To Knit...

2006-09-18T21:44:00.000+01:00

Taking a break from Orcs and Goblins and Dwarfs and High Elves to jot down a few random knitty thoughts and surf the web.

I swear that I heard on PlanetRock the other day that scientists were now looking at ways to make wool from chicken feathers. Apparantly it'll be softer and provide more warmth. That'll be an interesting one to see happen. Having learnt a lot in recent weeks about the importance of length of fibres I wonder how this will work given the really short length of feathers.

One to watch methinks!

Hmmm! Now shall I go back to the Dwarfs. Nah! More surfing it is then...

But then again I feel a WoW sesh in the offing! Must get up to Level 41 before tomorrow.

2006-09-18T21:38:00.000+01:00

Oh my god!

If you haven't checked out the stuff being sold on Ebay by the-mohairknitter, then you must go to it straight away. I didn't know whether to laugh or cheer! Well done Mohair Knitter, you're an inspiration to us all.

2006-09-17T19:19:00.000+01:00

Knitting and Stitching Show review
Well, I went yesterday and to be honest I was disappointed. I was hoping for some more knitting stuff there but it was more like a general craft show. There were events like the knitting fashion show and about 10 or so knitting stalls but the event didn't strike me as being any different to some of the craft events I'd been to at the NEC before. I know it was a stitching show as well but that was just the same guys from the Festival of Quilts again.

But I did go to the silk spinning class (101 how to be a spider!) and enjoyed that. Here's my effort.

Not bad! Having done the drop spinning class a couple of weeks before and practiced a bit has definitely paid off. This will now be the fourth drop spindle in the house. It's about half the size as a normal spindle, is a top whorl, and what you do with this one is twist it horizontally rather than let it hang. Our tutor did show a way where you twisted it vertically, trapped the spindle between your knees and then let go of where you'd pinched the silk but to be honest the horizontal methods was more comfy.

I saved tonnes of money and just bought some emerald green Tussah silk tops from the gorgeous Mulberry Silks stall to practice with.

I'm starting to get a bit practical regards my spinning wheel and saving for it so the thought of buying a load of stuff didn't appeal much. Plus the thought of lugging it onto the train to Nottingham was not my idea of fun especially when I know that I can order it over the t'internet and sent to me.

I think I'm probably going to buy an Ashford Traveller. I saw one being used at the show and just loved the look of it. I have thought about getting the Ashford Kiwi but there's something about it I don't like. Maybe it's that it's made of MDF and just doesn't look all that robust. Never mind. The order's going in this week. A Traveller I think it is.

In the meantime, here's what I've been up to whilst watching a tv fest. This lot took me through most of The Return of the Mummy, part of Look Who's Talking and one and a half episodes of The Day of the Triffids.

The first piece is meant to be black but I had flash on and it reflected off the white paper. It looks a bit sci-fi to me so gets the thumbs up. I definitely have a casting off problem on the purple one - it looks too much like a banana but that'll get sorted when I do the piecing together for the blanket.

2006-09-13T13:20:00.000+01:00

Must resist... Must resist... Keep telling myself that there are only two days until I go to the Knitting and Stitching show and any money I spend on knitting/spinning before then is less money I can spend at the show. I've seen so many things I want to do in the past few days and my will power is struggling to resist having a go at them. It's tough but I think I can manage it!

2006-09-10T11:14:00.000+01:00

Wahoo!

Less than a week to go before the show. Can't wait!

I'm keeping up with the spinning and I think I've gotten ten times better this week.

Definitely going to buy a spinning wheel though, all this hand spinning is killing my shoulder and the last thing I need is rsi.

I'm also creating a blanket at the moment for the cat to lay on at the end of the bed. My plan is to use up some of the yarns I've got lying around before I buy a load more. The squares will be a mix of cool fancy yarns and patterned plain yarns, all in different shades and colours. The squares will also be in different sizes - the only thing that'll be the same about them is I'll use the same pair of cable needles throughout. My plan is to join them altogether with crochet. Here's what I've done so far in the past day.

2006-09-05T20:12:00.000+01:00

Had to order some more merino today to make sure I don't run out over the weekend. I've been buying it off a seller on Ebay called Needlework's Pleasure. They have a wide variety of stock and colours and I've not had any problems with anything they've sent me. I'd definitely recommend them.

I think I'll have enough to last me until the show and then I can buy as much as I like. I just wish that there was somewhere in Nottingham I could visit that sells fibre for spinning. Maybe it's the commercial lifestyle I'm used where I can just go into town and everything is available in the shops. Who knows, with all the interest in all things crafty that seems to be building up in momentum currently, there'll be more places to visit and buy from in the future.

I'll admit I do go through periods where I'll buy loads of magazines and the renaissance in knitting, sewing, etc, has recently appeared in all of them. Personally, I love knitting, etc, because I like learning and being creative. Other people do it out of nostalgia. But whatever the reason, having a new generation of craftspeople can only be a good thing because then new ideas are developed and old methods evolved.

I was searching through the web today looking at the different types of wool you can spin. I'm don't think I've ever had an end product in mind whenever I've thought about spinning. I think my interest was raised more by the idea of playing with colours (that reminds me, I still must try out the Kool-Aid dyeing) and also learning a new craft which I hadn't had a go at before. Having seen some of the different yarns that people are making out there, I'm astounded by the creativity that can go into it. I was looking at one site today where the owner had spun and attached pieces of netting, skulls and flowers to her yarn. I'm in two minds with this. It made a lovely pile of yarn but I couldn't quite picture how it would all knit up. So I'm not sure at the moment whether I'm spinning to knit or spinning to make yarn. Time will tell and in the meantime I'll have fun experimenting.

2006-09-04T08:53:00.000+01:00

Hmmm! Things did not go to plan on the knitting front yesterday. After a few failed attempts at trying to do the first square in the Afgan book, I gave in. The instructions were terrible. Definitely not a book for beginners! The first square was a fairisle - a simple pattern by the looks of it. Just a main colour dotted with two others every few stitches. It looked simple but boy was it anything but. The chart to follow was tiny - we're talking postage stamp here - and the colours they had used on it were the worst choice ever. The main colour was mid blue, one of the secondary colours was dark blue and the other secondary colour was marginally lighter than the background - infact it took me a while to spot the third colour because it was that close to the main colour. The little squares as well were all about 1mm so that didn't help either.

On top of that I wasn't quite sure how to keep the different strands of wool tidy whilst I was working and also so that they kept up with each other between rows.

So, that book has been resigned to the bookshelf for another day!

Next I looked at the Noro book I'd bought on Saturday but then realised I didn't have the needles or a secondary colour. But I wasn't expecting to start that for a few more weeks so that was okay.

There was nothing else for it but to get out the drop spindle and start practicing, and I'm pleasantly pleased with the result.

2006-09-03T09:52:00.000+01:00

Just found this new web magazine for spinners (Spins & Needles) and think it's great!

It's very well put together and written, and has loads of info for beginners, mixed with great instructions and inspirational pictures. I was originally searching for how to make different styles of yarn and their description of how to make Bushfire yarn (basically a marl yarn) is really informative so I might give it a go over the next few weeks. The step-by-step photos explain everything and there's even a pattern for a jacket to make from the final yarn. A decent jacket as well, not just one that looks good as a photo but you'd never wear in public.

There's also a guide on how to tell what weight a handspun yarn is using the inch wrap technique. I heard about this in the drop spindle class yesterday and now I've seen it, it all makes sense. It's one of those... Oh yes, I get it now... pieces of info you'll keep referring back to.

As a first issue of a magazine, I couldn't really fault it for its contents. The formatting is a bit off and perhaps some of the fonts are a bit too large but I think that's more so you can read it properly as an online magazine.

Well done guys at That Spinning Place. Keep up the good work!

PS: Take a look at the pretty fern stitch shawl. I'd never wear a shawl (that's one world I don't inhabit) but I think the stitch would look great as a blanket or throw.

2006-09-03T09:01:00.000+01:00

Today's knitting endeavour is to finish off the first square from the 200 Knitting Blocks: For Afgans, Blankets and Throws. I'm trying to teach myself a load of new techniques so I thought that this would be the best way to do it. I'll update you on my progess later today.

My next project after that is probably one of the Noro jumpers from the Noro pattern book I picked up yesterday. I love all the colours and the way they work together so I'm going to have a hunt around for some Noro wool or maybe see if I can use some handspun if I can find any that's suitable.

2006-09-02T18:17:00.000+01:00

I braved the elements and went to my learn to drop spin class this morning and loved every minute of it. The class was held in the beautiful setting of Yarn and our tutor for the day was Claire who has her own web business Miss Bell. There are some pictures of the interior of Yarn on her web pages if you want to check them out.

The course was very good because there was only about five people (plus wandering customers) so it didn't feel at all like school although it did get a bit cramped when people wanted to get past you to look at some of the gorgeous wool they have on the shelves - who can blame them though. We were all beginners and the atmosphere was incredibly friendly, with each of us helping each other and having a good natter, plus the tea and biccies supplied helped as well! It's also great to see other web savvy knitters/spinners and we swapped tons of web hints.

I learned a lot from today although I had started to play around with drop spinning a few weeks back. Teaching yourself something is great because it keeps the old grey matter working but being with others means that you pick up new ways of doing things you might not have considered.

Here's what I made. It seems to have unravelled in the damp humid Knittingham weather we had today - I had it in my bag for a couple of hours before I got home so that didn't help either. My only comment looking at the result now I've got it home is that maybe we should have set the yarn whilst we were at the lesson but seeing as it was only a learning session, I don't mind. The colours are only for practice as well but I got the principles of it so I'm cool with it. For £20 we got two hours with an expert, tons of info and one-on-one help plus the spindle and loads of practice merino fibres. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone in the area. There are a few more courses before the end of the year if you want to book one by the way.

I now know how to join new fibres as I'm spinning, which was my objective of the day and I intend to practice a lot over the next few weeks before the Knitting show at the NEC (which is my second home at the mo seeing as I was there in August for the Festival of Quilts and I'll be there the week after the Knitting show for the GW Games Day - bring it on!). I'm tempted to get a spinning wheel but want to do more drop spinning first. And me, being me, is always thinking about the commercial aspects of selling as well. If I do get into this, it'll probably go on my Etsy page but that's something for the future.

2006-09-01T23:08:00.000+01:00

As promised earlier here's some piccies of what I've been up to so far. The first is the bag minus the handles (which I promise I have bought). The second is the current progress on the socks and the third is my third attempt at making wool.

2006-09-01T09:26:00.000+01:00

Hi guys!

New month, new blog. I've just started to get back into knitting after dabbling occasionally over the past 25 years. I've done quite a lot recently and after spending the last few weeks going though everyone else's blogs, I thought I'd do one of my own.

Pictures later as I've got to go out in a min but what have I been up to on the knitting front.

I've almost finished the project that got me back into knitting a few weeks ago, the Organic bag from the Rowan 40 magazine. I'm going out now to buy some handles and make a lining for it and then I'll post some pictures. Hopefully later today. :-)

I'm about one third of a way through a pair of socks. I've never knitted on more than two needles before so this was a trip into the unknown for me. Still finding it awkward as I'm used to cable needles but the first sock is progressing steadily and I'm just about to attempt a heel for the first time.

Other significant things on the horizon. I've also been dabbling with spinning - when you work out the price of wool these days, especially the more creative stuff, spinning sure starts to look attractive. Especially because there's part of me that loves to learn and make new things. I have the plastic tub, the Kool-aid and the alpacha fibre so that's me off dabbling into the colourful world of dyeing for the weekend.

After one failed attempt with a hand spindle last year - it only had a notch in the top, I bought one with a hook and have managed to produce a few tentative strands but still find joining a bit of a pain. So tomorrow I'm off to Yarn, a wonderful wool shop in Beeston near Nottingham (Knittingham - tee, hee!), to have a lesson in how to use a drop spindle. This should be cool!

I'm also off to the Knitting and Stitching show on the 16th. I went to the Olympia one last year and now they have one in Birmingham which is way closer for me. Hopefully the show will be better than the Festival of Quilts show I went to a couple of weeks ago. Don't get me wrong, the quilts were lovely and well done to everyone who entered one, it was certain sellers who put me off. There were very few new sellers so it felt like Groundhog Day and a couple of them were downright rude. I mentioned to one that I was interested in Kool-aid dyeing because I'd just seen it on the web and you'd have thought I'd asked for the soul of her firstborn. She was very dismissive of it and more interested in chumming up to her pal who had just arrived. Won't be going to that again!

Also picked up a copy of Knit Today on its first issue. Loved the magazine. I thought it was very fresh and interesting. I'm also a little bit biased because I used to live in the town where they're based, Faversham, and think it's great that they've chosen to produce it there.

Oops, got to go. I'll expand on these topics later.