No such thing as too much wool

September

2007-12-30T20:18:00.001Z

Well the boring cardi got finished. It’s King Cole merino 4 ply which I found a bit splitty

and as I suspected it was a smite too small for my mum, but she said she didn’t normally do cardis up anyway so it wasn’t a problem. The teddy bear for Niece Number One was also finished. Once I was used to the yarn it was easy enough to knit. The sewing up though reminded me why I don’t like making toys as I hate all those short seams. Boy did it look cute though, even my brother-in-law couldn’t hold himself back from being impressed. I forced Bex to practice her knitting before giving it to her.

August

2007-12-29T21:02:00.000Z

(well I wrote the post so I thought I may as well publish it…)

A finished pair of socks, if only I could find a photo. The yarn is Colinette’s Jitterbug in some green colourway, bought at Ippiken in Shropshire. It’s a really tightly spun merino which I probably knitted on smaller needles than I ought as I just automatically used my size 14s. I didn’t have any problem with knots like I understand some folk have.

I also knitted an incredibly dull cardigan for my mother. She asked for it for a cruise she’s going on in September so yes I felt guilty knitting other things instead of that but I reckoned on a lot of knitting time when travelling to and Newcastle. It is a pretty colour, but acres of stocking stitch on 3mm needles.

My sister and her girls came to stay (we did Cadbury world, what can I say?). The older girl (14) was given a Knit your Own Teddy kit for her last birthday. As she can’t actually kit and the kit involves eyelashy type yarn, I forced other wool into her hands and she practiced while I cast on the teddy. When her mother packed the teddy to take back home, girl says No - Auntie is going to knit that, so I acquired another project I am not very keen on.

While avoiding knitting the Boring Cardigan, I revisited my list of WIPs. I sensibly got out the Gotland Jumper Mark II and measured it against a jumper I like before ripping it back. It’s a top down raglan and needed some neck shaping and a smaller neck. I’ll be picking up stitches and knitting a hem in a different colour ala Elizabeth Zimmerman as the contrast with the grey will look good, and though it was a shearling the spun wool seemed soft, but when I tried it on it was rather itchy against my flesh. I will be wearing it with a t-short but there is no guarantee it will be a high-necked top to protect my oh so delicate skin. Merino has never been a problem but the Gotland is a little coarser. Just remembered the reason for looking at making something in handspun – it’s our Guild’s exhibition in November so I need something bigger than socks to show off. Last year was notable in that if it hadn’t been for us younger members, the display would have been ever so minimalist. A plain jumper is more achievable in that timescale than fair isle and I still haven’t decided what to do with the last two collections of naturally dyed skins I have.

July

2007-08-30T19:49:00.000+01:00

Now my main holiday is over (and the need for sleeves), I have been sitting knitting other things. Rogue has benefited from this – am almost up to the shoulders on the back. It’s not that Rogue is difficult or time consuming to knit, it just gets interrupted by other knitting, and my Petal bag from some French/Dutch magazine with the Noro Mo my SP9 sent me is looking good (just need to knit the base and make two cords).

I’m having a tidying up blitz. Because of this warping mill, which I was given to make long skeins for self-patterning yarn - it has to live somewhere.

I know it is only a passing phase. So far it has involved dismantling some of the shelving in my craft room (a room for the storage of craft stuff rather than the doing of) so I can get more boxes piled up on top of each other rather than on shelves. I am sending much paper to be recycled and getting rid of the shelving on Freecycle. And I finally spun up the Bowmont which I drum carded months ago. Bowmont is a cross between merino and Shetland – there was an article in the Journal of Weavers Spinners and Dyers last year and I bought a small bag of it at Woolfest 2006. It’s a short fibre so I tried out long draw on it, after learning the technique at that Woolfest. The resulting yarn is a bit slubby for me, and probably not as elastic as it ought to be but it’s nice enough for a first try.
I also made this bag for the International Tote Bag Exchange and sent it off to Lia. It’s about 10”x8” and lined with a lilaccy material. I still have no idea whether it has reached its destination but I hope so. The yarn was a slightly slubby wool mix bought in Madrid and knitted in a shadow cable pattern which I will use again. I haven't received a bag yet to show off but I can still hope.

June

2007-08-19T10:50:00.001+01:00

I was mainly knitting a pair of sleeves. No there was no jumper needed to attach them. The reason? - 16th century kirtles (dresses) do not have knitted sleeves attached. They should possibly have been tied on with points, but as I don’t have the requisite holes in the top of my kirtle, they were safety pinned on… Noone could see the safety pins as I was wearing a short sleeved gown over. The sleeves were widely admired, which is always gratifying and I found them more comfy than the cloth ones I have previously worn. In effect they’re like shaped socks only without the foot. There are no known contemporary pictures of knitted sleeves but they are widely mentioned in accounts, whether bought or sold or even stolen! The yarn is my handspun BFL dyed with madder root.

Well it appears to be the end of SP10 (I didn’t participate this time), but I never did receive a parcel from my SP9 spoiler or angel. Ah me.

Have been slowly putting things on Ravelry. My name is Jael if you want to look, but my photographic skills are almost non-existent and I don’t have a lovely garden in which to artistically display items!

Made it to the Birmingham knitters who gather at the Shakespeare on the last Tuesday of the month. We were a select group but it was a most enjoyable evening.

May

2007-07-21T16:58:00.000+01:00

I started on the Bugs in your Garden pi shawl KAL on the EZ list, using some of the Swaledale bought at the NEC. I would have preferred to dye it first, but the info was quite varied in how much yarn is used, so we’ll see what it looks like when I’ve finished. I’m still only upto Clue Three I think, knitting a dragonfly motif. It’s my first attempt at a Knit-a-Long and obviously I haven’t knitted along with everyone else. It will get done eventually.

The Derbyshire Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers had a general open day so I put the wheel in a bag, caught the train and went to join in. There were 56 people over the day, with at least 30 spinning wheels in a splendidly airy and light church hall south of Littleover. The Derbyshire Guild members were all very friendly. As well as me there were folk from Walsall spinners, Stafford guild and York (and she was Swedish just to add interest). In fact there were two Swedes and a Frenchwoman, and I realised in my guild we have two Germans, all of whom have lived in the UK for decades. I bought some milk protein fibre, Ronaldsay, and A Gathering of Lace book. And of course eyed up this bag made of plastic bags and a jacket.

Our Guild spent a weekend at Sarehole mill for the annual Tolkein weekend. It is basically a community show, with craft marquees, folk selling things, a performing tent, Vikings and WOTRs clankies. My heart always sinks seeing reenactors with skeins of wool hanging up which are obviously beginner’s work and not only unevenly chunky, but usually dull colours. When most women spun, probably until the Industrial revolution, they would have learnt as children and the quality though still variable would not have been so chunky. I only spent the Sunday there spinning and got to mid afternoon before anyone mentioned sleeping beauty. I was pleased to sell three skeins of my hand dyed yarns (see April – I did try more with wetting the yarn first). On Saturday I had dressed up in my Tudor kit for a day in Suffolk and someone said I was glamorous. That bloke knows how to make a girl feel utterly charming!

After years of randomly sorting them all over the place, I bit the bullet and sewed myself a knitting needle case for my DPNs. The sewing itself didn’t take long, it was the measuring up which took the time.

April

2007-06-13T20:47:00.000+01:00

I had a meeting in London for work one Thursday so rather than catch a train straight home I did the nice second hand bookshop on Euston Road opposite the British Library, then I drooled over the Bedford Hours in the library itself before catching a bus to Oxford Street. I would normally have gone on the underground which I love, but I was under doctor’s orders to avoid it following an operation to mend my ear drum. There weren’t that many at the Liberty’s caff knitting gathering, and none of the people I had been expecting from Skipnorth or Yvonne, but it was pleasant company for an hour or so before another bus and then the train back to Brum.

So with a fortnight sick leave of the kind where I wasn’t actually sick or incapacitated in any way meant some knitting. I finished a top-down jumper with yarn from Skipnorth, but it’s too short so this will be undone and more length added. I have finished all the pieces of the almost cabled cardi which I started about 18months ago and here is some of it blocking on my new blocking boards

and then did the dull moss stitch collar. It still awaits having the sleeves sewn in, yes still.

I also dyed some yarn one day after being inspired by the book Yarn to Dye For. I’m not sure I have actually seen any hand painted yarn, though I have seen it for sale on various websites. In February I had actually put my warping posts in the kitchen as the only place I could create a long skein… Well how anyone can do enough of it in this way to sell is beyond me as the painting bit bored me silly. I was following instructions which recommended using dry yarn and foam brushes. I found this both time-consuming and fiddly and not at all efficient so I resorted to using a real paintbrush. Admittedly I don’t have a workroom so was carrying out this operation in the kitchen on quite a small surface. The dyes all set fine in the steamer my mum had recently passed onto me. I really liked setting the dye this way as it is does not make the kitchen stink of vinegar like microwaving does, and I don’t have to fear that the wool will burn either. As I had made too much dye, I made up another skein and just dipped it into the pots. The end result from that method is practically indistinguishable from the handpainted stuff. The skeins only look different because the handpainted one has equal measured lengths of each colour, whereas with the other skein I just dipped it into the colours based on how much dye was in the pots so there is far more pink. Logic would say there should have been the same amount of dye left over from each colour, but for some reason there wasn’t. After I’d re-skeined it I was pleased with the overall look so I will continue dyeing yarn as it is so different to dyeing rovings, but next time I try hand painting I will wet the yarn first.

The dyed BFL has been made into socks.

I was partly inspired by a visit to Much Wenlock which has a lovely wool shop called Ippiken on the main street opposite two second-hand book shops. It sold mainly Colinette and I bought some green Jitterbug. Ippiken not only has yarn, but hand crafted textiles, like felt bags too, and a lovely owner who spends her entire time knitting. That sounds like the job for me.

And then after attending the local Knitting & Crochet Guild gathering in the splendour of the Edwardian tea room in the Birmingham Art gallery on 21st April, I wandered through the galleries. And as the Midlands is in the process of reclaiming St George’s day, the emphasis is on medieval times, so there were random medieval things throughout the galleries. First up a coin man who was minting replicas, then museum curators who had objects to handle (with the white gloves on) from a very large wassail bowl to a bowling ball, and then Diabolus in Musica who were two chaps in medical garb with suitable musical instruments. I adore old English bagpipes which are as loud as Scottish ones but with a more gentle tone. Though thinking about it I suppose all the times I’ve heard them it’s probably the type of music which makes them more attractive than the bogstandard Scottish tourist tunes. The Carnival Band in particular have a couple of excellent pipers.

And once I’d emerged from there, the two squares outside both had stuff happening. I boogied a bit to the folk rock group Rack and Ruin, and slightly less so to the acoustic rock group Isambard. I then watched the Kesteven Rappers who did an incredible sword dance. There were no bells or beer bellies involved and the average age appeared younger than the other morris teams wandering about. The dance was done with each man holding the end of two very bendy swords, so they were effectively all joined to each other in a circle. They did figures of eight and some very nifty footwork with a couple of somersaults and were smartly dressed in just black with orange socks. Not even a handkerchief between them.

Another work’s trip to London meant more knitting on the train, and I met up with an old friend afterwards and visited the Foundling Museum. Thomas Coram was such a dynamic and determined man in pursuing his goal of an orphanage in the 1700s. The journey home was a vast improvement on the previous. This time I shared a table with a sister and her brother who was visiting from the states, so there was plenty of enjoyable discussions on medical insurance and student loans, photography and bats.

March

2007-05-07T20:28:00.000+01:00

I went to the NEC to the Sewing for Pleasure show to help on the Knit’n’natter stall, now renamed the Picknit in honour of a picnic for Shaun the Sheep. Enjoyable company was had with Yvonne, Sue (who provided the scrummy lemon cake), Fred and Noonie.

I didn’t go with the intention of buying anything but to indoctrinate people in the ways of knitting. I only taught one young girl, though others on the stand taught knitting, crochet and finger knitting. I have yet to go on a Saturday when it is incredibly busy so we mainly had a lovely time chatting.

But I did buy things: buttons from the Button Lady - blue for Niece Number Three’s cardi and the others just because they were sweet. And a big skein of smooth mohair (I can’t be doing with fluffy mohair as it itches like crazy and reminds me of some naff jumpers I knitted in the early 80s. And when trying to find photographic evidence I found a photo of me on a German exchange in 1985 with a perm and wearing both a blue batwing and a grey fluffy cardi - both handknitted with complete disregard for correct tension esp the cardi). and two cones of fine sheep’s colour Swaledale from Riverside Spinning.

Time to catch up

2007-04-13T08:57:00.000+01:00

A while ago I went to Venice by train. I would only recommend the overnight from Paris if you are a heavy sleeper. My fellow passengers were suitably entertaining.

It was every bit as beautiful as it appears in any pictures you have seen of it. I was only there for four whole days and could have easily spent longer. A shame for all the people I know who have only ever had day trips there. And I found a wool shop. A nice one. I don’t speak Italian and the keeper had very little English but I opened my bag to show her my WIP and she showed me the large chevron coat she was knitting. The international language of wool. And I only bought four balls.

Skipnorth Part III

2007-03-17T17:09:00.000Z

Sunday’s shop was Wingham wool which had changed a bit since my only other visit ten years ago. They produce a good assortment of yarn now, but unless they were hiding it, I couldn’t see the interesting mixes I had been after for spinning (not rainbow rovings). I have memories of lovely wool with cotton which was like candy floss rather than like sterile roving. Didn’t stop me buying rovings: clockwise Cheviot in the large bag, possum/merino (just because of Sue from New Zealand), a history book on silk, some divine BFL/silk mix, and a small amount of Wensleydale curls

Then we returned to the hostel for a final chilling out time, and Wye Sue drove me home.
Lixie and Nic did a fab job of counting us at regular intervals, herding us and organising the whole shebang which made some woolly people very happy. Thank you to both. And to my fellow Skipnorthers – thanks for your company.

Skipnorth Part II

2007-03-17T13:25:00.000Z

On Saturday our first stop was Coldspring Mill

where I bought blue for a cardi for Niece Number Three, bright red Aran for me and some Twilleys, just because it was a lovely colour.

And then to the Skep where we split into two groups as though the room might possibly have held us all but we wouldn’t have been able to breathe. I went for a cup of tea with Fred before buying some fabulous red/purple/dusky pink light chunky which is already several inches of a top down raglan jumper, some pinky Aran, and some dark purple and red sock yarn which is also a WIP as a baby blanket. Do you spot a colour theme here?

And then it was onto the Knitting and Crochet Guild and its fab yarn mountain (this is only a small portion).

I have been here a few times so am on first name terms with a couple of those there. I haven’t yet joined the Guild but consider myself a Groupie as I do go to the local meetings and have helped on their stands. They had a small amount of their collection on display, including some socks.

Just to confuse my gentle readers, we have cones of green yarn and books, two of which were from the streamlining of their library. I already have the Montse Stanley but it is one of the two books I always buy if I see it at a reasonable price to give away to friends. And a couple of Addi turbos.

And then it was back to the hostel for dinner. The four of us in our dorm ate with the sixth form teenagers who were also staying as we missed the announcement about having a later sitting (I was still first in the queue).

On Saturday night a little informal spinning class was taken by Sheila from America. Anne took to it like a duck to water.

Elaine was not so sure it was for her. And we crocheted some of the Afghan together.

Skipnorth Part I

2007-03-17T10:47:00.000Z

I went with a shopping list and bought all four things on it. And a little bit more. It all added up to about 7kilos of wool, about a tenth of that is stuff to spin.

And then I came home to find a friend has sent me the link to Shaun the Sheep website and is recording it on DVD for me. I don’t have a telly so this is good news.

First stop – Texere which was actually en route. I’d already checked the website and knew what I wanted. Troon for Rogue, white 4ply lambswool to dye, 4ply merino for a birthday cardi for my mum, plus a little bit of Freedom wool to felt.

Second stop – Procion dyeing workshop in the members’ kitchen at the youth hostel, hosted by Liz. My skein was very sorry looking after I’d dyed it as I was far too mean with the amount and numbers of dye I used. Other people’s skeins were luscious, but I took no photos of them - the dyed yarn is what Liz brought with her.

And a view from the back of the hostel towards Haworth itself.

As a committed non-dieter I think I managed to be at the front of the dinner queue for every meal. My mother would have been mortified.

Take Two

2007-03-06T20:03:00.000Z

I’ve always been a bit bored by other people writing about their problems with the technical side of their blogs, but I now understand. This is the picture which was put in the post but failed to appear. I am not bothering to edit the post itself as when I tried last week it didn’t mend things.

Mitts

2007-03-06T19:46:00.000Z

These were finished in about three days, but I have been a slow blogger at showing them. The picture is a bit dark, and you can’t see the cabling very well. These are from the lovely bluey/purpley yarn from Emma. I took the opportunity to get my mum to model them. While the parents were staying dad enquired what was the thing next to the kettle. I wearily said it was a warping post, for winding longer skeins than my niddy noddy will allow. The words pass dad by. If ever I start to talk about textiles on our weekly phone call he says “I’ll get your mum”. I personally see it as retaliation for the obscure things he tells me about chapels, trains and 19th century non-conformists.

Now I must start writing a shopping list for Skipnorth. This won't preclude impulse buys but I have a couple of projects to do including the Rogue which Kadi sent me.

More exuberant thanks

2007-02-26T22:04:00.000Z

I've been sent the Rogue pattern by the lovely Kadi who is my SP9 Angel. MANY MANY MANY THANKS!!! (no links as the new allegedly improved Blogger is eating them) I’m going shopping in a couple of weeks and will definitely be getting yarn for this. I’ll also be buying wool for my mum as she now looks upon me as her bespoke knitter. She asked me to knit a light cardi for her birthday to take on holiday in autumn, and how could I refuse?

Serendipity

2007-02-21T19:39:00.000Z

I’ve been off work today with a stinking cold. Sat at my computer by the window in the front bedroom this morning I saw a Royal Mail van pull up and the driver headed in this direction. I legged it downstairs (still in PJs at 10.30) and said good job I’m off sick and the nice man not only gave me a parcel but gave me my milk which was still on the step.

Enough ramblings. It was a gorgeous package of wool and other fibres from Emma, my Handspun Skein spoiler who had stood in after my original spoiler flaked, all comprehensively labelled. The package is for both Jan and Feb. First up – this is actually purple, not blue. It’s Romney and mohair, beautifully subtly variegated with a nice sheen. More serendipity as I was just thinking of finally joining the hordes knitting fingerless mittens. I have got up to the first repeat of these
Second up - Manx Loughtan and Border Leicester with laceweight Shetland ties dyed with madder and cochineal. Spookily I have just been thinking about getting a Manx Loughtan as I know a couple through my Guild who have a flat there.

Third up – a merino/silk mix roving in pretty pinks and green for me to spin. It is such an edible colourway. And there is a calm candle and a Lush bathbomb too.

An ENORMOUS THANK YOU EMMA. Your spinning is superb and makes me itch to get at my wheel and try things out and improve my own. And even better while I have finished typing this, I realise I can breathe again and haven't sneezed for ages. The power of wool!

Ends

2007-02-20T20:22:00.000Z

A note on all those ends in the kilim bag photo. I am not a knitter who knits in the ends as she goes along. I like intarsia and will of course twist threads to prevent holes, but have never managed to knit in the ends without making a bulge and I also feel they are not secure enough. This bag would have challenged my limited skills in this direction as the front face is reverse stocking stitch. But to prevent purls of the wrong colour showing, any change in colour is done with the front facing with a knit stitch while all that can be purled is. This makes nice V shapes instead… I usually wait until l finish knitting a piece before sewing in the ends too, crazy as I hate it, but I think it is superstition. Frogging when sewing in of ends has commenced is a pain. On one jumper which was sort of Navajo style with lots of triangles and stripes, I had about 1000 ends. That took a while.

Interweave Knits. Well I’m still waiting for this blogger’s boyfriend’s comments. In the meantime, my general view is Bohemian chic is not for me.

Saturday I trekked to Cheltenham for the Stitch and Creative crafts show. This is a small affair with a host of cardmaking stalls, a couple of fabric ones and a couple of yarn ones. I left the house at 7.30 and thanks to someone having an accident on the M5, which was already down to one lane because of roadworks, causing it to shut completely, we reached the show just after 11. We should have got there for opening time at 9.30. I knitted a lot of creamy sock pair#2 (the driver was jealous she couldn’t knit even though we were travelling at about a mile an hour), and finished it later in the day. Nice to see the Glouc Weavers Spinners and Dyers, local lace people and Quilters. It was fantastically busy until about 2 then practically noone stopped to say hello or say “I haven’t seen anyone knit socks since I was a girl” (always said by an OAP), or “I love making socks”. Only bought a book on yarn dyeing (another one – I think they like company). We played I-spy to keep ourselves entertained.

If my Handspun swap pal is out there, hi, do get in touch!

Procrastination

2007-02-14T20:02:00.000Z

Nice to know that handmade gifts are appreciated. The owner of the creamy walking socks has been wearing them constantly since Christmas day, and even made sure he handwashed them carefully. He remembered a jumper his mum had knitted for him shrinking to doll size when he was a lad and wasn’t taking any risks. He’s been out in the woods all day today and says they kept his feet good and warm. As I have another couple of skeins of that yarn hanging around I shall be making another pair as a belated birthday present.

This tangle is no longer such a tangle. I've cast it off, sewn about half the ends in so far and now need to block it and make a back. It’s not quite a year old and has been sat on the floor for most of that because of the numbers of balls of wool on the go. Doing that is preferable to finishing knitting the baby blanket together. I must finish that before the baby is one...

Proverbs

2007-01-31T20:36:00.001Z

It’s just as well it is better to give than receive. Secret Pal 9 ends today. I have been taking part but the complete lack of any mention about it here is because I haven’t actually received anything yet to blog about. I’ve had a lovely time spoiling Nadezjda and had a few emails from my hostess Jody who I’m pleased to see has just learnt to spin – it’s a slippery slope from here with even more scope for indoor wool mountains. Still, there will be rewards for me in heaven!!!

Have also just had the final itinerary of Skipnorth, just over a month away. I’ve not been before but with a love of wool to connect us I am looking forward to it and meeting knitters other than the usual local suspects. It’s also a picturesque part of the country so the coach travel between shopping venues should be pretty.

The plain body of Mariah has been finished upto the armpits and I started a sleeve this morning. It’s less than 2 inches long so far so doesn’t really merit a picture.

Mariah in progress

2007-01-22T20:15:00.000Z

A look at Mariah in its current state. It’s from my handspun Shetland. I haven’t actually spun all the wool for it yet, and I may find I don’t have enough, which means I may not do all the rib down the sleeves. Or I may phone the nice people I bought it from. It is quite dark brown which means the patterning is pretty obscured. We shall see. I have finished knitting the very boring purple blanket but have still to block it and sew it together.

Move along now

2007-01-16T21:59:00.000Z

Nothing much to say. Had yet another sneezy and sniffy day on Saturday in my own and not work’s time. Have booked the first holiday of the year and am now looking at the Historic Knitting gathering in Manchester on 3rd March to coincide with the Antique Textile Fair.

Review of the year

2007-01-01T19:55:00.000Z

Knitted projects completed during 2006:-

Jumper - 1
Cardigans - 2
Scarves – 3 (including 2 handspun)
Bags – 11 (including 4 handspun)
Socks – 5 pairs (including 3 handspun)
Baby shawl - 1

A grand total of 23 items, 11 of which are still with me, while the rest have gone to other homes.

There doesn’t seem to have been much spinning, but there were a lot of bags.

In 2007 I plan to spin all the fleeces which are in the house today. When I told my dad this he assumed this meant I would not be buying more until they were all done. How wrong could he be?? I am not limiting myself on purchases as I prefer my resolutions to be positive rather than negative. The kitchen will of course smell of sheep for the next month or so as I only ever wash a bucketful at a time. My other intent is to knit jumpers out of 4 lots of yarn.

Currently on the needles is another baby blanket

– rather purple as I dislike pastel colours, plus Mariah and a new jumper started today to use up the madder dyed handspun. I’m using two strands together, light and dark so it will have quite a tweedy effect.

Stash Flash

2006-12-16T13:17:00.000Z

A selected part of the stash.

This is three boxes (not all full) of my handspun yarn. This does not actually include all the handspun yarn in the house, as the undyed stuff is elsewhere. You can see my problem? There are acid-dyed variegated yarns in here, just one skein usually of each, which do not match anything else. Then there are the plant dyed yarns, of a host of different thicknesses. Because bright yellow is the easiest and most obtainable plant dye on my holiday I have more than I would wish for – yellow is not my colour. But I realise it does lift all the others and is usually the one which non-fibre friendly folk notice because it is so bright. And lastly there are some pretty chunky skeins from my spinning thick days, which will not felt as I have tried. I need another box for dyed stuff which is not handspun, and there is already an overflowing box of white yarn to dye by whatever method.

Saturday socks

2006-12-09T14:12:00.000Z

And here we have three pairs of socks (I may only be showing one, but believe me there are two of each). The blue ones were finished a while back but it was time to picture them before they get wrapped up to give to my mum for Christmas. They’re made from my handspun blue faced Leicester wool which was dyed in the skein. Mum’s got larger feet than me (most people have) which is why they don’t fit me.

The pink and green ones are left over commercial yarn that I dyed for our Guild exhibition. These could have done with a much tighter knit. I’m really not sure why I knitted them on 13s, but now they are done I will not make that mistake again. It may be because I have a huge number of number 13s as I have randomly bought all the DPNs I could at charity shops over the years. The colouring meant I went for my first short row heel. I found the instructions in Woolcraft which my grandma probably bought in the 1950s

The cream ones also were finished an age ago. The pattern is from the Spin Off Socks special. These are obviously for someone with much bigger feet than me. I have a pair I made for me and I wear them as slippers. Handspun unknown fleece with a lovely lustre.

It’s a gorgeously sunny day here, there’s bread baking the oven, yarn dyeing in pots and Christmas cards to post.

Tidying up is always a mistake

2006-11-27T21:58:00.000Z

What I found this time was a couple of skeins of the lovely grey Gotland… They were on the floor behind the computer table. This was after I’d spun up an extra three skeins of the new Gotland to ensure I would have enough for my mate’s jumper. So as the intended recipient’s 50th birthday is today, I have given up. Well the original jumper dad rejected was upto the yoke before it was all frogged and I contemplated the Wishbone sweater in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Almanac. I even ordered some knitting needles for it (which arrived today). I was using the Gotland yarn double-thickness, but then realised a bottom up jumper wasn’t very sensible when I was unsure how much more of the second darkest shade of the Gotland I had to spin (I’d spun all of the original three shades). This is the same jumper where I had started the yoke after knitting the body and sleeves all separately. So Plan C for this jumper was just a plain top-down raglan, which is such a duplication of work. I had gone past the armpits before finding this yarn (and beyond the point where this yarn matched the shade I was knitting).

I still really like the wishbone sweater and have done a sample of three or four strands of my handspun merino. It would make for a much lighter jumper than the Gotland. I am thinking of putting all the wool into a blue dyepot so they will all be the same colour even if different shades.

A pair of friends visited last weekend, who I always consider my young relatives. As such they got the niece treatment – forced knitting practice and learning to use a spinning wheel. Harry is left-handed so I had to suss out how to knit his way round in order to teach him. It got very confusing when I knitted my normal way as the stitches ended up being a different way round on the needle. And Dennys played on both spinning wheels as she has only spun on spindles and a great wheel before. Yes Dennys is a girl. Just think of the song a Boy Called Sue. Other than that we just sat around and chatted (and knitted) and ate. Somedays that’s all you need to do with friends.

Weekends are days of rest, no?

2006-11-14T20:36:00.000Z

Our Guild’s annual exhibition was on Saturday. I dyed up some yarns to put on the sales table, and as usual the ones I disliked most were sold - other people have such odd taste! I have almost finished one sock with some of the leftover pink and green. I have gone for toe up, short- row heel and picot edge. I probably should have searched a little more to find some smaller needles as these are 13s, and the material is not really dense enough for socks. But they are pretty, so I don’t mind.

Back to the exhibition. Unfortunately it was very poorly attended. We thought a combination of the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC, Armistice day and no rain all combined against us. I got some pink spinning done anyway. There is a competition every year, the theme of which is decided by vote at January’s AGM. This year’s was a bag, and I may have mentioned that Plan A was abandoned when I realised my tension was not in the least bit consistent in the different coloured skeins I had spun. So I did the “LITTLE SLIP OF A THING” from Knitty, with some grey and white handspun and just a little tweaking. I thought a white base would be impractical (oh the words of my mother about not buying ANYTHING pale as it would show the dirt), so opted for grey with a white ridge, and then because it was easier to find the grey yarn in the mess that is my house, I did the handle in grey too. (Actually it also felted a bit better than the lustrous white). I wasn’t expecting it to be one of the favourites, but it actually came joint second (the bags were all anonymous while voting took place). Fave comment was from Mary who said “I vote for the one which catches my eye… I don’t vote on quality”, and it turned out she voted for me.

On Sunday I went to the Hobbycrafts show at the NEC to help on the Knit and Natter stand as Fred had mentioned on the UK Handknitters’ list they were after volunteers . When I eventually found the stand I was sent away again while it was quiet to see the show myself. I whizzed round two halls pretty smartish as I was not in the least bit tempted by the cardmaking equipment. Web of Wool was there so I bought three balls of yarn. As I have very small feet I will probably be able to get three socks out of each ball. I also bought some boxes from the Really Useful Products stall as I am a complete sucker for plastic storage. I may also have bought Nancy Bush’s folk socks book. It was using birthday money you know so doesn’t really count.

I only taught a couple of girls who knew some of the rudiments on knitting how to do a bit more. We did have quite a few people come and ask us knitting questions. Noonie was using a large circular frame to French knit a piece for a blanket so with my sock knitting (so many comments that they’d not seen anyone using that many needles for decades), we did attract some folk. One women claimed she had driven all the way from Lincoln to learn how to finger knit.

That time of year

2006-11-05T20:15:00.000Z

My birthday yesterday was spent in London with a dreadfully early start to attend the first meeting of the re-formed Early Knitting Group (which is not limiting itself to any time period but will consider the entire history of knitting). The room was full of published authors and other erudite folk with a serious amount of knowledge between them. I consider myself a groupie as I have never done any original research, but just pick other people’s brains.

The morning was spent introducing ourselves. Though there were fewer than 30 of us there, this took a long time as everyone was asked to identity their particular interest and this sparked questions. It was a very informal gathering with a chair who banged his gavel when necessary. There were curators, university librarians, ex-knitwear designers, reenactors, costume makers and independent students. And after the introductions we had the opportunity to show things we had brought along. There was a knitted corset (commercial not hand knitted) yes complete with bones whose provenance unfortunately was not known, new knits from original mid 20th century patterns and pictures of items in museums. I took a mismatched pair of Tudor netherhose as I had failed to find a pair of either my blue or orange ones. The chair asked if my jumper has handknitted by me. Of course I was wearing one of my handspun, plant dyed cardigans, purely to show off to folk I expected would appreciate the work! Modest, well no. (pattern from Alice Starmore's Celtic Collection)

The three of us from Kentwell bought butties and ate on a bench in Hyde Park, aghast at the number of joggers on the main drag. When we returned we found an auction going on so I succumbed to two big cones of a murray colour yarn. After setting fire to some of it I know it is acrylic. The afternoon was business talk to work out what format the new group was taking. Hopefully there will be two meetings a year so that is something to look forward to!

No seaside today

2006-11-01T22:13:00.000Z

You will have to imagine the view of the seaside. It was sunny. I knitted socks on the beach, and paddled, though not at the same time. I even bought wool, but it went home with my friends as I didn't have space in my bag.

And when I got home I packed a different bag and went to see a friend and the Derbyshire Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers Exhibition at the Silk Museum (misleadingly full of Rolls Royce engines). When I have mastered the new camera you will see photos. There were bags so I was happy!

Time to fly

2006-10-20T21:37:00.000+01:00

Hello Secret Pal out there in the ether. Thanks for the pretty picture. I'm now on holiday for a few days. I was going to leave you with a picture of a blue work in progress but I can't get the image from my whizzy new digital camera to upload. I shall attempt again on my return.

The best laid plans of mice and men

2006-10-17T20:35:00.000+01:00

Well it’s less than a month now until this year’s Guild competition and the tweed effect bag I had started to spin for is not going to happen. I gathered some of the yarns together a while ago and they were such different thicknesses that 2 or 3 colour knitting of the design I was planning for would not have worked. So Plan B was put in place and is now waiting to be fulled next time I use the washing machine. To confuse my fellow Guild members it is sheep’s colour rather then dyed.

In a spurt of energy, I have also finished knitting the stripy scarf and it is currently blocking on the spare spare bed (there's a guest staying in the spare bed), as is half of dad’s blue jumper And today I hauled the grey ex-dad jumper out (well just lifted it off the back room floor actually), and completed all 4 pieces upto the armpits. I will definitely be making a jumper in the round next time. This week’s lesson is it is very bulky to do a man’s bottom–up raglan jumper when you knit the whole yoke together, esp when the wool is a very heavy weight. The usual lack of planning and foresight meant the lovely Gotland shearling fleeces I had acquired were spun into a very heavy worsted sort of Aran weight yarn. And there is also not enough. I have just started on the last ball and have only done a few rows of the yoke. Luckily I bought some more Gotland at Woolfest and am rapidly spinning some up (challenge 1 – speed, challenge 2 – getting it anything like the same thickness of yarn as the rest of the jumper). My knitting does not suffer tension variations even if I leave it for a year or two, but my spinning does. This could be because I’m not a scientific Mabel Ross follower, except when plying.

And today I bought a digital camera, so hopefully future pictures will be much truer to reality, once I have worked out how to use it.

Angora

2006-10-08T15:13:00.000+01:00

This was originally a bag of 100g delicious white angora from Silkwood . I spun it quite finely and produced 554 yards of two-ply. I dyed the hank aiming for purple, but the colours didn’t melt like they do when I dye roving. The colours are also a bit harsher in this picture than reality and I have to confess I didn’t like them. The lesson – I shall just have to practice dyeing yarn! I have stash that was bought for this purpose.

After a few weeks of breakfast knitting and a
short absence while it was hidden in my filing
cabinet when my parents came to visit (it will be a Chrimbo present for mum), it turned into this.

The pattern is Branching Out from Knitty, and it vastly improved in appearance, with the colour changes not quite so harsh, once it was blocked though it did end up a bit longer than I was expecting.

Niece Number Three came to stay again on Friday for 24 hours. It’s as much as I can cope with… She spun some blue roving I had got lying around. The Kiwi wheel is fab for beginners in my opinion, as the rhythm of treadling is made nice and easy by having a double treadle. I then forced her to practice her knitting. Boy was she glad when my brother turned up to take her away from this child cruelty. Not so much textile fun this time but we did go swimming and baked ginger shortbread (a WI recipe of ginger flavoured shortbread with a ginger icing).

After a long time of resisting knitting scarves as I think they are boring to do (yes I do knit boring stockinette for jumpers but somehow that’s more bearable), I have cast on another lacy scarf. This was using a two-row pattern in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitter’s Almanac. The yarn is a random amount of purpley variegated yarn sort of DK weight, and it’s coming out quite stripy. The lesson from this ball has already been learnt – break up the bits of dyed roving to give a more even variegation. I have tried trawling my stitch books for suitable lacy patterns, and have found one for the other half of the Angora. Partly I am thinking I don’t actually have many items to display at our Guild’s annual exhibition on 11th November. And partly I really enjoy starting projects. The joy of seeing a new pattern emerge gets me every time.

Secret Pal 9

2006-10-03T20:09:00.000+01:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I’m a natural fibres gal. I generally use wool but am trying to branch out to silk and alpaca and other lovely soft things. I don’t like man-made fibres unless they are accompanied by natural stuff in abundance eg sock wool.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Well, the circulars are together in a homemade roll, random pairs are in another roll. I still have the full Aero pack I bought with money my grandma gave me when her sister died in the early 80s, and others are randomly put in jam jars.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Been knitting for 30 years since taught at primary school by a mate. I reckon my skill is between intermediate and advanced as I will happily tackle any pattern, but still have lots to learn.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? No
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.) Lilac or lavendar
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes a very sweet tooth. Green and Blacks white or orange chocolate.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I spin and dye wool too. I have got a neglected sewing machine which is probably jealous of the quality time I spend with my two wheels.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Poppy, some rock or folk. Yes my computer can play music.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
Pinks, purples, reds, blues, bluey greens. Can’t stand yellow wool (though it’s fine on walls!) and despite it being the colour of sheep I am not keen on brown.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Just me and whatever woodlice are lurking.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Not knitted ones since I discovered polar fleece thermal ones. I would not wear a poncho whatever the fabric.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Patterns I have to concentrate on, and bags, complicated or not. But I do knit plain stuff too.
13. What are you knitting right now?
The main things are a plain blue jumper for my dad, a green aran-y cardigan, a bag for our Guild competitiion, a carpet bag from Nancy Bush’s Folk Bags and at least 7 other things which aren’t quite so active.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circulars, or DPNs. Metal.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Both and I love them dearly.
17. How old is your oldest UFO?
Not much more than a year, give or take a few months It’s an entrelac bag, and I hate doing entrelac so I have done perhaps three rows of squares and abandoned it for the moment. It will be finished.
18. What is your favorite holiday?
August bank holiuday
19. Is there anything that you collect?
No, if you don’t count the growing number of books on textile history.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Don’t subscribe to any magazines. One day I’ll get round to getting the pattern for Rogue.
21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Still wanting to be more adventurous in designing own stuff.
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes I am, but only made 3 pairs this year so far. I’m a UK 4, pretty small.
23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 4th November

2006-09-29T20:36:00.000+01:00

A picture of a sheep for Woolly Wormhead. It’s actually a rucksack. This won the local Guild competition a couple of years ago, made from double stranded aran weight handspun Jacobs.

The walking holiday in Malhamdale was fab. The Holiday Fellowship place was grand but cosy. They aim for a Country House atmosphere which works fine for me though the place was packed with a load of bridge players who also walked, and us who just walked. This meant that mealtimes were a little loud and you could really only talk to your immediate neighbour at the table. I sat with a mixture of people. I did the harder walks on the first couple of days and then the medium on the last day. My muscles are just about starting to forgive me. The Yorkshire dales are beautiful with stone walls and barns in every other field for the cattle to overwinter. The second day was all the famous sights of Malhamdale – Garsdale Scar (which we didn’t scramble up as it was too wet and our leader didn’t want to risk it), Malham Tarn and Malham Cove. The limestone pavement at the top of the Coves is plain weird. I have been before but it was years ago.

As I was the youngest person staying, I entertained them by knitting. The WIP was my dad’s jumper (mark 2). This is the blue I dyed but each of the three batches was slightly different so I am knitting with three balls of wool on the go. Quite a few other women said they knitted but none had brought theirs along.

And this is the Brea Bag I knitted with Peruvian wool which my lovely Secret Pal Mo sent me. It's a really nice design to knit as you cast on for the circumference and then decrease. I am someone who hates knitting sleeves in the usual way of increasing every few rows.

THANK YOU

2006-09-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

A very big thank you to my Secret Pal Mo who has been spoiling me for the last 3 ½ months. The final package arrived today (huzzah it fitted through the letterbox). (and in your honour I have finally found out how to put a link in!)

This is what it looked like all smart in its ribbon

And this really does not do the colours justice; it’s all shades of green and pinks and purple and yellow.

It’s Noro which I have only ever seen on blogs, never in the flesh before. Mo had meant to send me some for a booga bag, but got the silk/mohair/lambswool mix instead. It is beautifully soft which means I have to keep stroking it! I am already enjoying reading Mo’s blog.

Other textiles, I am dyeing yarn for my dad's jumper. He will not be getting the Gotland as it will be too thick for him, so I looked through the stash while him and mum were visiting last weekend, found enough white DK (100% wool but not particularly soft), and am making it blue. I am having to dye it in three lots as none of my pans are large enough, and the first batch is not too even. Still it makes it more interesting and less solid...

Gardening

2006-09-03T20:56:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the Gardener’s Weekend in Birmingham, a veritable orgy of gardening stuff for sale and displays of silly looking dahlias and such. This is my annual chance to buy lots of plants, as quite frankly I am not a gardener. I made a beeline for the Hardy Plant Society and impressed them by bringing out my own carriers to fill with a variety of plants for a mere £1 each. And after them I went to the Cottage Plant Society stall, which was a little more expensive but still had a wide range, and another two bags were filled. The weather was miserable, so unlike previous years when I have sat on the grass listening to a live trad jazz band, this time I stood under a tree to eat lunch and listen and moved on much quicker. I only briefly went round the rest of the show, as it was only more plants for sale and I physically couldn’t carry anything else (some were in my rucksack as it was), so I caught the bus home.

I started a conversation with the women who sat next to me while I was knitting a hiking sock. She said her knitting was too complicated for travelling, and when I asked her what it was, she pulled out a photo from her purse of a patchwork knitted blanket in progress. Beats photos of the grandkids. I have not yet reached that stage but I shall have to think about aspiring to it.

The 16 plants got dug in today and the plan of the garden updated. Yes I have a plan (to scale) with all the plants I’ve ever planted. A large number seem to have died. I continue to blame the rats.

Did I mention my other stash?

2006-08-11T21:24:00.000+01:00

On my weekly call to my parents to find out they have not done much all week, I mentioned that I had started sewing a knitting needle case for my circulars. Mum seemed surprised that I have a fabric stash in addition to the yarn stash. As she is the one who saved every single scrap of fabric from clothes making when we were kids and could not bring herself to throw anything away (she blames the WWII mentality) I found this startling. Thankfully she also taught me to sew and had a stack of knitting needles and yarn for me to play with once I learned to knit from a schoolmate aged about seven.

So yes I have a fabric stash which is less likely to be all used up than the yarn. Much of it is dull, but for this bag I chose some leopard skin blue fleece fabric. It talked to me at the NEC some years ago. Anyway, lined with different blue cloth, and some linen dyed with indigo by me at some point, I now have a home for all my circulars. There are 28 in this, but this isn’t the complete collection as some are in use, and there is also space for a gauge ruler so there will be no excuse to file the needles in the wrong pocket. The pattern is inspired by Grumperina’s. I felt rather chuffed with it and have very good intentions of making a holder for all my DPNs. That will first entail gathering up all my DPNs from the wild.

New on the needles this week is a red balaclava helmet. Heaven knows how old the pattern is but my guess is 1950s. Nephew put a request in for this after I’d sent his mother and sister knitted presents. He is currently obsessed with Spiderman and luckily for me the superhero made his own mask originally without any black web markings.

Finally Finished

2006-08-09T21:27:00.000+01:00

I seem to have an aversion to posting pics of Works in Progress. So some finished bags. As these bags aren’t felted they needed linings, and I forced myself to complete them at the weekend. I actually really like hand sewing, it’s just starting it that’s the problem.

First up is the red and green tote which was finished some time ago. This yarn is handspun and I dyed it and several other skeins years ago with plants and it was all varying shades of beige or dull yellows. Yuck. So out came the chemical dyes a few weeks ago and half went in the blue and half the red. The skeins all came out differing shades of red and green, in tones which matched. This picture does not give the true green – it’s actually many shades of green. I used the green to do the hem at the top, and the bag is lined with blue cloth. Blocking the bag really helped. It will be a useful bag for a small project as I have a tendency to leave knitting all over the house. I like plain tote bags and here the handles are double knit which is fine for a small length and much less fiddly than using DPNs or a circular needle to knit in the round (the intention being to avoid seams of course!)

Bag number 2 is from the Bag a Knitter’s dozen book I have raved about previously. This is the one where I had to frog a square… The yarn is Rowan cotton bought for less than £2/ball in a John Lewis sale. I failed to block this and it has suffered a bit as I think I have sewn it up just a little tightly. But again it’s lined in blue cloth and will fit a jumper’s worth of a project in it.

And lastly, a cable pink bag. I’d seen a pattern in a book in passing for a cabled Big Wool bag. Couldn’t see the point in buying a book for just one pattern so made this one up by swatching and I rather like it. Two balls of Rowan Big Wool bought incredibly cheaply last year and the strap is again double knitted. I still have to sort out fastening for this which is a drawback. I quite like the idea of buckles which means a trek down the market. Need I say it is lined in blue cloth? I did try with all these bags to find cloth in the stash to match the colours of the yarn, but nothing I had was right so I played safe by going for a contrast.

Jaywalker

2006-08-05T10:22:00.000+01:00

I don’t understand it. My Jaywalker is the same size as my raspberry ripple sock, and I would have thought should have been stretchy because of the bias thing going on. And look you can see it is the same size.

But when I tried it on I just could not get it on round my ankle. I tried several times at differing times of the day in case my foot had swollen, but no joy. So the sock is being ripped. It will also make me disinclined to try out another sock pattern, except for rib as I know that would be very stretchy.

The decluttering slowly continues, though it is mainly things which have been hidden away so there’s no discernable lessening of stuff. Jam jars, tiles and a couple of old ghetto blasters have gone to new homes courtesy of Freecycle. And I took my old guitar and sewing box to the charity shop last week, along with a large rucksack full of other bags. I have to acknowledge that despite loving bags it is the one object I buy and then don’t use. Don’t have that problem with clothes purchasing as I rarely buy clothes…

2006-07-27T20:19:00.000+01:00

My lovely Secret Pal sent me another parcel. There are three skeins of dusky pink Lamb’s Pride (and I hadn’t realised it had mohair in it so it feels so soft, plus chocolates (all now eaten and enjoyed), scented wooden balls to keep the moths off (and all tied up in PINK ribbons), and this summer’s Spin Off magazine. This edition made me very happy as it has sheep hand puppets, a wrist wool holder and an article on North Ronaldsay sheep – the ones who eat seaweed. A VERY BIG THANK YOU to my secret pal.

And last weekend’s spin-in was at the Kingfisher Project in east Birmingham, to celebrate its 21st birthday. The project is about the local river Cole, and somehow us spinners weaver and dyers got invited, and it would have been churlish to turn them down.

It was a delightful day. The rangers and volunteers were relaxed. We had a double gazebo to keep off first the rain then the sun. They had got three varied musical interludes – Morris dancing, South American musicians and Indian drumming. And the general public were an interested bunch who asked intelligent questions and seemed very pleased to see our crafts and the few things we had on display. Sometimes talking to the public can be a demoralising experience but that day it was uplifting. And I spun 2 big skeins of 2-ply Shetland which was lush to work. Only another 4 lots the same size before I can make a jumper with it!

At last a pair

2006-07-16T20:43:00.000+01:00

Well I have finally finished the sister sock to the pink sock. Of course the current weather is far too glorious to wear socks any more than is necessary. But I’m pleased with them and they didn’t take as long as I thought (bearing in mind I am cycling to work most days so I don’t have valuable knitting-on-the-bus time). I bought some more white opal sock yarn at Woolfest to dye and intend to make my mum some socks for Christmas (the lucky woman should also benefit from an angora scarf I can’t start to knit until I have finished two more UFOs. I have spun about 80g of rabbit from the lovely Silkwood folk but it needs dyeing as white does not suit mum).

My Brea bag, made from the lovely purple yarn from my SP, is blocking but I need to work out what to use as a strap. I fear another trip to the local House of Fraser.

Pushbikes and the art of sales shopping

2006-07-12T19:47:00.000+01:00

Am back from my week of cycling up the English Marches. I had a blissful time. Each day consisted of cycling, lunch, more cycling, dinner, bed (and sooo much sleep), and then the same again the next day. I did about 100 miles in just over 5 days, in a leisurely way, ie walking up any incline. Herefordshire and Shropshire are in a different century. Lots of B&W buildings and enough hills to be a bit interesting (plus all the second hand bookshops in Hay on Wye. I couldn’t carry the books I bought so had to post them to myself). I generally avoided anywhere which wasn't surrounded by fields except for mealtimes. The lanes were one-track ones with very little traffic and even going on B-roads was a bit too much company. I thought of nothing except the next turning, and had no news, no world cup or Wimbledon for the whole week. And in the evenings I read, and occasionally chatted to other youth hostellers. It was a bit hot at the beginning of the week and somehow I wasn't outside when it rained later. I did visit two National Trust houses (for the teashops as well as the elegant 18th century interiors).

Before Woolfest and after seeing the House of Fraser sale mentioned elsewhere, I just had to pop into my local one a couple of Fridays ago, just to see. I scored a pack of dusty pink Kid Classic. I did feel a bit proud of myself that first I looked up patterns to check that ten balls would be enough for a jumper. I have been caught out in my enthusiasm for Rowan before when I bought some Silken Tweed that was not enough for a jumper my size. I have visions of a cardigan with slightly flared wrists and just a touch of lacy bits at the edges.

When showing it to my colleagues I was stung by comments that I ought to finish what I was kitting. Guilty feeling from having said I would only have ten projects current at any one time… and realising it had gone up to twelve as I just had to start the purple yarn my SP sent (a Brea bag, finished the front and back so now need to do the gusset). So whilst listening to the radio that Saturday afternoon I was diligently sewing up my counterpane bag, only to find one of the squares was wrong. And it wasn’t a “just frog a little” mistake, but from the seventh row of 160. I did think about botching it but decided I couldn’t so I have undone it and started that square again. I have also been contemplating linings. Felted bags I don’t think need them but other knit fabrics would stretch without support so I need to line this. Can I find the orange, blue and white linens I have? They must be hiding from me in a fit of pique.

Heaven

2006-07-03T07:58:00.000+01:00

Woolfest was created last year as a two-day festival of wool by the Woolclip (a cooperative based in north Cumbria who include farmers producing wool and mohair, creative textile and fibre artists and spinners, weavers, knitters and dyers with a shop at Priest's Mill in Caldbeck, Cumbria). Cockermouth may be a trek from most of the country, but all the traders in the spinning world you can think of plus many others, with the exception of Fibrecrafts, were there. I suppose the only comparison is with the shows you go to at the NEC, but at this one there were only two non-textile stalls I saw – both making baskets (one willow, one oak swill).

I somehow persuaded a friend to drive us up there and stay in Cockermouth Youth Hostel, which is an 18th mill. I promptly abandoned the friend after dinner to go spinning on the Friday night. This is the great Spin-in (think late 1960s love-in but with wool). About a hundred of us mainly with wheels but some knitting or spindling gathered in an agricultural show theatre. I joined a small group of Joy wheels and owners. One woman was pre-drafting silk, and kindly taught me. I have only tried silk a couple of times and had to fight with it which hurt my hands so I never thought I’d want to try again. But predrafting and winding the stuff onto a stick – I shall attempt this again. Got back to the hostel to find a Blue Peter session of needle felting going on.

The hostel had just over 20 of staying there – including a group of loud Yorkshire and Teeside women, plus an alpaca stallholder. The talk of mating alpacas before breakfast in the morning was a bit eye watering.

I had booked a class on long draw spinning with Freyalynn Close-Hainsworth for the morning. A select band with a variety of wheels, including a Hitchhiker. Now I think the Joy is beautifully portable but this one fits in a suitcase. It’s even shorter than the Joy. We were taught to card perfect little rolags, and take the plunge with spinning a yard at a time. Another thing to try at home.

And after that there was shopping. I had not only been saving money but had even thought about items I was after. I got a new top-whorl spindle as although I do spin occasionally with a spindle, they seem less effort (no faffing with half hitches). For those who don’t read the Journal there was an article recently on a new cross called Bowmont which is being developed which is ¾ merino and ¼ Shetland. The intention is to grow beautifully fine wool in this country, but it was not been too successful yet. I had to buy a bag of the fleece to try out. I also bought a book on learning to crochet for my mother who poor thing can no longer knit. Though there was much yarn , I resisted as I spin and dye I can’t really justify it…

There were also sheep, with several of the sheep societies present, fleece sale, and all these people to talk to about wool. Heaven.

The word of the day is Lovely

2006-06-21T20:08:00.000+01:00

Today I went to the post office to collect a parcel (postmen of old used to leave parcels with neighbours, but they don’t seem to do this anymore, making you go up to the sorting office for your own parcels).

So a box. From Oregon. How exciting.

I resisted reading the custom label so when I opened it I saw these lovely things from my lovely Secret Pal.

She was proud of herself for not eating the choc, so I copied her self-control by waiting until I got home to photograph it before starting to scoff the Green & Black’s orange, and take it from me it is gorgeous stuff. The purple of the Elann Peruvian Collection yarn isn’t quite true with my poor cheapo camera – it’s a really edible heathery shade of purple. And the candles smell scrummy. So THANK YOU Secret Pal.

Now where’s the pattern book?

Hackers United

2006-06-19T21:07:00.000+01:00

Well one thing can now be crossed off my to-do list – I’ve finally finished hacking the whole of the buddleia down. For a shrub it had grown to immense proportions – woody enough to need a saw for the last stems. It’s filled 6 green bags (thank goodness the council collects garden rubbish free) and probably taken as many weeks in total as I cut it into very small pieces. I am trying to reclaim my garden. As I can’t see most of it from the house it generally doesn’t bother me that it looks derelict.

No pictures as that involves going downstairs, but the sample of Rowan big wool has now been knitted into a shoulder bag with big cables. I still need to sew it up so technically it is not yet finished. The only other knitting straps I’ve ever made have been I-cord/French knitted ones which have been felted. Generally I think knitted straps in garter or stocking stitch are not practical as if you put any weight in the bag they will stretch the bag to your knees. But I have made these by doing double knitting, ie knitting a tube on two needles by slip stitching every other stitch purl wise. It still stretches but will hopefully be strong enough.

Pink

2006-06-05T20:19:00.000+01:00

I like pink. I know it’s a girly colour and I’m not a girl who cares tuppence about her appearance, but pink just does something for me. So in one of my first experiments with chemical rather than plant dyes I dyed some yarn (Unknown fibres, but definitely some wool in there), with pink and magenta and feared what it would look like knitted up. It looks pink. Thankfully there is only a small amount of colour pooling. The pattern is “You're Putting Me On" Socks by Judy Gibson, knitted toe-up. I now want to try short row shaping so perhaps that will help. Second sock syndrome is upon me as instead of casting on a new sock immediately I’d finished this one; I was sidetracked into doing a cable sample of some Rowan Big wool which I have random amounts of. This was after some of Saturday afternoon was spent cruising the knitting section of Borders for inspiration. There are some fun projects in the books I saw, but not enough to make me want to buy a whole book.

Just done a quiz, which of Henry VIII’s wives are you, and I turned out to be Anne of Cleves – Not afraid to wear ugly shoes on a date.

Monday Monday

2006-05-29T14:59:00.000+01:00

Another bank holiday weekend when I have failed to arrange to visit the seaside. I have a little list of things to do, and one was to cycle to Wolverhampton along the canal. Considering how urban the area is it’s lovely and country-like. On the way there I saw perhaps twenty blokes fishing, including one in a wheelchair. On the way back said wheelchair was loaded high with fishing equipment. Not only was it a fine mode of transport but it was probably a lot more comfy sat staring into the canal sitting in it than on one of the standard boxes. I was impressed with the bloke’s resourcefulness. Sadly no baby ducks, but there were a couple of families with baby coots, confusingly with fluffy red heads like moorhens.
I’ve joined freecycle and got rid of a spare vacuum and a bookcase so far. I’m now poking in cupboards to see what else can find a new home.

The knitting does continues. This very poor picture was my oldest UFO. It only needed buttons sewing on, so I trotted up to my LYS last Saturday, bought some and to save losing this set (the third I’d bought for this jumper) promptly sewed them on while listening to the Eurovision song contest. I personally think it’s lost a lot since most countries have opted to sing in English. I voted for Germany and Finland. As the cardi no longer fits me I’ve sent it to Niece Number three (and the russet rucksack to her mother)

The rain is currently preventing me from hacking the buddleia down. It’s almost as wide as the house due to not being trimmed at all last year. I shall just have to carry on cleaning.

Footwear

2006-05-19T20:02:00.000+01:00

I’ve started something new – socks. The last pair I knit was for my Tudor clothes a few years ago. As the socks in Rutt’s book are shaped to the leg, that’s what I did with some fetching blue two-ply Shetland yarn bought from Uppingham Yarns a few years previous. Then I just had to knit and dye yarn for another pair. Some Leicester Longwool roving was lovely to work with, but disappointingly didn’t take a very strong red when I dyed it with madder. As I have produced redder shades on other wool I realised the reasonably tightly worsted type of spinning affected the colour take-up. The red socks are lovely, and were much admired but alas no longer fit. Or rather one still fits but one of my ankles is now larger than the other due to an accident last year (tore my Achilles tendon dancing the gay Gordons, like you do). There are two possible routes – take out the foot of one and re-knit, or knit an entire new sock. I’ve opted to do nothing for the moment, as both choices depend on me finding the spare yarn in the stash.

The current work-in-progress will not be worn on Tudor days as the yarn is mottled pink – dyed by me flicking dry powder in a stockpot. As toe-up socks make sense for an unknown quantity of yarn that’s what I’m doing, and am enjoying it so far.

As I have nothing planned for this weekend I will try and complete the middle stripes of my jumper for dad. I’m knitting all four jumper pieces at once so the stripes match as I have unknown quantities of yarn in the three shades of grey.

There is a theme here for random lengths of yarn.

Hobbits

2006-05-15T19:27:00.000+01:00

It was the annual Tolkein weekend at Sarehole Mill just gone. That’s near where Tolkein was boy and allegedly the mill and the Bog gave the lad ideas for his future writing. I have tried to read Tolkein but gave up after only a page or two, and have never seen the film. So this weekend was devoted to people with velour cloaks, pointy ears and swords, and to top it all there was a Wand Workshop for the kids.

I wanted nothing to do with this but my Guild goes there to do its crafts and so I spent two days spinning and batting off the Sleeping Beauty comments. And contradicting the parents who were explaining to their offspring that I was spinning sheep (I was onto the angora rabbit by then). I do enjoy explaining to men (and believe me it’s the blokes who think of the engineering) how the wheel works, or showing off the softness of the fleece to small friendly looking children. Two were stupid enough to put their hands near the flyer when it was going round, and I managed to resist swearing at them.

So I produced in total three variegated skeins of Navajo plied wool as part of my planned carpet bag for the Guild competition in November. Plus 3 skeins of chunky white fleece (breed unknown – it turned up on my doorstop with 5 others in a bin bag courtesy of friends of friends), and some finely spun angora singles.

Psst

2006-05-05T21:10:00.000+01:00

In readiness for a couple of long train journeys this weekend to visit a Great Aunt I've cast on the back of my aran cardi. It's good to be at this stage when travelling as it doesn't weigh as much or take as much space. The cardi is dark green, can't remember the book it's from but it's twisted stuches rather than needing a cable needle so doubly travel-friendly ie there's nothing else to lose.

and for Secret Pal 8

What is/are your favourite yarn/s to knit with? What fibres do you absolutely *not* like?
Faves are wool or wool mixes or other natural fibres. Not a great fan of eyelash or similar yarns or 100% cotton.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Mugs or jamjars in every room, random boxes for the shorter ones.
3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
30 years – intermediate. I have always enjoyed experimenting but have realised in the last year there is still an enormous amount more to learn and try.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No
5. What's your favourite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Lilac
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favourite candy?
Very sweet tooth, chocolate is my favourite thing, milk, white or dark but never coffee flavoured.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I spin yarn and dye it too. I used to sew and have a pile of fabric patiently writing for me to uncover it (and three sewing machines). I even have a loom but that’s as dusty as the fabric and less likely to be used.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Folk, real pop like Abba, a bit of rock and 16th century choral music. Really not sure about MP3s but my computer can play music.
9. What's your favourite colour? Or--do you have a colour family/season/palette you prefer? Any colours you just can't stand?
Favourites are reds through purples to blues and greens. Not awfully keen on brown and yellow.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Just me, not even one cat to call my own. I have to make do with going ahhh at the Daily Kitten
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves and hats. Not mittens or ponchos
12. What is/are your favourite item/s to knit?
Something that needs attention and concentrating on. Bags and jumpers as objects.
13. What are you knitting right now?
An aran cardi, entrelac bag, counterpane bag, plain jumper for dad, stripy rib jumper, an Inca patterned bag.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circular metal ones. I’ve never tried bamboo.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Both. And I love them.
17. How did you learn to knit?
Taught at school by a school mate when aged about 7 after both my grandmas had given up. Since then I’ve just happily tried out new things.
18. How old is your oldest UFO?
Possibly a couple of years. I can’t actually remember when I started it and the terrible thing is it only needs a couple of buttons sewing on, but I have lost two sets already. When I finish it Niece Number Three will be getting it as it doesn’t suit me.
19. What is your favourite holiday?
Visiting museums, stately homes and cathedrals, and looking at really old textiles including clothes.
20. Is there anything that you collect?
No, apart from more wool and books on wool and the occasional sheepy thing. I’ve just had some new shelves built to house the library.
21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I don’t subscribe to any magazines. I really like the look of the Rogue hoodie.
22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
To try and design without making a complete botch-up
23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Very occasional. English size 4/European 37
24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
November 4th.

a grey day

2006-05-04T19:59:00.000+01:00

This is the last of the yarn for the plain jumper I am knitting my dad. As I’d knitted a jumper for my mum, I gave dad a sample skein at Christmas with “Work in Progress” written on it. At this rate I will finish it in time for midsummer when of course he will not be needing it, even in England.

A pregnant shawl

2006-04-30T22:10:00.000+01:00

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

2006-04-14T09:19:00.000+01:00

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?

2006-04-08T21:39:00.000+01:00

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

2006-04-01T20:37:00.000+01:00

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.

Stripy Rib

2006-03-28T19:26:00.000+01:00

A work in progress. It's a jumper from the book Hot Knits made in Rowan big wool. The wool was bought incredibly cheaply and I bought all the balls I could which meant stripes. It's knitted from sleeve cuff to sleeve cuff, in a 2x2 rib which I expect to be horribly unflattering.

Last weekend I played hostess to my youngest niece, a mere 8 yrs old. It's the first time she has stayed so I kept her busy. We dyed roving, failing completely to cover up her white t-shirt until it had already attracted some of the magenta. This roving she then learnt to spin. We spent the evening watching and singing along very badly to Grease, one of my favourite films. The next day we went swimming, spun some more and baked bread for lunch. She also read her way through some of the Mr Men Library which lives in the guest bedroom. She did ask how many balls of wool I have in the house, but at least she has not been indoctrinated with the opinion that I have Too Much Stuff like my sister's kids think.

Lord High Executioner

2006-02-28T21:58:00.000Z

I have a little list.

I counted my knitting projects yesterday. Without even delving into the stash in the official craft room (as opposed to the rest of the house), I got upto a dozen Works in Progress. One is a purple cardi which has been waiting probably a year to have just three buttons sewn on. The green cardi needs buttons sewing too, but I still need to buy the buttons for that. I think. I did finish the knitting of one bag this morning over breakfast (hey I'm on flexi - I don't need to leave the house until gone 9) but it still needs the ends sewing in before felting in the washing machine. I will try and be disciplined and not start anything else until I have finished something. This shouldn't be too hard as I can just do some spinning if I really need more variety.

The future's tweed

2006-02-21T22:20:00.000Z

My local Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers has an annual competition and this year the subject is a Bag. The deadline is November, but for the first few years I entered I took this to mean I started the project in November and finished it less than two weeks later. This year I have A Plan. It's a carpet bag from Vicki Square's Folk Bags, made in tweed Rowan in the original. So tweed spinning it is. I dyed some roving yellow and red on Sunday and started spinning it tonight. I've only recently started dyeing with acid dyes, and it's not that the colours are brighter than plant dyes, just have a wider range including pinks and purples. I think there are about a dozen colours in the bag so that's still plenty of more dyeing to do.

Brave new world

2006-02-18T21:44:00.000Z

Inspired by an Olympic Knitter from Team GB who I met in Cheltenham here's my first attempt. I was on the Knitting and Crochet stand knitting the Inca bag from Folk Bags by Vicki Square. The characters look like Pacman from the video games of years past, only more pink. I have realised one way to attempt to decrease the size of the stash is to knit bags with it, in order to store yet more wool. Niece Number Three visited during the week and declared that I had 85 balls of yarn in my house and that was why I wasn't married. I pointed out to her I had masses more than 85 balls of yarn and I wasn't married because I had never asked anyone.