Well, I think I have to be less snitty about Purlescence and their postage charge. The needles arrived this morning – packed like this…
Overkill, perhaps, but maybe if I was buying 12″ straights I would be delighted to see them packaged this way. Still, not entirely planet-saving, is it? Postage at £1.14 and the cost of the box, plus a wee bit of effort (not much – they didn’t post them until Thursday) probably does amount to £2.00.
Also in today’s post was our pump sprayer and thus we have been in the garden. Well, when I say “we” I mean that Mr L was in the garden and I was providing moral support and cold drinks from the relative comfort of the utility room. Mr L lifted a strip of grass along the length of the ground that we are working on, and it was very hard work. Then he sprayed the whole area. I am not entirely sure that he got the thin edge of the wedge though, as I was very busy myself.
The trouble with our utility room is that it is not heated – and with a back door that neither fits nor is insulated, and faces the prevailing winds, the tendency is to just throw things through the door in the winter and then run away sharply. So, by the time that we reach this point in the year, there is much work to be done.
I kept the back door open so that we could chat as we worked and I knuckled down to the winter’s mess and grime. We now have a useful room once more. I shall be able to experiment with paper-making and wet felting, and some dyeing. Mr L will commence his efforts this very afternoon, with some wine-making. There is still a little cleaning work to be done and the room would benefit from a coat of paint (not to mention a new back door and a heater) – but there is plenty of space and worktop to go at for the time being.
What was not in the post this morning was my yarn from The Yarn Yard. Disappointing now that I have needles. I thought that it would come today as I know that Natalie was posting parcels out on Thursday.
Even more disappointing is my memory. I thought I had a set of 2.25mm coming, and I didn’t. I have 2.5mm and 2.75mm, so I cannot switch the current troublesome sock to short needles after all. To be honest, I am considering re-knitting the sock on 2.5m needles anyway. I could call this sock the practice sock, and start again. I think that there is sufficient yarn not to have to re-use the stuff that I have already knitted.
One of the great advantages of having a tidy utility room is that I then have a well-lit room in which to take photographs. Here are those skeins that I mentioned yesterday.
In picture 1: Left – yesterday’s 2 ply, with 2 bobbins of similar slubby yarn plyed together (not washed); Centre – Navajo 3ply from a single skein of the slubby singles (not washed); Right – my original yarn, washed, plyed from a slubby single made on the Ashford and a finer, darker shaded, single spun on the Haldane. All lovely, all distinctly different, all from the same batch of dyed fleece.
Gratuitous picture of the Official Blog Puppy. More to come.
I am feeling rather horrible today, with a distinctly upset tummy. I think I’ll spend the rest of the day just spinning quietly in a corner. Or maybe I’ll find a box and start making that lightbox.