Sighted over the crest of a hill....

Okay, okay, I know it's been more than a week, d'you know how long these blog pages take to write? (actually, I've kind of shot myself in the foot with this one 'cos it's looooong!).

Anyway, I last left off in the middle of a week, halfwayish thru my stack of batts which I demolished by that weekend. One thing I forgot to add, was that at my shortened afternoon knitting group that Tuesday, I got a prezzie!

(And yes, I know it's sideways, my original isn't, Blogger's having a happy half hour but at least it's happily loaded the slew of photos so count your blessings!).

It's a fab little pin from blogless Pam in the afternoon group, she knows me so well! Even though my knitting stash has been somewhat neglected of late there are changes on the horizon. Time permitting, I will continue cataloguing and ruthless pruning once the tour has finally finished (and my little side-project underway).

I also had another surprise that week (well, semi-surprise, I know it was coming but not exactly when or what it was)....

...It was my UK Spinners Swap parcel, winging its way from bonnie Scotland from sweet Janice who despite having a busy week away from home still managed to get it to me that Friday.

There are five baggies of fibrely goodness, Icelandic, Merino, a knot of soft white top, some washed, carded white Alpaca and a mysteriously (I think naturally) dyed soft fleece with the label "Artisan". Add to that a pack of fine scottish Shortbread (yum!), a lemon lavender candle, not one but four skeins of handspun and a useful trolley token plus a postcard that I omitted from the shot, sorry!

Someone else knows me well too, this fridge magnet suits me to a "T"!

I love the colours of the handspun, there;s a bit of everything in there, corriedale. merino, and some fab dyed spun fibre from the Yarn Yard, can you guess which one's called "Fruit Salad?". Thank you so much for my lovely parcel, it made my somewhat hectic day!

So, by Saturday morning, the yarn mountain was up to here...

...The coloured Portland and silk mix was all spun up, he last of it not yet skeined and I'd spent some hours drumcarding the new fibre (which I've omitted to add a picture of, bugger!). It was extremely hard work and took all of Saturday except when we had a jaunt around Liverpool (which was a relief!).

I'd heard of a Japan Day via a leaflet at the Student's Union opposite the cathederal and being quite interested (I've done a couple of years of conversational Japanese), I wanted to have a look. Unfortunately, it was extremely busy so I've no fabbo pic's to show you but then again, it would have made this post even longer so maybe that's a good thing ;-)

What I also happened upon on my travels was some of these...

...They're the Lambanana's, created to Celebrate Liverpool's capital of culture and they're spread all through the city and beyond. There is a map that can be printed off and my mini project is to take a day or afternoon each week and photograph them all before they disappear at the end of August. Aren't they fab? For those that don't know the story of the Lambanana, I'll have to tell you another day (or you could google it!).

We also happened across one end of Chinatown so I got the opportunity to show you the wonderfully decorated arch...

Oh yeah, just time to sneak in one more...


Unsurprisingly, I didn't have any time to spin last Saturday, but I made up for it by spinning on Sunday, Monday and all through the rest of the week, taking Saturday as my rest day instead of Monday.

By Wednesday, I was back up to two bobbins a day though this fleece has been incredibly challenging to spin reasonably as it's been SO neppy. Had I had time, perhaps I could have prepared it better but I've constantly amazed myself as to how much fibre I've been through so I've had one hell of a job keeping up with the prep! Lesson for next time, prep four times as much, then you can keep on going AND rest on the rest days!

By Friday, I had a mere 5 batts left... I use 2 batts per bobbinfull so it was possible but made for a very long day!

It was one hell of an achievement but by spinning these 3 bobbins, I could finally put the trials of the Bleu-du-maine fleece behind me. Don't get me wrong, I love the colours and it was a mercifully soft fleece but it got slippery, neppy and was less easy to get correct thickness with. I do love the yarn I've spun though!

So, now we're up to date and I can show you the trials of scaling the ever increasing Mount Fleece-no-more, actually it could be a volcano, I'm waiting for it to errupt!....

...The bottom layer is week one's Ryeland, the middle layer the coloured Portland/silk/angelina combinations (and the one that got away on the top) and above them is the Bleu-du-Maine. I drumcarded the majority in 3 stripes for long colour sequences but 4 batts were like bullseyes, one colour laid directly on top of another for shorter colour lengths and as it was spun first and came out thinner, maybe these 2 skeins will end up as socks. The jury's out as to what this'll be but I do have ideas....

After the rigours of the last three weeks, I gave myself a break and spun pre-prepared, namely the spinners swap fibre you saw earlier. Actually, I only had a few hours as it was our anniversary yesterday and we had lunch out and a wee jaunt to celebrate.

The top skien is Icelandic, the bottom the mysteriously named "Artisan" which I carded caarefully to preserve some of the colour sections and in the middle is a wonderful merino blend of red, bluey purple and orange that makes a fabulously flamey yarn. I made the most of the 24g and got 100m out of it so it'll get added to some sock or lace concoction.

I have started on some more dyed tops for the final day but you'll have to wait 'till next time for them.

Sooo, all this spinning, must have made a dent in the fleece mountain...

...Not really, as this is the tidy bit I can show you, there's probably double that which needs clearing away!

I DID treat myself however for all the effort I've put in...

... thanks to hubbie's help in securing a skein of Posh Yarn's Lei sock yarn in delectable "Cowgirl" shade, purrty ;-)
And to prove that I do occasionally knit, here's the back and half a front of my gifted yarn jacket. Knitting on 12mm needles means that even when you screw up the pattern so badly that you need to frog half the back not once but around 3 times, it still knits up quick!

And my last bit of news is the parcel that came through on Saturday (i.e. yesterday)...

...My Yarn Yard Fibre of the month parcel! hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone but I LOVE the colours and as it's a merino/silk blend, it'll be a dream to spin, drool!

Of course, Floppy's been overcome by the hectic pace I've put in each day...

...Don'tcha just love 'em (when they're asleep)?