highlandheffalump

YOP11 Week 2/52 – where is my spinning mojo?

Acquisitions

I was watching the Grocery Girls on YouTube and they were showing some new non-superwash yarn from La Bien Aimee in Paris and I looked at it online…I had typed a big rant about Brexit but I deleted it…in short I haven’t bought any yarn and doubt anyone else in the UK could afford to from them now. Link to see why if you are interested.

Felting

I made 10 fairies for the shop earlier in the week, but I forgot to take nice daytime photos so only have the quick evening snaps I took.

Knitting

My DK socks are finished. They need blocking as the wool still has some stiffness from lanolin I think. Fingers crossed they don’t shrink. It’s not superwash so will be handwash socks for when its very cold. The wool is from Ryeland sheep that don’t easily felt apparently.

Mostly Warmness called to me and that’s quite addictive. The yarn is a merino silk singles yarn. You follow the same pattern for the cuffs and the cowl, just make the cowl wider. This will be the cowl as I made an error on the first ‘tooth’ and have 1 stitch too many because I didn’t notice until I was a few ‘teeth’ in.

Spinning

Well I don’t know what happened to my spinning mojo. We are at the 2nd week of Tour de Fleece and I basically have spun almost nothing this week. It started to go when I was having neck/shoulder pain and now my neck is better my mojo hasn’t returned. Anyone seen it? 😉. The Guild team are still spinning and I am enjoying the team chat on Messenger. Hopefully next week my mojo will return.

Weaving

I decided my next project will be the Kelly Casanova’s Fibonacci towel pattern (she spells it Fibonnaci on Etsy and the pattern). I got this free as part of being in her Online school. Anyway, when I started to look at the printed pattern I realised she isn’t following the proper Fibonacci number sequencing, so I have come up with my own way of warping that sticks to the true numbering system. (Perhaps this is why she has spelt it wrong!)

I’m using some 8/4 cotton and a 12.5 dpi reed, I haven’t made a full sized towel with 8/4 cotton before, I usually use 8/2 cotton doubled but have some 8/4 I want to use up. I appreciate for the non-weavers this is probably confusing. Anyway, hopefully next week it will be warped and there’ll be some more progress to show you.

Other News

Kitchen plans keep being tweaked and we are waiting on some quotes for fitting. Living in the Highlands can be frustrating sometimes, deliveries can cost more, there aren’t the wide range of companies in more populated places. We can’t seem to find anyone who can lay the type of underfloor heating we were looking at, so now exploring other options. This is really sapping (or is it zapping) my energy for much else. I have found a company that do lovely toughened glass splash backs for behind the hob (who charge double for delivery here!). You can even get custom ones made using your own photos!

I did a brief Garden Diary update with some photos on Thursday if you are interest.

This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 11th year, but this is my 4th year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry.

32 comments

  1. What a *censored* mess Brexit has caused! If it’s any comfort, I can’t afford the La Bien Aimee yarns either, they are way above my budget (no comfort, I know, just saying). And reading about your kitchen adventure, seems it has been a frustrating week in some ways. Your fairies are absolutely beautiful, and the socks look so warm and cozy!

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  2. well I would have joined in your Brexit rant wholeheartedly…. Not to mention the additional £8 fee slapped by Royal Mail for “handling” the package while waiting for you to pay the fees…
    I love your fairies! And those socks feel super yummy! I haven’t knitted in ages, but it is very interesting to know that Ryeland is felt “resistant” as I still use a fair bit of woo.

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  3. Maybe your spinning mojo is keeping mine company somewhere. Ugh Brexit. So many of my smaller suppliers are having such trouble shipping their products now, who on earth thought this was an improvement? You’ve made some great progress this week, spinning aside. I love how that cowl is knitting up and I’m looking forward to seeing your weaving, hopefully it will inspire me to dig my loom out.

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  4. It seems that despite the agitations of the week you were still able to craft brilliantly and that’s all that counts! I’m in US and with the way things are going here it seems hypocritical to talk about Brexit. My family lives all over the UK and it’s been a huge pain. I’m hoping that the details can be worked out more efficiently and there’s not much more of the chaos the move has been causing.

    Your fairies are AMAZING and the socks look so comfy! All I’ve been doing is spinning so maybe my spinning mojo was sneaky and invited yours to drop in without telling me … LOL! I don’t want to be an ungracious host but I’ll try to gently persuade yours to come back home. 😀

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  5. Love your socks. The pink stripes in the cuff are so cute. Best wishes with your kitchen. When we return home we get to constantly look at the disaster of our concrete replacement. We didn’t check references and we are paying a HUGE price. Now we have major repairs to try to save the pool plus we have to find and pay someone to remove and replace the faulty concrete work.

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  6. I looked around and no one’s spinning mojo is at my home. Sorry. Love the cowl you are making and those socks look very warm. Your fairies always make me smile. I am sure they will all find wonderful homes.

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  7. I’m sure the mojo will return when it’s good and ready! The socks are great and look like they will keep your toes toasty.

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  8. I feel much the same about my spinning mojo! I hope yours returns, as your spun yarns are all so beautiful!

    I was looking at the La Bien Aimée yarn and seeing the rates for UK customers, YIKES! €28.50 per skein, but they won’t ship less than €135, plus shipping, plus 20% VAT, PLUS the 2.5% customs rate! SO…..if you didn’t mind waiting on multiple international shipping times, could some one “gift” you yarn to avoid all the new and “exciting” taxes? Brexit seemed half cocked at best to begin with and is turning into a consumer headache in practice. I looked really quick, the Corrie Worsted doesn’t seem to be widely available in the states yet.

    Love the color of your cowl! Its going to look SOOOO good!

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    • I did think about a well travelled skein but in reality I don’t need it and it won’t be worth the hassles. Scotland voted to stay in the EU but as part of the UK we had to follow what the others had voted for, it is just so annoying.

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      • No not where we are. But next year I could go when I’m down at my sisters and from hers you could go for a day possibly but I’d stay a night or two. It takes us 4 hours to get to Edinburgh we are way way north. Unless I flew to London which is possible

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  9. I love your socks and your cowl and of course your fairies!! I am sorry your spinning mojo has got lost (maybe it is somewhere amid the kitchen renos?) I am sure it will return one day soon. I am missing you on the RIng Road. You aren’t showing up on my map anymore. Are you done? I am almost to 60% done. My walking mojo is a bit weak right now, and as for spinning I will definitely take advantage of the rest day tomorrow on Tour de Fleece. I am glad you are fixing the fibonacci calculations – wouldn’t do to have them incorrect (says the math nerd.) Carry on – you are doing great on all your projects.

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  10. Your fairies are amazing! Love the socks. Making a pair of DK socks is on my to do list. Sorry about your spinning mojo. Mine has also been missing. Hopefully they will all return soon :).

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  11. My spinning was waning as well, so I joined with a youtube podcast I watch, Fiber Love Diary. She does dying, weaving and knitting but most of her content is spinning. I have been doing Tour de Fleece with her, cool watching someone spin and answer question while you spin. Just finished the 2nd bobbin of a polypay/firestar I blended on my hand made blending board, sigh a drum carder is on my bucket list :P, and I will ply it today even tho Tour de France is having a down day :P, just cant wait to see the yarn lol. If you want to check her out she is spinning live at 2pm eastern daylight savings time in the USA, probably NY time, and I think it’s 5 hrs behind London, but I could be wrong, so please look it up, it’s been very fun. And she will be having a drawing from those that join in and spin with her on Sunday the 18th from 2pm to 2:30pm and/or 5pm to midnight (pajama party lol) for a blending board. So join her youtube channel and join us!! She said she would ship it overseas.

    I’m lucky here in the USA, so far but who knows with our current administration what will happen :(, that we don’t have vats etc, just some local and/or state sale tax with vary from city and state. Our current administration is talking about (sorry can’t remember what it’s called) where it’s taxed starting at the manufacturer and for each place or process (?) on down the line until and including when you buy it. I call it a progressive tax because it makes things get progressively more expensive :(. Maybe it’s a good thing we can spin our own yarn, it may eventually come to that. And fortunately with al the spinning fiber I have collected over the last 18 years, I am S.A.B.L.E in spinning fiber lol.

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  13. Those socks look very cosy and warm – perfect for your Highland winters. The purple cowl is a fantastic design, how clever! Your angels are gorgeous.

    Apologies for not getting the parcels to you. I have spent far to long thee last few months being pinged and in isolation. Look our for a RAK coming your way sometime in August

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