Change is coming

The weather has been rather changeable recently - going from lovely sunny days to grey, overcast rainy days. It's definitely cooling down here now and it's making me want to cast on a hat. My problem is which one? I love lacy hats but when I'm zipping along on my e-bike they are just not that warm! So something textured and slouchy is what I'm after. I was thinking of casting on Barley by Tin Can Knits as despite being really simple I love the look of it. My other option is Mont Royal by tshep as the detail of the twisted stitches is gorgeous. Perhaps I'll knit both! What are you planning on knitting for the weather where you are?

I am still knitting away on my Belgian Waffle shawl but I am now on the final third!! Hopefully this week I will finish it (as I have a week off work!!) but really need to try to knit monogamously on it to do that...the thought makes me cringe but I want it off the needles and I'm sure you're bored of seeing it on the right there! 

Finally I can show you the pair of socks I have recently cast on, Rhubarb and Custard. Originally my plan was to knit them with a diamond up the front but I didn't like it so I ripped that part out. Now I am going for my first pair of stripy socks instead. The first join was fine but then I got fancy and decided to use the magic knot join...that had to be ripped out. Then the third join was funky so that had to be ripped out. At the moment they seem to be going OK but I'm not holding my breath!  

Finally I got some Nunoco off my Twindle so that I could free it up to finish off the first of my Iridescent Puddle batts. This is so wonderful to look at and the colours are prefect in my opinion! 

On my Glindle is the remaining fiber of the first batt of my Ingelenook Fibers Parrot Tulip. Those little green nups make me so very happy. 

That's about it from me today. I will be back later this week giving you my review of The Field Guide to Fleece. So far I think it's brilliant! 

Blog Hop Part 2

The Blog Hub Blog Hop has come to an end. The idea behind it was to finish as many WIPs as possible.

I set out to finish my shawl, a pair of socks and some spinning. I finished the socks but the shawl and spinning remain WIPs to be complete. 

I was clearly being a bit ambitious with my WIPs but I'm pleased with how the socks came out and the others will get finished soon enough.

Check out how the others did:

Knits by Erin

Spin A Yarn Knit

Davin Made

A Holiday

Today it is Mid Autumn Festival despite the fact that it's 29 degrees outside. Due to the holiday I have a day off of school! Hooray! 

It's come at a wonderful time as I have been anxiously awaiting two rather fabulous parcels. They took 3 weeks to get from the USA to me so by this point I was getting a little impatient. They arrived yesterday which was a great relief as I think if they'd arrived today and I hadn't been able to get them it would have tipped me over the edge and I'd have turned into a raving lunatic! 

Before I tell you about the packages though I have a confession to make. I'm a virgin. Yes, that is what I said. A self striping sock yarn virgin! The horror! I felt the urge to remedy this situation a few weeks ago though and then yesterday I received a lovely skein of self striping sock yarn, from a new to me indie dyer - FishKnits. The colour way is Spilled Milk number 6, Fat Tuesday, as the striping pattern was a (brilliant, I'm sure) mistake. The yarn has teal blue, deep purple, deep turquoise and true red. It will stripe but not as originally intended. I cannot wait to cast on and see how it knits up!  

Also in the post I received two new Cherry wood spindles. One is a beautiful glindle from Bristlecone and the other is a phang made by his wife. Both are stunning and have gorgeous pyrography on them.

The glindle has 5 bats in flight which symbolise the 5 virtues of  longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and a peaceful death. The focal is a Chinese lantern and is a beautiful creamy lemon yellow with 'ghostish whisps'. The true beauty of the focal is so difficult to capture.

The phang has fabulous tiger stripes and a tiger tail along with the Chinese character for Tiger on the front. It's beautifully shaped and spins very well. Alongside these two spindles I received a scoop made from Avocado wood. I adore it's rustic exterior against the smooth centre dip. It will definitely be my go to spinning bowl. 

As for projects I am still knitting the shawl but have now cast on my new socks. I won't show them to you today as I haven't even finished the toes yet! I'm off to do that now so have a great day! 

Progress is Being Made

The Blog Hub Blog Hop is on Wednesday has now been extended to Friday and I have been working mainly on those projects. 

Good news - I finished the socks!! I have washed them and am waiting to give them to the recipient so I can take a photo of her wearing them...if she'll let me! 

Unfortunately I am still only about half way through my Belgian Waffle Shawl. I thought it'd be much quicker than it is turning out to be. Although I will continue to work on it I doubt I'll get it done by Wednesday. 

I am still spinning the nunoco batt and have got about an ounce on my spindle. That will come off soon and I will start the next ounce. 

Today though, I decided to ply the 2 ounces of Inglenook Fibers that I spun up over summer. I couldn't get the peacock feathers to ply into it so will knit those in when I knit with the yarn. It's currently drying in the sunshine so I have no idea of the yardage yet. Overall I think it came out OK. The second ounce is much more consistently spun and finer than the first ounce. 

I'm not that fond of the dark blue skein which is just as well as I have it earmarked for a project for someone who does like blue. The bottom skein is more my colours but I'm not in love with it so I'll probably destash the remaining fiber to someone who will give it the love and attention it deserves. It is really very soft though and I'm sure I'll enjoy knitting with it. 

Now I can start the next pair of socks using the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. The socks are going to be pink and yellow, have contrasting heel and toes in opposite colours and will most likely have a diamond pattern on the front of the foot and up the leg. I can't wait!! 

I will definitely use the 2 at a time, toe up method again as it was such a relief to have them both finished at the same time!

What projects have you been working on?  

Goodies

It's been a busy couple of weeks here as you can probably tell by my absence last week! I have a few goodies to show you though. 

I received some stunning fiber and a spindle in the post recently, as a prize for some spinning done during (not for) the Tour de Fleece over on ravelry. 

The fiber, from Corgi Hill Farm, is the most luxurious I have in my stash and a new blend for me. It's camel/silk in a stunning gold colour and the spindle is a Spanish Peacock russian spindle measuring just 8 inches! It's a speedy spin and so lovely to use. 

Over the summer I ordered some Cygnet Wool Rich sock yarn. It arrived a while ago but I put it away as I was knitting other things. I have decided that after I finish my Parrot Socks I am going to knit some contrasting heel and toe socks using these two colours. What do you think? I intend to use the Fish Lips Kiss Heel pattern. Has anyone used it? I would love to hear recommendations or tips.  

I was considering knitting some stripy socks initially but I'm not sure I want all those ends to weave in! Does the magic knot technique work for stripes? 

At the beginning of the week I received some rather colourful fiber. It's Hobbledehoy dizzed roving in Shire and is made of up merino, bamboo and tencel with a sprinkling of silver angelina. The pink (of which there is more on the other side of the braid) is really not me but it's a fun braid and will spin up into some fun yarn. 

As for my WIPs, my socks are coming along quite well. The heel is done now and I'm on to the leg. However, I became quite impatient to start the heel so am now gifting these to a friend with smaller feet than I! The gusset was a pain to knit though and I shall be avoiding these like the plague! 

My Belgian Waffle shawl is approximately 40% done. I'm not sure if I'll finish it before the WIP blog hop comes round but I shall try! 

The Nunoco batt has taken a bit of a back seat though while I've been spinning that beautiful camel/silk. I need to give it a bit more love and attention! 

What have you been knitting or spinning this week?