Indulging myself!!

Today I received two very exciting things in the post, the first were some woven labels with 'Fybre Spates' so I can put them into my creations,( I think this is creating a good cause to have my own business oneday,(photo's tomorrow).

The second thing was my ORGANIC fibre samples from a company called Clothworks who not only sell quirky organic clothes but also sell organic fabric. So a I phoned them straight away and ordered a couple of meters of brushed cotton, (note going to breifly get on my soap box) I am so excited because my dream is to have all of my clothes organic ( this is some of the reasons why)because its better for fairtrade and the environent, and I want to make organic and recycled clothes available to people, which are really individual and fashionable not run of of the mill high street shop stuff, which is so bland and majority of which have very bad policies. (off my soap box)

I am always scouring charity shops for wool and clothes which I can unravel and make something out of(A's socks were made of recycled wool) Today the charity shop at the end of my road had 4 massive balls of wool (really thick and cream) I think they may have been knitted and unravelled, and I got them all for £6= Bargain!! I am pretty sure I can substitute it for rowan big wool and make a scrumptious Jumper for summer evenings!!

So here it starts; labels and organic fabrics, how exciting!!

PS the cotton fabric is to make a skirt for a wedding the weekend after next so there will definately be pictures on Monday!!

Last night I span some wool, probably only about 50gms of merino, and I'm really pleased with it, my eveness is getting better. Soon I am going to have to spin some slightly lighter materials because merino is going to be too warm for summer clothes. I am going to try bamboo fibre, and soya fibre which is supposed to be like silk. Pictures soon.

Here is a picture of the spinning and progress on my lacey top.

Thank someone it's monday!

I never though I would be glad that a weekend would be over but I am.

We now have a new temporary addition to our household namely, my stepson Tom, who I am very glad to have living with us, but the weekend was an emotional mess.

Anyway despite complicated families I did manage to knit a bag, sew a little felt bag (need to line it and put on a handle) , finish A's cabled socks, boil my throwers waste (silk used in some paper process which has gum on it and you have to boil it to get the gum off, very cheap to buy) so I boiled it, when it was dry it came out like string, but once carded it was quite soft, so I spun it with with some soft wool and it was not bad, then I dyed it, and I obvioulsy didn't get all the gum off the first time because when it dried it was stringy again.

If anyone knows how to prepare throwers waste for spinning please, please email me!! Did a few lines on my lace top, and started a scarf with my eyelash yarn.

A's socks

Things I made over the weekend:

The knitted bag knitted with three different wools stranded together, then I used my french knitting machine braider to make the braid for the handles, and crocheted the flower to go on the front, its lined for strength and has a zip.

This is not quite finished it needs lining, and a handle, it's a trial for my craft stall.





My straw silk spinning (not a good picture)!

And finally the kittens love getting in the washing basket so I included a picture of them cause they are so cute sometimes!!

Just keep going!

My lacey top is going to take a couple of weeks, (it takes rather a long time) its up to about 6 inches and I am so pleased with it. Not going to start anything else till it it finished!

Exciting developments.

Yesterday a friend asked me if I would like to do a craft stall for a mini market event they are having for a school. I think this woud be so exciting, and it's two months away so I have got time to prepare, it will do me good to make small projects and finish them in order to sell!

I have got loads of ideas already!

Read this article on knitting in the independent its fab!!

The lace is coming on well, and I can't put it down, oh and here's a picture of the cotton braid top:

My knitting Epiphany

I had the most amazing day yesterday, I finished the rib on my lacey top, and started doing the lace and cables and had a complete nightmare, I couldn't get it to go right, and I nearly didn't bother, and mentioned to A that I was going to ditch the project and try something easier (this is my Karma)!! he looked straight at me and said, its not about the end product it's about the journey, you have to put every ounce of effort into every stitch you do and it will not go wrong! So I picked it up and tried again, and by the time I had got to 11am I had knitted the entire twelve rows of the pattern repeat, and it was beautiful! I was so chuffed and shocked that it was now much easier! Then I had this complete wave of terror that perhaps that the other things in my life which I avoid might not be as hard as I think they are and if I just kept on going I could get them right as well. It was a Knitting epiphany, I can not belive how my knitting exploits mirror my life!

Below is a sample of my triumph.



The to top it off I had a fab evening with Marie, we discussed wool, knitting and more wool!! She has the most fantastic stash ever, something to aspire to!

So all in all a bit of a life changing day. Can't be bad.

Happy Knitting. xxx

Its friday!

I am determined that even though I have a very busy weekend ahead that I will do some spinning and finish off my top. The kids are coming, so there is likely to be some interesting creations because they always want to have a go at what ever I am doing! So hopfully monday there will be pictures of a productive weekend.

Stash additions.

Here is a photo of my US package, looks interesting, not the type of stuff I normally buy, I prefer animal or vegetable fibres, rather than synthetic stuff, but I am already having ideas for it, I think the green tape yarn could be substituted for rowan tape, I have the pattern book, so I'll swatch and see!

I would be really interested in doing a psych study of knitters, but would need a sizable sample to fill in a questioniare, if anyone is interested/would like to participate, let me know.

Psychology, Knitting and a load of old waffle.

Between running my experiments today I have been pondering the ability to tell one's personality from one's knitting exploits; i.e. project choices,colour choices,stash sizes, amount of unfinshed projects, whether you always stick to the pattern, and finally whether you frog a jumper to peices because there was a twisted stitch a the beginning or ignore the the rather large mess in the middle and wear your jumper with pride.

I think these things have alot to say about a person, I have to admit I love to try and predict what people are like from the things they do. I will have a good think about it and let you know, perhaps devise a personality test a bit like the "what wool are you?" ones, but based on real psychological theory.

Why the hell is this relevant? Well I got thinking about this because I received my lovely blue cotton in the post today so I can start making a lovely lacey top for spring, however, I need to restrain my self and finish the top I am currently doing.

If there are any dejected knitters out there who would love a partner/family who take an interest in knitting, it can have very undesirable consequences if you happen to make patterns up as you go along, start a project before you finish the previous one, and have a stash the size of a house, especially when your partner is actually a minimalist perfectionist who can't get past his first ten rows, because it has to be abolutlely flawless!

I can't start anything new before I have finished my cotton braid top, or I will never hear the last of it!

So what was my point, I realised how my whole life is mirrored by my knitting exploits, my hoarding, my flitting from one thing to another, my desire to never do what it the way it says in the book and then be really dissapointed when it goes wrong. But thats me and I wouldn't want to be any different, A is a good contrast cause he pulls me to the middle, and hence I actually get things finished, and do read the pattern/recipe/guidlines the second time around! Rant ended!



Back to fluffyness, my package of yarn has arrived from the US, but I can't have it until I pay the post office £12.60 charges!! What a bloody cheek! Still, a small price to pay for a lovely package, which I just can not wait for. Pics tomorrow.

Oh and finaly I loved Marie's jumper made with Noro, which I believe is a silk and wool mix, so I am going to attempt to blend some silk and wool and spin a yarn which is a bit different from my normal ones, and see how it turns out.

Happy knitting. :-)

A nice day!

Having a nice day today, but especially looking forward to this evening when Anth is taking me to the local Cafe so we can knit and chat. Ohhhhh I love knitting. Ordered some yarn for my next project in my Vintage knits book, a lovely lacey top. Can't wait for it to arrive, but must finish off my cotton braid top and anths left sock :-)

Its monday!!

Well! What a fabulous weekend!

Stitch and Bitch in Cardiff, was brill, its so refreshing to talk to people especailly Marie about knitting, (check out her beautiful jumper a top down raglan pattern from the Glampyre site.

It was lovely to meet Hannah and Heather(please check out Hannah's belly dancing evening 27th of March, in Cardiff it sounds absolutely amazing!). Hannah is working up to knitting herself a scrummy cardigan! And Heather is a very thoughtful young lady who sat on the Bitch half of the table, with A (who was too chicken to bring his socks to knit this time) and had very philosophical conversations!



I finished my top on friday from the Rowan Cotton braid, it looked fabulous and I was so excited, then I tried to put it on and it wouldn't fit over my head! I was gutted to say the least, however, I took the neck out and crocheted it around the neck line, and its fine, i'm not really sure what went wrong, apart from I am not too good at necklines!

Then I proceeded to crochet another pattern (instead of knitting like the pattern suggests) from the book on saturday afternoon at Stitch n' Bitch and finished it Sunday morning, and it didn't work is all I will say! I have frogged it and am currently following the instructions! I have a dreadful tendancy to get bored with patterns and sometimes adapt them a bit, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't! A calls the ones that don't my Frankenstien Jumpers!! Cheek!

Anyways pictures on the way!

Finally my thoughts on cotton braid: it looks lovely in the balls, but when knitted up on size 12mm needles it does have a tendancy to look a little bit messy, fabulous experience but I think I would prefer more patterns in the book on smaller needles.

Snow! The perfect weather for Knitting!

Got woken up at 7 this morning with a massive mug of tea from A, so I could watch the snow out of the window, it doesn't settle that often in cardiff because it's too mild/rainy, but it has today. Yeah!!

I did an hour's knitting cutched (welsh slang for cuddled) up on the sofa before I went to work this morning; what a Luxury!

Only 27 hours to go for my first Stitch n' Bitch meeting, and I just can't wait. OOOh I just wanna knit lovely warm jumpers and socks! Oh, and A will model his finished socks for me tonight so we can see the finished articles!

I have also ordered some sample cards from Dragon Yarns because if I can buy the yarn undied I can dye it to my own taste, its really good value for money, and to make an experimental Jumper is not going to cost the earth.

Monkey cats' first snow experience, I think he was a bit fascinated!

Cotton Braid

This is how the the cotton braid knits up, its wonderful, almost spongy, and you could easily make a small top in a couple of hours, I will post pictures of the finished top very soon.

The yummy cotton braid.

Three and a half days to go!

Only three and a half days to go until 'Stitch and Bitch Cardiff!!' I am so excited! it will be my first one, as I have been trying to go for 3 months! I knitted and felted a bag yesterday, with home spun yarn and some other stuff left over from a jumper, I stuck it in the washing machine twice and the jumper yarn hasn't felted as much as the home spun one so it looks unbalanced, I won't put pictures up until i've rescued it, by sewing flowers on it or something.

Pictures are of the yarn Caroline brought me are above, I am going to start something tonight, but I havn't decided what yet. The yarn isn't Cotton tape as I mentioned in an earlier post, it's Cotton Braid!

The Books I received yesterday from amazon are on the new book type list, I like nearly everything in the Vintage Knits book, its fabulous. I have yet to read the sock book, however the Urban Knitter isn't brilliant, but they do explain how to make knitted shoes!! Just about the most exciting thing on the planet for a shoe obsessed person, not too easy to get the materials though, but I am working on it!

Cabled socks

The best way to learn to knit socks are at this address: royea This site is fab because it gives you a sock formula which is really simple and then you can design your own socks, however if you are knitting them for the first time the most wonderful part is that there are even pictures to help you here: Sock Photo's. :-)

The sock below I had to frog and need to finish because A has long feet!

If everyone could knit socks the world would be such a happier place.

Stuff!

Not much knitting at the weekend due to lots of lovely visitors, but the lovely Caroline did buy my eight balls of Rowan cotton tape, pictures shortly. Not sure whether to make a poncho or a couple of summer tops.

The picture below was my first sock, which I made with wool which I spun and dyed, its majorly chunky and a bit on the impracticle side, but its my favourite thing I have ever made.

Finished cabled socks coming soon!

The first post ever!

This is my first post! Majorly exciting, and I'll get straight to it!

Socks, socks, socks, socks, and more socks! I love 'em. can't stop making them, currenly near the end of a pair of cabled socks of which I will post a photo of some where on this weblog when I figure out where and how. Not only that but my lovely friend caroline is buying me wool for my birthday, so I can make more lovely socks! More wool to add to my unbelievable huge stash, which I will also post a picture of because it deserves it!