18 June 2009

With days to go to the big scary deadline, and an inconveniently unmissable gig to fit in before then, I just couldn't resist plying the pink cashmere I finished spinning last week.



I think this is the happiest I have been with my plying so far. I was afraid I was putting in far too much twist, but cashmere's so short it really needs it, and after some hot soapy abuse it turned out just how I wanted it. As usual, my camera is not cooperating with anything vaguely red. It's actually more salmon and less Barbie.

I fixed my wheel! Finally! I worked out a way to undo my own stupidity. I had not-entirely-intentionally superglued my folding Lendrum upright, and couldn't work out a way to get the acetone which would dissolve the glue behind the wooden knob into the depths of the metal embedded screw. Just a few months of thinking, some cotton wool, nail varnish remover and cursing later, it's all working perfectly and I feel marginally less of an idiot. Yay!

15 June 2009

Any excuse!



I'm going to do the Tour de Fleece this year, to move some of the spinning stash into the knitting stash and try out some new things. I want to experiment with cabled yarn, coils, corespun and general tomfoolery, but I have a hunch I'll revert to fingering weight 2 or 3 ply as soon as my mind wanders.

Knitting-wise, I'm doing another uncharacteristic gift project. Its uncharacteristic-ness is probably why it's taking so long. It's blue and yellow and fine, but not quite my cup of tea, and I'm just not good at knitting things I don't urgently want. Especially as my whole thesis needs to be drafted by a date so close that I won't even type it because seeing it written down gives me the screaming abdabs. Whimper.

I am being tormented by thoughts of a second spinning wheel. I chose the Lendrum three years ago mainly because it seemed versatile enough to do just about anything, so that I'd never need another wheel. That's pretty much true, but I didn't realise then how much I would want one. Imagine being able to have two projects on the go at once, without messing about with bobbins and fliers all the time! Surely a wee secondhand something or other wouldn't hurt?

02 June 2009

Tons of fibre, too little time


This month's utterly fabulous Fyberspates fibre club arrived today, 'Scrumptious' merino/silk seen above on the left, beside the last two months' packages, space dyed silk and cashmere. All so gorgeous that I can't bring myself to spin any of them until I can really sit and spin all day. I love this club so much!

It's been startlingly good weather here (Sunshine! For several whole consecutive days!) which is worse than wasted on me. I've been trapped indoors by my urgent need to spend 16 hours a day fretting about my PhD, interspersed with a few moments' meaningful work on it. I've also, typically, come out in a fairly unsightly and extremely beeping irritating rash all over my face and neck, which means avoiding sunlight and waiting patiently for it to go away until next time I come into contact with whatever of the million possible substances set it off. In short, I'm in a foul mood. So I've been dyeing.

Above: 100g humbug Shetland, dyed in plain red, to give a marled effect.
Below: the same Shetland, stuck in the leftover dye stock with some blue mixed in.

This is some of the wonderful cashmere I got for Christmas, which I recklessly stuck in the third-hand leftover dyestock. (It is Make Do and Mend season, after all!) I'm delighted with the coral colour it turned out, a serendipitous surprise.

Finished the plain socks, with wedge toes, flap heels, and picot bind-off.