Spinning Swaps, shop update and an FO to show!

I got my swap parcel this week!
Apologies to spinningsue for delays in blogging about this, it's been a pretty action packed week.

Anyway, here's what was hiding inside an unassuming blue mailer bag, lost of pretty tissue wrapped parcels tied with golden ribbons (they have been stored, you never know they might get spun!).

Here's what lay inside...

First, a wonderful plait of merino from Limegreen jelly, I LUUURVE those colours! And an equally scrummy heap of dyed silk hankies...


Some silky soft natural Alpaca from the Wensleydale Sheepshop and a bar of yummy Green and Blacks Almond chocolate, never seen it before but it didn't last terribly long smacks lips!....


...A sweet little WPI tool so now I have one for on the move too...

...and a cute knitted sheep (sorry, bad background for that one) and a double skein of fractally spun handspun yarn...a new obsession to try! I feel so thoroughly spoilt so thank you, spinning sue, you stalked me incredibly well!

In shop news, there is a select bunch up for your delectation today, mostly because of lack of time (and energy!). Never mind, they're still goodies...

"Blue Moon" a fabulous Alpaca roving, it's another 3-repeat so it lines up wonderfully in the plait...

"The Green Green Grass of Home" , also Alpaca...

"Ten thousand Acres of sky" - a slightly less saturated version of the other Alpaca roving, they'd work very well together.

Also in merino silk...

"Pumpkin Patch"...
"Under the Sea"...

" Blue Without you"....and...
"Iris".

These are so yummy and squishy, I want to keep them all but they're already listed so I've gotta keep my hands off!

Next update will be in a fortnight as I have limited time and energy and I still want to keep it fun.

I promised you a Finished Object too...

Can you believe how sunny it is compared to our wet and windy summer! This is the Wendy Pure cardigan I've been knitting for a while with...the selfsame buttons I showed you last week! Nothing else came anything like as good and they do suit the cardi very well. I think if you click on the image you still get a big one if you need a close-up.

And we're pretty close to finishing our first Xmas project too...

In the space of a week (and not huge amounts of hours) I have completed both fronts, both sleeves (though they may need tinkering) and we're into the border. I have decided that the pink is a little too strong for the effect I'm looking for so it will be merely a contrast stripe and the border will continue in cream once I get back to my LYS.

I have been so pleased with this pattern, I cannot praise the designer highly enough for her lateral thinking. The distortion that the pattern produces creates the shaping at the back, the neckline, the armhole shaping and the sleeve cap too, incredible! It means little to no shaping (aside from the lace pattern) and makes an intricate looking bolero really quite simple (to me anyway!).

It looks like I've lined up the waistcoat pattern for the MIL and the yarn will be ordered soon so that could appear soon. It's another Aran project for speed ;-)

Oh yeah, I had a wee spendette at Kemps too, I'll have to show you next time but it'll drag me into the hooky stick for the first time so watch this space!

Aches and breaks and a bit of knitting beside

Well, the etsy shop, considering how hastily it was put together went well, I posted out in plenty of time and it's a generally nicer experience from the melee at ebay so I will be restocking soon...

...but not yet.

On Wednesday, when I was planning Friday's dyeing, I heard from my dad that my mum had tripped and broken both bones in her arm. Considering she has thinner bones than she should, it has been a fraught time since, particularly as it threw into sharp focus how ill-equipped my dad was to cope with it all. Still, she's home now, I've ensured that they have enough simple food to reheat to keep the pressure off a bit and they're only half an hour away if I'm needed. It's all fingers crossed that my mum hasn't picked up any infections along the way (as she has been prone to do) but aside from that it's time and rest that's needed now.

The general running around and waiting for phonecalls and the like meant that this week's not really been suitable for dyeing but it has been incredibly useful for knitting....

Before I found out, I managed an incredible THREE knitting groups in one day on Tuesday, the usual two plus Lyndsey took myself and Jo to the Borders group in between. I hadn't actually expected to come back for the last hour at the LYS but it was great fun and with a few new faces there it makes things fresh and different. I also managed the Thursday group because at the time I thought mum'd be in theatre and it was a break from it all.

Rushing around in between meant I needed my rest time so during then and travelling, I picked up the needles, then the sewing needle and mid-Saturday, produced this...


...It's the Wendy pure bamboo tape cardigan that'd been on the needles for a little while. I was having problems reading patterns and this was the perfect antidote, easy to pick up in gaps. Some shaping to remember but in logical increments and mercifully quick stocking stitch sleeves. I spent a chunk of Friday and some of Saturday sewing up and whilst it's a little snug, it will be fine if not buttoned up. Anyway, it's a motivator to lose a little weight before we get the next warm spell whenever that is.

So now, all that is left is to sew on the buttons. Of course, I have copious supplies which I have yet to plunder but I happened across these....

They're 1920's vintage glass buttons that I picked up at Woolfest and they look truly stunning against the yarn BUT there's seven of them and I only need five so I may hunt a little further.

I also cast on my first proper Xmas project yesterday and it's been a very quick knit so far though there's a bit of modification to be worked out on the front...

This is the back, nearly finished of my modified version. For comparison, look at the original.

It's the "Lily of the Valley Shrug" from "Inspired to Knit" by Michelle Rose Orme.

The original was a weeny 13" long and considering this is for my mum and she feels the cold, I've lengthened the back (so far) to a more reasonable 18" so with the border it will be closer to 20", still cropped but a little more wearable. It knits up quickly on 5mm needles which is nice but as the front is knitted sideways, the extra length will need to be added on in extra stitches one end. Hopefully, not rocket science ;-)

Well, as there's no fibre update this Sunday, I can focus my attention to the ebay items finishing later today. There are a number of charity lots as well as my usual de-clutter and so far they'll have raised £24 for the NSPCC in Linda's name so it'll be interesting to see how they actually finish.

My I.D. over there is chris_cheats and I DID say I'd explain why. It comes from a time, years back when I'd had what equated to a breakdown and my memory had more holes than a dutch cheese. I was in a crafting group and we were doing the "naming game" thing where a group try to remember everyones names. You add a single word to your name like " Linda's lippy" or "Freya's feisty" and I wanted to be Chris is crafty but someone else had that. I'm not quite sure who came up with "chris cheats" beacuse I was avoiding the question but it sort of stuck. My name was the most easily remembered (understandably) so it became something that I could remember easily and an in-joke. It hasn't stopped me from building 800+ ratings or acquiring a sizeable stash of goodies so I've never found any reason to change.

Keep your eyes peeled for next weeks fibres, I've got some beauties lined up ready to go when I get the energy to get them dyed. I'll keep the blog updated as and when.

From obsession to shop in under a week!

BIG NEWS!!!!
The brand new shop opens its doors around 7pm tomorrow and I have HEAPS of work to do on it before then. Plate spinning anyone? Not like I haven't got a pile of items listed on ebay that finish next Sunday...

Still, on the plus side, it does give a reason for me to walk around with so much black under my fingernails (and interesting shades on my hands), no, I don't use gloves, it's complicated. Still, there has to be a plus side, either I can start wearing black nail polish (not really my style), cover my hands ('aint gonna happen) or just start a new fashion trend...maybe?

For any interested parties, the new shop can be found at www.chrispindle.etsy.com
For anyone who can't wait to see when I pull my finger out and list on it (and yes, it's all totally new to me so I haven't a clue how long it takes!), just scroll down and look at the pretty pictures...

Blue Suede Shoes - A yummy mix of Merino, Bamboo and Soya

Autumn Leaves - skinny shiny Teeswater

The many Shades of Sky - More Teeswater, I love the shades on this one

There's a ruck of Wensleydale this time, this is the first, I love how the colours blend seamlessly into one another, it's called Earth and Sky.

This one is a repeat but a little different than before, originally Spring Flowers, the yellow of Daffodils, the blue of Bluebells and the purple of crocuses but this one's a little more grown up, less springlike so I've called it "Flower Garden".

You'll see a lot of these shades about, 'till I get it out of my system. This Wensleydale was dyed in three repeats which is why the colour flows so seamlessly. It's called " Autumn Sunshine"


...See? Recurring theme? this Wensleydale is called "Flames"

I love the blues, pinks and purples in these plaits. This Wensleydale top is called " Mystic"

The final Wensleydale plait is similar but different, the purples are more pronounced verging on grey. Naming it is difficult but I'll have thought of something by tomorrow ;-)

This Whitefaced Woodland is actually two strands so it became a four-ply braid. It's a medium fineness that takes the dye wonderfully and is still quite soft. I was trying to capture 24 hours in this one and its title is apt " Night and Day". There's the inky blackness of nighttime with all the shades of blue of the day, sunshine fresh, green grass.

Onto the Bluefaced family..."Field of Flowers", buttercups and clover in a sea of grass.

This one is "Gathering Roses". It might not even get to be listed it's so popular!

This Bluefaced plait is much more firey, hence it's name, " Firelight".

This is another of my favourites, an excercise in purple shades (with gold of course!). I have called this plait " Fantasy". All the Bluefaced Leicester tops have come up lovely and soft, I want to keep them all!

I've had lovely responses to my fibre giveaway and here are the first two photos of them spun up....

This was from Daisy Buttercup, isn't it pretty?

And this one was spun by one of the ladies in our knitting group. I'd taught her to spindle spin and she's taken to it like a duck to water, this is only her 4th and 5th skein ad she's really getting the hang of it.

Phew! Well, I've got that lot out of the way, the wheel's all diasassembled and ready to be sealed up and collected on Monday to get sorted out, the ebay stuff's mostly taking care of itself, for anyone in need of a yarn bargain or for cross stitch fabric, it finishes next Sunday and the ID as last time is chris_cheats. There's a tale behind the name that I'll tell you about sometime, but not right now...

well, someone's taking it easy anyway!

Absolutely Cream Crackered!

Whew! Well, I did say I couldn't wait to let loose with the dyes again but it was only when I was soaking the tops last night that I realized I'd inadvertantly set myself the target of dyeing a full kilo weight!

It turned into a bit of a marathon session which has left me bushed but I have managed to create this....
...and this....
'Cos the pics have been done at night, the colours are a little more intense than in reality. If fact, the lengths are paler than the BFL I dyed last time which is interesting and something I'll bear in mind when I do more and make the colours stronger.

I'm having a quieter day tomorrow to recover then it'll be hands in the dyepot again by which point the lengths I've dyed today should be dry and I can prettify them with plaits, albeit fluffier than last time.

Oh yeah, and I've spun up the fibre for my spinning swap pal too so now I just need to dye some more and drumcard a batt or two and I'll be sorted, yaay! It's been different spinning tops from the usual fleece I've been struggling through, smoother and less fluffy (with no neps!). Somehow, the dye process does bring a little extra life back to tops which have been heavily processed 9or maybe it's my imagination) but they're definitely nicer to spin.

Roll on Wednesday....