Technological Hitches...

Things might be a little more sporadic around here than I'd usually like - my (very old and temperamental) MacBook Pro decided that right after I'd spent a tonne of money on a new spinning wheel, was a good time to die on me. I'm lucky enough to have an iMac desk top - upon which I'm typing this now, but it hasn't got any photo editing software, and the majority of my files are stored on my MacBook. 

I'm not entirely sure what's wrong with it - only that it turns on but won't start up, so I'm going to make an appointment to take it to the geniuses at the local Apple store (which -silver lining- happens to be near a knitting shop I really want to visit!) and get them to do a post mortem on it - but I feel will end with me dropping another large amount of money on a shiny new computer. Luckily I have rainy day money for this purpose - although I was get a big hit of guilt when I dip into it! 

Anyway. I need to decide what to do about my editing software situation - I'm a photoshop girl through and through, and maybe it's time to suck it up and renew my creative cloud subscription - but that's neither here nor there. I should hopefully have sorted something out in time to post my regular fibre recap on Friday, but if it's late - then I'm blaming technical difficulties!*

Obviously the thing I'm most annoyed about is how much of my yarn funds this how debacle is going to cost me! But hey ho. I guess I have enough to last me a little while yet ;)

*one of which is, I don't have a desk at my parents house - my iMac is on a shelving unit as there's not enough space, so I usually just use it for netflix viewing. I'm currently typing this with the keyboard on my lap and it's not ideal! Haha. 

Fibre Friday (& Saturday!) #26

This week marks six months of Fibre Friday posts - which is a landmark I think, for me, if no one else. When I started this blog I was struggling with both my knitting mojo and my ability to stick to schedules of any kind, so some progress has been made! This week I have a lot of socks - including a finished object that I completely forgot to mention last week... Oops! Scatter brained.

Firstly, I started a non-sock project. The Prickly Thistle Mittens by SpillyJane have been in my ravelry queue for about a year; I picked up the yarn for them from The Knitting & Stitching show last October, and it's been sitting in the stash ever since.  This week, I finally downloaded the pattern and cast them. Incidentally, SpillyJane has some wonderful colourwork patterns for sale on ravelry and throughout the month of August they're all $3 - which is about £2.38 including VAT, so I think I'll be stocking up on a couple more of her designs before the month is out! The colourscheme for these has been shamelessly purloined from the pair knit by Helena aka IgnorantBliss, as I think it's beautiful! I'm knitting these out of Eden Cottage Yarns in Oakworth DK in the 'Midnight' colourway and Bowland DK in the 'Steel' colourway. I very rarely knit colourwork patterns and I'm not really sure why this is - I'm really enjoying them so far!

On to the socks and my handspun 'Autumn Rainbow' socks are finished! Made with fibre dyed by Taylor Made Yarns, these are the best pair of handspun socks I've made yet. I love the colours - I'm really glad I decided to Navajo ply the singles as it's kept the colours much more clean and crisp. They don't match, but I think matching is overrated!

The project I completely forgot to talk about last week are my finished Budleigh socks by Rachel Coopey. These are from her book Coop Knits Socks, and knit out of Skein 'Top Draw' in the 'Blackcurrant' colourway. I love them, aside from the above handspun socks, these are my favourite (and probably most accomplished) of all the socks I've knit so far.

I also finished my second Austermann sock, knit out of Austermann Step in the 'Aubergine Easy' colourway. A simple vanilla pattern meant I knit almost an entire sock (bar toe decreases) last Saturday at a friend's barbecue. Nothing to write home about, but another pair for the drawer!

More socks - and I got two pattern repeats done on the toe of my second Seaweed sock by Wendy D. Johnson. I'm knitting them out of a Merino/Nylon/Stellina blend from Hand Dyed by Kate in the 'Midnight Sparkle' colourway. I'm hoping to get these done in time to count them for Stash Dash - so this week they're going to replace my mittens as my 'At Home Evening Knitting'.  Because I need categories for all of my knitting!

Finally on the sock front, I cast on for another pair of vanilla socks - to replace the Austermann socks as on-the-go knitting. The first sock aside from the heel, is done!  And I've cast on for the toe of the second sock - I wound off a colour repeat of the yarn so I could start the second sock in the same place, so hopefully they'll match! I'm knitting them out of Fortissima Mexiko in the colourway '252'. This is the first time I've used this particular yarn and I'm not very impressed - the colours are fine and there aren't any knots so far, but for a 75/25 superwash wool / nylon blend, it's so stiff and scratchy. I'm not someone who touches wool and says 'Oh it's too itchy, I can't wear it!' (Truth be told, I scoff at these people and leave them to their acrylic - unless they have an actual allergy or something, then I feel immense pity for them. Imagine not being able to wear wool?!) but this yarn sure is sturdy. It'll probably wear incredibly well, but I think I'm going to soak my socks in some conditioner to try and soften them up a little, when they're finished.

On to spinning and I've finished spinning the braid of Polwarth/Baby Alpaca/Nylon from Playsweetmusic - after spending the whole of Sunday afternoon spinning out on the patio in the sunshine!

I've started spinning some Merino in a variety of pinks and purples, that I picked up from Heather at Little Owl Crafts at the Knitting & Stitching show at Ally Pally last year. I love Heather's fibre (and Heather herself is a darling) and this will eventually be plied with the above bobbin of Playsweetmusic singles, to hopefully have enough yardage for a Baby Surprise Jacket!

This is how it's spinning up so far - I'm pretty happy with it! Just need to sit down and finish it...

I talked about the reason I haven't made much progress on any other spinning, in yesterday's post. My Schacht Matchless arrived this week! I've only had one day to spin on it so far (I find this whole 'Having A Job' thing takes up way too much of my time!) and I love it. I'm using some mystery fibre - probably Merino, from deep stash, to practise on and I'm really happy with it so far! The double treadle is fabulous, and I'm trying to get my head around spinning in Double Drive as opposed to Scotch Tension (the Matchless does both, but I wanted to try out DD).

After Tour De Fleece, I've realised that my fibre stash is looking a little depleted - so I think there maybe a bit of stash enhancing happening over the next few weeks! This week I ordered these gorgeous batts from Nunoco in the colourwary 'Oudh'. They're Merino, Silk and Silk Noil - the same as the 'Wild Wood' batts I spun a couple of weeks back, and I'm putting them aside to spin on the Matchless!

Okay. I think that's covered everything! This post is going up slightly later than planned, as I had to abandon writing it halfway through - as I fell asleep at the keyboard! Haha. Anyway, I'm going to a local wool fair today, which should be fun. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

♥

Serious enhancement of the tool cupboard...

 Three years ago I bought a spinning wheel on a whim, it was a secondhand Ashford Traditional that I won in an eBay auction for £170. I realise now that I could probably have got the same wheel in slightly better condition, for slightly less money, in a Ravelry destash, but I was young and foolish  wasn't a big Ravelry user then. The wheel then sat in the entryway of my flat for over a year, because every time I attempted to spin on it, I couldn't make it work and ended up getting ridiculously frustrated and angry!

I eventually got a half an hour spinning lesson from my good friend Kim of Alterknit Universe, who tweaked my wheel and made sure it was set up correctly. And then I was away - making slubby singles from commercially dyed merino! I spun on and off for a while, but didn't pick it up properly until the Tour De Fleece last year, where my goal was to spend an hour a day at my wheel.

Since then, I've spun a fair amount of yarn, knit with some of it and started to outgrow my Traditional. I've been interested in upgrading my wheel for about a year and I had my heart set on a particular wheel - one that was sadly out of my price range! I promised myself I'd buy it when I finished university, as a graduation present to myself. But things happened and I got sick and I couldn't finish my degree. But sometimes you need a treat. Especially when so many of your friends graduated with a First Class degree and are starting out in exciting new lives. So I saved up money from my retail job, and last week I ordered my very own Double Treadle Schacht Matchless.

Schacht are a US company based in Colorado - a long way away from my seaside town in Sussex, England - and their products are hard to get hold of in the UK - there's only two distributors of Schacht wheels, and the price difference between the US and the UK is crazy - you American folk are so lucky!

Anyway, at just over £1000, I'm pretty sure it's the most expensive thing I've ever bought and I know I could've bought an Ashford or a Lendrum or plenty of other wheels, for less - but I believe in saving up for the things that you really, really want. If I bought a Lendrum, I'd still want a Matchless further down the line.

I haven't had much chance to spin on it yet - work has a habit of getting in the way of valuable knitting and spinning time! But I've been playing with it this afternoon and I love it. It's going to take a while to adjust to, from my Traditional - which is essentially held together with string, but I'm looking forward to breaking it in and I'm already window shopping for accessories for it!

If you're interested - I bought my Matchless from Loch Ness Spindle - based in Scotland. They're a relatively new Schacht dealer but I didn't have any problems with them and Olga, the owner of Loch Ness Spindle was very helpful when I emailed her. The only other UK dealer is George Weil - but they're selling the same wheel for an extra £300 - which I think is really bad business practise.

I just need to finish up some spinning on my Traditional and then my (currently unnamed) shiny new wheel can have pride of place in my spinning corner!

♥

Lately In Pictures #7 - The one with the camping and the piggies

Hanging out by the seafront after work and one of my favourite photos of my parents.

 Photographing cones of yarn to (eventually) destash on ebay.

 An impromptu camping trip to Knepp Wildlife Safari Park and toasting marshmallows over the fire pit.

 Enjoying the campsite - it's the prettiest campsite ever - and modelling my swish new yellow raincoat. From Topshop if you're interested - I never thought I'd fit in to Topshop clothes, but apparently I do now! Yay.

 Spotting Longhorn Cows and Tamworth Piggies. Yep. Piggies. You can't say the word 'Piggy' and not smile. Try it.

And spending too much time untangling skeins of yarn with my mum. Her yarn, not mine. Mine rarely gets this tangled! ;)

It's been a pretty good couple of weeks. I've been working lots and knitting lots, with driving lessons thrown in here and there. Tomorrow I'm going to the cinema for the first time this year - I don't know quite how that's happened, but it's really hard to get to the cinemas from my parents house, compared to where I lived in London! So I'm as excited as a child that's been promised a day out - there's going to be popcorn and pic'n'mix and all sorts. Living the high life! Haha.

♥

Fibre Friday #25

It seems like it's another short week in actual knitting content this week - I've been pretty monogamous with my knitting - mainly because I went away and only took one project with me!

The project that has seen nearly all of my attention this week - are the socks I'm knitting out of the handspun I shared last week. From fibre by Taylor Made Yarns in the 'Autumn Rainbow' colourway, I'm knitting toe up socks, in order to maximise the yarn usage, with afterthought heels to keep the colour gradient correct. They're longer than I usually knit my socks - it's hard to tell exactly how long they'll wind up, as I haven't put the heels in yet - but I added a little calf shaping and approximately 3 inches of ribbing on the cuff. The first sock is done - aside from the heel - and the second sock has a few more rows of ribbing to go. I'm hoping to get them done this evening!

I worked a little on my vanilla socks out of Austermann Step in the colour way 'Aubergine Easy' - because I left my handspun socks at work on Sunday and needed something else to knit on that night! The first sock is finished - top down, with a tubular cast on and short row heel. I have cast on the second sock and knit a round of ribbing - then I put it aside in favour of my Autumn Rainbow socks! I'll go back to it when they're finished!

I also cast on and knit a little of the toe of my second Seaweed socks by Wendy D. Johnson. Seaweed is a free pattern available on ravelry. I'm using yarn from Hand Dyed by Kate in the colourway 'Midnight Sparkle'. This is going to replace my Budleigh socks as my 'at home' knitting for a while, until they're finished and I can cast on either some more cabled socks, or a pair of mittens I've been meaning to knit...

Spinning-wise, I've spun a little more of my Polwarth/Baby Alpaca/Nylon blend from Playsweetmusic - but I haven't had much time to spin this week. I need to get this finished and off the wheel, so I can start on the fibre I intend to ply it with and get it all done and dusted - because this week, I finally ordered a brand new spinning wheel! I'll talk about it, and my reasons for buying it, when it arrives - which should hopefully be next week! But they'll be a lot more spinning happening soon, I can assure you!

Right - I'm off to get my handspan socks finished! Have a lovely weekend folks! I'm working tomorrow, but we're visiting friends for the evening, which should be lovely - and I'm gifting my Olivia Shawl - which will hopefully be well received!

♥

FO and Tell - The Olivia Shawl

What feels like forever ago, but was actually only April - I test knit the Olivia Shawl for my good friend Nina. Although I got it finished by the deadline, I have only just managed to block it to my satisfaction (this is due to my inability to block, rather than the pattern!).

The shawl is predominantly stockinette, with a central lace panel and an applied scalloped edging. I knit it out of a skein of lace weight merino yarn that I hand dyed last year. I'm really pleased with how it turned out - although I don't fancy blocking another scalloped edging anytime soon!

I think this is the first item I've knit using a lace weight yarn and I love the look of the stockinette section - I think it might be time I knit a Featherweight - or other lace weight cardigan!

Modelled here by my ever obliging mother - thanks Mum - this is going to be a very belated birthday gift for a good friend of ours.

The pattern is Olivia by Nina La Fountaine and it's available on Ravelry right now!

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I'm sorry it's being quiet this week, I've been away on a mini camping trip! But alas, now I'm home and real life continues ;) I'll be back tomorrow to share what I've been knitting this week!

♥

Fibre Friday #24

Happy Friday! It feels like I don't have as much content this week, which is often the way when the previous week is a full one...
 Now, I don't usually start with spinning, but I'm so excited by my spinning this week, that it had to go at the top of the post. I finished spinning the singles from the Taylor Made Yarns merino fibre in the 'Autumn Rainbow' colourway last weekend and I plied it over several evenings this week. Navajo (or chain) plied to keep the colours cleaner and prevent barber poling, it wound up being 540m of a fingering weight - although, as you can see in the photos, there are a several thick and thin spots. This is the best yarn I have ever spun. When I took it off my skeinwinder it was almost perfectly balanced, which never happens when I n-ply, so I'm really proud of it. I'm going to cast it on for the world's most beautiful socks, as soon as I've freed up some sock needles.

 My first sparkly Seaweed sock is done! This is a free pattern by Wendy D. Johnson that I'm knitting out of Hand Dyed by Kate in the 'Midnight Sparkle' colourway. I need to cast on the second sock, but I'm waiting to cast off my Budleigh sock for that, I'm playing a huge game of Musical Needles*
*(like musical chairs but without music, or chairs, and a whole lot more tedious), where I switch up all the needles I'm using for my projects, so I can free up a set to cast on my Beautiful Handspun.
 Speaking of Budleigh, I'm decreasing for the toe on the second sock, which has actually progressed a little since this photo, as photobucket doesn't like to work on my Macbook and everything takes 5347539x longer, so I got a few extra rows on it. Budleigh is a sock pattern from Coop Knits Socks (volume one) by Rachel Coopey and I'm knitting them out of Skein Top Draw in the 'Blackcurrant' colourway. This will be finished this evening, unless something disastrous happens!

 My Spring Beret by Natalie Larson is done! I would be modelling it, but it's damp and blocking over a dinner plate - so I'll try to remember to get a photo for next week! This is knit out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in colourway '300076', which like I said last week, is greener in real life and very awkward to photograph! Natalie has two versions of the pattern, and this is the Ms. Slouchy version.

  I have also been blocking the Olivia Shawl by my good friend Nina La Fountaine, that I test knit for her at the beginning of May. This is my third attempt at blocking the scalloped edging - I gave up using T Pins and instead bent my shorter blocking wires and pinned them in place. This needs to be finished by next weekend because I'm giving it as a very belated birthday gift!

On the subject of blocking, I picked up the big blue interlocking mats that my Olivia is blocking on, from Aldi. The individual squares are a lot larger than the standard 12inch knitters block squares, and you get 6 in a pack for £12.99 - I've been holding out on paying for 'proper' knitters blocks for ages, so I was really pleased when I found these.
 Now my Autumn Rainbow is off the wheel, I'm spinning some Polwarth/Baby Alpaca/Nylon that my friend Anna (aka PlaySweetMusic) sent me earlier in the year. The plan is to ply it with a braid of Merino from Little Owl Crafts - both braids pictured below - and hopefully get enough yardage to knit a Baby Surprise Jacket, but we shall see!

So that's it for this week, I did just realise that I have completely forgotten to photograph the vanilla sock out of Austermann Step that I've been carrying around in my handbag and knitting at work - but I can't summon up the energy to photograph it and deal with photobucket again, so you'll have to take my word for it that I'm past the heel and on to the foot!

I'm going to finish off the toe of my Budleigh sock, maybe watch some back episodes of The Knit Girllls, or perhaps Silent Witness (not the current seasons because I'm angry at the cast change!) - because knitting podcasts and forensic pathology dramas are essentially the same thing! Haha.

♥