Thursday, December 31, 2009

A breakdown of the yarns used, and where :)

At last....Elsewhere!!!




I am so pleased with it!!!
After all the wringing of hands and pulling of hair over the picking up of stitches.....I got there in the end :)
It's so warm.......using a 4.5mm 5 inch Harmony DPN to close it at the moment, but I ordered a beautiful ebony shawl pin off etsy last night to finish it all off!!!

Hoorah........
Here's looking forward to a few more bigger handspun garments in 2010..
...I DO have enough attention to do them after all ;)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The BiG Reveal...and a naming competition :)

Goblin's Apprentice
Goblin
Vampiric Bloodlust
PetrolHead
Plink
Burning Embers
I am so excited to be able to to introduce you all to my new, exclusive and superBrilliant Aran Base Yarn :) These few kettle~dyed colourways are just the beginnings of what will be a complete dyefest in the New Year!!!
It's 100% merino with typical aran yardage...... and it is so much more beautiful in real life, believe me :)

But, before I can put any of these babies up for sale (all 300g dyelots) I need to find a name for my new yarn.
So....it's now over to you guys :D
I will offer 200g of specially custom dyed superSpecial Aran to the person who comes up with the best name for it. The name needs thought, as I want it to reflect Babylonglegs' new beginnings...my studio for one, and the fact I can dye so much more yarn!!! Plus, it also needs to reflect the specialness of the whole effect of the yarn, as it takes dye in such a unique way, as you can see from the pictoores :)
So...get your thinking caps on!!!
Leave me a message here, on the blog. I can't include any names, however awesome they are, suggested anywhere else, I am afraid.
Things would get too confusing otherwise, plus I want you to all inspire each other!!!
The Competition Closes at 12pm on New Years Eve....... ;)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Not SuperSecret Yarn, but.......ThickSock!!


I have added another a new base yarn to the Babylonglegs range. It is *perfect* for thick socks, you know, the ones you can wear under wellies or boots...or in bed :D
The beauty of knitting socks in a thicker yarn is that they grow so quickly...giving you semi~instant knitting gratification!!
Also a good thickness if the yarn is for sock knitting beginners......
It has a fantastic mix of fibres, 55% Alpaca~25% wool~25% nylon.
You have the Alpaca and the wool, which both provide excellent insulation and good wicking properties, then the nylon for strength, meaning all your hard knitting work will last longer ;)
I a currently working on a free DK sock pattern that I will include with every purchase of it...but you know me....good intentions and all that!!!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Oh...forgot to say.......

My SuperSpecial Aran yarn is going to be with me, in my house, on Monday.....I am SoooOOOO excited about it!!!
So, expect a Showcase blog post maybe Tuesday/Wednesday, introducing you all to it, and mebbes a leetle competition to help find it a name......??

We're plastered!!

The beginning of this week saw my lovely builder fellas finishing off the stud walls. They plasterboarded the whole of my Yarn Den (hehehe, I like that, thankyou Simply Knitting "Blog of the Week" reviewer!!!) and then Craig proceeded tp put a layer of plaster over all the boarding.


A shot of the ceiling, with the roof supports exposed, as I am sure to be able to find a use for them!

This is the door end, you can see the holes that will house the light switch and some of the powerpoints......

This is the window side...

Husbeast and Camera Shy Wayne went to B&Q last night to buy the rest of the supplies needed to finish it all off. I shall have window sills, a small skirting board all the way round, (not cuz I iz posh or owt *winks*) because the amount of moisture I will be creating with the dyebaths will seep into everything, so the walls need to be as sealed as possible everywhere.
Husbeast has sealed the plaster this morning with a PVA glue solution, and this is going off as I type, and then we can paint it :) We have special Bathroom/Kitchen paint that is moisture resistant...
Wayne and Craig are coming back on Monday to start the final stage, which is fitting the kitchen units, both floor and wall mounted, putting the bargainous worktop on them, then I need to go and get some floor tiles so they can lay those too.
Then, my lovely "Shed Progress" follwers, it will be finished!!!
WooHOOOOO!!!
All that will be left to do then is get my ace Plumber guy round to plumb in the cooker, and then his mate to service it...then, when the Electrician gets back from his hollyday, he can come and put all the power points in, and fit the light :)

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ma blog is Famooose!!!


How awesome......my blog is famooose!!!!

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Even more shed progress :)

Awesome builder men came back on Monday and Tuesday, and they have fitted a timber frame, in a stud wall style...

........put insulation in

.......and fitted some plasterboard

Was a bit cold for Craig to take his top off this time....hehehe
Next up is my superdooper plumber fitting gas pipes for the Shameless cooker, and the electrician doing his thang, power points and a light etc. Then, hopefully on Monday Craig and camera shy Wayne will be back from another buliding job to finish the plasterboarding. Then, it will be skimmed, the floor will be levelled and we'll paint the shell with moisture resistant paint.
Then, it's kitchen in, Shameless cooker plumbed in and serviced........

Friday, December 04, 2009

Exciting News!!!

I got a phonecall tonight to say my SuperSecret Yarn is on it's way........
WoooHOOOOOOOO!!
ETA Wednesday 16th December.......
Can you tell I am a leeetle bit excited???
**bounces around the room**

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

In the immortal words of Jake and Elwood.....

"... it's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses ..........Hit it!"

Or, in my case......

"... it's 956 yards to "Elsewhere", I've got a bag full of handspun, some Harmony interchangeable needles, it's dark and I'm wearing sunglasses (okay that's a lie, but I couldn't think of anything witty to replace it with...hehehe) ..........Hit it!"

One ply "Enchanted", one space spun merino ply and one of just solid black Falkland merino
For these skeins, I split the "Enchanted" up...one pile of greens and blues and the other pile the black/browns....then spun them both up as separate plies. I found some wonderful tealy jade merino on eBay, so that is the third ply here.......
For these skeins, I split 200g of the "Enchanted" into 8 long strips (over 2 bobbins) and spun it to make it randomly stripe.....plied it with 100g of solid black Falkland Merino
This lot you've already seen..... ;)


........and here it all is together!!!
I am so proud of myself.......and I can't wait to get started on it.
There's approximately 956 yds, over 9 skeins, a total weight of 811 g.
Should have enough to make the Large size!!!