Tag: knitting

Drawing a veil….

Some difficult months – not helped by the random popup ‘memory’ feature on the iphone – thanks, Apple….

But after some debate SpinningStreak has decided to resurface, and maybe I’ll hide behind her for a while!

September in the Auvergne

I spent the last few weeks keeping an indigo bath on the go – temperatures in the 30s definitely helped to prolong it. These pictures are a mixture of indigo and logwood on merino, alpaca, silk and one skein of linen.

The hedges looked pretty strange at times.

Made a good start on the cosy stuff as well – though it is always a bit weird to be working on winter items in 34 degrees.

Crescent scarves next on the list – need a stock of those because they seem to go down well as gifts.

Apparently I have entirely forgotten how to edit these posts – can’t even shift the images around any more. So, apologies – but if I mess around wasting any more time I know I will just delete the lot!

The only way to avoid this:

Is, I think, this:

Second sock syndrome….

I’ve discovered six hand knitted socks squirrelled away, and only two match… It’s just so much more fun to see how a different colour knits up….! So now I must be disciplined and do two at the same time – slow, but apparently more practical.

This is a quick and slightly scruffy post – definitely not Instagram standard. The daylight for photos is all but gone by the time I get home (yes, I am still at work…) and the single socks are clearly not yet blocked (that does make a surprising difference, by the way.) But I am afraid there’s no faffing at the moment. Even the missing socks will have to wait till I have shrunk my Etsy list a little. I sold six pairs of leg warmers today – all but one pair to the same person. Are we about to face a cataclysmic Winter, on top of everything else? Have I missed something?

Liberation

From quarantine (technically ‘quatorzaine’) after our time in France. Where, in fact, we had voluntarily isolated ourselves, turning down all invitations and never setting foot in a town. We even froze outside on the ferry, keeping rather more than social distance, so we were not worried we were importing anything nasty.

The two weeks confined to the house were spent in an orgy of Etsy work. Lots more spinning (always my favourite) and somehow managing to turn myself into a baby blanket machine – hours and hours of it, got a bit carried away…”just one more…”

It was a good move, though – I’m now back at work (in a drastically altered classroom) and won’t have that sort of time for a while!

Disassembling

Apparently that is what I should be doing this week. It is Etsy Speak. NO, not ripping up all my work. I think it means kits. Now that we have all this extra time (???) we allegedly want to make everything ourselves. So the Marketing Magi have decreed that we stuff our materials into a bag and tell everyone to get on with it!

As it happens, I do already have beginners’ kits for fingerless gloves, hats for newcomers to circular needles and some cowls for anyone wanting to have a go at simple modular knitting.

Any other suggestions?

How weird cool to be on trend…

April (Fool?)-ing

Is there a bright side to Lockdown (‘confinement’ in France!) ? Could be just having more time for all of this:

Spinn-ing: some art yarns from my batts – natural dyed stuff from France (goodness knows when we’ll get back there) – mostly lichens and mosses – and madder, of course.

Gloat-ing  (again!) over my indigo stash. I can’t set the indigo bath up very often, so my projects have to be chosen with care. Further sneak peek:

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Knitt-ing: This w(ork) i(n) p(rogress) is for me. Mostly alpaca! It will be some form of log cabin blanket – just to prove I can do neutrals…

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Classic BSJ (Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket) for new grandson:

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Winter stock (and lots of it) for my Etsy shop:

 

And – of course – Egg, tomato, lettuce, and Swiss cheese sandwich (!) for 4 year old granddaughter:

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Crochet-ing: Apparently you need sun shades for this one – a baby blanket:

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And another wip all for me, and in my colours – a Spice of Life blanket from Sandra Paul of  CherryHeart .   Really enjoying this one – AND – a first –  threading in the ends as I go (well, more or less).

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Bak-ing: Is there anyone in Blogland who hasn’t made Lucy’s oat pancakes yet? Well worth a go – thank you, Attic24! I also managed a batch of her oat cookies, which seemed to vanish overnight. Just added loads of seeds, so they look a bit different – but basically Lucy‘s recipe again!

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Finish-ing Rachel Cusk’s trilogy. I’m very impressed with her writing and the issues stay with me, though I have trouble recalling the detail…maybe go back and start again, it’s worth it. AND I’ve got time….!

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