Oops! I did it again!

A little bonus money this week meant another trip to spotlight, especially considering they had other yarns on sale. Not quite as significant a bargain as last time, but still so much fun!

After bringing home my last yarn haul, I realized that I could easily do with a few extra balls in most of the colors I bought for sweaters, and if there's too much.....hats and fingerless mitts!

Today's purchase bought me a chocolate brown sweater, my daughter dark and light purple sweaters, and the extra balls for fun. Tomorrow I 'm thinking about going to knit'n'purl my local yarn store to see if there are any bargains there. So much fun!

Another Repeat?

The Holden Shawlette has been flying off the needles, and I'm loving every minute of it. The only problem is, I have finished the last repeat and have a significant amount of wool left......what to do? The sensible part of me says "finish up before I get into trouble", the risktaking part of me says "go for it! one more repeat, no worries!" So what to do?

My gut instinct is telling me to go for one more repeat and I think I'll listen to her, she is almost never wrong. For example when knitting Nathan's Skye Tweed sweater, the whole time I thought it was going to be too small, but kept convincing myself it would block out. And it kinda did, but not enough. Instinct 1 Me 0. The sweater is too small.

Or my Smoky Raven sweater for myself, I thought the stripes were too narrow, did I listen? No. Am I loving it? No. There are more examples, but suffice it to say, Instinct is usually dead on, and I think I trust her. So what will I do? One more repeat of course and pray that I won't run out of wool!

Monkey Socks!!

I have finally cast on for the famous "Monkey Socks" by Cookie A, and so far I love them! I will admit I have only done a couple of repeats down one leg, but so far I really enjoy the pattern and have almost memorised the repeat. I can tell these will be gorgeous socks, and in the hot pink Cleckheaton Merino I'm using, I am hoping they will be nice to wear and not itchy or scratchy at all. I love the warmth and the extra cushioning knit socks provide, and knitting them is a lot of fun too. But they lose their appeal when they are too itchy to wear.

I have not seen a pair of Monkey socks in person before, so seeing the pattern developing is very addictive. I would love nothing more than to work on these exclusively, but I really need to work on my cardigan for work. The weather is getting cooler and I don't like being cold, especially when it is preventable.....with a nice hand knit cardigan.

I have looked at other sock patterns by Cookie A, and I can tell many more of them will be making their way onto my needles. I will just need to buy more sock yarn!

My Holden Shawlette

Searching for a shawl pattern that included a lace pattern that was a bit of challenge, but not so that I would get flustered, I chose the Holden Shawlette by Mindy Wilkes. I really like this pattern. It has enough of the stockinette portion to really show off the varigated yarn I'm using, but I am also really looking forward to getting to the lace. It looks like so much fun!

The two photos don't really show off the yarn as well as I'd hoped, but it is truly gorgeous. The main base color is blue, with porions of indigo, purple and a bit of bright jade green just to give it that little flash. The color is definately me andI cannot wait to see it finished, although a part of me doesn't want it to end! I mostly knit with solid colors, so I didn't realise how truly pleasurable varigated yarns can be.

I'm using Zig Zag by King Cole and it's a 75% wool, 25% nylon blend. Very nice to work with, soft and oh so pretty. I purchased it at a local yarn store in Dandenong called Knit'nPurl. They don't have a website but they have a nice range of yarns and the owner is lovely.

Handspun Mits and Beret

With the fleece provided to me by Spinaddict on Ravelry I was able to spin up and knit this Beret and Fingerless Mitts set for myself. The color is a really nice brown, rich and warm, although the photo does not do it justice. I was impressed to see how knitting my first ever handspun up, managed to hide most of the inconsistancies in my spinning, while providing the fabric with a very unique texture. I definately encourage people to knit up their handspun before dismissing it entirely.

I did not use any specific patterns for the mitts or beret, it was more just looking over numerous patterns until I was able to combine them to make a generic pattern. Both the patterns I have come up with are perfect for my sizing and I will certainly make again. They display the uniqueness of a handspun fibre beautifully because of their simplicity. And I love looking at them and knowing I made them entirely on my own.

Quality fibre equals quality spinning

Ok, so I was having a nightmare trying to spin up the white fleece I had washed and flicked for spinning. I am able to spin it, but with the staple length being quite short and there being lots of little lumps/pill type things, I kept having to rejoin the fleece and accidentally overspinning it and ending up with a very multi-textured yarn. So not happy. I was beginning to think that perhaps spinning is not for me, that I can't seem to create a yarn that has any consistancy in thickness or twist.

But before I gave up entirely, I decided to put up a new bobbin and try the grey fleece I have been washing that I bought off ebay for a steal, $20 and it's the whole fleece from a black/grey sheep. A lot got removed with the skirting, but I sill have a massive quantity of a gorgeous colour fleece. It is mostly a steel grey, with darker sections and lighter, where it was sun-bleached. So I pulled some out and realised that it didn't really need to be carded/flicked/combed, that the locks are already very open, and although I haven't measured, the staple seems very long. So I threaded it up and started and it was delightful! It was so smooth, spun up so easily, and the single I was creating looks lovely and uniform in twist and thickness.

As an added bonus, the color changes have all blended together nicely to create a stunning rustic grey combination that I am truly in love with. And my love for spinning has grown. I was truly feeling the satisfaction that I'm sure spinning provides others, and felt very proud of what was lying on the bobbin. Tonight I intend to spin more of this grey so I can ply it up soon and see what the final result looks like.

As for the white fleece, I'm not sure what to do with it. Whether I should continue on spinning as much as I can and use the rest as stuffing for a toy or cushion, or to just throw it away. But I don't like throwing anything away even if it is doing my head in, so I will think about it and decide later. But the idea of cushion filling may be the most logical and least painful option!

My First Completed Spinning Project

Here are photos of my first completed skeins of yarn, plied and washed.

 As you can see in this close up, the consstancy leaves a lot to be desired, but I did it! Still pleased, even if I'm not sure if I'll make anything out of it.

I began spinning a new bobbin last night and am very impressed with the consistancy and thinness I have acheived.....maybe there is hope for me yet!

Building a rhythm

I finished a bobbin last night, still have no idea of the quality that I spun but I guess I'll find out soon enough. I am starting to build up a rhythm and getting longer stretches of consistant yarn, but those little bumps and super skinny bits still appear here and there. I also found myself getting some weird areas of over-twisting, and others that were under-twisted. But once again a learning experience.

After all, I need to just look at my earlier knitting projects to see the development of skill and knowledge as each item is finished. The seaming, cables, picked up stitches, button bands and holes......have all improved, and still have more improvement to go. And I doubt I will ever reach a stage of perfection, but that is the beauty of hand-crafts, the imperfections that make it yours and no body elses.

I have noticed time flies when I am spinning, especially when I am in rhythm. I found there were less instances of losing the thread, and equally trying to get it restarted again. I think I managed to spin a lot more in last nights session than in the previous sessions. I also noticed the importance of the tension when spinning, I was getting some very odd, loose yarn threading on the bobbin, not having the tight, efficient look it should. I remedied this by tightening the wheel a bit and going a bit faster. I have found that I work better when I am going a bit faster.

Still so much to learn it boggles the mind! But what a fun journey.

Sweater Vest Progress

This is the progress so far on my father-in-law's sweater vest - as requested! I have finished the main body and have seperated for the front and back. On the back I am about halfway finished, still have 5" or so to go, but it's going fairly quickly now. I have already used over 500g 10ply (worsted) superwash wool, so it is getting kinda heavy!
I am making this sweater vest according to my own pattern, as I couldn't find a pre-designed pattern that I really liked. So far it is going well, and I have used a few calculations for the armholes and the v-neck that will be on the front. Still hoping to get it finished by Christmas, which shouldn't really be a problem, I have plenty of time.

Wish I had a spinning wheel

Today my thumb is sore, it really only hurts when I purl, but it's enough to really annoy me. It is times like these that I wish I had a spinning wheel so I could still play with wool, even if it is in a different form. I have watched a few spinners and I love it! It looks like so much fun and so satisfying.....I would absolutely love to wear a jumper or a cardigan made from wool I had spun myself. So divine!

Occasionally, and I can't believe I'm admitting this, I feel I need a break from knitting, so I tried crochet, and it just wasn't for me. But since seeing the spinning I really feel a draw to it. Being able to take the craft to another level is very enticing, and some of those natural fleece colors are beautiful.

So now, instead of buying more wool, I think I will save for a spinning wheel and some fibre. With Christmas around the corner I hope to be learning to spin next year! At least that will be my goal..........

Til next time.........Love Danielle xoxox

New Years - Casting on and weaving ends

Well, I finally finished Chloe's cardigan and she loves it. She hasn't taken it off since i gave it to her, and it doesn't even have buttons yet!!! So happy and proud of myself. I promised myself I would finish by new years, and I did with an hour and a half left! A very close call. :) I did the finishing and weaving ends yesterday, but that didn't count. I had finished knitting!

Isn't it gorgeous! The photos aren't the best, but oh well. This is my first

cabled project and it was a lot easier to cabled than I had imagined. I think I now have a cabling bug :)
I recently ordered some beautiful new handwash wool in a red tweed to make my mum a long cardigan/ jacket for mother's day. This gives me five months, so I should be done by then. I can't wait to get the wool, but I expect it to be a few days away still. I bought it from Bendigo Woolen Mills and their prices are fantastic! I bought 800 grams for $44. Couldn't get close to that at my local Spotlight.
I'm going to visit a few LYS's this week, to explore, but also to hunt down some new needles. The ones i'm using are ok, but i'm sure that there are nicer ones out there. Should be fun.
For now however, I'm going to work on a simple afghan square for some mindless knitting. I then have Nathan's jumper with a couple of stripes to finish up. Even though It's summer, it makes sense to me to make these cold weather garments now, before it's too late!
Til Next time, Danielle