Decisions...Decisions.....

The time has come for me to make another garment...this lot of lovely yarn is Chunky BFL, gifted to me by Mr Wool at the weekend....there's 800g of it.

But I can't decide on what to do......

I had thought I would make another "Elsewhere" but just make it as a waistcoat, but I am also really tempted by the "February Lady Sweater" but make it into a really long waistcoat(ie. just keep knitting till I run out of yarn) as I have two awesome wooden buttons that will be perfect for it.....and I also reckon it'll be easier to modify than Elsewhere....

**sighs**

Decisions..Decisions...Decisions.....

Restrained?

This is everything I brought back with me from Wonderwool at the weekend...thought you might like to see ;)

Red Skulls...now as you all know I am a little bit partial to our skeletal friends ;) Awesome Project Bag from the uber talented NicsKnots

Some totally bargainous Mirasol Hapi, 4 skeins for £8!! How could I not make a cheeky purchase? Not a fan of cotton, but this stuff is gorgeous...destined to be some kind of shawl...maybe ;)

As soon as I saw this, I just knew I had to have it. It's a skein of Natural Dye Studio Precious...and its myyyyyy Preciouussss now :)

These fibres are from Freyalyn (above is Superfine Merino, and below is Merino~Silk) ...and the orange stuff is now on my new wheel...nomNomNOM :)

This is some Alpaca~merino~Boo gifted to me by LongdrawJames... hereafter know as "The Tall Guy"...hahaha.....just my colours :) Thanks Matey!

This Beautiful Spindle was made by Kevin Rhodes The whorl is Coccabola and the shaft is maranti,weighs about 37g. It....well.....just bewitched me...srsly! I am not a spindler, but now I am without a travelling wheel, I totally enabled myself into buying it. And, the mose excellent Donna (ApricotQueen on Ravelry) helped me to make a DIY wrist distaff...so hopefully this will encourage me to spindle more, as I won't be scared of it all going phooey :) Thanks Donna :)

So, I was restrained, right??

Well, I think I was, compared to most of the people I met......hehehe

My new Addition

An opportunity to own one of these wheels does not come around every day.

If you hadn't already realised what it is from the picture above, my new addition is a Cherry Matchless, manufactured by the Schacht Spindle Company to celebrate their 40th Anniversary of trading.

Only 150 of these wheels were made.

Thanks to a genius piece of direct marketing by it's previous owner ie a Facbook tagging (yes folks, I am that easy, teehee) it now belongs to little old me :) I was not even thinking of buying another wheel, but this is the only one that would have turned my head, in fact my head was turned so fast I nearly ended up with whiplash ;)

I picked it up at Wonderwool this weekend, delivered to me by the lovely Kat (thankyou to infinity, Kat!!!)

As you can see from these two photos, it is very similar in construction and set up as my Robin Deluxe only the Robin has mahoOOosive bobbins, is a leetle (only a little mind you) bit prettier and the Matchless has 3 modes of tension, whereas Robin has only two. Robin is also smaller.

I messed about with the double drive option for a while, but I just couldn't get on with the yank I got when the driveband knot went over the whorls, so I have it now set up on Scotch tension, which I much prefer. I was probably doing something glaringly wrong with the Double Drive, but, I felt I really needed to bond with this wheel as soon as possible...so I reverted to the tension mode I know.
The detail in the wood is just stunning, and it will only get better with age, as Cherry gets redder as it gets older, as you can see on the Robin.

So there we are...say hello to my new baby.... ****grins***

Pic Heavy - My first WonderWool :)

I had an absolutely brilliant time in Wales this weekend...with my buddy Nicsknots

We travelled on Friday over to the venue, got there in about 3 or so hours from Leicester...and with me navigating, that was pretty good going ;)

It was a lot bigger than I was expecting, far bigger than Woolfest which meant there was loads of room to move about, and it was really light and airy.

I went as a visitor/occasional helper, so I got plenty of time to meet lots of lovely peeps and take lots of photos...

This tall fella is James...who, I think, took at least a 1/3 of all spinning fibres home with him ;)

This is Helen and Nik...friends from Cardiff I have met through Ravelry. They both make sock creatures, of which I have quite a few, and it was so ace to finally meet and spend a bit of time with them :)

I also spent quite a bit of time down in the Interactive area, a place set up for peeps to go and sit andknit, spin or just Chat. You could also have a go on various wheels there, and maybe do a bit of felting or make drum carded batts, with the lovely Jill aka Wrigglefingers. It was set up by the lovely AmberMoggie (pictured here with her lovely husband Mr Mog )

and WyeSue , here demonstrating how to make felted beads :)

All the usual suspects were exhibiting there, my lovely friend Jen who had by the time I took this photo, stopped bouncing, maybe I should call her Tigger ;)

Mr Wool and Mr Arbon

Queenie, Homer and The EasyKnitter

And here's the lovely Queenie again, with Debbie and Debbie :)

and another trio of lovely ladies, Sarah, Juliet and Daniela :)

This was Daniela's stand....it was quite breathtaking...full of gorgeous fibres and lovely handspun yarns.

I am really hoping to have my own stand there next year, but, we will have to wait and see!!

Aeonium

Here is my latest hat, from WoollyWormhead's new book Twisted Woolly Toppers, "Aeonium"

Made from my own hand~dyed British merino Aran, in a colourway called "Frosty Skies"....

A really fantastic and intuitive pattern, looks like it will be really complicated to do, but it isn't. And, it's actually the first hat of Woolly's I havn't made a mistake on!!

So, if I can do it, anyone can ;)

One tip though, use really pointy DPNs when you get near the end of the crown decreases ;)

WonderWool Wales

This weekend, I shall be at WonderWool Wales

I have never been before, and I am really looking forward to it. I am not exhibiting there, it is purely a visit for pleasure, well, there is a little business involved...but, there always is when you are part of the Woolly World!!!

So, if you see someone with red hair wandering about, looking like me......probably wearing a shirt with a skull and crossbones on the back, or maybe even my ElseWhere if it's cold (yeah, there's me, working the jacket!)

....and depending on the weather, a WoollyWormhead hat...please grab me (well maybe not literally hehe) and say hello.....

I am quite sociable when I want to be ;)

British Merino DK back in stock......

Ocean

Grue

Midnight

I am happy to announce that my most favourite superwash Double knit base yarn is back in stock...

It's super squishy, takes colour beautifully and knits like a dream......

Need I say more??

Oh yeah, it's in the shop now....hehehe

Back to the grindstone ;)

This little lot is going into the shop tonight, at around 8pm... plus a bit of sock yarn and a couple of Aran listings...

The Open Studio weekend went reallReally well......so many lovely peeps to enable and feed cakes to...I was in hogs heaven ;)

Still a bit of a yarn mountain here though...but hey, that means more for everyone else, right?

Open Studio Weekend !!!

This weekend, Saturday 10th April and Sunday 11th April, I am having an Open Studio Mahooosive yarn sale. I have spent most of today getting it all arranged.....now all that is left is the cleaning ;)

This is the main table

Bargain box is full to brimming!!!

Lots of fibres

And lots of packs of aran which will be discounted!!!

Also, I shall be holding a "who has travelled the furthest" competition....winners to be announced once the studio is closed :D

So, what are you waiting for??

Empty your piggy banks and get yourself on down to Leicester!!!!

Shop Update tonight!!!

I have spent most of today uploading oOOdles of lovely stuff into the shop :)

There's loads of fibres, only 3 GlitterBalls though, as that is all I have left, so you better be quick if you want one!

There's lots of yarrns too, mainly DK, Radiance and Superwas aran, all available in single skeins for that guilt free splurge...and some new products too :D

Happy Easter, my lovelies...and happy drooling :D

xXx