Fibre Prep
I got the drum carder out this week to prepare some blends for making lampshades. I made some cloud, sky and sea blends and later made a beach and hill blend. These are mostly British Shetland wool with some merino and/or corriedale. Some is hand dyed by me and some commercially dyed.
I also made up a purple blend with merino and some lilac flax. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with it. I may just do a felt square and see how it looks. In autumn here the hills turn purple with the heather and I’d like to see how it looks felted before I try it on a lampshade.
Knitting
Accessories
I finished my mittens. They’d gone into timeout before my holiday due to fit…but I decided they fit well enough not to tink back. With my other pair I can fit a pair of merino glove liners in but in this pair I’ll wear them alone. I left the right thumb open for operating my phone 🙄.
This is an adaptation on the Hastings Mitts pattern by Tracie Millar. The yarn is Isager Jensen colours 26 and 101. I bought these yarns in Copenhagen last year so when I wear them they’ll remind me of the trip and my friend Helen, who I went with 😀.
We had snow earlier this week so it’s still mitten weather.
Socks
Call me crazy but I have cast on a pair of socks on 2 separate needles from a sock blank! It’s a bit weird unravelling something to re-knit it as something else. If it all becomes too much I may finally get around to knitting a gauge swatch for a colourwork jumper.
Spinning
I plied the BFL/alpaca/Seacell singles into a 3 ply on my Ashford Traditional wheel. My friend, Norah, told me to rest the bobbin 24 hours after plying before winding it off…I did manage to wait almost that long which isn’t like me. Each of the 3 Nano bobbins had uneven amounts left so I took them with me yesterday to our Guild open day but I was so busy there I barely got 20 mins of spinning done in 6 hours!
I much prefer the yarns I’m making on my Nano and plying on my Traditional, they are softer feel.
I did also do some spinning on my Ashford Traveller, some merino/silk/flax blend I dyed and started spinning last year and then neglected. I’d like to get it finished, although I’m not sure what I’ll do with it then.
Other News
I published my 3 posts about our holiday in the Outer Hebrides/Western Isles. Here’s a link to the first post and you can then click through to the next post(s) if you are interested, even if it’s just to see the photos.
Ylva wasn’t well this week which cost us £253 in tests and injections to be told she’s basically ok now! They thought she had pancreatitis, she was drooling, droopy and depressed. 30 mins after they gave her an injection she perked right up and touch wood seems ok now. She’ll be 15 in April. Look how pretty she looked on holiday!
This is a Year of Projects post. Officially the Group is in its 12th year, but this is my 5th year participating. If you would like to find more about the Year of Projects Group on Ravelry.
HighlandHeffalump 
What a beautiful dog. Wow 15 years old. I know how frustrating those vet bills can be. Purple fibre might also fit a sunset lamp shade?? I’ve never used a sock blank because honestly I don’t know why I’d want a blank versus a ball of yarn. Curious what you think about sock blanks.
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The sock blank is made with 2 strands of yarn and then dyed so you should get a matching pair and is easier for the dyer I think.
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OH. Well that makes total sense and fits my desire for matching socks. I had no idea that it’s 2 strands of yarn.
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That’s a great idea re: a sunset. I just have away a bunch of yellow merino to another guild member yesterday doh! I can have a play though and have some other bits of yellow in my stash.
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I’m glad Ylva is ok even if it did cost a bit to find that out!. The mittens look good – that is something I would like to knit for next year. All of your blends look beautiful and now you are all set!
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Thanks Lucy.
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So glad you explained the sick blank in Maureens comment. They sound interesting. It would be perfect for me since I knit my socks concurrently. All your Fibers look pretty. Hopefully the purple will needle felt nicely so you can use it on the shades. Cute idea to leave the thumb on the mitt open for phone use.
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The sock blank is a bit weird as I think they’ve slipped the first stitch and I have to keep feeding my socks through a loop each row. However, it’s more comfortable to just keep knitting from than having 2 balls of yarn on the go
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Glad your fur baby is ok, they can certainly scare us!! Oh my all that beautiful spinning fiber!!! I got a Clemes & Clemes drum carder a few months ago, but it’s been so dry in my house that the fiber is so static I can’t use the drum carder yet. That will change this summer when it’s so humid that when I get out of the shower it feels like I need to get right back in, sigh. I should probably think about getting a humidifier for the winter and dehumidifier for the summer. Love that skein of spun yarn, fingerless mitts?
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Thank you, yes she did scare us both. The carded batts will be wet felted. Our humidity barely changes year round here. There are some in the Guild who use water with a touch of baby oil in finally misted on fleece when carded to stop static. The spun yarn is so so soft it will be something round my neck I suspect.
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Ylva is so pretty. I’m glad she is feeling better. I love hearing about your spinning. You knitting is great, as always.
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Those batts are beautiful, those second three are very much my colours. I hope your mittens are keeping you toasty, it’s certainly been a lot colder the past couple of weeks. Ylva is such a lovely looking dog, I’m pleased she’s rallied and hope she’s doing ok.
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It’ll be fun to see what felted projects come out of those lovely batts. Really loving your spinning – those colors are so rich and saturated! Great job finishing up those mittens – I bet you get a lot of wear out of them. I hope Ylva is still doing well. She’s got such a wonderful beautiful face.
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Thanks, she seems much better. Touch wood.
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