Tag: Knittingland

Frustrations and Playing

Posted on by Alice Neal

To continue where I left off yesterday, whilst my fabulous man was preparing a scrumptious chicken chasseur last night, and with all my littlies tucked up in bed or otherwise occupied, I decided to try my hand at spinning.

I settled down with my spindle, bag of fleece and YouTube and I believe I made two fatal errors, both of which result from my usual modus operandi of going off half-cocked, full of enthusiasm and without the requisite knowledge: 1) I assumed that the fleece I had bought had already been carded. And 2) I didn’t realise you could get more than one standard spindle size.

So, 1) It hadn’t, and was a pig to try to spin, and 2) You can, and mine, it turns out after just a few minutes’ research on YouTube, is too small. That is, it is made of pine and barely 3″ diameter, when, it would seem, at least 4″ and hardwood gives you the weight you need to keep it spinning. To add insult to injury, the carders I acquired with my spinning wheel have not been used in a very long time and are consequently a little rusty / dirty with the result that they turn my once white fleecy wool a less fetching russet. Harumph. If anybody reading this has first-hand experience of such things and feels like sharing their wisdom, you’ll find a most grateful recipient!

In not too very long, I hope, I shall be receiving the wool from the black sheep, which will mean I can card it without any real change in colour, and I will order a larger spindle. Incidentally, whilst perusing eBay for said larger spindle, I found a listing for some Roman spindle whorls, carved from black rock. Now wouldn’t that be a thing of beauty – dated around 100-200 BC… Food for thought…

I gave up on the spinning and sat twiddling my thumbs for a moment, wondering which of my many WIPs to pick up. None of them enthused me, and I didn’t fancy starting the crocodile just before supper. Then I stumbled across one of the first neckwarmers I ever knitted. I never wear it because I made it too narrow. And since I first knitted it, I have begun to crochet, and seen half a million totally inspiring fusions of the two methods, so I decided to pick a few chunky yarns I had lying around and play a little. Below, you can see what happened, and you can make out, I think, the original chunky rib knitted in a heavy multi-coloured (flecked) yarn:

Knit / Crochet fusion neckwarmer
Knit / crochet fusion neckwarmer

I haven’t taken it off since, except to bathe and sleep 🙂 It has also inspired me to look into knitting or crocheting a sweater with a neck similar to this one (I love my polo necks and this winter seems to have gone on forever. It is snowing as I type and nearly Easter!) I’ve seen a few patterns which are knitted from the neck down, which I find quite an intriguing and challenging idea, since I’ve only ever tried garments using the ‘make-this-bit-and-add-it-to-this-bit’ method. I’d love to hear from anybody who’s tried it, or feels like sharing any links to patterns. 🙂

As I mentioned, the snow has not stopped, and I am grateful to have a large drawstring bag stuffed with hats and neckwarmers I’ve knitted the past few winters. Here is my number 4, complete with infectious toothy grin (that one at the front is about to fall out) and a hat I began by knitting for myself, gave to my youngest, who refused to wear it, and that has now been appropriated by this one:

Chunky Monkey
Chunky Monkey

But most of today has been taken up with Norfolk Beard Oil – packing and posting new orders. We’ve just released sample bottles, which are proving rather popular. “Try before you buy”… If you have a hairy man in your life, you might just want to take a look 🙂

Norfolk Beard Oil
Norfolk Beard Oil
sample6
‘Lover’ beard oil sample

I guess I have to hope for more crafting tomorrow, if the laundry permits…

 

Hexagons and Spindles…

Posted on by Alice Neal

This week, I am determined to advance some of the projects I already have on the go. I am itching to start several other things, but I must exercise some self-discipline or my house will be taken over in the messiest and least intentional yarn-bomb catastrophe known to man (or woman, for that matter).

So, with that in mind, I went back to my hexagon blanket today. I’m using Rowan’s Kaffe Fassett Colourscape: a gorgeous woollen yarn whose colours melt effortlessly into one another. All the hexagons below are from the same skein. I have already got 30 made, and some already joined up, but I decided I needed a more methodical approach. So my mission today was to edge all the motifs I already have:

Edging the hexagons
Edging the hexagons

But then I got bored. I’d edged maybe five or six, so I decided to join them to the piece I already had. I now have around 17 joined together and I totally love the look (though it needs blocking, the ends weaving in etc) and working with it in this unseasonally snowy weather was lovely and snuggly warm, too.

The hexagonal story so far
The hexagonal story so far, with, in the background, my toddler whose favourite place is on top of the coffee table 🙂

The post brought a rather exciting parcel, too… My spindle! I now have some fibre (and more on the way), a spindle, YouTube and am just waiting till all my little darlings are in bed, my lovely man cooking – how glad am I that he’s in the kitchen tonight!? – and I’ll give it a whirl. (No pun intended) 🙂

Spindle and fibre
Spindle and fibre

And finally, my little number four son, aged 6, has been suffering from a lack of attention lately. It’s tough being number four of five. Actually, it’s tricky getting enough attention being any one of five (and I speak from experience) especially when you have a mother who is constantly buried under a mountain of yarn, and is off in a world of ‘what shall I make next’…?

attentionI had a rare insight into his world outside home yesterday, when his teacher told me how proud he is to come to school in something I’ve made for him. I do sometimes worry about the potential therapy sessions when they’re grown up and have left home: “All the other kids had this really cool kit, but my mum made me wear all this homemade stuff…!” After all, I’m not sure my 13 year old would be remotely happy about leaving the house in something I’d knitted 😉

So I’m off to spend some time with my little fella, and I’ve promised him that the very next project I start will be a knitted crocodile for him.

Old films and new spinning wheels…

Posted on by Alice Neal

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday. My man and my youngest babe are both poorly, so we all snuggled up on the sofa – well, the littl’un snuggled into his daddy and went to sleep – and I spent a very happy couple of hours crocheting and watching the English Patient. The top of my granny square waistcoat is now in one piece, though I have discovered I need four more squares to make it meet at the front. In other words, I went from making it for a giant to making it for a supermodel. I’m neither. Oops. 🙂

One of the upshots of watching the English Patient was observing Ralph Fiennes’ character – Count Almasy – and his notebook/journal. What we realised is that it was a copy of Herodotus into which he had stuck his memories, sketches, observations… What a fabulous idea! I have ordered an old, hardback copy of Alice in Wonderland and am going to do the self-same thing.

Count Almasy's JournalThe English Patient
Count Almasy’s Journal
The English Patient

But then, cruising Tumblr this morning, I came across this rather synchronous and totally beautiful thing:

Crochet Sampler
Crochet Sampler

Isn’t it dreamy? So I’ve decided to make one of those rough, thick-papered notebooks  and am determined to master the rather more intricate of lace patterns, .which I have so far avoided as too difficult and fiddly. 🙂 At some point…

And today I drove to a gorgeous farmhouse the other side of Durham and picked up my spinning wheel!! Here is a not-very-good picture of it:

spinning-wheel

I have no idea if or how it works, but plan to do some research this weekend and see if I can make head or tail of it. I haven’t the first clue about spinning, other than to be careful not to prick my finger in case I need a big kiss from a handsome prince in a century’s time… (Though, frankly, I could do with the sleep)… It came with these two carders and these books, but is missing its manual, which the lady selling it to me has promised to post on, should it resurface:

books

So, I have a voyage of discovery to embark upon this weekend.

And a letter home saying my 6-year old needs to bring a decorated egg into school by Monday. So he and I will be busy, too.

Happy weekend, all! x

When Life Gets in the Way…

Posted on by Alice Neal

… crochet!

Ooh! My new mantra!

I have a poorly man and a poorly youngest babe, so there is no out-and-abouting today. On the downside, I can’t go and collect my spinning wheel, which has had to be put off till later in the week, but on the upside, I’ve been working on my mother-in-law’s blog, and had the chance to do a bit more crochet. I’ve finally crocheted enough granny squares to complete the top of my long vest (a WIP – work in progress). I have this vision of what it’s going to look like. I even have a pattern, but I find myself in the small hours of the morning planning modifications, improvements, using things I’ve picked up on Pinterest, Crochet Me, Ravelry and all sorts of other places to make it ‘better’. I have a suspicion it will look nothing like the original when it’s done. I hope I love it as much as I plan to as it’s a lot of work 🙂 Next stage is weaving in all the ends and crocheting it all in place. Then I need to start on the ‘skirt’ of the waistcoat. My vision has it as a kind of empire line affair, with some knitted godets, or maybe granny triangles providing some shaping, but… We’ll see…

Granny square waistcoat
Granny square waistcoat

I’m also hoping to get back to my crocheted hexagon blanket, but not finding enough hours in the day. So, I needed something quick and simple, which would give me speedy results and help maintain my creative enthusiasm. I chose a little pink jacket I’ve promised to a friend for her new baby (who, rather happily coincidentally, shares my name). I’m knitting it from a very simple pattern I bought yonks ago and discovered in a pile of unfiled papers recently, and using Sirdar Balmoral yarn, which is wool, silk and alpaca and beautifully soft, in a lovely baby pink, but not too pale. I love it. This kind of thing is so quick and satisfying to do, and I have plans for some embroidery on the front, though my vision may exceed my capability… Again, we shall see. 🙂

Alice's Jacket
Alice’s Jacket

And I finished a jingly pixie hat for my toddler’s little cousin, embellishing it with a tinkling bell and a crochet heart, which I hope is not too girly for a little boy… This is knitted with Araucania pure cotton, a very unevenly spun yarn which I love – it gives such a gorgeous homemade look. The heart is crocheted with Louisa Harding Ianthe – 50% merino 50% cotton (the same yarn as my granny square waistcoat). I confess to much preferring natural yarns to anything manmade, though it does tend to stretch the purse a bit more.

Marcel's Chapeau
Marcel’s Chapeau

Ooh, ooh! And in other news, though I haven’t yet collected the spinning wheel, this morning a very exciting package arrived all the way from Bulgaria – some wool! This is a totally new experience for me, I’ve done absolutely no research whatever 🙂 and my mother-in-law has promised me a book on natural dyes… Gulp. Watch this space!

Bulgarian Wool!!
Bulgarian Wool!!