another year done and dusted!

I hope you all got through christmas and the change to a new year in one piece? we had our usual quiet christmas (once all the mail is on its way, I don't have much to worry about anymore) - and the same for the new year celebrations. tomorrow is the big day, where I can finally pack away all decorations - though I already saw on pinterest and FB that people apparently think about easter deco:) I quite enjoy the time between - still not much to do in the garden, which means I can potter about with my crafts!

 

of course I haven't stopped over christmas - which is the perfect time for me to relax from all the handmade gifts I needed made before! as planned I rewarded myself with spinning the peduncle silk. what a joy - it runs into the wheel by itself, only very few tiny specks I had to pick out, and the yarn turned out lovely:

the colour is pretty good in this photo, but the silk is more lustrous, not as woolly as it looks like here! 

this one shows the lustre better - but the silk isn't as grey - a mix of both really:) I have about 450 m, and the plan is to knit a cowl "intermezzo" from it. I just ordered several packs of beads for it, because despite my big stash of beads - I lack the colour and size for this yarn:( pity that the silk is quite expensive - I wouldn't mind spinning enough for a nice silk sweater! it wouldn't be as slippery and easier to wear than mulberry silk I think - but I'll have to wait for a lottery win to be able to afford enough:(

it was difficult enough to finish the plying though! I bought my lendrum wheel 2nd hand, but in very good condition. when I was halfway through the plying - the drive belt snapped! superglue didn't work - so I tried to find the replacement belt that hung off the wheel's back for many years, before I took it off.

checking out the uk supplier I was suprised to find out that apparently there are two drive bands, one for the standard spinning head, one for the much bigger plying head! I think the previous owner didn't know that, because she told me that she left the replacement on the wheel, just in case:) ok, I did wonder at first why the plying head is so close to the wheel when mounted .... but it worked, so I didn't worry about it! I just had to order two bands now - because after just hanging about without being used the plying band is just as brittle as the broken one:( good thing that I still have the louet to spin! but I do want the lendrum back at work again, because I'd like to spin all the merino colours for one of the foley shawls on this one! I did start with the sari silk on the louet though, because the yarn will be different anyway, whereas the merino should be pretty similar for all colours...

of course I also knitted a little bit during the holidays. only a few rows on my "favourite scarf", just the rest of the umbrellas... I left out the black for handles and top, I'll just add them on later because I couldn't be bothered to use more than 2 colours... somehow "the air is out" of this one just now; I can't decide for the next peerie or pattern - but I have a feeling that it won't be finished for this winter anyway....  

and I had to finish the first birthday gift of 2019! this snakes and ladders gameboard has been in the making for a veeeery long time! in fact I had started the first quarter in 2001 - as a game for my son! who is nearly 21 now and not remotely interested in games like this:) luckily we have a few "newer" kids in the family, so I finally finished it! I think it's perfect for a 5 year old, not too difficult, fun and portable ....

rolled up it can be taken on holidays or to the beach - no electrics, no batteries needed, and dice or buttons can be replaced easily if they do get lost... if I ever did one again I'd change over to larger aida though - it's 18 count I think, embroidered with a single thread - and not very good to see because of the dark colour...

 

 

I also started a very mindless cowl in Lang Greta yarn, which I bought a few weeks back as a test. It's merino, but I wouldn't like to wear it myself, too warm I think! the colours are nice though and the pattern very simple to work. it'll be the second gift of the year so:) and after that I should really dig out the "owl feathers" again, to frog and rework the yoke, which is too big. I decided to keep this pattern anyway, even though DS decided that he doesn't like it. if he really doesn't want to wear it after it's finished - it also fits my husband! very practical that they both wear a similar size now:) it's a pain when sorting the washing though - it all looks the same and I really have to work with peeled eyes to make sure that the stuff doesn't end on the wrong shelves...

Second week of Tour de Fleece

I think I might have prepared the TdF a bit better! Maybe I should have prepared small amounts of different fibres that I can finish every day - or at least every second? as it is I have been spinning several days of boring beige alpaca - then only a day each with small amounts, which was fun. now I am back again with spinning days of the same colour - not so much fun! but on the other hand, if I spun only a small amount of one fibre - I'd end up with my usual problem of not spinning the same way for both amounts. the beige alpaca proves the point: my first smaller skein from March is a good deal finer than the main batch from last week:( which means that either I have to use them for two different projects - or I'll have to fiddle about, using the finer yarn for a smaller bit of knitting, and the thicker yarn for the main part. and 250 g of it doesn't leave a lot of choice for projects, where I could use two different amounts:( the woes of hand spinning!

here are the two beige alpaca skeins - on the right. the rest are the naturally dyed fibres that I couldn't find for the last entry.I think all of them were dyed with madder, same dyebath, just different stages - and different temperatures! my favourite is the brighter red on the right - which must have been in the first dye bath, because it didn't get the higher temps of the others. madder turns brick red to brownish, when it gets too hot - and even though they all go well together, the brownish red tones don't suit me terribly well. on the other hand I barely knit woollies for myself, so no worries:) maybe I should start selling my skeins?

 after I finished the alpaca I dug out this sample of camel/silk blend. I think the silk is noil, lots of tiny white slubs - that are not particularly fun to spin. the picture isn't great, but I nearly forgot to take it - and had to use flash inside - or wait until the next day with the spinning... and I did forget to take a picture of the sample of white tussah - which spun up nicely - but was too little to use for a separate project. so I plied both of them together. I had a bit more of the camel - that's the browner part in the skein. it is soft, but nubbly and bumpy at the same time.





This is my latest TdF fibre - either silk or soy silk, I don't know. I think maybe the latter, but either way it spins up into a smooth, shiny single yarn. I will ply it though, as it is it's too fine even for lace knits. I know that I dyed it myself - but I have no idea what the dye stuff was. maybe I should keep better notes???

you can see how fine it is - even with the full amount the bobbin won't be full to capacity! the plying will take forever - I have to be careful not to start it late in the evening - or I'll end up with a late night plying session to prevent the cat "knitting" it up! he isn't interested in the wheel or the fibres lying around, but finding a small ball or the freely hanging plies is irresistible to him. the dogs don't really care, but sometimes they just have to climb to my left side - where the lazy kate stands when in use - which wouldn't be the first time with disastrous consequences....

during our hot spell (over now, back to the normal summer temps of 16 to 18 deg. C:) I dug out my embroidery stuff. after finishing an UFO I made 4 small cards to give away (yes, four, I sent one out too fast and forgot to take a picture). these two were for friends, who needed a bit of a pick-me-up...

... and this (and the missing one) were for birthdays. the other embroidery project in the works is a game board for "snakes and ladders" - which "rested" in my stash for a long time.

 

I don't know why, but somehow I cannot bring myself to knit much these days. there's a sneaker sock in cotton in the works, but if I can convince myself to take it up, I loose interest after a row or two:( I also have to finish the sleeveless vest for DH - not much missing, but I avoid it like the plague just now. I don't even fancy starting a new project - there must be something wrong with me! maybe I just have to finish with the TdF to find my knitting mojo again?

the last entry....

... for this year:)

 

just a few more hours and the old year is gone. I had planned to write sooner, but christmas got in the way, as usual. and yesterday blogger didn't like me - I couldn't open the blog, never mind put a new entry in. it still doesn't do what it is supposed to - the new header picture just doesn't want to stay in the right size. but you can see the weather we had over the weekend - mostly sunny during the day, but pretty frosty (down to minus 6 deg.C) at night. in the morning everything was covered in white and the dogs, who like to drink "dirty" water from buckets etc., got a shock - because their lovely water was replaced by discs of sheer ice:) the look on their faces - they ran from bucket to watering can (emptied out) and to the pond - nothing! what a relief to find the water dish inside full to the rim:)

 

nothing left of that today - most of the day we had either drizzle or rain plus a lot of wind - and the rain is going to be stronger tonight. lovely - it seems we have to light our sparklers inside the porch again, just like last year! 

 

I did manage to finish all christmas gifts in time, but I only realized yesterday that I forgot to take some photos. never mind - I did take a few at least. I also spun bits and pieces - but again, I didn't take pix - yet! I hope the new year brings improvements to my forgetfulness - there's room for more!

 

anyway, here are a few of my "fiddles":

 I made a "christmas tree" in patchwork. I had planned to make one on a wall hanging, but I realized that there won't be enough space to hang it in the recipients' home, so I thought a 3-D pyramid to sit on the table might be easier to put up. originally I had planned to make a foot/trunk, but after I put the bottom in, I liked it better this way. putting on the beads was a real fiddle, because the inlay is so tough that my beading needle looks like a hook now:) but I managed with a thimble and patience... I have the base of a second one ready, but the plan is to put on more of the "chain garland" and less (or none?) of the single beads...

seems like I am on a patchwork roll just now - I also made about a ton (ok, maybe around a dozen:) of those  decos, little hexie wreaths with a christmassy charm to dangle in the middle. I made batches in red/green/gold and one in purple and neutral, all to be given as small tokens - they fit nicely into an envelope with a christmas cards.

 

I also made most of my cards, but nothing textile - and of course they went out before I took a picture....

and I knitted my very first chimney sock! I've had a book with patterns for ages, but when I need them, I usually need them urgently - and end up making one out of felt! this one is knitted with leftovers of handspun in "rosewood" and a lacy edge from handspun silk/linen. in real life it's much bigger of course - no point in making tiny chimney socks (where would you put the goodies then?)... luckily I only need one of those, given the fact that I seem to suffer from single sock syndrome at the moment. I did finish one pair for DH - out of a "new" sock yarn, 8ply, a good bit chunkier than normal sock yarn. I think it's too thick to wear the socks in normal shoes though - but they warm birkenstock-clad feed nicely:) what I didn't like so much was the ball size - way too much for all but the biggest sock sizes, but not enough to knit a second pair. I compromised and made wrist warmers out of the leftover yarn, because I only bought one ball to try - and wouldn't have any other suitable sock yarn to use it with!

as I said I made other things, spun some yarns etc. - but this will have to do for now. I'll try to be better with picture taking - but at least I took one of my cookies! most of them rather last-minute, and I didn't do a single "cookie cutter" variety this year, but at least they taste nice, even if they don't look fancy!

 

time to get ready for the changeover - no new year resolutions for me - they usually only last for a few days anyway!  I hope all of you have a wonderful year to come, always enough fibres to play with and enough time to try out all your ideas!

 

Happy New Year!

if time flies....

...where does it go? there must be a huge heap of it somewhere, because I sure don't have any to spare!

 

anyway, before I start writing a whole entry of excuses, let's just say I've been too busy to blog:) I did however knit, spin, garden etc... and I can show you a few results:

 

 I made a blending board out of a piece of carding cloth and the bread board my son made as a woodwork project in school (the timber would be too soft to cut something on it, but it's perfect for the new job!) - the downside of this is that making rolags like these is addictive! once I start I can't stop and I work away until the fibre bag is empty! and just now I realised that I forgot to take a pic of the spun yarn... hopefully I'll be quicker with the next entry!

 I didn't only spin the green rolags, I also finished the handdyed purple superwash, which I plied with a fine blue bamboo single yarn - and some leftover fine soy silk, when I ran out of blue... I started a cowl with it, because it is very soft and feels good on the skin.

I also spun a good skein each of red and green teeswater top, which had been hanging on the rack for a long time. didn't wash it yet though, but maybe my next blog entry could show you all the finished skeins I forgot here:)

 

and I hope that those berries are still on the shrub, when I need some colour for my christmas wreath! 

 our group project for the Connacht Textile Crafters was "houses" of any kind. I don't have much space to put purely decorative things up, so I decided to make something useful instead. I made a roll out of knit/felted gotland, which I lined with fabric to hold my crochet hooks. the roll is held together by a "roof" in green. to make it a bit prettier I added sea glas for roof windows. I embroidered some vines on and windows, added knitted curtains, a little bell with loop - and a silk fuchsia for decoration. the edge of the roll forms the "door" to the fairy cottage.

 

there were as many different houses as there were makers, everything from felt to zentangled paper houses. they will be put on show in the Museum of Country Life in Castlebar - I think in November/December, if I am not mistaken!

close-up of the crocheted fuchsia  

of course I have to cave in and buy a few cross stitch magazines "shortly" before christmas - same story every year in september! this time there was a freebie of 3 mouse cards on it, perfect for my mouse-loving friend's christmas card. I will frame them all together into one card, because I doubt that I can find a ready-made fitting card for this odd size! I was very proud of myself to finish the first christmas card in september, but since then I didn't manage a single one - so maybe I should pull my head in and do a few more instead of boasting:)  

I do have a good excuse though! I found the perfect pattern for my birthday gift of 5 gorgeous naturally dyed skeins of silk yarn (find more here). the pattern is called "petal cowl" by Xandy Peters. the original uses a multi-coloured yarn, but of course you can use separate yarns - you just have to darn in a few more ends:) and I have to admit that a yarn with wool content might be easier to use, because the non-elastic silk yarn was a bit tight in places and the very unusual way of increasing (12 sts into 1!) would probably look a bit tidier in stretchy wool. I find the pattern really unusual, but not terribly difficult to knit once you get the idea behind it. the next pattern in that direction will be the "Foxpaws" (on ravelry) - but I haven't chosen a yarn for that yet. oh, and I used up the short lengths of silk by making two more petal cowls. the main colour is black and the "zing" silk is only used as an accent. and the cowls are smaller, close to the neck.

 

and before I start with the foxpaws I am going to knit the "morvarch" shawl by Lucy Hague - which I would probably have finished by now, if I hadn't made a mistake at the beginning of the center! I blame the magic loop method (I know that I have a shorter 3.25 mm circ, but I haven't found it - yet...), which pulls the knitting together, so that I couldn't see the mistake. you can see 3 purl stitches, where there shouldn't be any! I debated whether to rip or not - but it was bang in the middle and I know I'd just stare at it every time I look at the shawl - so I pulled it all apart again.....

 

 another project by the CTC was our 2nd postcard exchange. last time I knitted a piece in estonian lace; this time I wanted to do something different, so I dug out a piece of marbled cotton I made in a workshop years back and added some embroidery and beads. the back of course looks like a postcard, with lines for the address etc. - just in fabric. I called the pattern streamers, looks like a bit of fireworks to me.

and this is the card I received in exchange - totally different in style, just like the houses. this won't be used - I'll keep it myself as a memento of our exchange.

 

so you see, I haven't been lazy all that time. the garden is taking a bit of a back seat by now, most of the leaves have fallen and when the mornings are misty and damp, you can see the other "weavers and spinners" outside at work (see header). christmas is coming closer, so out come the needles, yarns and threads:) I need more christmas cards.....

it's getting autumnal...

even though the sun is out quite  a lot, there is that autumnal feeling in the air, esp. early in the morning and in the evenings. it's cool (if not downright cold at night! funny, how 8 or 9 deg. C feel mild in spring, after the cold winter, but freezing in autumn, when we're used to summer temps), often windy and I could swear that the leaves of my jap. maple are turning colour already! on the other hand knitting or spinning are so much nicer, when the fibres or yarn don't stick to sweaty fingers:)

 

I am not complaining, I don't mind the cooler weather, esp. not, when I have to ride the bike into town or work in the garden. the only thing I could do without is cleaning my oven in the evenings, but I am not lighting a fire yet - a month or so still to come without ash and dust everywhere:)

 

I wanted to test knit a beret, so I needed some yarn. why is it that there's never the right yarn in my stash for a project, even though all my boxes are overflowing?:) I remembered that I still had pre-draft in grey wool/silk and when I dug through some of the boxes, out came a ball of handdyed, handspun soy silk. a fine single yarn that I used to ply the grey with. the colour changes are very muted, barely visible in the hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 of course none of the guys was willing to model the beret - so I had to "blow" a balloon into service:) unfortunately the very round face doesn't do the design justice - and my drawing skills aren't much to write home about either. but you'll get the drift....

 the hat is worked in the round, but in hindsight I'd choose a smaller needle for the crown, because the pattern is a bit loose like that. and admittedly the yarn is rather soft for this style, so the beret is quite slouchy. with my non-existent hat face I looked like a baker's boy:)

but the yarn is very nice to wear, so I used it to make a collar out of it, it's called over the moon collar. I think I am going to make one for myself as well - but I'll add at least one pattern repeat and maybe use a slightly thicker needle than for this. in the picture on ravelry the collar is much wider and longer and I'd prefer it to not meet in the middle, but buttoned over like the turquoise one from the pattern...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 this is another lonely sock that was finally partnered:) I dyed the yellow with dyer's chamomile some time back and added the purple by hanging the undyed part into a pot with acid dye. where it met the yellow it turned into a browner purple - and knitted up it looks like a shadow behind a star. the first sock (on the left) had a lovely big yellow "star" on the front leg - but unfortunately I didn't manage to get the same done for no. 2:( which has a yellow blob on the back of the leg part - not at all star-shaped:) it's a straightforward sock, but I purled all stitches that were yellow on the needle (not on the foot of course, where I only purled on top).  

 

well, that happens, but they fit and they're hidden under jeans most of the time anyway, so I didn't change the toes of the second one.... (oddly enough the 2nd one is slightly larger than the first. I think I must have changed the needles from one sock to the next, because the number of rows is the same)

 

lonely sock no. 3 is in the process of getting a partner:) no more sad singles in the basket - soon!

 

embroidering my felted star bowl was next on the list. I put on some silver lined beads as well as 4 little silver bells - looks very wizardlike now:)  the kettle for making the magic brew....

 it seems I have a thing for combining purple with yellow...

 

 and I finally started hunting for a coat pattern for myself! yesterday it was all my old "verena" and interweave knits mags, today I browsed through the heap of vogue knitting issues. believe it or not, despite all of those, I didn't find a single pattern that I really liked:( same on ravelry! either they're too bulky, have a weird shape, are too short or too long or in a pattern that would be quite complicated to adjust. in the end I started to knit a gauge square in this pattern. it's a brioche type, but not the normal one - there are simple knit rows on every 4th row. I'll try it in 4 mm and maybe also in 3.75 - thinking that with the length of a coat the knitting might distort if knitted up on bigger needles. the idea is to knit a simple straight shape in this pattern. probably with inset sleeves to make it less bulky - and to add a wide rib to the front, plus collar.... a snuggle-upper coat:)

it's creeping up....

... christmas I mean. of course there are several gifts in the works, but I cannot show any of them... there's also material on the wheel for one - but I cannot show.... you get the drift:)

but there are also lots of smaller projects, some of them are cards:

 

one of them has to be a mouse - every year (for the woman, who loves everything with mice:). this year I liked the embroidery better than last year! a few back stitches, but no half crosses - I don't like half crosses, esp. not on aida fabric! now I just have to find (or make) a card with a circular aperture in the right size.....

 

 

 stars are easier to fit - the red is more burgundy in reality (flash colours:(). and the blue and white is similar to the one from last year, an easy motif, not much to count:) both are freebies from the Stickeule....

 

 

as is this SAL, which I finished a few days ago. the frame (patchwork fabric) is still missing, which means that I have to sew on the first stripe by hand - maybe I should have thought about that before I attached the small green seed beads? but I am not taking them off again now! the original has no beads in it, but I made a mistake with the second house on the left, which has a different roof colour in the pattern. I didn't fancy taking all the white stitches out, so I decided to add some beads instead of stitching the yellow "lights". and while I had the beads out, I put in some golden and red ones in instead of the rest of the christmas tree lights etc. and added a bit of glitz.... it's a christkindl market after all:) now all that's missing is some music and the scent of mulled wine! I also used some multicoloured green and blue embroidery yarns. no problem for the greenery - but the sky was a bit fussy to do. to end up with a more realistic pattern for the sky I had to work mostly single rows, otherwise the hole thing ends up quite patchy!

 

another christmas project is this - looks like homemade cabbages from the top?

they're not - they are christmas trees:) crocheted ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and they look better like this, I think. the first one was done with one thread of yarn, for the second one I doubled it up for the base, but the leaves looked to rough and chunky for my taste, so I took them out again and worked them with a single strand, too. all that's missing now is a nice golden chain, some "baubles" (beads?) and maybe a star for the tip? the pattern is available free on ravelry. thank you to the designer:)

I've also been trying out a few things in the kitchen. I found 3 silicone chocolate moulds during the summer and tried them out now. on the left the pralines are medium dark chocolate, filled with some peanut butter. the hearts on the left are dark chocolate on top and homemade coconut choc for the bottom - yummeeh! unfortunately - because they vanish all by themselves somehow:) I see a few more sessions of chocolate messing coming up!

 

just to show that there really is peanut butter filling in them:) I think if I kept the chocolate a bit hotter (i.e. runnier), filled the mould first, swished the chocolate around a bit - I might be able to add more filling?

 

 

of course I've done a few fibrey things, too. those are some wrist warmers out of wool/silk blend. ever since I took part in the demo about tunisian crochet in the round - I've become "hooked":) so much so, that I ordered myself a set of 8 double- hooked needles to work faster... and yes, I changed the colours on purpose, that wasn't accidental...

 

 

the garden on the other hand doesn't have all that much to offer anymore - no wonder, with the grey and wet weather we've had. but I picked all the tomatoes in the tunnel - and most seem to ripen quite well inside now. the funny brownish looking ones in the middle are actually ripe - they are green with dark green stripes when unripe and turn this odd colour with red tinges once they're ready to eat! I do like making tomato salad with all those colours, it looks very inviting to eat!  

 

and now it's time for kitchen duty - see you in a while!

done - just in time...

ok, I admit I didn't have all that much time left - but I finished the projects just in time, i.e. yesterday afternoon for today. I've been on night shifts before to finish something, so for me that was quite alright:)

and today at our May meeting we had lots of gorgeous projects to see, because it was agreed to hand in all our textile projects for the exhibition in september/october. the museum has to prepare the things and needs time to do so, and to be honest, I am rather glad to have this one out of my way! to make a long story short, here are my finished "Fuchsia cottage" socks:

the flat cardboard inlay isn't ideal for presentation, but my dummy feet aren't here yet, so they have to do. on the left there are two large yews (very common over here, no wonder, with the name Mayo = Maigh Eo in irish or plain of the yews). there are flowering shrubs in front, done with beads. the one on the right shows the fuchsia bush on the left, and a wall, path and gate to the right... both have a silk crochet fuchsia flower and a leaf dangling from the i-cord closure.

on the other side you see the round tower of Turlough and also a fuchsia bush - and on the right side the fuchsia cottage.... both feet are of course done in the famous 40 (or maybe not quite:) shades of green!

 a detail - the path to the right of the tower (purely fictional!) is covered in dandelion - the gardener must have been lazy:)

this is my favourite bit of the socks: the cottage garden. of course there are lots of flowers (done with beads) and even on the wall in front you can see a few weeds and flowers... I was briefly tempted to add some moss by needlefelting - but decided against it, there can be overkill in a design:)

I have to admit though that the front garden of our cottage doesn't look quite so charming:

but then it wasn't meant to show the real thing!

a contrast to the very fancy socks is the second pair, knitted from handspun jacobs wool, undyed. they stand for the countless simple socks the women of ireland (and I am sure in many other countries a century ago!) had to spin and knit for their large families. simple in design, but warm on the feet and much faster to make than the picture socks!

the museum also asked us to provide a few samples for the public to touch - to avoid ending up with grubby or even damaged projects we'll lay out some bits and pieces to feel.... I used three of the wool/silk blends of the fancy socks and one of the jacobs wool. after three squares I was bored and made a circle for the last one:)

this is the fuchsia flower hiding away in a bush - maybe it'll lure it's real cousins out soon? from afar it does look like the real deal - and I am looking forward to the first flowers, because I love the very exotic flower shape. they look like pagoda roofs to me, dainty and pretty and not at all as tough as the plant really is! I still have a bit of the silk left - and I think I'll crochet two more to make little earrings with....

this is what I have been doing during the last few weeks, i.e. apart from gardening etc. I also spun a skein of dark blue silk, finished three more skeins of cardinal red wool for a cardigan and made another pair of simple socks as a present... of course the next birthday is never far away - knitting needles, here I come (lace this time, I think it's a table runner in the making...)

but right now I am not keen - it's too warm for me to do any knitting. I spun some more silk in the museum today, but couldn't really find my rhythm and only managed a very small amount after all. first we have may temperatures lower than in winter - and now it's so warm that I'd like to spend my days in a bathtub full of water:) of course, those of you who have 30 deg. C most days - it's probably a nice fresh day - but for us here it's a veritable heat wave:)