Stuff and Things Lara Smoot kindly offered to give away a copy of one of her most recently released patterns, Journey to Atlantis, which was previously an exclusive club pattern on Miss Babs Knitting Tour. It uses around 500m of a worsted weight yarn to make. The winner was drawn at random using random.org and is Entry Number 2, ThisPianoGirl.
Self Indulgent Craft-A-Long (#STSICAL2015) started on Christmas Day and runs to February 29th 2016. The thread will be locked when I get up and get online on 1st March. The CAL is for anything new and exciting that makes your heart sing after all the responsibilities and hard work of the run up to the end of the year, so it shouldn't be a WIP.
. The Wool Barn Alpaca Sock (grey) in the Denim colourway. The is a sock/4ply weight yarn, comprised of 70% Natural Light Grey Baby Alpaca/20% Silk/10% Cashmere and it weighs 100g and has 400m/436yds.
From a generous viewer, who wishes to remain anonymous, The Uncommon Thread, Silky Merino Fingering in the Pern colourway. The yarn is a sock/4ply weight yarn and is comprised of 75% Superwash Merino/25% Mulberry Silk, it weighs 100g and measures 400m.
Just Ducky Handspun Pierced Heart Spindle made with Lignum tip, Black Ebony whorl, Padauk shaft. Weight: 1.2 oz/34g Length: 11 3/4” Hello Yarn Falkland in the Ghastly Silence colourway. Into The Whirled 50% merino/25% bamboo/25% silk in the 221b colourway. JOMA Yarn Cash-A-Rino (70% Superwash merino/20% cashmere/10% nylon) in the Humingbird colourway. 115g/4oz of fingering/4-ply weight yarn, measuring 371m/406yds Unwind Yarn Company Journey Sock (80% Superwash merino/20% nylon) in the La Grande Jatte colourway. 100g of fingering/4-ply weight yarn measuring 365m/400yds. Countess Ablaze Lord of Silk DK (75% Falkland merino/25% mulberry silk) in the Nightmare colourway. 100g of DK weight yarn measuring 240m/262yds)
NOTE: For some reason YouTube thinks I broke Community Guidelines with my video so I've embedded the file from another source. If you have a clue what I did wrong, let me know!
Stuff and Things
Emily of the FibreTown Podcast has released a new pattern the Esther Belle Shawl and she has donated a copy of this new pattern to give away to a viewer. The original winner, JamieWalcott contacted me to say that as she had won something from the podcast so recently, I should draw again. This new winner, TESOROSTITCHERY is announced in this episode.
Self Indulgent Craft-A-Long (#STSICAL2015) starting on Christmas Day and running to February 29th 2016. The thread will be locked when I get up and get online on 1st March. The CAL is for anything new and exciting that makes your heart sing after all the responsibilities and hard work of the run up to the end of the year, so it shouldn't be a WIP.
Prizes were all kindly donated and are:
A project bag from Knit and Stitch Bits. (The shop is closed until 4th January). The Wool Barn Alpaca Sock (grey) in the Denim colourway. The is a sock/4ply weight yarn, comprised of 70% Natural Light Grey Baby Alpaca/20% Silk/10% Cashmere and it weighs 100g and has 400m/436yds.
From a generous viewer, who wishes to remain anonymous, The Uncommon Thread, Silky Merino Fingering in the Pern colourway. The yarn is a sock/4ply weight yarn and is comprised of 75% Superwash Merino/25% Mulberry Silk, it weighs 100g and measures 400m.
Done and Dusted
Pamela Stripes En Haute knit from my own pattern, using Posh Yarn Pamela in the I'll Get You My Pretty, The Door Just Opened For Someone and The Grass is Full of Stars colourway.
Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure, using left over Hilltop Cloud BFL/Cashmere/Silk from the Foolproof. Regia Snowflake Color Socks in the 07709 colourway. Aisling Shawl by Justyna Lorkowska using Countess Ablaze Lady Lady Persephone Sock in the An Inveterate Dislike of Julia colourway and Count Cashmerino High Twist in the When Daylight Dies colourway. I have run out of yarn! Hobbledehoy Merino Tencel in the Lagoon colourway. It's been spun as a worsted 2-ply and I'm currently plying. I used my new spindle from AaronMakesStuff.
Plotting
Making a Hitofude for my Mum using Artesano Alpaca Silk 4ply in the Lily Pad colourway. The bag I showed was from Shop Louleigh.
My project for the #STSICAL is going to be knit using 40% Alpaca/40% Merino/20% Silk from John Arbon that I spun as a worsted 2ply to get a heavy sock/4ply weight yarn. I got 740m from 216g. I plan on making either Eyeblink by Heidi Alander or Wintermute by Melanie Berg.
Lara Smoot has kindly offered to give away a copy of one of her most recently released patterns, Journey to Atlantis, which was previously an exclusive club pattern on Miss Babs Knitting Tour. It uses around 500m of a worsted weight yarn to make. To enter, go to this thread and suggest a good yarn to use for this pattern. I'll draw for the winner of the copy of this pattern when I record Episode 27.
Many thanks for the shout outs from podcasters about my Boat Trip Cowl pattern. I'm so delighted that this pattern seems to have been well received and that people are already posting photos of finished objects on Ravelry.
1 Year Pod-iversary prize was a skein of Wharfedale Woolworks BFL Lace in the Sea Jewels colourway. There is 800m/875yds from 100g. The winner was post 28, Sikuna from Berlin in Germany.
Thank you for all the feedback provided in the thread, I will definitely try and film some spindling soon! There are a couple of videos that I recommend if you are interested in support spinning; Lori of Deerfield Creations filmed a good introduction and Lisa Chan filmed the video that finally made long draw spindling click for me.
A spin-a-long (SAL) started on 1st September, using a minimum of 100g or 3.5oz of fibre and spinning at least 100yds/91m. The SAL will finish on 30th September. All other details, including prizes are over on the FO Thread. Please do not chat in the FO Thread. You can use #STSAL2015 on social media and on your project page.
Done and Dusted
Nuvem by Martina Behm in Wollmeise Lace-Garn in the Cu colorway. I used the border element from Viajante also by Martina Behm. Thank you to alwysknit, aka Eleanor for suggesting that. The video tutorial I used to do garter stitch in the round was this one. Into The Whirled 85% Polwarth/25% Silk in the Captain Tightpants colourway. Spun as a worsted 2-ply to produce a barber poled yarn. I got 356m from 118g at a fingering/4ply weight yarn. Superwash Merino Fibre from World of Wool - 135g dyed using Wilton 8 Colour Icing Set 226 g and white vinegar. Chester Wool Company Platinum HT Sock (75% Superwash Merino/25% Nylon) - 435m/100g. Dyed using the same colours as the fibre. Bluefaced.net is the retail arm of the undyed yarn selling company.
Nose to the Grindstone
September SAL - Hilltop Cloud 70% BFL/15% Cashmere/15% Silk, 100g in natural and 100g in Autumn colours. Spun on my Spanish Peacock bead whorl spindles. Toddler Blanket using Rico Designs Baby Classic DK in the Powder (038), Mauve (041), Dusky Pink (40), Anthracite (32) and Purple (16) colourways. Done using Treble(UK)/Double Crochet(US). Pebble Beach Shawl by Helen Stewart using Black Bunny Fibers Merino Silk Sock (70% Merino/30% Silk) in the Peek-A-Boo colourway.
Sara's Texture Crafts Romney fibre (500g) and Shetland fibre (200g). Sara has a 50% discount (applied at checkout automatically) on her "Fresh From The Farm Tops" at the moment. Babylonglegs Merino D'Arles fibre (200g). You can get the undyed natural fibre from John Arbon. Sarah has a discount on at the moment Add spin4yourlife to the discount box at checkout for a 15% off all Spinning Fibres.
Online Community
I've been watching some broadcasts on the Periscope app. I'm not sure if I'll ever record on there, but my user name is the same as for Twitter, stitchedtog.
I drew the winners for the STSAL2014, they are on Ravelry on the FO Thread. They are as follows; rosebob won the PLY Magazines, patternwhisperer won the Fondant Fibre Project Bag and Fibre
mariamc67 won the Camel/Silk Punis from Elly’s Knit (in)Sanity.
I was recently asked to talk about where I live on the podcast, which has inspired the next craft a long. I thought it would be interesting to find out more about where our community lives. Essentially you need to craft something that relates to where you live and describe how it relates to your home. eg Using locally dyed yarn or knitting a pattern with a name that reminds you of a local landmark. The craft is flexible, it can be knitted, crocheted, spun or woven (basically any craft on Ravelry).
The Where I Live CAL (Craft-A-Long) will start on Saturday 30th June and will end on Sunday 31st August 2014. The project must be started AFTER the start date and be posted into the FO Thread before midnight on the end date. WIPs and UFOs cannot be used for this. You must be a member of the group and you should post a photo of your finished object and link to your project page on Ravelry. You must explain WHY and HOW your project relates to where you live. The FO Thread will open on Ravelry on the start date, but I will open a chat thread when this podcast episode goes live where you can discuss your ideas and ask for feedback about your choices. You should tag your project STWILCAL and you can use the same tag as a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram or any blog posts. You are free to double dip. I will talk about where I live closer to the start date. Prizes are to be determined once I have a rummage through my stash,
I am doing Stash Dash with The Knit Girllls this year again. I am going to try and force myself to abstain from yarn and fibre purchase until I've achieved my 5000m target, unless it is required for a specific project that is obligation related eg birthday presents. I need to get a handle on this stash!
I love the stitch pattern and how it works with this yarn. Thanks to Jo from the Shinybees Podcast for the mention about my socks in her latest episode.
The other knit I finished was the Cattywampus Hat that I talked about making in the last episode, using my handspun BFL yarn made from Gale's Art fibre. Elizabeth Green Musselman of Dark Matter Knits Podcast kindly gifted me the pattern and I just had to cast on straight away. I could NOT be happier with this hat.
I took the option of adding an extra 5 sts to the cast on, as I wanted a slouchier hat than some of the projects I'd seen, as recommended in the pattern. After blocking the hat is drapey and soft and is light enough to wear in slightly warm weather. I won't be able to wear it much longer though.
I spun some Fondant Fibre rolags I bought last year and was scared to spin in case I ruined them. I finally felt confident enough to try them and spun them long draw. The resulting yarn is a 2-ply fingering/4-ply weight yarn and I have 348 m/380 yds.
I used the Enid Ashcroft Ebony Whorl/Bocote Shaft Tibetan Spindle, which I love. The yarn is fluffy light and soft. As this was spun from my oldest rolags or punis I decided to enter this project into the Oldest Anything Craft Along being run by Emily of the Watcha Swatchin Podcast and Molly of the Deepbluerenegade Podcast.
I started and finished two more spinning projects. The first was Paintbox from Spin City. I spun it worsted with 3 plies and got 144m of worsted weight. I am thinking of knitting some Masonry Mitts by Vera Brosgol.
The second project used Fondant Fibre pre-drafted nests of organic merino in the colourway Smoke Screen. I spun it worsted as a true 3 ply.
It was sport weight and I got around 166m/181yds from 100g/3.5oz. It is very soft and bouncy and it was a dream to spin. It was the first time I'd spun this particular fibre blend from Deb and it is gorgeous. It feels like it has more crimp than regular merino which makes it loftier.
I cast on and finished was Starshower by Hilary Smith Callis. It is a shawly cowl in an interesting lace stitch. I have wanted one for a while and then when I bought a new skein of yarn from Countess Ablaze, Lord Kitchener 4 ply in the Come Back in The Seventh Year colourway, I knew it would be perfect for the project and cast on. I blogged about it here.
Nose to the Grindstone
With the Simene Stole, I have decided to extend the number of pattern repeats I do in each side of the stole. I have finished the first half and I'm about to start the main chart on the second half. I decided to do 7 repeats of the main chart, instead of 6 and I think this extra length will be more comfortable for me as I have quite a long arm span for an average height girl.
My Sleeves project has stalled a bit, but that was always going to be a reasonably long term project, along with Simene Stole.
The second pair is knit in Knitters Nightmare Boogieman Sock in the Seashore colourway. I managed to get my hands on another oops in this base of yarn as my favourite socks are in this yarn.
The project for the Island KAL is a pattern from a new book I bought, Coop Knits Toasty Volume 1 by Rachel Coopey. It's a great book and there are at least 4 projects I want to knit from it. I cast on Ripon, which is a hat knit in Titus 4-Ply, as are all the patterns in this book. It is cabled and slouchy and I knew I wanted to wear it with my new bag. I had a skein of Titus but I wanted something brighter. I bought some Jamieson & Smith 2-Ply Jumper Weight in the 132 Very Bright Turquoise colourway, I've used this yarn before and I knew it would work well as a Titus replacement.
In the spirit of stash dash I decided to cast on a yarn eater type project. I'm using 4 different strands of yarn to knit a cushion cover for use in the garden.
It's nice and sturdy and I think it will hold up well to garden use. Once this is done, if I have enough yarn left over I will cover another cushion we already use in the garden too.
I'm knitting a shawl from the Fondant Fibre rolags I finished. It's Demiluna by Lhevinne Amor. This is my entry into the Got sKnit to do KAL, provided I can get it cast off and blocked in time.
I'm plying up some pretty fibre from Countess Ablaze in the Baby It's Cold Outside colourway. I'm spinning at as 3-ply as I enjoy the appearance of this type of yarn.
I'll talk about the spindle in Toolbox!
I'm also spinning some rolags I made myself, which I'll talk about in Quest for Knowledge!
Toolbox
I got a blending board for my birthday. I used birthday money to buy lots of fibre to use.
I think the rolags I made as my first "proper" rolags are too dense. They have the density of punis, whilst being the size of rolags! Any tips are gratefully received.
New spindle from Spanish Peacock. It is made from walnut and wenge. Thanks to Emily from the Fibre Town podcast for getting it for me.
Quest for Knowledge
I have been trying to find out more about blending boards. I have made a couple of trial sets of rolags and I now have a set that I am working my way through, with the hope of getting usable yarn.
There doesn't seem to be much information about how to use a blending board beyond videos like the one below.
It is hard to gauge how much to put on. Any tips would be gratefully received.
Crafting Library
I got an email on Earth Day from Interweave saying all digital downloads were deeply discounted. I bought The Gentle Art of Plying with Judith MacKenzie McCuin. It's a superb video that taught me lots. I highly recommend it.
Online Community
MaryQEP won the Countess Ablaze Giveaway. Thank you for all the entries, this was our most popular giveaway to date, and I'm not surprised.
I was delighted to hear that my inspiration photo in The Golden Skein contest came first. This means my photo (show above). This means that the yarn dyed for the first quarter of 2015 will be inspired by my photo. I also get the yarn, which is very exciting for me. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the dyers do with this photo as there are some interesting colours in the photo.
,
on my new spindle.
(US Link)
(US Link)
by Judith Durant.
and white vinegar.
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