More spinning..........

Latest spinnings here :) The purple is Dorset Down, done in a random dye with acid dyes; something small wil be knitted with it, but I love the way it's spun up, better than I thought. I spun most of it when demonstrating at a local fete; many comments elicited by the colour and my matching purple dress lol
the basket of fleece is Cheviot cross; I sorted teh fleece yesterday -a very pleasant way to spend half an hour on the lawn in the sun :) Started spinning that tonight, straight from the fleece and in the grease for the first time. Pleased with that too, so far. Watch these spaces....lol

Knitting in summer......

I'm still knitting, honest...............lol Admittedly, I'm not knitting as much at thsi time of year as I do in the autumn/winter. Sometimes it's just too hot to knit, the wool and needles getting sticky, frustrating when I want to get on with something. The other reason is the garden, combined with lighter evenings taking up more of my time. However, I've just cast on and started a new beret for the autumn; it's the North Star Tam from Arctic Lace by Donna Druchanas;lovely pattern to knit, I'm really enjoying it.

OH has finally got around to repairing my drum carder, so that will be in action later this week, as I've a lot to do for various projects. The other pic is the last pair fo sock off the needles, I need to get some more cast on, it feels strange being sockless lol

Sockpile!

Yet more socks...............

Luckily I have found 3 more people who would like socks knitted for them, so I don;t have to stop! LOL

Snowball scarf

A friend came into the pub last night to find me- she knew knitting group was on. She'd seen a scarf in a wool shop she'd liked, but the woman wouldn't sell it to her (a non-knitter), so she bought the wool and asked me to knit it. It's a fairly new one on the scene, Sirdar Snowball; I've seen it in several shops, and have seen it knitted up. It took a shade over an hour to knit, on size 8mm needles, so I was pleased to sit down and get on with it accompanied by a cup of tea this morning. I'm happy with it, it's turned out nicely - very, very soft, too. The good thing about knitting for others is it gives you the chance to try out yarns and patterns you might not necessarily pick out for yourself to knit.
I hope to get it round to her tonight, and see how surprised she is! Mind you, it's still cold enough here to need it!

Sea foam scarf

Done for me, also for my Poet's Calendar project and the Guild's "elements" challenge. Commercially spun, hand dyed in the ball with acid blue and yellow dyes to give sea green and white foam effect; the pattern is New Shale, to continue the sea theme.
Pleased with this. :)

ETA - won the Guild "Elements" challenge with this :)

Sorting out.............

This is just under half of what was lurking at the end of the sofa LOL I'm busy sorting it out into bags of separate projects, ubt it's taking some time. Some of it I just don't want I think, so will go off to the charity shop, but most of it is earmrked for specific things when I get round to them.
Scary...............

In between sock knitting...........

I got these two finished this afternoon, delighted with both. Cropped cardigan is in Patons Vintage "Burnished" - only 59p per ball from Kemps online place. I'd been eyeing it up even at full price, so to find it so cheap was wonderful! The Purple one is the Samhain Hares tee from Yarn Forward magazine, in Donegal tweed (ooohh that wool.........). Both for me, delighted with them both.
Back to the socks now........lol

Couldn't wait, could I?

LOL I cast off teh body of a jumper this morning after breakfast, so I decided to take one of the new balls of Noro in the car and start a pair of socks whilst doing soem messages - feedstore, tip, post office etc. Just as well I did, I also managed to get some al fresco knitting done whilst MrL had to change a wheel due to enormous pothole we went into tyring to avoid something steaming along in the opposite direction.............
Note - spare tyre space under boot makes a nifty wool holder :)
Knitting up nicely, one of those where you keep going "just another round" to see how the colours develop LOL

Treat

This is a little treat for me...............:) I invested in two balls of Kureyon sock yarn, with 4.00 off a ball, down to 7.00 each, from http://www.blacksheepwools.co.uk/

I found the Kureyon whilst looking for something else, but couldn't resist it........lol I've never had any of their wool before, but always admired the colourways, so I'm really looking forward to casting on. Probably tonight LOL

Other bits...........

This is a skein of Blue Faced Leicester aran weight, successfully dyed a rather beautiful shade of apple green. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, might lend itself to a lace hat of some sort?

Got out a paint brush and painted some Dorset Horn tops; pleased with how it looks so far, will see how it spins up.

More Dorset Horn on the wheel, not sure what for, just felt like doing some spinning! LOL

Current knitting

This first one is the Samhain Hares tee from Yarn Forward magazine, but knitted in a rather gorgeous amethyst shade of donegal tweed, with cream hares and celtic knot pattern. Not much more to do on that; it's my go for our Winter Knitting Olympic Challenge at Creeative Living. Looks like I'll have time to do another one as well.



This second one is a cropped cardigan from another knitting magazine; knitted in Patons Vintage that I got at a great price from Kemps online; lovely peachy pink colours, nice to knit with, and I managed to find a single special button for it too. Might change the collar and not add the pockets, but I'll see when the time comes.

Viking jumper

Now completed, pelased with this. Beautifully warm, quick to knit up - British undyed aran wool, bought soem time ago from e-bay (another one MrL missed out on LOL) Love the Celtic cable on the hood, and it sits nicely when down. I'm tempted to do another one, but more colourful - stripes perhaps? We'll see.

So that was 2009!

This is my tally for last year, not bad:

Crochet hook bag - 1
Fulled slippers - 1 pair
Fair Isle hat - 2
Scarf, adult - 2
Neckwarmer - 1
Adult beret - 2
Lace scarf - 1
Teddy jumper - 1
Knitted bunting - 2 strings
Pot holders - 3
Hallowe'en beanie, adult - 1
Toy alpaca in alpaca yarn - 1
Adult dog jumper - 1
Knitted bunny (handspun) - 1
Puppy jumpers - 10
Hats, childrens' - 3
Tea cosies - 8
Shawls - 4
Bathroom cloths - 2
Child's jumper - 1
Sleeveless top - 1
Child's cardigan - 1
Waistcoat - 1
Nightcap - 1
Hats, adult - 19
Pairs of fingerless gloves - 4
Blanket squares, crocheted - 33
Blanket squares, knitted - 8
Tin cosy - 1
Pairs of socks - 14
Pairs of mittens - 2
Mug hugs - 1
Dishcloths - 20

I didn't achieve much on my list of aims, so am off to do another one for 2010, and pop it in the sidebar; will also start a 2010 tally list to keep trck of what I complete this year.

Lily Chin's top 10 ways to hide the Stash!!

1. Tape a bag of yarn to the underside of all the chairs - who'll know???

2. Put a slip cover over a bag of yarn, stick it on the couch, call it a pillow.

3. Remove the cushions of the couch, stuff with yarn instead.

4. There are narrow books that don't reach all the way to the back of the bookshelves. That dead space behind such books is good for several skeins.

5. Do you wear ALL of your shoes at the same time? No, stick a skein of yarn in each unworn shoe (boots are great for this very reason).

6. Everyone has clothes in the closet that are never, ever worn. Sew up the bottoms of the garments,insert yarn. Do not forget to sew up bottoms of sleeves. There's enough in each sleeve for more than a bag's worth.

7.Never cook, only order take-out or go to restaurants. You've now got the whole oven!

8.Look to the china cabinet. That large soup tureen? Maybe a bag. Large teapot? A few balls. Covered dish? The same.

9. The freezer is advantageous for fuzzies such as angora or mohair. Make sure to place in plastic bag first. This is known as the high-fiber diet!

10. Get a really large box and fill it up with lots and lots of yarn. Put a tablecloth over it. Voila, instant table (but you can't get your feet underneath it).

This is taken from the lovely "For the Love of Knitting", ed Kari Cornell; really made me smile (and yes, nod my head!)

Another KAL from Ravelry!

I couldn't resist starting this one - a lace shaw/stole, done over 12 months with 12 "clues" throughout the year. I got engrossed in this one yesterday, and completed the whole section, some whilst cooking supper, the rest in the pub at knitting group. The yarn is knitting up beautifully. I wouldn't normally use an acrylic for this sort of thing, but the colours are really nice, I think. I think there's some cotton in the mix too, it hangs and drapes nicely. Factor in the bargain of 50p for the cone in the charity shop, and I'm well pleased with it!

Progress

Knitted these up in a hurry over the weekend for a birthday present for someone; the colour is much deepr and richer than it looks, and this is a particularly pleasing pattern when knitted up, so will use it again. A good basic pattern, ripe for customising!
There is just the hood to do on the Viking jumper; socks still on the go for OH; wool arrived for Smahain tee, also some other stuff at a price I couldn't resist - 59p per ball!
Stashbuster getting added to as I find bits and pieces of chunky to add in.
More spinning and work done on Poets Calendar project wool too, so, all in all, pleased with progress.:)

Viking jumper

This one's for me, from Yarn Forward magazine. Not the recommended wool, but some heavy Aran I've had for 2 years+ now. I bought it for a jumper for OH, but I didn't like the way it turned out with Aran patterns on it, so that was shelved, until now.
Big over jumper type thing, with a nice cable design on the hood. I've never had a hoodie before LOL

Little bit of spinning

Haven't done any for a while, so got my hand back in last night with this rather lovely blend of merino and silk; actually bought as part of a kit for a nuno felted scarf, but I decided, in my wisdom, it was far too nice for that!
Not much - about 27g, but enough for a hat band or edging of some sort. Gorgeous colours.

My First Zimmerman...........

I've joined a KAL group on Ravelry to knit my way through the Almanac, starting with the Aran jumper for January. Quite a challenging apttern to sort out and set up, needed reading through quite a few times before I really "got it" enough to cast on. Now started, i"ve just doen the increases and will be working my way up the body now.