Friday, February 24, 2012

Casting On.....and On

I have had good intentions of getting back to the blog this year, but have let life get in the way....anyway I'm here now!

So here I am, February 24th. Back in November I was weaving cowls and hoping to sell a few bits at a craft fair, unfortunately I didn't sell much at the craft fair but I did manage to spin this:


This was only the second skein of yarn I made last year, but oh it was lovely to get back to spinning on the wheel. It is hard to fit it all in these days, spinning, weaving, knitting and dyeing....everything has to take turns so if the loom is out the spinning wheel is away, although for a few weeks the knitting has been in the naughty corner and I've been back weaving blanket squares on the weavette! Small things like knitting and weaving can be hidden away from the toddler behind the chair...but weaving and spinning are harder to keep out of his way!

I have been lucky enough to be sent a  review copy of  The Weavers Idea Book from the people at Search Press, and it's a fab book, I won't go on and on about it because I should get a review up, but I did warp up a spaced warp just before Christmas:


I bought some Wash and Filz It Fine Felting Wool for this project, although next time I will use some handspun! I didn't have time to get much weaving done before Christmas so this was the first project off the loom this year! I have got some pre wash photos but it really needs a little blocking and a photo shoot to do it justice. Something to show when I get round to it!

My knitting mojo went a bit AWOL last year so Christmas was approaching and I decided it was time to get knitting that sweaters worth of scraps yarn I have...so did a little swatching and cast on....the rib was too sproingy so I recalculated and cast on less stitches....I knit and knit and knit over Christmas....tried it on a few times got as far as the armpits and left it in the naughty corner for a bit....decided I didn't like it and finally frogged it after a second opinion....I then spent days looking at patterns on Ravelry (again) and started knitting a top down cardigan...following a pattern that was written for a heavier yarn at a different gauge, bound to be a winner (not).... but that isn't working either. In the mean time I would really like to be knitting something.....so I'm knitting a Mizzle for Clare at Nimu with some yarn she has sent me....so she can display it at shows she is attending this year.....I cast on last night, the yarn is her new silk and baby camel, it's gorgeous!