Long time no see

I have barely done any knitting for about 6 months cos I was proper BONKERS but now I am just at usual level of bonkersness, I've knitted a few crappy things and now I have taken up the needles again in earnest and decided to return to blogland because I miss keeping in touch with everyone .... AND.... I am knitting something with my bestest ever yarn ever.

Sadly the photo I have of it does not do it justice, but nevermind, I'll get a better one in daylight sometime.

You might be thinking it doesn't look like much, for which I shall forgive you because it is a crap photo.  But it is in fact abou 200g (maybe more?) of organic kentish wool from a lovely slightly mad woman who I met at the farmers market, who has a shitload of sheep.  She sells the farm's produce at the market and has a sack of yarn in various forms stashed under the table, which one can purchase on the side...it feels a bit naughty.

Anyway, beautiful as it was in its original undyed state, it really got upgraded to most beloved skein of yarn ever when clare came round with an indigo vat last year.  This yarn just had to go in it and since then it has been my most treasured skein, waiting for the PERFECT project. 

But actually I don't believe in the perfect pattern or in letting beautiful skeins of yarn hang around in the drawer of doom waiting indefinitely.  So I decided to just get on and use it.  I have fancied a shawl for yonks but I'm not really the sort of person who wears frilly lacy crap so decided to find a functional simple pattern which I could knit mindlessly and won't take too long (cos after 6 months off, there is plenty of other more practical stuff I could be knitting)

I also wasn't sure about yardage so needed a top down pattern.  Ravelry search indicated that sweet november might be just the ticket, and as I've knitted half the skein up already in 24 hours, I think ravelry was right (once again!) Every row is the same which is fab as I want to knit it all the time, which means I have to put it down all the time.

Only change I've made so far is to work all the left slanting decreases as yo, sl1, k1, psso rather than ssk, for no good reason other than I prefer doing it like that.

Well here's a shit progress picture. I must obtain a proper camera sometime.

Well now I'm going to go and catch up on all the lovely knitting blogs I haven't looked at for yonks and yonks, can't wait :)

Beautiful day

Just beautiful little things. Apparently this gnome is 'ukkle sam'!


I noticed the bowl of modelling wax on the windowsill was right in the sunshine, and all the bits were so soft! So I decided to take the opportunity to sort out the random bits and blobs and mix them into pleasant shapes, easier to start with when they aren't so warm. And who can resist colour...deer is eating


I can't believe she actually made little green leaves!



Then I did some chores and when I came back, all the blobs had disappeared. Concerned, I asked Abi where they were..how could I have missed this! Shed lined them all up so beautifully



And finally, best of all, a wonderfully shattering walk on the downs, I have a lovely picture but forgot to ask friend if I could share it as her son is in it. Well I don't really even like asking in case people feel obliged to say yes! But it is a fab picture of our boys up a tree!
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Must do this more often...

Even when I can afford fresh flowers, I'm a bit hmm about the ethics and environmental impact, especially of supermarket type things. But for the first time I have a bit of a variety to choose from in the garden...


Not quite petrol station standard, and all the better for it! Feverfew, thyme, love in a mist, White clover and a random weed!

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Saturday stuff

Mmmm we picked these today...



One chap said they are 'cherry plums', and another said greengages. Either way they are yummy and sweet and sour and may ripen a little more on the windowsill!

Also mordanted 200g merino



In case I found something worth dyeing on our walk, but there was too much yummy stuff to pick.

We also made little tiny fairy cakes. I'm trying to grow out of icing any cake I bake, so these were livened up with mixed spice and caraway seed, which we all found very yummy indeed.



And meg, they're yours! Pm me your address and I'll be glad to finish them for you, pg mamas have plenty of baby things to knit (I'm so jealous!) so you deserve something for you! X



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Duffers

Firstly thanks for yesterday's comments, I managed to find a computer earlier at the library but, like my phone, it wouldn't let me return the favour, hmph. Is blogger being weird at the moment? Anyway no the jumper isn't machine washable, but I tend to wash woollens as little as possible so it's not a problem.

And she is starting to like pink rather a lot, but is still happy to allow other colours into her life, thank Gaia. Long may that last!

Anyway, my slippers are looking thoroughly pathetic. I love them and their many darns but they are a little embarrassing. So the other day I found a funky looking pattern called 'duffers' and decided to give it a bash. I'm usually hesitant with patterns for felted items as most are written with American washers in mind. Not silly uk ones which you can't stop mid cycle, you just have to pray. But this seemed to be a uk pattern so I went with it, and hoped for the best.



They knitted up good and fast. But look...



A pre-felted slipper should surely not come that close to fitting. Admittedly, I have big size 8 feet. So I followed the writers direction for sizing up, to a size 9 as I know this yarn likes to felt a LOT. But I wasn't feeling good about it.
But now they were knitted there wasn't a lot else to do but try it (apart from felt by hand which I cannot do)
Anyway, doesnt it look lovely?



I'd estimate it came out at about a size 3, and I managed to stretch them to about a 6. I can get my foot in, but it hurts. A lot. Sigh, felting can be cruel. If anyone nice has size 6 feet, I'll knit them the other one too and you're welcome to the bastards.

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Finished object Friday...crazy jumper

I finished the crazy jumper a couple of weeks ago but have been a slack blogger so only posting it now...



I'm really pleased with the yarn as I was worried it would be too bulky, but the alpaca content makes it a bit lighter



Dd is on a bit of a pockets kick so she's happy. And I'm pleased with the shawl collar as I didn't really know what I was doing with that.

The annoying bit is that I forget to set the sleeves in, which a thick jumper would benefit from. But she doesn't seem to care. The pleasing thing is that I managed to get on and knit it without interruption or distraction, which is vital when making it up as you go along if you want things to be vaguely symmetrical!

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Dyeing...

If you can only cope with one kitchen activity when you have a stinking cold, make it natural dyeing. Especially if you plan on burning stuff (cos you didn't hear it boil over due to having blocked up ears grr)



Made some pretty boring beige


Now my fave...I've been ramming a jar full of these for a pretty long time now



And it's looking so good I'm going to have a bash at drying them to see if I can reuse for a paler shade. I managed to do this a few times with madder, the only reason I eventually chucked it was that i can't have dried it thoroughly enough the last time, as it had started to mould in the jar :( well worth the trouble tho i reckon!

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