A pregnant shawl

As I was cycling home from work along the canal on Monday I heard the strains of a saxophone playing and realised a man was practising on the towpath under an echoy bridge. It really made me smile. I like the camaraderie of cycling to work – the majority of my fellow cyclists say hello or at least nod the head in acknowledgment.

A completed shawl. It’s another poor photo. This was a pure wool (machine washable from the stash), much deeper red than it appears, in the pinwheel design. It has to rate as one of the most boring things I have ever knitted. The final appearance is nice, though I didn’t have enough time or wool to do a frilly edge as it’d originally planned. As I don’t have a telly I generally prefer more interesting knitting patterns. The recipient left on Friday for maternity leave.

This brings me down to just nine projects on the go, so once I have finished the essay I am currently penning on 19th century constitutions I will dig into the piles of wool everywhere and start something new. I think I may go for another felted bag as I have random balls of homespun and plant dyed merino which felts beautifully. And I quite fancy another rucksack…

Fluff

This is the "before" picture of some Gotland fleece that I've carded using my drumcarder. It took an age to tease out the wool enough for it not to lump when going through the machine, but it is worth it. The stuff is soooo soft. I've now spun up about 600g and am halfway up knitting a jumper for my dad. As the fleece was in three different shades of grey, I kept them separate. This means knitting all the pieces at the same time to ensure the stripes match.

My works in progress list is now down to 11 and I just have to finish a bag I made for Niece Number One for her birthday in January today. Rather than knit a handle I bought some plain black plastic handbag ones and just have to sew the zip in and sew them on.

One down, how many to go?

Despite having a dozen or so projects on the go, or perhaps because there are so many, I don't get through a project a week like some knitters. So a finished rucksack from the Bags - A knitter's dozen book.


I have enjoyed this bag so much this is actually the third I have knitted. It's easy to knit and a great design to wear as there's no fastenings to fiddle with - the straps pull the bag shut. I've worn mine in the rain and because wool is water repellent, had no problem with damp contents. I am not thinking though about the 5 yards of I-cord which has to be made.

I am going to be good and not promptly start a new project now. I am aiming to limit myself to just ten projects at any one time, so I still have to complete a few more before I can have the joy of more tension squares!

Sheepy talk

Today was the monthly meeting of my local Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers. We had a talk from a lady who not only keeps her own sheep, amongst other animals, but judges sheep at shows, teaches at the local tec on animal husbandy and whose husband is a freelance shepherd.

Despite not being a spinner or knitter herself she was quite aware of spinners' needs, though she acknowledged these are at odds with the needs of the sheep. Free range is best for sheep rather than keeping them indoors, but gives us spinners lots of work in preparing fleece with bits of grass and burrs in. She implored us all to wear as much wool as possible. The price of selling fleece to the Wool Marketing Board doesn't even cover the cost of shearing them. Thankfully primitive sheep fleeces do not have to be sold to the WMB as they can be exempt.

As usual the other Guild members were in jolly mood. I'm the youngest there but age is immaterial with a shared interest.