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!!