St Abbs and New Zealand

First things first :) I'm donating a prize for the raffle to raise funds being run my Helen at Ripples Crafts. You can buy a ticket to help support this excellent fund-raising idea here. The prize I'm donating is a Cold Hands Warm Hearts Mitten Kit - there are some wonderful prizes and the money raised will be matched $ for $ - read all about it on Helen's blog.

Secondly - the shop is temporarily offline whilst I do a quick stock take after a wonderful day at St Abbs. There are more spinners every time and I really need to do a fibre update as I only have 2 braids of fibre left! So to answer Cal's question from a blog post or two ago (waves to Cal) there will be a fibre update towards the end of March, I'll give plenty of notice both here and on Ravelry.com. There hasn't been a fibre update for a while now so I'll try to make it a special one :)

Please excuse the photo free post but as I've been up since 4.30am and it's now half past ten I think if I tried to upload the St Abbs photos now they might come out upside down or something! LOL

Sunglasses Required

I don't do crochet. I used to a long time ago. I can put an edge on a knitted cardi but I've forgotten so much. recently I figured out I was doing it backwards anyway! BUT... I loved the Full o' Sheep Yarn that I used for Katy's jumper. The feel of the fabric was even better after it was soaked and blocked. The colours are vibrant and happy and I wanted more but not as a garment for me. So, a blanket seemed an ideal solution, I bought 1 ball of each colour and I have begun my journey into a ‘wake you up, bright and breezy, better wear your sunglasses’ easy peasy beginner’s crochet blanket :)

PS I am ignoring all those ends, do you think they'll go away if I ignore them hard enough?

Cold Hands, Warm Heart Mittens

Spinning a Yarn proudly announces the launch of a new mitten kit.








Now which colour shall I knit my own mittens in?

I decided at the beginning of the year the Wednesday would be spin day and I've had a few Wednesdays where I even managed to keep to it :)

This fibre by Babylonglegs is called 'Fire in the Sky' and I bought it ages ago and have only just gotten around to using it, it's 200gm of BFL Humbug which I spun as a 2 ply and as singles. I love the colours :) No idea what I'll make with it yet but part of my intention to spin is to also knit with my handspun so hopefully it wont be to long before I have it on my needles.

Finally if you're looking for help with seamless knitting in the round then look no further than any book by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'd strongly recommend 'The Opinionated Knitter' and 'Knitting Without Tears' but they're all excellent books and you can't go wrong with any of them. EZ rules, if you don't know her already then my friendly advice is to get to know her a.s.a.p. :)

When life gives you lemons make lemonade...

... or in my case mittens!

Sadly I wont be going to Woolfest this year as there isn't room for me :( I was looking forward to seeing customers and friends again but we'll have to meet elsewhere :) Maybe at St Abbs at the end of February? I am exploring other possibilities but in the meantime I decided that dyeing must go on and I'd like to share my most recent project with you :)

I have been test knitting a new mitten pattern and it's nearly ready for release as a kit for the online shop and also through RingaRosie in Whitley Bay. RingaRosie for those who don't know, is my local yarn shop and the place where I work 3 days a week. It s a wonderful shop with everything a knitter needs and is owned by the lovely Barbara who is the most supportive employer a yarny could wish for :)




The kits will be available initially in the following colours :)







I have also been knitting for my daughter and finished the jumper she was supposed to be getting for Christmas - ooops - ah well cobblers children have no shoes and knitters children have no handknits! Here are the photos, the jumper is from 'Best of Lopi' and the yarn is 'Full o' Sheep'
a great yarn I will use again no doubt.

Another cold walk but this time a great excuse to photograph the first completed project of my 2011 UFO Challenge - this shawl has taken a year to complete, I knew I was going to run out of yarn and put it away in the hope that some magic would happen but having to admit that there are no yarn fairies I had to improvise. And today the sun shone on the photos so it must have come out alright :)






Here's the modelled shot so you can see the size of it - I decided not to block it and the garter stitch is soft and warm and suggly.

I actually wore it today wrapped around my head to keep the drafts out! It was a lazy wind, couldn't be bothered to go around so just blew straight through me, brrrrr.










Much to Katy's delight there was plenty more ice and snow in the furrows. Some photos of the scenery - you may recognise the walk, although the last time we were here the fields were full of bales of hay and it was a good deal warmer.





















Even though it was very cold and I couldn't feel my legs by the time we got back to the car, it was worth it for the sunset!

Oh My It Was Cold

but it was beautiful.

And there was ICE.

Beyenburgerin has a lovely new hat on her blog and she's writing up the pattern. But the hat has no name so we're running a “Name the cap with no name Competition”

Brigitte writes

> Looking for a name cap or hat
>
> I like the new caps with ear flaps, so
> I thought it was time to knit one. And
> as it turned out nicely and I want to
> give something for my 500.000th
> visitors celebration I am writing this
> pattern.

Spinning a Yarn will donate a prize for the person who suggests the name. Post your suggestions in this Ravelry thread - chat about the hat should be over on the Finished Object (FO) thread please. The suggestions need to be posted here by Christmas Eve and Brigitte will choose the winner.

The prize is a braid of fibre or a skein of yarn of your choice from the Spinning a Yarn Fibre and yarn shops. We have one more update before Christmas and you can choose anything from the website yarn and fibre range which I will post out after the Christmas holidays. Brigitte will also get a skein or braid as a thank you from me.

I like competitions and plan to make then a regular feature throughout 2011, so help make this first competition a good start, what would you name then new hat?

  

View from my door

From the back door step across my yard and out into the back lane over the wall. Brrrrrrrrrrrr! Everyone wrapping up warm and keeping safe? Keep an eye on your elderly neighbours and be good to each other.

We actually had parcels delivered today! First time in a week. Poor postmen.

Snow Day 2

The sun was shining brightly this morning.
But by the time I'd done the jobs I needed to the front was coming over and the clouds were here too. Nevertheless I needed to go to the bank and decided to walk the long route to go through the park. I set off along the unattractively named Willington Gut and took some photos anyway even though the light was not ideal.



It's nice to see the new bridge which involved reprofiling the slope hasn't killed off the sledgers. These ones had better watch out! If they don't stop soon enough they'll be in the Gut, brrrrr!













The walk through the snow was very lovely despite the sun going in.






There was even someone skiing through the park!





















And the trees are beautiful in the snow.

Meanwhile there has been spinning on my new wheel. DH finally noticed the latest addition to the 'family'. Hang on, says he, have they been breeding! Baked beans for Christmas dinner anyone?

Keep safe and warm this winter.

Snow Day

Brrrr! It's cold outside.


These photos were taken yesterday, we've had another inch of snow overnight :) I love it!


Snuggle up and do some spinning.

I'm working from home today and tomorrow. Shopping is ordered online for delivery on Wednesday and the local shops have emergency chocolate available should I need it. I'll be labeling new laceweight for RingaRosie in Whitley Bay later today which I will take in with me on Wednesday (thank goodness for the Metro). The knitted items I've been working on for weeks are ready to post to Treacle Wool Shop in Morpeth and I have a lovely order to post off to Germany. My dodgy feet and I are seeing the Biomechanics man later today (weather permitting), they're much better since I started using the inserts in my shoes but might be improved further with a little tweaking, fingers (or should that be toes?) crossed. Once all that is done I shall be collectingDD2 from school early as they're closing to let staff get home. Teenage DD is still in bed as the first thing she did this morning when I woke her up to get ready for school was to check the school website on her phone and thrust the message saying they're closed under my nose in triumph before collapsing back under her duvet. Heavy snow showers forecast for today!

Enjoy the snow, keep warm and safe and get lots of spinning time in until there is a thaw!

xx