Unravel 2012

Last year, prior to my knitting comeback, I attended Unravel.  I seem to recall wanting to knit more, which is why I went - to see if I could reignite my passion.  It worked, clearly, so when I went this year, it was so much more  exciting than last year.  I actually had an idea in my head of what I could do with certain yarns.

I know, I know - I am on a stash diet.  However, I was very well behaved, and stayed within my budget.  I went with a list, and did not veer from it.

I don't have a picture of everything together, because my mind just does not roll that way (and I didn't even think of it until it was all put away!), so you'll have to cope with huge photos!

 Unknown composition, unknown weight, but very very pretty!

 Jacob fleece (it claimed it was slivers, but is not), 100g

 Mustard merino slivers, 200g

 Fyberspates Scrumptious teal

 Natural Dye Studio Godiva light grey

 Natural Dye Studio Godiva dark grey

Missing - 3 little sheep cards, 2 needles both 40cm long in 2mm and 2.25mm.

The fibre I will obviously spin with at some point, but the yarn was bought with come special projects in mind.  They won't be made until later in the year but they will be gorgeous!  The needles I needed for my Bohus hat which I will be starting this weekend possibly!!!

I loved Unravel, and will probably attend every single year and go with some healthy pocket money - had we not had 4 tyres to replace on the car the week prior I probably would have spent more, but next year I won't be on a diet and we'll hopefully not have to buy 4 tyres the week before ;)

OOOOH boy!

You can see my stash on ravelry, and there are also more photos at the link on the top bar!

I also added an About Me page up there, so have a read if you like :)

Squee Sunday!

Lots of things this week!

Biggest one is this book, Eddie Vedders Ukulele Songs.  We pre-ordered this a couple of months ago now from Ten Club (it was limited edition, and I can't find it on the website any more), and it finally arrived this week!  In it are standard ukulele chord structures, and also the ones Eddie Vedder uses on his album, Ukulele Songs, which as the title suggests is an album full of songs played on the ukulele.

Very sexy uke!

Jitterbug and I both love the album, and after buying Jitterbug a uke for his birthday this year which has sat unplayed, he needs some kind of incentive!  Hopefully this will get him learning a new instrument.  Jitterbug has a bad track record with learning new instruments - he is very set in his ways and having played guitar for the last almost-30 years he struggles to not think in terms of guitar chords.  He wants to learn but isn't willing to become a beginner again; we have a lapsteel that he doesn't play, a mandolin that get's looked at sometimes and a ukulele sitting on top of the cd shelves gathering dust!  He only plays with his many guitars! I think I might even give learning a shot with this book, looks easy enough :)

Next, some very nice fibre I ordered from World of Wool.  Fantastic prices, fantastic service, and I can't imagine I'll be ordering from anywhere else in future!  I got 300g each of scoured Blue Faced Leicester, scoured Kent Romney Lambswool, and scoured white Shetland.  I also got 400g each of black Jacob and grey Jacob tops.

In yarnie related news, I have decided to knit Have You Made a Jumper Yet on my Year of Projects list with Knit Picks Palette in Mustard.  It was originally going to be some white 4ply sock yarn I got at Knit nation for a steal, but then decided white would get dirty, and it looked a bit too thin and fragile to knit a jumper with.  This is the second variety of Knit Picks yarn I have, and while my inner eco-warrier hates me for buying it, my frugal stingy self loves it!  Both times I ordered from Great British Yarns (the name is so ironic since I only ever order Knit Picks!) and they also have fantastic service, I've had email replies at all hours!

I've also re-found my love for my SLR, and spent yesterday re-taking stash shots :laugh:  I still have more to take, my stash is all over the house!

Squee Sundays can be found here

My new addiction!

I am in love with my spinning wheel.  It is so much nicer than I expected, and so easy to use!

Firstly, some better photos:

Hmmm, I was sure I had more than 2!  Anyway, you can see the gorgeous colour better in these photos, and just how solid it looks.  It is set-up for double drive right now - I did try it single, but I don't have a brilliant spring and to be honest, it was very slow at intake! 

Even after I messed about with the tension it was too slow, but double drive seems very fast at times.  I'm slowly getting used to it, the yarn I'm making is no longer overspun (and in some areas might even be underspun!) and not terribly thin (I'm currently spinning at around fingering weight with the thicker bits being dk), but all that will come with time and practice.  The fibre goes down very quickly, it'll be interesting to see how much I've actually managed to spin out of 100g.

I chose very slippery fibre to start with (BFL & alpaca mix) so I'm going to see what it's like with some of the fleece I have from freecycle once I'm finished this - should be finished with the rest of the fibre on Thursday, then can learn how to ply at the weekend.  I'll need to get Jitterbug to drill two holes into a bit of wood to make a lazy kate before I can ply properly.

I started carding some of the black fleece I got last week, and despite my original fears, not much of it is felted, but it is very hard to pull the locks apart.  It cards up lovely and I can't wait to spin with it.  I am also very glad I held out getting carders, as the large ones I got with the wheel are amazing - very solid and the steel brushes don't feel like they'll pull out if you hit a hard patch.

The wood is all in one piece which is something I've noticed with some of the cheaper ones I've seen - the handle is a separate piece which also provided me with some worrying moments that they'd fall apart during some particularly enthusiastic carding.

This weekend I'll be cleaning the wheel, might even take it apart completely and give it a good wax!  Also need to make a wpi gauge!