Instagram Get Your Yarn Wishes Granted

Whilst my social media presence has declined to practically none existent over the last few years (I really should attempt a blog post of mental illness) I find that Instagram is by far the easiest to keep up with.   My feed is generally knitting and yarn related and it's much easier to snap a photo of a new skein of yarn or a WIP with my iPhone than worry about posting yet another miserable Facebook status.   

The Instagram #getyouryarnwishes hash tag was endearing to watch last year as knitters granted wishes of skeins, patterns or notions to, quite often, complete strangers.  This year I decided I'd participate and sent out several skeins, needles and Ravelry patterns from Wish Lists.  It was completely heart warming and uplifting - one of those truly warm, fuzzy moments!  As well as granting wishes I was also extremely lucky as I had several wishes granted myself.  

First up I received this fabulous speckled skein of sock yarn "Monsters Ball"  from the lovely Tracy at Norah George.  It's beautifully soft and I'm already browsing for the perfect project as well as lusting over lots of her yarn!

Secondly was my request for grey fingering/sock weight yarn - I realised whilst stash diving for yarn for a hat that I really don't have much grey in my stash despite it being a colour I am really drawn to at the moment, especially for accessories.  I most certainly didn't expect to receive such a luscious skein of DyeForYarn Merino/Silk in a perfect shade "Dolphin in my Bath Tub"

Next up (yes, I am a lucky, lucky girl!) is a skein that flew insanely quickly over from Canada!  I sadly miss out on many none UK indie dyers as I get charged customs on all parcels (the joy of once running a WAHM business that imported goods from the US!) so I was extra excited to get a skein of stunning Satchel from Mrs Crosby in Scarlet Ibis.

Last but by no means least, I was gifted the skein of custom self striping I had on order with British Bea Knits.  Even more perfect that it's called Nyree Dawn hehe!  Sparkle Sock in a self striping black - hot pink - black - lime green!  What's not to completely LOVE!

Procrastination and Castonitis!

The last couple of months have flown by in such a blur of noise and...well noise!  Despite not actually doing much of note I also don't seem to have achieved much and I think this year has very much been my year of procrastination! 

Procrastination and castonitis - I just can't help myself - I have SO many planned projects and SO much gorgeous yarn that I keep casting on new things :-/

As it's definitely become hat weather again, I whipped up a new beanie for Vaughan.  I've had this VERY bright SMC Merino in the stash just for him (with some equally colourful orange for Oliver) and at his request added some black stripes.

I have a matching pair of fingerless gloves on the needles for him too - the first just needs the thumb reworking (too small) and then I need to remember what I've knitted to make the second! 

In a moment of weakness I cast on the Aisling Shawl I'd planned in a gorgeous Truly Hooked OMFG Sparkle Blank and a skein of Five Moons Artemis 4Ply in Anthra.  I haven't got far but it's a fabulous combination.

I was lucky enough to test knit a gorgeous design hat last month which was promptly stolen by Rachael - currently no further news on the release but it's a fabulous cable pattern knit in Baby Alpaca DK.

Last month also marked another MKAL hosted by the fabulous Woolly Wormhead.  This time the pattern was revealed as Skelter and it was a hugely enjoyable, quick knit.  I chose a skein of Malabrigo Worsted in the Frank Ochre colourway and was really pleased that I didn't lose too much stitch definition using a singles yarn.

I've already cast on another Woolly Wormhead hat - this time the newly released and insanely gorgeous Rosalind which I'm making with Wollmeise Pure in Wasabi.

Other than hats I have knitted a couple more of the doomed Raspberry mitts!  Considering they were originally planned for the Fun Club (Home Ed group) sale last November and I still have 3 of the 10 gloves to knit...gloves which only take me a day each...I think we can safely say it's a project I'm putting off!  Rather like the huge green blanket which sits at the side of the sofa by my WIP basket, mocking me LOL! 

Of course, I have even more new projects planned - namely The Doodler by the awesome Stephen West!  All the WIP and FO pictures have changed my opinion on speckle/sprinkle dyed yarns and I have increasingly found myself drooling over skeins I would never have considered before.  I have a couple of skeins of neon Madelinetosh which I'm debating teaming with either a solid black or a speckle skein with lots of black and neon...I just haven't found the perfect skein yet but I definitely need no encouragement when it comes to spending far too much time window shopping for yarn instead of knitting. 

On that note...I'm off back to my needles!

An Update Post

Since I'm being forced to sit through the Merseyside Derby with the Husbeast I figured I'd do some virtual housekeeping and update my WIP's and the like since things are getting more settled here.

We finally handed back the keys to our old house a few weeks ago.  The move was hard work - not least because we did it all ourselves, slowly ferrying things over to the new house, filling the garage then taking everything upstairs.  As we have a Ford Galaxy it was quite easy to fit *most* things in with all the seats removed.  We did hire a man with a van company for our few really large things which was a complete farce but at least we got everything here in one piece.  Unfortunately we then found out that we couldn't fit our super king size divan upstairs so we have been sleeping on just the  mattress on the floor for a month - which Oliver (who still co-sleeps) found wonderful - me and Lee, not so much! 

It's most definitely a very different property to what we're used to!  We've been living detached with large gardens for the last 8+ years so moving to a three story town house in the city centre is VERY strange!  It's remarkably quiet though (no idea if our neighbours feel that way any more hehe) and we've fitted most of our essential things in (although I much preferred it when it was minimalist).  Thankfully we have been able to use a fabulous friends garage to store the rest as we no longer have the luxury of quite so much space and several out buildings we used to - I do very much miss the summer house although the garden here is very lovely and usable.

I still have my knitting though and I've even managed to finish a couple of things lately!  Excuse the iPhone only photos though as I have yet to dig out the DSLR.

First off are my elbow length fingerless gloves made with the gorgeous Fab Funky Fibres self striping yarn.  These were slower than usual as I was concocting the pattern as I went and then had to replicate it for the second glove from my half-arsed notes!

Not only are they very gorgeous, they only used 60g of the 108g skein I had so there should be enough for a shorter pair of gloves (or another long pair with solid coloured ribbing/thumbs). 

As the weather is on the turn with a definite autumnal nip in the air I decided to cast on a hat as a quick WIP. I have had a gorgeous skein of Babylonglegs Stellar DK in Wasabi (lime green, merino, silk, sparkle - what's not to love!) stashed for a Woolly Wormhead Castiel for ages and it seemed the perfect time to cast on.  

Otherwise, I am still working on my Avalanche sweater, which is slowly growing and gazing adoringly at my bag of new yarn from Yarndale which is all whispering at me to cast on more yumminess!

Yarndale 2015

After a rather knackering month of moving, this weekend was a very much needed break!  I'd booked on a coach trip to Yarndale with the fabulous Knit Nottingham and as it meant a very early start - single digits in the time and everything -  myself and Carla decided to make a weekend of it and stayed over in Nottingham the night before.  It's the first time I've been away since having Oliver (in fact it's only the second time I've been away since having kids other than when I was in hospital!) so it felt rather liberating!  After a cheeky Nando's where we were a good decade older than everyone else and an early night, we were out at 7 am to get breakfast (Starbucks for me and the beginning of my excess coffee consumption for the day) and catch the coach up to Yorkshire. 

A few hours later and we arrived.  It was all extremely exciting and I took a grand total of one photo!

The atmosphere was amazing and the five hours we were there were a whirlwind of fabulous people, yarn and fibre.  It was fantastic to meet the faces behind some of the brands and shops I have been using for years and to discover new dyers and yarns.  We bumped into a few old friends as well and it was just a fabulous experience all round!

Whilst I have no photos from the day I do have lots of my haul (albeit very badly lit as it's considerably overcast here at the moment!)  I went with only one specific skein in mind  - a dark grey sparkle sock - but came home with quite a few more.

Of course, I picked up the obligatory bag and pin but think I was quite restrained considered  I came home with half of my money still!

I wanted to pick up some fibre as I have none whatsoever in my stash at the moment.  There's 200g of the gorgeous Blue Spruce Merino/Zwartbles from the lovely John Arbon Textiles as well as 200g of Grass Green Merino (which perfectly matched my dress!), 100g of natural grey merino from Adelaide Walker and a gorgeous "Aspen Glade" Gradient Pack from Hilltop Cloud.

My yarn haul was considerably less restrained!

The gorgeous sock blank was actually a prize won at the Knit Nottingham 5th Birthday Bash dyed by the talented Truly Hooked.

Next on the bottom are two bloody AMAZING skeins from WooSheeps - I can see a huge amount of my yarn funds winging their way in the future!  The left is "Tom" in "Tequila" which is a huge 150g/600m skein of sparkle sock and the right is "Barry" in "Bubblegum" which again is a huge 150g/600m skein of SW Merino.  they just look sooooo good together!

I picked up a skein of Deeply Wicked from the ever lovely Jon at EasyKnits - "Pinky" matches my hair perfectly so it had to be done!  (Although I could not get an accurate colour representation photo at all!)  I adore solid coloured skeins so could easily have blown the budget!

Last but by no means least are a skein of Artemis 4Ply in "Anthra" from Five Moons - this was my must have skein of grey sparkle sock!  Again, I could have spent all day choosing solid coloured skeins especially the smaller 50g skeins (next year maybe hehe)

And my last purchase of the day was a "Stormy Rainbow" Sparkle Sock from Cuddlebums.

I seem to have a "thing" for sparkle sock, grey, pink and green!  If yarn storage wasn't such an issue at the moment (as in too much yarn rather than not enough storage) I would have indulged much more!  There are a few stalls I wish I'd gone back to - I really wanted some Eden Cottage Yarns and I also wanted some self striping sock but didn't find the perfect colour anywhere!  I have to say that after 5 hours I was really ready to go though - I'd had 7 shots of espresso to keep me going but I was very much exhausted!

 Yarndale 2016 is already scribbled in my diary!

A FO, a WIP and some WM!

All the initials!  In amongst the naffness of the housing and adult-type-stuff I have actually managed to do some knitting!  My mojo often gets up and leaves when I'm feeling low but I'm too stubborn to ditch my knitting at the moment as I have far too many projects planned.

First to update is a FO.  Yay!  I finally finished my Biellese Shawl a few weeks ago which, bar the forever hibernating blanket, is the WIP I've had on the go the longest.  Thankfully, being a bottom up shawl, the rows got increasingly shorter as I went on and the end result is really gorgeous - using such high contrast colours really makes the slip stitch details pop.  The lovely yarn is by West Yorkshire Spinners and is the fabulously soft and bright Bubblegum and Sour Apple from the Signature 4 Ply range.

I'm still working away on my Avalanche sweater (although with the house move and procrastination, I doubt very much it will be ready for Yarndale!) but decided a quick WIP was required, so I dug some amazing FabFunkyFibres self striping yarn out of the stash which I'd purchased with the intention of a pair of long fingerless gloves.

With this project in mind I invested in a new pair of 9" Hiya Hiya Sharp Circular needles - they are definitely up there with one of my favourite needles and I loved the prospect of not having to magic loop or use DPN's!  They do take some getting used to with regard to where you hold them and ensuring your tension is even but they really do facilitate speedy knitting of socks and gloves.

The pattern is loosely based on Gothy Gauntlets and I shall endeavour to decipher my scribbles so that I can write it up (and knit the second glove). The first glove used just 30g so I have enough left over to knit a shorter pair as well - possibly with a solid coloured cuff/thumb.

Finally, I have broken my Pre-Yarndale Yarn Diet by investing in another couple of skeins of Wollmeise Lace this month.  I've been on the look out for Fruhling in Lace for a while as it's one of my favourite WM colourways.  This WD Lace skein doesn't dissapoint and is almost a neon hi lighter shade!

I also picked up a bargain skein of Lace in Moses - whilst blue is not a colour I tend to use very often but is still very gorgeous in an understated way!

More Spinning

I am absolutely loving having my wheel set up in the summer house as it gives me much more of an opportunity to spin, whether it's a quick 5 minutes or an afternoon sat in the sun!  I've even given my wheel a light sanding and waxed it all again as a treat.

I finished some more Fondant Fibre Rolags yesterday - these were the Priscilla colour way (an 80% Merino/20% Tussah Silk blend) which is just my colours (although the skein is still a tad damp here).  I added a bit of silver Angelina...to pretty much everything in sight!  The lawn has taken on a somewhat sparkly appearance and I even found some in my undie drawer this morning.

Also finished in the last couple of weeks is some handdyed, handspun merino "Punky Liquorice"

The mini skein is a 2 ply of the pink singles in the main skein.

And a huge skein of "Raven" which is again a Merino/Tussah Silk blend that Carla gifted me for Christmas.

My spinning is definitely finer and more consistent now and I've found my feet with my drafting technique - just practice makes perfect now!  I'd love a high speed flyer as I much prefer finer yarns so that's on my wish list for Christmas.

Since I was re labelling the stash, here's a shot of all my handspun to date.

A Finished Rainbow!

After a very, very late (or early!) spot of knitting on Friday night I finally cast off my Rainbow Pop Spots. I was that tired that I probably tinked more on Friday than I have knitted all week - never a good idea to combine lace and tiredness! I've yet to wash and block (as I have no where to do block it at the moment) but it's an impressive 198cm x 10cm unblocked.

I'm so pleased with how the hand dyed colours have turned out!  In total I used 234g of yarn:

Scarlet Spots - 3g 

Orange Spots - 7g

Yellow Spots - 12g

Green Spots - 16g

Blue Spots - 27g

Plum Spots - 30g

Undyed/White - 109g 

Scarlet Border - 30g

Whilst the border seemed never ending, the lace is a great contrast to the shawl body.  I'm still debating whether I should have gone for a black background colour but as it's far too late now and I'm not knitting another (no offence to the pattern - which I thought was fabulous!) as my wish list is already faaaaaar too long!  The white is lovely and summery though so will at least add a happy injection of colour into my usual black attire!

A WIP Update

It's been a while since I updated my WIP accountability list and wish list and given that the bank holiday weather is rather dull and grey I thought I'd dig out my project bags and check my progress.

As far as my WIP List from the beginning of the year goes,  there are a woeful amount of FO!!

JUL HAT in Yarn Stories Fine Merino and Baby Alpaca DK (Fuchsia) - Completed/FO

ORLA MITTS in Bergere de France Ideal (Meije, Calanque, Vitamine, Citronnier) - Completed/FO

SONNENSEGEL in Noro Kureyon Sock (240) and Drops Brushed Alpaca Silk (02 Hellgrau) - Still in the early stages but in no rush with this one!

THE HUDSON HAT in Lion Brand Amazing (Muana Loa) - Completed/FO

RASPBERRY MITTS in Rico Design Creative Poems Aran (04 and 05) - Still hibernating!

THE HULK (AKA PLUM ISLAND BIG BABY BLANKET) in Cygnet Seriously Chunky (Meadow Green) - Still hibernating...may complete it this decade!

BIELLESE in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply (Bubblegum and Sour Apple) - I haven't picked this up since my last update as I've been working on the Pop Spots!!

POP SPOTS by Juju Vail in hand dyed yarn - I'm now 50 repeats into the 111 repeat border *YAWN* It's absolutely huge and gorgeous though so I'm happy to keep going - albeit very slowly.

AVALANCHE SWEATER in Wollmeise Lace Garn Versuch Green - I'm determined to wear a hand knitted sweater to Yarndale!   Cast this on this week and ripped it all out yesterday as I wasn't remotely happy with my increases.  Will cast it on again later in the hope I can make the increases more consistent/neater.

My wish list has been added too (probably not a good thing!)

AISLING SHAWL by Justyna Lorkowska - I originally planned this in the gorgeous Eden Cottage Yarns Milburn but after seeing a WIP on Ravelry made with a grad yarn and a contrasting colour, I think I may have found the perfect project for the pretty Truly Hooked grad that I was gifted from Carla.  Combined with some grey, I think it will be lovely!

STARLIGHT SHAWL by Anna Dalvi - I'm much happier with the Fuchsia Wollmeise option so really can't wait to cast this on, although it'll likely be towards the end of the year the way I'm going!  But it'll match my hair colour hehe.

PEBBLE BEACH SHAWL by Helen Stewart - This has been in my queue since release but with the newly released sizes I can't resist any longer!!  I think I shall go for a Medium in Wollmeise Wasabi as I'm hoping I would have enough yardage in the 150g skein.  Of course I shall keep my eye out for some WM Lace in either Wasabi or Fuchsia just in case though - or some equally as gorgeous 600m/100g skein lace!

3 COLOUR CASHMERE COWL by Joji Locatelli - I was actually gifted Carla's 3 Colour Cashmere Cowl in Madelinetosh which I need to redo the cast off edge on!  I still love these skeins together though and am just debating whether to go up a needle size/increase the width as I'd prefer a slightly slouchier cowl.

HEARTFELT SHAWL by Claire Slade which, having already started once but frogged, I'm looking forward to casting back on as I loved the beading and the hearts in the red WM!

 

I think I need to make this a 2015-2016 list!!  With trying to spin regularly as well I'm going to struggle to get even half of these completed but I do so love planning them!!

Where does the time go...

...May seems to have totally disappeared?!  I have absolutely no idea where the last few weeks have gone and seem to have very little to show craft wise for this month!

A week or so a go I decided to move my spinning wheel back down in to the summer house at the bottom of the garden.  It's been relegated to a corner in the hall for a very long time - after the summer house roof started leaking last year - but with the roof now fixed and the weather improving I decided to try to utilise the space a bit more.  Being able to leave my wheel set up has made a hugely positive difference and I have actually been spinning most days.

First off the wheel was some lovely merino, silk and camel spun from Fondant Fibre rolags.

Next up was a gorgeous braid of 50/50 Merino/Tussah Silk that was a present from Carla which she dyed the perfect red!

My spinning has definitely got finer and more consistent!  I'm currently working on some World of Wool Merino/Tussah Silk Custom Blend (another gift from Carla) which I hope to finish this weekend/next week.

Knitting wise I am STILL working on the border of my Pop Spots shawl.  It's truly never ending!!  I'm at just over 40 repeats of the 111 last count so shall keep plodding away at it and might finish sometime this year.  It very much reminds me of my Biellese border (another shawl I need to finish!)

On that note I should also confess to having cast on yet another WIP!  I needed something to stop my knitting mojo leaving with the Pop Spots border and couldn't resist starting my Avalanche sweater in the Wollmeise Lace.  I have to admit to not looking forward to winding the 325g skein into a cake but my (new to me) Jumbo Yarn Winder managed admirably.  Is this not the biggest cake of yarn ever?!

I completed the first and second contiguous sets and am just about to start the third set and neck shaping.  At first glance the pattern seemed rather daunting in so much that there is a huge amount of instructions (I much prefer to knit from charts!) but it's incredibly well detailed and broken down into easily manageable sections so in reality is very simple.  How long it's going to take me to knit is anyone's guess though LOL  I'm hoping to have it completed for Yarndale...might have finished the Pop Spots by then too!!

Ditching the Red!

Hair that is!

I have been dyeing my hair red in one form or another since I was 18.  I had a brief stint with the front bleached blonde prior to that but otherwise I've been most shades of red from auburn to mahogany, red highlights to henna and for the last few years, bright red.  I've gone from waist length hair to a pixie cut (most regretted hair cut ever...made significantly worse by an impromptu bleaching session...so thankful there are no photo's of that!) and back again.

I've been flirting with the idea of a REALLY short bob (with my usual short blunt fringe/bangs) for a while but in honesty am a bit too lazy!  I've been cutting my own hair for the last four and a half years and as I've always hated having my hair cut, it suits me down to the ground although I didn't really intend to grow it back to such a long length.  I really fancied a change though so decided to ditch the red instead of cutting it all off!

I'm naturally brunette - with white streaks nowadays!  My hair has been getting darker as I've aged so to get a bright red I was using dye with developer (but not physically bleaching before dyeing)   With Summer approaching and my roots in desperate need of a redo it was the ideal time to change colour.

I had a specific colour in mind (greeeeeeeen) but knew that I would struggle to strip the red out enough to get the bright shade I wanted.  After stripping and two lots of bleaching my roots were a fabulous colour - the rest not so much!!  So I went with the second colour option...

 

Pretty much the same colour I had been left with on the red after bleaching! But my plan wasn't for an all over colour - that would have been much too easy hehe!  So after a lot of swearing faffing because doing this to waist length hair on your own isn't easy plus my second colour was jet black (which I didn't want to get on my freshly bleached sections) I have ended up with...

 

A few days on and I am completely and utterly IN LOVE with it!!  The pink section at the side (which there is more of than it looks with my hair down) looks fabulous when I wear my hair in my usual messy high bun.  I've chopped my fringe again since I took the above (rather naff iphone front camera) photo plus a few inches off the length to tidy it up again.  

After wavering over dyeing it black for years I'm so glad I took the plunge and the hot pink makes it much more "me"!   I went with the approach of bleach, then black dye then pink which worked quite well and the benefit of where the pink sections are means I can get away with not worrying about my roots quite so often and of course can freshen up the pink without it affecting the black whenever I want!   

Love Your Blog - Gratitude

The final prompt in the Love Your Blog challenge from A Playful Day is Gratitude.

Ah, this I can do with a positive spin - I am grateful for SO many things!!

My absolutely AMAZING husband who I love so damn much, who has been my rock since I was 18 and STILL puts up with my crap!!

Our fabulous children who both delight and frustrate me on a daily basis with their bottomless enthusiasm and stubbornness independence.

My dad and sister, who whilst I am only just reconnecting with  (had a fabulous night out in Stoke for my granddad's 79th birthday a couple of weeks a go and LOVED catching up!) are a huge constant in my life - always believing in me and supporting me.

Best friends who are there for me regardless of what or why for - who I can spend the afternoon just knitting, chatting and browsing our iPhones with (occasionally with the odd gin thrown in!)  Who gets the knitting/spinning/yarn/weaving thing as much as I do...and is always there to enable/be enabled!

I'm grateful for anyone that takes the time to read the blog, the likes on IG and Rav and the tremendous wealth of knowledge, inspiration and support at the end of my fingertips from the knitting community.

And yarn....I am SO grateful for yarn hehe!!  It's my drug of choice, my therapy...and damn gorgeous to boot!!

Sunny Days

The sunshine has been winning me over this week and I love grabbing half an hour or so out on the patio with my knitting.  Sadly it's not uninterrupted so I don't seem to be getting a huge amount done, especially with the 429 stitch rows (which will shortly increase to 667 stitches!) That said I only have 3 and a half stripes and the red lace edging to go...