Woolgathering

I have made slow progress today - on everything. Far from reaching the toe on the Merope sock, I find that it is bedtime just as I reach the end of the gusset. There’s a long way to go (I have long feet). So, I am short on the sock, barely begun on the Alhambra, and totally unprepared for Wednesday’s kids’ activity session (why, oh why did I defer the prep until tomorrow???) The only sense of achievement today came from plying off the Inferno roving - and that was a cheat, because I am only about one third of the way there. Well, maybe more than that - because I have spun one lot of roving, and have another to go. I just didn’t get all of the first batch plyed, thinking that I would spin onto the end of what was left on the bobbins. So I didn’t get my bobbins emptied either - and that was the whole point of sitting down to spin today!

And you should see the state of the house. Two dogs and two cats moulting - thank heaven Nell is a short hair!

I need to comb Griff out tomorrow, to get some dog fur for Show and Tell on Wednesday. Let’s hope nobody asks me to actually spin some - I haven’t tried that particular adventure yet.

I’m still in love with my Flambé

I pondered this a while back but lacked the ability to withdraw my digit in time to join at the off. A bit late, but I’m signing up now - flushed, no doubt, by my success with the Flambé yarn today.

My personal goal is to spin a little each day during the TdeF, and to carry out an earlier promise to spin for an hour each morning before breakfast. The ultimate aim is to ensure that I spin up all the rovings that I bought for Project Spectrum.

Spinning has been taking a back seat lately to my knitting needles. I need to generate a little balance of activity. Perhaps the TdeF will give me the impetus and commitment needed.

There’s another TdeF group on Ravelry. I joined back in May, with the intention of doing this and then apparently forgot all about it. It must have been the fumes from the cashmere that got to me.

Just a sneak preview - it’s too dark and grey to get a shot without flash. The flash bleached the colour a bit, especially of the copper thread. The photos don’t do justice to the fabulous colours of the Copperpot roving.

First skein, of perhaps three:

I think that it is totally gorgeous, even if it isn’t very well spun.

I split the roving into three and spun the red and orange end to end, then plyed it with the purple part - plus a fine copper coloured rayon thread. Intentionally thick and thin and intentionally loosely spun and loosely plyed.

What shall I do with it? I was thinking perhaps the Colinette “Iris” ear flap hat? There should be enough yarn to make two of them, I think. Perhaps I should make something more exotic than that - but what would this yarn lend itself to?

I am thinking of calling this yarn Flambé (at least until I think of something smarter)

Sky and Water II is on the way and I have cast on and knit the first pattern repeat. I chose a blue/grey shade this time.

I shall need to complete at least one pattern repeat a day. Judging by today’s performance, that’s aiming high. It’s funny - the first scarf caused me very few problems, but I spent the entire afternoon knitting and tinking, knitting and tinking, over and over again - and managed just the 18 rows overall.

No more for now. I have no sock knitted yet today and have remembered that I should be spinning to free up some bobbins for Wednesday.

Feel like I am wading through mud today. I had a terrible night last night and everything seems to be slightly out of phase and uncoordinated today.

On another note entirely, Copperpot has asked if she may use some of my FO photos to showcase her fibre batts. How flattering!

Nobody guessed why “Sky and Water” before the scarf was finished (Yay - I get to keep all of my cashmere!), and now that I have set up a new Ravelry project for the second version and have Sky and Water I and Sky and Water II in place, it should be pretty obvious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_and_Water_II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_and_Water_II

“This sheer rectangle scarf features a pinwheeling arabesque motif of the kind found in Islamic art and architecture throughout Andalusia and southern Spain”

Knitspot

MC Escher was heavily influenced by Moorish art and was

“impressed by the Italian countryside and by the Alhambra, a fourteenth-century Moorish castle in Granada, Spain.”

Wikipedia

and

“After his journey to the Alhambra, Escher tried to improve upon the art works of the Moors using geometric grids as the basis for his sketches, which he then overlaid with additional designs, mainly animals such as birds and lions.”

Wikipedia

So, add the two together with the colours of the cashmere and what do you get? Sky and Water - and the fact that there will now be two versions is merely a happy accident.

Clearly, I must choose a sky colour for this version, and have one of each colour group. The temptation to completely reproduce the first one is great, the colour really is fantastic when seen with the naked eye. The other shades might not have the same impact on the show bench.

Yes, we are aiming to have it done in time. As well as the Merope socks. And possibly a Morning Surf wrap-sized project as well.

And, no, there isn’t enough time, and me with a baby to knit for too…

Baby ETA: 16th December 2008. I already sent away for the BSJ pattern. I just need yarn now. Send me your sock leftovers please, and I’ll scoot into a production of my own.

Oh - socks, ripped back and re-established and part way down the gusset now, thank you for asking. It would be good to get down to the toe today, but I can’t see that happening.