The End is in Sight...

I've only got 2 rounds left on Tempting. So that's 2 rounds (200 stitches each), 1 cast off round, and 2 3-needle-bind-off underarm things.

2, maybe 3 days.

(Then a couple of months for me to go and buy some ribbon. I still need ribbon for my Lace Up Opera gloves. Luckily it is likely to be the same type of ribbon, so I can just go and buy loads. Eventually. And then the wait for photos. How long has Sonnet been waiting for now? 1 year? 2?).

I spun up the second singles yesterday. I used my right foot very gently (tried to keep it in what my yoga teacher would term a 'tadasana foot'), but I used my left for the majority of the spinning.

Further to what I wrote in my last post, I don't think a double treadle is inherently bad, just that I'd only want to use a DT that could also be used as a single treadle. With an ST you can move the wheel around, whereas with a DT you are - I presume - limited to sat bang in front of it, unless it can be used as an ST. Anyway, I often wonder about the different types of wheel - when I think of what I started with because it was all I had (single treadle, double drive, no instructions, awkward tension, merino top) and what I read people on mailing lists saying is advanced (single treadle, double drive, awkward tension, merino) it does make me laugh (especially since I made a perfectly servicable garment from my first ever spinnings - and this is not because I'm great at spinning). Had I known all this before I started maybe I'd have been more wary, and I think I'd have suffered for it. Of course, in an ideal world everyone should have the wheel that suits them, but sometimes I think people thinking of buying tend to worry too much about whether it will be too 'advanced'.

So anyway, back to my ankles. I think there is a slight problem. Of course, this is when I had changed my whorl, my bobbin, and (probably most importantly): my house. I'm hoping that any problem with over-worked feet is coming from one of these, rather than my body deciding that since my arms aren't too bad my legs can pack up.

Our new house has [very cheap] laminate flooring, and I'm also sat in a corner which limits how far to the left I can have the wheel. I don't think the corner is too much of an issue, but I do think I must be sliding over the floor a little, pushing the wheel forwards. This must put just a little too much pressure on my foot. When I ply I'm going to put the wheel & my stool on a rug, and hopefully (hopefully!) I won't have any further issues.

(And I really really really really hope I have no further issues, since after discovering Franquemont Fibres, I've now discovered the Sanguine Gryphon's etsy store. Be still my treadling feet.)

Ta-da! My first handspun project!

I made a pair of armwarmers with my ultramarine merino singles! As usual, the colour is off in the pictures, this one is the closest, but still no cigar:



I made up the pattern - cribbed the thumb bit from the 'Hurry Up Spring' armwarmers in Stitch'n'Bitch Nation. I just wanted to do something with a plaited cable, and this seemed perfect.



I used my Surina 4.5mm DPNs. The thickness of the wool varied from about DK weight to chunky. Well, a lot less than DK, but I didn't use those bits ;) However, the 2x2 rib takes care of the differences in thicknesses - one the whole the yarn looks quite even. I used about 110-125g of roving, which spun to over 125 yards.

Of course, I will be making more pairs of armwarmers - they're a great medium for showing off cables. I think I may experiment with different thumb styles, as there was a hole just where I started the gusset (which I've since sewn up). I'm pleased I decided to frog the new overspun stuff and unspin it before reknitting: before the hand parts of both looked so different, now they're pretty much equal.



You know, before I joined knitting communities I never called them 'armwarmers': they were always 'sleeves'. However, I've never had my own handmade pair before :)

I'm already planning the next pair...

W-i-P Weekend!

I've spent the weekend catching up on some Ws-i-P. As you can see from the previous post I finished the slippers; well, I also finished... Sonnet :-0 I know, finally. I'm going to get Mr Bee to take pictures later. Still don't know how I feel about it, other than bitter about the fact that it broke me. I put it on over my pyjamas and asked Mr Bee what he thought about it... he's not impressed. Doh! Ah well, I've learnt my lesson now.

I've also finished my handspun project, and again will post pics later. I had a bit of an issue with the new yarn I'd spun. It was a lot thinner and way overspun. I actually finished last night, but really didn't like the way the new yarn looked so I ended up frogging the new stuff. I then untwisted the yarn, and chose the thickest stuff to knit with. I'm much happier now!

I think later I may work on the Leaf scarf, as it's a chunky project. I'm sick of teeny needles! The Alien Illusion scarf is going slowly - I figured it takes me 6 hours per alien face, and I still have 2.5 to go. Tempting is also slow going, plus it hurts my wrist: I don't know whether it's the 2x2 rib or the circular nature :-/

Pics to follow soon...

On the Needles

Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed a heap of pretty pictures on my sidebar - my progress pictures! I've been considering a status bar for my works-in-progress for a while, and when I came across these neat little pictures I was sold! They come courtesy of Indigirl, and you can check out the Knitting Tracker here.

I've added some extra pictures for items which I'm making which aren't covered in the 6 designs provided. Mine are the crappy ones with a thin outline ;) Hopefully you can make out what they are though!

I have to say that I did struggle a bit with the coding. OK, a lot. But luckily Mr Bee was on hand to rescue me before I screwed up any further. Thank you lovely :)

So at the moment I have 5 Ws-i-P. I'm counting Sonnet given that it still isn't finished because I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lazy - I only need to sew on one frog. The Alien Illusion scarf is half done, but I've run out of yarn. Same goes for my handspun project - I'm literally 10grams short of fibre, and am going to have to buy 100g to finish it: doh! The Leaf Motif is a scarf I'm knitting for my mum, it was supposed to be for Yule but my RSI put paid to that, so now I'm getting this Yule's presents sorted early ;) I started it last night as we went round to a friend's to watch TV and I needed some knitting that I hadn't run out of yarn to take with me. And finally there's Tempting. I didn't want to take that last night as I need to attach the sleeves before I can get started on the yoke (need to finish one sleeve first) and I just wanted something mindless. I'll probably work on that later while watching TV, but it's nice to work on the Leaf Motif since that isn't knit on small needles.

So, my procrastination for the day has been going very well. I think I had better go write some of thesis...

My first ball of handspun!

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm - lovely blue!

This is 100g, approximately 125 yards of 'Ultramarine' merino singles, spun on my Lewis.

I actually finished it over a week ago, and have over half finished the project I'm making with it! Here's a swatch, where I was practising my cabling: I wanted to do a plait, and it looks so pretty.



Unfortunately the colour just doesn't come out properly. This is probably the closest-to-actual colour:



The merino was such a dream to spin, even if there are slubs. I'm certainly going to be spinning more of it in future (maybe more Ultramarine as I think I may be a teeny bit short!).