Woolgathering

My Hypotenuse scarf/wrap thing (Pythagoras) is now suffering a light blocking. It was fun/easy/quick to block due to its geometric pattern - there are lots of straight lines to measure and straighten. Of course, with my lack of blocking skills, and the lack of a set of wires, it’s anything but straight in fact. But it’s no dog’s hind leg either, so I am quite pleased.

Blocked to 81.5″ by 15.5″ - no doubt when I take the pins out it will be closer to 80″ by 15″

It’s in the utility room, so Lulu has to stay outside until it dries.

My washed skeins are dry.

Time to wind them into balls and look for some knitting needles!

Now, this truly speaks to the geek in me. Genius! I could have a whole wardrobe of different elements…

And other really useful stuff.: Caesium.

What’s your favourite emission spectrum?

Closer to home

Seriously late night last night and feeling v sluggish today. Don’t even feel like knitting. I’d like to spin though - and finish the current roving, as another new one arrived today and am now spoiled for fibery choices.

Yesterday’s hat was an Iris hat.

Made from the Flambe yarn. I have enough left to make one, maybe two, more hat(s). I will probably make a medium Urchin and then decide on a plan for the last of the yarn. Or maybe another Iris, as this one is honestly a bit snug for my head. I could go up a needle size…

And now, I have to make a Mushroom Dopiaza… the trouble with curry-making is that you can’t knit in the kitchen while watching the pans. Not if you want a wearable item at the end of it, that is. I’d better find some reading material.

Urchin #2 - size small (very)

Made from my Flambé handspun yarn. A bit gorgeous - I need to take more photos, this one doesn’t  represent the colours very well at all.

The Chantilly Lace roving is almost half done now, and it looks very pretty on the bobbin indeed. I am going for long-and-even (relative term)this time around. Still don’t know whether to ply two bobbins together or whether to chain ply it. Still don’t know what to knit it into.

The Merope second sock has its leg complete and the heel flap is progressing.

Overall, good progress - though sadly still no more work done on Sky and Water II. I might perhaps have made even more progress were it not for the fact that I appear to have been watching too much Masterchef of late. After cycling to the shops and back I got a little creative in the kitchen and decided to make a properly good fish crumble for lunch. It only took two hours :-} Yes - I made a white wine stock to poach the fish in. From scratch. And I cooked the crumble up separately, to ensure perfect crispness. I reduced the stock to make the cream sauce for the fish… I culled fresh chives and parsley from the garden, and I cooked up a medley  of fresh vegetables for an accompaniment, and some local new potatoes.

Was it worth it? I doubt it, although it was delicious. It was a nice reminder though, that I can actually cook a decent meal if I want to. Just possibly a tad OTT for a Monday lunch

I have been thinking about the yarn that I am spinning and, although pink was on the colours for Fire, this yarn speaks more to me of Air. It’s light and fresh and delicate - has a lot of white and grey in it. The pink is far too cool for Fire, it’s not a warm pink at all. So I am promoting this spin to the Air theme - which is, happily, current. It just feels more right to me this way around.

Monday is for:

• cycling to the shops to post ATCs and buy soap powder
• making fish crumble
• spinning
• more spinning
• filling in the mortgage application form
• sock?
• spin a bit more

The car is still only part way to fixing, so we are car-less for at least a week to come. I couldn’t do laundry at the weekend as my remembered two boxes of detergent do not actually exist. I’ve run out of underwear, so needs must - out with the bike! That will at least get me to the post office before the deadline on these “Air” ATCs runs out.

Pollock fillets are thawing for lunch. I’ll put them in a nice sauce, probably with fresh chives, and make a crumble topping with cheese. I’ll add new potatoes and some beans or broccoli and it should be quite tasty and nourishing. The fattening part doesn’t matter, because I am cycling today and that’s a zero calorie balance for the day. No, it is. Really. Isn’t it? *sigh*

Later on I hope to spin up all the remaining Chantilly Lace roving, because I am eager to start on my stash of blues. I’d also like to turn the heel on my sock, but that’s probably a bit too ambitious - there are only so many hours in a day and completing the mortgage application looks like it might take more than a few of those. Wherever did I put my driving licence?

Still trying to determine whether or not the soy silk will ply with the Inferno. It’s kind of too close, but not close enough IYSWIM. It looked worse in full light - in the house it looks good enough, but not in the glare of daylight. I guess a lot depend on what else I can find to marry the two together with its inclusion.

The current roving. I think it’s an acceptable pink…

I am trying to knit on the sock this evening but my arm hurts a lot, so it’s painfully slow (and painful) progress.

I think it is fair to say that we have had better weekends…

The car is not progressing well. One shocker is now fitted and one disc brake is finally off. That’s it. Oh, and the score also includes a broken torque wrench… and the potential purchase of at least one new calliper. Ouch.

Things have been going slightly better in the house than they have in the garage:

• Inferno: all spun, one more small skein of 3 ply done.
• Soy silk: one whole packet spun
• New spinning: another Copperpot roving, Chantilly Lace is on the wheel.
• ATCs: done, packaged, ready to mail tomorrow - lovely fluffy grey free-form lace alpaca beaded rain clouds…
• Merope socks: growing again, and sock #2 is 2/3rds down the leg now
• Sky and Water II: total failure to make progress for 4 days now

I am deferring plying up the remainder of the Inferno until I have made some decisions about what to add in for my arty yarn.

The new roving is not at all “me” - it’s pale pink/white/grey and rather soft and ethereal - a total opposite to inferno. Pink! Me? Wow! but it’s OK, it’s a soft lavender-pink with lilac-ish/bluey tones to it. Not a sickly candy pink at all, and toned down further by the grey and the white - it should be alright. I don’t know what possessed me, but “pink” was on the PS3 Fire colours and I was buying roving anyway… The main trouble is that I have no idea what I shall knit with it so I don’t really know how I want to spin it. IIRC it’s a Merino/Tencel mixture, so there should be some options for the finished yarn, including socks. It might 3ply to a DK weight - if there’s sufficient yardage it might make a nice Gretel (I really must knit one soon.) Maybe if the forthcoming baby is a girl-type baby it could have a pink and grey BSJ…

No. I really have no idea what I am doing. It will be a nice surprise once I figure it out.

The BSJ pattern has arrived and I am itching to cast one on. Must finish the Merope socks and the Alhambra scarf first, though.

Not much knitting getting done around here just now. I missed out my scarf repeat yesterday, did very little sock and am not yet past the cuff.

Yesterday evening all handicrafts were abandoned, in favour of a garage clear out.

We’re going for it, and getting the car MOT’d. Parts have been ordered and it was time to make room to get the Maverick inside for some TLC. We are a test-exempt island, but need a certificate if we wish to leave the island. Mr L’s family are heading North in September and, as they think they will be more or less in our back yard, they’d rather like to see #1 son while they are up in Scotland. They have a cottage booked, on the far side of Loch Ness - about half way down, at Errogie. It’s probably little more than a hundred miles away in fact, but by the time that Scottish roads and two ferries have been factored in, its a journey that will take most of a day to do. Having established that the ‘plane journey is too expensive (about £250) and that the bus/JoG ferry option is unworkable (Winter timetables by then), we began to look at car hire. Not too expensive, but still the additional ferry costs to bear. Anyway,  I pointed out that if we are looking at that kind of money, it would make more sense to MOT the car, have the benefit of that for a whole year, and the convenience of driving there and back - plus doing some shopping in Inverness. I was all for the idea of Mr L doing some shopping without my involvement… and was busy drawing up a list. Now he has realised that if he is taking the car, there is little additional cost to taking me as well, and no problem with dogs because they can go with us and sleep overnight in the car… cats are good at fending for themselves for a few nights, given sufficient litter trays and an ample supply of kibble and water.

Bum!

I really hate leaving my island. I don’t even like going as far as Kirkwall. Now I may have to go Sooth for several nights. Bum. Bum. Bum! But how can I turn him down when he turns that woeful look on me and says how much more fun it will be with my company?  *sigh* Well, at least he promised me some boots activity. We can find a hill and go up it with the dogs. That will be nice, and maybe worth the disruption. But there will be midges. Urk!

All I can say is that there had better be some compensatory yarn shop activity involved… and maybe a side trip to the Black Isle for a crate of Red Kite.

On the plus side, that’s 4 ferry journeys’ and 100 miles’ worth of sock knitting time.

Anyway, that was last night. Today was full of spinning.

I settled to my pre-breakfast hour, then found myself so close to the end of the roving that I kept on going. I have plied another skein of the Flambé, and spun the remainder of the red/orange. I was wondering what to do with the remaining red/orange single, having used up all the purple.

I had intended to move onto some lovely blue/green/purple toned Yarn Yard rovings that I have in my stash, but I suddenly found myself picking up the soy silk that I was given last year. It is very similar in colour, though brighter in tone, to the merino I have just completed. I wondered what would happen if I plyed some of the soy silk to the remaining singles. And I set to and tried to spin it. Having been running scared of this stuff for over a year, imagine my delight to find that I could actually spin it. It’s nowhere near as difficult as I had expected. It’s not exactly easy, of course. But I’ll tell you what, it’s an awful lot of fun. I am really enjoying it and I have sat and spun and spun and spun - long past the point at which my hands told me to give up.

The idea had been just to spin a little to try plying with, but I think I might just go on and fill the bobbin now.

I think that an art yarn might be in the offing. Just a small skein, for the hell of it challenge. I’ll try it with the thick/thin single, the soy silk, some copper thread, and some beads if I can find some that are suitable, maybe some other bits. I need to go into the craft room this weekend anyway (ATC swap deadline looming for PS3 “Air”) and will need a thorough tidying up session - I’ll see what I can turn up. I am quite excited (though also daunted) at the prospect.

Sky and Water II - 15% done - still on target at 1 pattern repeat a day.

Merope socks - second sock cast on and rib progressing

Flambé - thick-thin bobbin refilled to near catastrophic point, but small quantity of red and orange stubbornly refusing to fit onto it. Purple bobbin 1/3 full.

Theoretically I could complete the Flambé this afternoon but I confess to not even being sure that I want to. I am extremely tired. Just want to curl up with a good book and a box of choccies really. Perhaps I will feel better post-soup (veggie Scotch Broth and French stick, possibly also mini dumplings - it’s a comfort food kind of a day)

I have three dogs shedding hair at the moment. A pile of fluffy understuff is building up in the conservatory, where I have been brushing the reluctant (Nell, Griff) and the enthusiastic (the ever-wanton Suzie). I am giving serious consideration to attempting to spin some…

A second skein of the inferno has been produced, just as lovely as the first.

I have knitted some sock. I still have 3″ of foot left to do. It seems to go very slowly at this stage of a sock. I wish that I had delicate little girlie feet *sigh*

The only goal left to realise today is the knitting of one repeat of the scarf. That is looking dubious at this stage.