all this work. We got next years class allocations yesterday, and my Daniel has got the short end of the stick, again :( Been isolated from ALL his friends, and not given the teacher I specifically asked for when I went in to talk to the deputy head about it all. The teacher he wanted was the one he had in Year 3 (he'll be in Yr 5 next term) and he blossomed in her class. She just understood where he was coming from.

Saw the deputy head again today about it......so we shall see what occurs....

But to say I am a tad upset about it all is an understatement...... :(

Making the most of the weather!!

The top two lots are Shetland, kindly given to me at Woolfest by Andy Robinson :) They are maybe destined to be part of a 3 ply custom spin, not sure yet....colour mojo is faffing about :S Gonna do another two colourways today, and then put them all together and see if they go. I like the idea of the burgundy/purple one going with the limes.....

And the bottom one is my LottieRu colourway, which is over on etsy if you want a butchers ;) Its Merino/Silk, and its so soft and silky...It was my first time dyeing that kind of fibre, and theres a bit of white still left. Not that this is a problem though, it'll just make for very subtle colours :D Not quite so "in yer face" as I normally am with colour :D

Serious Shoe Love...

Was walking back through town today, after signing the contracts to sell our house, and saw these......I had to have them.....it was almost pitiful to see me anxiously waiting to see if they had my size!!!!

And, get this....they were only £9.99........ ****squeeeeeeees****

Serious shoes for a bargainous price.....now the question is, is it fate trying to send me a positive message about the house sale, or is she softening the blow....

We shall see.......