I'm in Looooove!!!!!

....With the dyepot!

Remember s****y fleece? So rubbish, it wasn't exactly selling itself, its only redeeming feature its softness? In hindsight, I reckon it's a shearling, but I decided, if it still looked rubbish after the bath of hell (to my back), the only answer was to dye it.

And dye it I did, 1,2,3,4,5..6 shades! Started around 10am the day after I washed it, finished about 6pm that evening. But the joy is, you don't have to stand over it, you reuse the water again and again (as every bath dyes to exhaust) and the "cooking" times weren't all that long 'cos I mostly just let it cook in its own heat.

So, this is what I was left with, impressive, n'est ce pas?


...Okay, maybe I am blowing my own trumpet but I just had to spin it straightaway the following day, then navajo it Saturday morning, then wind it, then skein it, then admire it, then rewind it 'cos I just had to knit it!


I love the way that because I've spun from the locks, you get variations in the colours, if I'd carded it that would have smoothed all that out. I was worried that it might look a bit like an explosion in a paint factory which was why I knitted this somewhat ample tension square. It actually reminds me of Noro a bit so I've altered my approach spinning the next bobbin to make it a bit fatter- what d'you reckon, Poppy? plus, the original was spun quite tight so I'm easing off the treadle to keep the softness this time.

Well, this blog is a little later than usual 'cos I've been at Burton Manor on a " Designer Fashion Knitting" course. I state the title properly as it has been used as an excuse for a poorly concieved, not particularly well executed course that left most of us bewildered or frankly annoyed. It was described as equipping us with the tools to design your own knitwear. What actually transpired was half a day knitting totally unnecessary intarsia tension samples, a teensy bit of information in the afternoon then in the last 3/4 hour, her writing down the steps to creating your own knitwear, no practical measuring, modelling or basic structure whatsoever!

It was pointed out to me that I could probably take a better course as I found myself trying to provide practical help and demonstrating some fun new techniques! I'm not blowing my own trumpet 'cos I know it's hard work to design a course but I seriously think I could have injected some desperately needed structure into it all! With the able assistance of my colleague to my right, we'd make a winning team!

Still, I got to meet a fab gal and a fellow blogger, thanks for the comment, Donna, I will get round to your blog soon, I promise! Plus, for the first time in a hopeless course, I actually stood up for myself, told the teacher ( In the nicest way) that I wouldn't be creating an intarsia leaf ( for no purpose whatsoever), I'd actually knit a lace tension square for a purpose towards a garment I WANTED to design!

Obviously put her back up and lost a few brownie points, but frankly, I couldn't care less! Thankfully, this brought up the conversation that she'd considered doing larger motifs eg. a name across the front of a sweater! It gave the group as a whole a chance to point out that NOBODY WANTED TO DO THAT AND WE'D ACTUALLY LIKE TO DO SOMETHING USEFUL INSTEAD!

Anyway, I've come away with a fab idea using my fave FDC Mohair multi and mostly finished the tension squares that will be my roadmaps PLUS I know what I've been doing is absolutely right which does my confidence no end of good AND I did it all myself!

I'm back there next weekend for a spinning full weekend! should be a blast but I've decided I hate silk cap/silk hankies 'cos they cut my hands to ribbons ( and it's a course all about silk!) so it may be a mixed affair!

Until next time!