Dyeing
I bought a cone of white linen for weaving, but it seems a bit thin so I spun the yarn onto 2 bobbins and plied it. I’ve then split it into 3 batches to do some dyeing with the Jacquard Procion dyes I haven’t used yet. I’ve only done acid dyeing of wool previously so I’m looking forward to playing with the primary coloured dyes to make up some colours to dye the plied linen. More on that next week hopefully.
Felting
I’ve been working on a needle felting project but it isn’t finished yet, so more on that perhaps next week.
Knitting
Some progress on my socks, I have started to do the heels whilst still doing 2 at a time on the long circular needles. Usually I split them onto separate needles to do this and may end up having to anyway, but I’ll see how I get on. Excuse my finger I was trying to uncurl the heel flap and it wasn’t behaving!
Oh and I made another smitten mitten with the small amount of the purple hand spun I showed last week. I’ve decided to hold off showing the smitten mittens as I make them and will instead show them as a finished object when I have the 24 for an advent garland. So far they are all purple or turquoise and blends of the 2…will I stick with this theme or mix it up…well you’ll have to wait and see!!!
Spinning
Tour de Fleece continues! This is where most of the action has happened this week!
I did more spinning and then chain plied the first batch of the baby camel and silk. It is 118m (129 yards) of fingering weight yummy yarn. I still have well over 200g left to spin and hope to end up with enough for something more interesting than another shawl…but we shall see what length I end up with when it is all spun. I’m showing a photo of it in sun and in shade photo so you can see colours and shine on this yummy scrumptiousness.
I spun up the remaining grey rolags and managed to get a fairly consistent weight of yarn as the first skein I finished. So together the 2 skeins are 170m (185 yards) of Aran weight yarn. I’ve been thinking of maybe combining this in a project with my perpetual purple I spun on last year’s tour de fleece and some future spinning. Nothing certain yet though. I’ll store it in my bag of homespun and then make decisions later. Part of me is thinking a wacky version of the Quick Sand cardigan if I eventually have enough homespun. It’s an easy pattern and would be nice for a TV watching warm cardi! Maybe not to be seen in public…anyhoo just ideas at the moment.
Weaving
So I can now reveal a secret project that I’d kept off my list and didn’t mention last week, as it was a birthday present for my husband. It is a scarf, again using the Peat and Rocks gradient set from Ripples Crafts. The yarn is 100% BFL and I already made another scarf with some of the set and still have enough to make a short pair of socks with.
For the warp I used colours 2 and 4 and then for the weft I used colours 1, 3 and 5. I’m really happy how it turned out.
With weaving you don’t get as soft a fabric as knitting, but it is much quicker to get an end result and I like the look although my edges still need improvement! I keep eyeing up other skeins of yarn and wondering if I should weave them.
Along with my linen cone, I ordered some cotton to try another dish towel. I warped it with double threads of the cotton in a 10 dpi reed. In reality I think I need to buy a 15 dpi heddle…if that’s a thing. I’ll see what they have at Fibre East next weekend as it will save on postage fees if someone is selling them. I will also pick up one of the shuttles for fine fibre as well, I am keen to make my own dish towels and wash cloths so worth the investment I think.
It was my husband’s birthday on Friday so I’ve not made any progress since I warped it on Thursday but here it is so far. I will be adding in a turquoise horizontal (weft) stripe or 2 as well…I think.
Other News
I’ve managed to keep up with my daily yoga routine and have now increased to 60 mins per day. (Oops routine went to pot on Friday, my husband’s birthday! We are staying with my MIL. (I also didn’t manage to spin that day either…double oops!)
On Wednesday I went along to a dance class where you learn a routine to a movie. This week it was The Greatest Showman, next week is La La Land, then Chicago and Grease the next two Wednesdays. The classes are held at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness and they used to do these summer classes and then you could watch the movie straight after and spot your routine. This year it is just the classes. In previous summers I went to Black Swan, Saturday Night Fever, Chicago and Cabaret. They are a proper work out but fun too. When I was younger I used to dance most nights doing ballet and modern dance and then shows and competitions. I was very thin and fit back then. I live in hope these classes will get me a wee bit fitter and burn some calories.
This is a Year of Projects update. If you would like to find out more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry, or you’d like to join in, please follow the link for details. To read what the other members of the YOP Group have been getting up to please click on the latest weekly folder and follow the links to their blog posts. This is a friendly group with a wide mix of skills and crafting interests.
HighlandHeffalump 
Some lovely handspun yarn there. Your sock weight turned out great. I think your idea for a fun cardi with your Aran weight is a grand idea. The woven scarf is great and looks like it will be plenty warm for your husband. Tell him happy belated birthday from the USA. Your next weaving project is quite pretty. Love the colors. The dance class sounds like a lot of fun.
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Those dance classes sound like a blast!!! I love that woven scarf! I’ve thought of getting a loom, it’s just not possible right now……Your spinning looks great and you see, to have a good plan for it….
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Ooh look at all of your spinning! You have been busy. The scarf looks brilliant, I bet your husband loves it. The dance classes sound great.
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Busy week, despite a birthday. Very nice manly scarf- I’m sure he loves it!
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Beautiful projects! I especially like to look at your weaving. I wanted to weave dish towels as well, but didn’t have the funds for a nicer loom at the time. I might try to take a weaving class next spring.
I enjoyed dyeing with Jacquard dyes and found them easy to use.
Your dance class sounds fun! A local dance studio offers Thriller classes every October where you can learn the routine to Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video. One of these days I’m going to sign up!
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That sounds like a good class too. My loom is the cheapest available, I’ll see how I get on.
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All of your projects look great. I’ve always wanted to try weaving. I would love to take a dance class, it sounds like such a fun time.
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Dyeing (or getting ready to dye), weaving, spinning, knitting… you’ve been super busy. (Not to mention yogaing and dancing.) Love the camel & silk yarn, it looks luscious! Happy birthday to your husband.
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I look forward to seeing your collection of Smitten Mittens when you have them finished. What a fun idea, and the colors sound lovely. Terrific scarf for your husband! I hope he had a happy birthday! 🙂 Your dance classes sound like great fun! Don’t laugh at this old lady, but last night I found myself dancing to some jazz music that came on the radio – it was NPR, and it followed show that was mostly talk). After a minute or so, I asked myself, “why don’t I do this more often? This would be great exercise!!!” I tend to listen to talk radio when I turn it on, but I think I need to get intentional about playing me some music everyday and dance a bit. Goodness knows, it felt terrific. :^)
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Best of luck with the dying experiment, sounds like fun. Looking forward to seeing all the mittens together and whether you stick to your colour theme or change it Liz. Hopefully the two at a time will continue to work for you for the heels but you are making great progress with them. The spinning all looks great and I love the sound of your Aran cardigan with hand spun. Belated birthday wishes to your husband Liz, his scarf is just wonderful and I love how it turned out. I love the colours you are using on the tea towel and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it. Well done on sticking with the yoga and the dance classes sound like such fun!
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Great amount of loveliness in this post. You manage soooo much. Reading bout weaving and spinning is like reading a foreign language for me– I have no clue what it all means, but I do know whatever you are doing is producing lovely things!
Yay for sticking with Yoga–and my goodness that dance class sounds like just so much fun!
Have a lovely week….
xoxo
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Love all the projects! That dance class sounds fantastic!
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Spinning, weaving, knitting, yoga and dance – oh my – what a great week you have had. I need to get back to my yoga – it will probably help my stiff hips. Have a great week – I am sure your hubby was very happy with his birthday present.
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Wow! You have been getting so many projects done, and they are all so lovely! Your husband’s scarf is wonderful – hope he loved it 🙂 The movie dance number exercise class sounds like so much fun – I bet it is a great workout! Looking forward to seeing your linen dying experiments 🙂
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