SortaSolid Radiance

As much as I love doing space~dyeing in bold and bright colours, sometimes I do actually yearn subtlety...yes, believe it or not, I DO ;)
So, I have been having a little experiment with my Radiance this week , immersion dyeing, and I am really pleased with the results. I have started a new project with it, the HeelHead Scarf by Carissa Browning, and the cables are really popping out of the knitting....

Happy Birthday Mummy, love Dan and Joel

Mummy Spinning

Mummy Dyeing in her Studio

Doodie-tastic

A friend of mine needed a little boost recently, so I made her a "Doodie" out of a skein of Radiance. "Doodie" is a pattern from WoollyWormhead's Wee Woolly Toppers Children's Hats Book....really easy to size up for an adult, in fact all I did was change the yarn..... :)


I was so in love with the style, I made one for me too, out of some handspun :) No bobble on mine though, bit of a crown decrease FAIL......lolz.....

Tampico revisited :)

Remember this Merino/Tencel and Merino 3 ply Handspun??

Well, I gave a skein to a friend of mine, and she made this for herself !!! Isn't it just beautiful??? So organic, like it's evolving and changing right before your eyes.
She was so happy with how it turned out, she wrote up the pattern **grins**

Thankyou Everyone!!!

You all helped me raise £37.84 for MSF/Doctors without Borders
So I rounded it up to £38 :)
ThankyouThankyouThankyou.......we have made a difference!!

It's finished....FINIIIIISHED !!!!! *grins*

Welcome to my Dyeing Den!!!!
Here begins your virtual tour ;)

This is the far end of the studio. In the left corner is where my new Tea urn will live, for boiling water to mix dyes and, of course, cups of tea and coffee :) Under the worktop in the corner is where all my pans will live, and I do have quite a few...I can see a dyebath destash coming in the near future....lolz
This end is also where I will store all of my dyes.....

All Hail the Shameless Cooker!!!

This is the dyeing area, there's room on the Shameless Cooker for 2 big dish kettle and then a smaller one on the fish kettle burner in the middle :) Husbeast is fashioning me a hanging rack system as I type...so I can dip~dye 1.2 kg of yarn in one go, should I need to...whereas in my kitchen it was 400g at a time... hehehe......awesome! When the oven is fixed, I'll be able to dye 400g of fibres in there at a time, as opposed to 100g in my kitchen oven...
So, as you can imagine, my daily productivity is going to skyrocket!!! and with being in my own space I can do extra in the evenings should I need to, and I can now work in school holidays......so the future looks very bright for both MaMalonglegs and her prospective/existing customers!!

This is going to be the admin area, where I will store all my finished yarns and packing/labelling supplies, and do all my packing :)

I am so pleased with it, and have been itching to get in there for weeks!! Husbeast still needs to finish the painting this weekend, and the builder wants to come back and grout the floor tiles....not sure I'll be able to vacate it for longer than a day though :(
So...who's gonna be my first vistor??
I will be organising an "official" opening party...but, as long as you contact me the day before, you are more than welcome to descend on me at any time!!!

Free P & P on all orders for 1 week.......

.........and I will donate what you would have paid to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for their brilliant work in Haiti......

WoollyWormhead and Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches are also both donating 50% of their single pattern sales to the cause as well...so go and buy one of their patterns now!!!

Everyone is a winner :D

Tonight's Update :)

Well, here it all is, on my kitchen table, waiting to be rehomed :)

Shop Update Preview :)

All of this will be on sale in my shop, tonight from 8pm :)

Plying Games

So, I'm participating in a spin~a~long on Ravelry, on the Southern Cross Fibres Forum.This is my first effort, two separate yarns with only one ply different between them.

This was my starting point...
( L to R ) Falkland Merino, solid merino to make a self striping ply, and then SCF Polwarth in the "Budgie" colourway

This is the result, a heavy worsted 3 ply yarn, that self stripes. Theres 130g and approx. 190yds

Now, I ran out of the self~striping single, so I subbed some solid Black merino I had left over from another spinning project.

What a difference a ply makes, eh?

Holy Icicles, Batman!!

This is some handspun I am trying to get dry, only I don't think it's working all that well......
Handspun Abuse??
Guilty as charged, your Honour :D

Nearly there......!!!!

My awesome plumber/appliance fixer guy came today……..
And the Shameless Cooker now half works……!!!
The stove top is fine, just boiled my first lot of water on it bounces
(yes, I know I am that sad)…..

The oven doesn’t work though, but, I have ordered the part to hopefully make it work and Paul is coming back to fix it when it gets here :)

So, floor is being laid tomorrow…
I could potentially be working in my new studio on Monday!!!!!
No electric yet, but hopefully the electrician will come and turn me on soon ;)

And the name of my new yarrrn is........

............Radiance :)

Now, I know that no~one suggested it, but, you all totally inspired me to try and come up with a name for myself.
Everyone who entered, if/when you make an order through Folksy, just send me a message on there and I shall refund your postage, to say a big thankyou for helping me :D

Goodbye 2009.......hello 2010.....

......or as the most esteemed Bill Bailey calls it "Ten past Eight"...that made me chuckle that did :)

Well, 2009 has been a really topsey~turvey year....... as for everyone, there has been good and bad...my good has been totally stunning.......and the bad........well......that was interesting!

Babylonglegs has gone from strength to strength. I had my first show in June, which was awesome....met lots of peeps, something which I love doing...contrary to popular belief I can be a people person sometimes ;) The fact that I sold sackfuls of yarn and fibres is immaterial against the fact that I spent this most triumphant day with my bestest friends in the world. Thankyou Livi and Lottie, for always being there, supporting me and loving me for who I am..... you are truly inspirational :)
Me and the Husbeast are also good...it gets better every day. Relationships work like that though, don't they, you put in, you get it back. I think the fact that I am more fulfilled as a person in my own right has made this happen.
Now, don't get me wrong, my family and being Mama is everything, I really could not do what I do without that behind me, but I am also an artist, I always have been, and now I have finally found my place.
My search has ended.
I am a hand spinner, creating beautiful wool and designing new colour combinations is my true vocation.
Not forgetting bringing colour to white wools and just having fun.
I love my job!!!!

I musn't forget to mention my beautifiul boys.
They are my best achievement yet. I am SO proud of them, every day, the way they look at the world in which they live, the amount of questions they ask and the amount of cuddles they still give me. Sure, they drive me crazy, but now I have a shed to escape to ;)

Now, there has been a bad...well I think bad is the wrong word for it really......maybe uncertain is better. It has been a secret bad...my own personal secret bad...as I havn't wanted to share.
When you share it makes it real....and I don't like real.
I have spent most of this year with my head firmly stuck in a pile of sand. If I can't see it, it's not happening...la la la...you know the drill. Me and my hole are the best of friends, perfectly decked out for the expert denier and hider!
So, I finally faced my own personal demon...my inability to be pro~active with regards to my health and well being.
I quivered and worried and overthought it all.... it scared my mojo away a few times too, which isn't good when you have knitterly peeps relying on you.... ;)
But, I won.
My body is fine.......and my chameleonic demon has had a few types of crap kicked out of it.
I am sure it will be back in disguise sometime soon to taunt me, but for now it is spent.
Hurrah for that!!!!

So, Happy new decade my lovely readers.

Thankyou to my customers who read this, without you, Babylonglegs would still be a little kitchen outfit. I can now haz a shed!!! WooHOO!
Thankyou to my friends and family who read this, your support has wholly inspired me this year and pushed me into new waters.
I shall continue to share with you my life, inspiration and creation into this bright new decade, so how about watching this space for a little while longer?