WIP Wednesday.

The replacement needles arrived so I've managed to crack on with my Cornwallis sweater. Still loving it and can't wait to wear it. Could have done with an extra sweater yesterday, its was so cold, no snow here though.

Hopefully the sleeves won't take too long, then I've got to sew it up. Dreading that bit much prefer knitting in the round.  But it will be worth the pain of sewing it, I already know this is going to be a favourite sweater and will definitely make more.

This week's fibre project has been the gorgeous kingfisher fibre. I'm really enjoying spinning on my new wheel, managing to do my 15 mins a day spinning , to be honest I could stay on it all night but don't think the family would appreciate it. Her name still hasn't come to me yet but am sure it will! 

The lights a bit dark but the colours are gorgeous, can't  wait to get this plied up and onto the needles. I'm excited to see what it looks like and what weight I have spun, I'm not sure I have spun the singles thin enough to get a 2 ply sock weight and its still thick and thin in places. But it sure is pretty, that gold is stunning.

 Work really does get in the way I could craft all day!

Spinning & piers.

Life is ticking along nicely, nothing out of the ordinary, just the way I like it.

 Last Sunday hubs and I managed to get out for a walk, it was blowing a gale and spitting rain, but we braved it. It was a pretty grey day but I love to be out near the coast whatever the weather so I really enjoyed blowing the cobwebs away. We drove down to Portishead and walked around the marina and out around the coast a little way.

We managed to get onto the old pier, Its owned by the council and is usually locked , however the fisherman were out so it was unlocked and they were happy to let us on for a look. We finished our walk with a bacon buttie and a mug of tea from a  little van parked up nearby. Blooming lovely.

After the disaster of my needle breaking I have now received the new ones so am hoping to crack on with that this week. Cornwall trip is edging closer and I really want to wear this sweater ! Mind you I have been a bit waylaid by spinning this week.

Plied the last yarn that was spun on my old Ashford

I am really pleased with it. The new wheel really made a difference to the plying. Its come out on average about a double knit weight. My spinning is still a bit thick and thin so its variable in places.  The colour is glorious , the picture doesn't really do it justice. I think this is going to be a hat. I just need to work out the yardage.

Now that's done I can get on with spinning this little beauty

Kingfisher by Spinjones

I am a little bit addicted to Spin jones fluff! they are so pretty, I could easily buy up her whole shop !

But restraint is needed, I am meant to be on a yarn diet, does this count? its not actually yarn until I have spun it !

Here's the first spinning session, trying to do 15 minutes minimum per day to try and improve my spinning

I spilt the braid straight down the middle, and have been using one half by taking small strips off and spinning it that way. I am hoping to get a 2ply sock weight yarn out of it. I would love to knit a scarf/wrap thingy with this.Pretty pleased with it so far, pretty even and looks to be on track weight wise. This weekend will definitely see this bobbin filling up !

PS/ apologies, still playing around with Blog, cant quite get it right !
any opinions please share.
might go back to basics !

WIP Wednedsay.

This week, despite wanting to spin , I made a concerted effort to crack on with my Cornwallis sweater hoping to get the front finished and start on the sleeves. It was ticking along nicely until this happened



Flipping needle snapped ! and despite having loads of needles I didn't have another of this size free . Nothing for it but to order another set of tips. They arrived today so hopefully I can crack on with it as its only a few weeks until the Cornwall trip.

In the meantime I picked up my Christmas eve cast on, the first pair of my planned 12 days of Christmas socks for this year.

These are coming along nicely and there has been loads of cute little gifts falling out of the gift a ball.

. I may have also done a bit of spinning, I love my new wheel, its a dream to spin on and I can already see a difference in my spinning. I have definitely found my spinning mojo.

The new wheel.

Yesterday was devoted to spinning wheels. One of the old wheels was collected at 10am, then I set about unpacking and attempting to build my new wheel. Having never had a brand new wheel before I had no idea other than the instruction book and a YouTube video.

parts laid out and waiting for some love

First up I waxed all the wood, as I had chosen to have the custom wheel (the wheel itself was painted for me ) the rest of the wood came untreated. You can see the difference in colour here, the wax really brings out the grain of the wood as well. There was something quite soothing about this process, very relaxing and meditative ! Then it was onto the build.

I have to say the build and instructions were really easy to follow, I made a couple of silly errors getting washers back to front but pretty much managed it all. Sadly I was a bit heavy handed with one of the screws on the footman ( above) and split the blooming wood. I knew I had done it as I heard the wood break . The wheel still works and lovely Louise from Spin City is going to order a spare in for me so it can be replaced. However the wheel is beautiful and I love her, yes its female and she will have a name, not sure what yet!

All finished!

Despite the small break I did manage to get a quick spin in on her to make sure I had set it all up right, and pleased to say she is a joy to spin on. Cant wait to get stuck in later today, I have a whole box of lovely fibre just calling to me.

I am going to have many years of joy out of this little wheel and have learnt my lesson from the last major craft room downsize destash, never ever get rid of your wheel !

Now all I have to do is pack up the old Ashford, that was a bit of a bugger to dismantle to be honest. The screws had all been in place for 30 plus years so you can imagine they didn't want to come out. But it's now all in parts waiting to be wrapped packed and shipped out. 2 out and 1 in, sort of a destash there !

And relax.

I'm not sure what's been happening this week but I have really struggled to get through to the weekend. I have had no get up and go at all. I have driven to work every day and paid for parking and I've bought lunch at work every day, very lazy and not frugal at all. I've been office bound all week and sitting at a desk for 8.5 hrs is not good for the soul, especially when you don't like your job and are counting down the days until you start the new one ! Luckily I am out every day next week for at least half a day so that should help.

But I've made it, phew. Now I have some breathing space to try and get my head sorted out. Hubs and no 1 son are  working today, no 2 son is home but probably wont show his face until this afternoon , so I have a good few hours to my self. I love quiet time, there will be no TV or radio blaring, only the sounds of the house, which today will  mainly be the washing machine ! 

I've hit a bit of a reading block this week, probably as I've not been commuting in, and despite my rules of not buying any more books until I have read what I have, I just couldn't resist this book. I have seen it on Instagram quite a bit and my interest was piqued.

It's A5 sized and really beautiful. I love it.  I am an Instagram addict and love looking at the really creative pictures people can do with  random assortments of colourful bits and bobs.  This book just does it for me. I'm hoping it will crank up my creative processes as they seem to get lost beneath working and home life. I live in a beautiful  city, it is filled with wonderful things including some fantastic graffiti. This coming week I am going to walk in my lunch breaks and make a point of really looking at what's  around me. If you love creative inspirational books with lots of pictures then this is definitely for you. 

Following on from Mondays post, ordering a new spinning wheel, I have managed to re home both of my old wheels. As they were bought pre loved by me, one came  from a junk shop, I decided that I would pass them on as a random act of kindness. No charge  just hoping that they would go to a nice new home. The first wheel is being picked up shortly, the 2nd I need to dismantle and post. So today's job will be unpacking  and assembling my new beautiful wheel so that the old one can then be packed away in the box new heel came in.

I've watched a few YouTube video's and it has an instruction leaflet so am pretty sure that I can do it. As I chose a custom painted wheel, the wheel s blue, but the rest of the wheel is unfinished  wood. My plan is to unbox it all, check all the pieces are there, as per instruction manual, then wax all the wood before assembling. I am actually quite looking forward to this little job. It makes a change from Saturday housework !  Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to do a blog post showing off my new fab wheel !

WIP Wednesday.

Blimey, this week is a killer. It’s only Wednesday (hump day !) but I’m ready for the weekend already. This is  my short 4 day week as well. It doesn’t feel like I’ve stopped. 

This week I got distracted by my cozy memories blanket and have added 4 more squares. I love this project

I could carry on knitting it but I really need to get my Cornwallis done ready for Cornwall. I’ve managed to get 11 stripes done so far and will carry on tonight.

I’m loving this knit too.

On the spinning wheel front I’ve managed to find homes for my 2 old wheels and my new one is due to arrive in the next 2 days. I am seriously excited, ive never had a brand new wheel before! 

Oops.

Well I managed to sort out 2 boxes of my stash yesterday and get it onto Ravelry. Took an age but it’s great to be able to see what I have stashed without having to pull it all out. There’s another 2 boxes to go, mostly I dyed packs and sweater quantities! But enough was enough, that will have to wait for another day. 

Today I finished my writing course, it was a free one that finishes this weekend so had to get that done too. I have no idea why I take these things on, always seems like s good idea until so have to fit it all in. After that I was pretty much done in, plied up some of my advent fibre, in between bouts of the wheel not wanting to play,  then managed to get the ironing done .Then I crashed out on the sofa. Back to work tomorrow so just having a bit of me time! 

My spinning wheel bugged me this afternoon, I can’t moan it was a really cheap find in a junk shop. It’s ancient and well used, needs a good overhaul and some new parts. What to do? Keep and do up?  Nope, no time for that . Stuff it I went and bought a new one. Never had a brand new to me wheel before so why not? Want to see the little beauty?

Isn’t she beautiful ? Bought from spin city shop, will link when I’m on the computer rather than my phone! Now all I need to do is rehome the 2 old wheels I have!

Daylight!

Blimey, went back to work Wednesday and the week then disappeared. Christmas feels an age away now.

Hubs is away with no 1 son this weekend, and as its now 12th night the decorations need to come down.  I knew I wouldn't be able to manage to get the real tree out, far too big for me to manhandle, so I asked him to get the real tree out  before he left yesterday. This morning I have carried on packing all of Christmas away, including the outside lights ! Boy does it feel good to get the house back to normal.

Then, as we have now been without 'The Hound' for over a year now,( I didn't realise it had been that long !)  I thought it about time to take the plastic coating we had had to put on the windows off. Those that read my old blog may remember our boy max.

He was a rescue dog with many issues, one of them being hating anyone who walked past or moved in front of our house. That also included birds,wind and anything that he didn't actually like. Our dog behaviourist recommended that we put sticky back opaque  plastic on the windows so that he couldn't see out. Well it's been there ever since so today was the day it was coming off. Boy was that satisfying, blooming hard work getting it off though. The windows were duly cleaned and the blinds wiped over, done. Makes it look so much brighter. Trouble is we live in a reasonably busy street so people will be able to look in, I think I may start turning into a nag as the boys, and hubs for that matter, can be mucky little blighters ! I am also interested to see if they spend so long lazing on the sofa now !

Right, as the cleaning bug has now woken up I am going to hit my wardrobe, alternatively known as the Christmas storage unit .It needs a darned good clean out and a thorough sort out of all my clothes.There is all sorts in there and I feel the need to decide what I want to wear and what I don't. Wish me luck I am going in...

WIP Wednesday.

Happy hump day to you. Halfway through to the weekend and I will be honest, I’m looking forward to getting back to normal. Don’t get me wrong I’ve had a lovely Christmas / new year but I’m done with it now and just want to move on !

Last night I dragged out my first WIP of 2019 which I’m determined to get finished by the end of the month. My lovely Cornwallis sweater.  The backs all done so now it’s onto the front. This is where I picked it up last night.

The first 4 rows done. It’s just s 4 row stripe stocking stitch from here on in. This is such a simple pattern, real TV knitting! My only issue is having to see it up when I’m done knitting, I wish I had the brainpower to switch this into a circular knit!