Crochet sock

Well after pulling out bits at certain stages and redoing them I almost have a crochet sock ready to wear lol.  Now not bad for a first off but by tonight I should have the toe finished and the second one well on the way.  I have used some thin 5ply to make this one as a test but they will make great bed socks and are not too thick either.  So with the right sized sock yarn I might just be on a winner lol.

I also decided to restart the zig zag scarf on Saturday night and it looks much better with an edging stitch and deeper strips.  Will take a photo of it later.

Now these two gorgeous balls are waiting until I spin up the other 600gms.  I think it is pretty close to an 8ply too which is handy.

Busy with things in the morning and then as it is going to be nice and wet again I will be happily inside spinning, knitting and starting on my secret sewing for the santa sack over the next few days. 

Post FNWF and an OPAM and also a birthday stash item

Today I have finished the 2nd pin cushion and hemmed my jeans.  Now I know you can see white in the hem at the moment but after it is washed you do not see it.  So both things only took about 3/4hrs and would have been very achievable last night lol. 

 

Next, while doing loads of washing, I chose a pattern for the 'birthday' wool.

Now why people think it is necessary to wear a leather belts over knits is beyond me.  Looks incredibly stupid really.

So that got me to 8am and wondering what to do next.  Decided on a DVD and have a play with the energised yarn.  Energised basically means an over spun single,  ie not plied together.  It essentially knits sideways.  For it to show better on my scarf I should have made the stripes deeper but I am happy with the result and the slubs in it are ok too. 

It is a beautiful yarn to knit with as it is so soft. 

Then after all that it was lunchtime and walked the doogie for a while and have now decided to pull out some yarn and hook and see if I can crochet a sock lol.  I think that is the to do list covered plus a couple of extra's.  Now I need to concentrate on not making any more knitting projects as I still have a pair of socks, Lance's jumper, blue scarf and white scarf on the list. 

Hope everyone else had a wonderful FNWF too.

FNWF results

8am and the ironing and dishes are done.  Off for a few groceries and a fabric shop after the school run.  The day is going well.

10am Fabric in wash and having a very delicious lemon tart for morning tea.  Traced out the stitchery for the xmas swap sack but that is secret sewing so no pics lol.

Next I finished spinning up the grey bobbin and decided since it was so nice and relaxing sitting in the sun that I would go ahead and ply them too.  So from two single bobbins I have ended up with two full bobbins plied!  Went further than I thought which is good. 

 Here it is skeined off and washed.  It is a bit lighter than the photo and will hopefully look great knitted up.  I have a fair bit more to spin before I have a jumper lot.  

 While I had the skeiner set up I wound off my white homespun.  This is the energised yarn so it is not going to knit up straight.  Instead it will want to head off to one side so I have found a pattern which will allow it to zig/zag itself as a scarf.

 While waiting for Grace at piano lessons tonight I worked another 11/2 inches on my scarf.  The scarf is just over a mtr long now but the ball of wool doesn't seem to be shrinking much.  So I might end up with enough to do a thinner scarf as well.  We'll have to see when this one is finished.  

Now it is after tea and I am going to settle down to do some more knitting.  I think I might leave the hems and pin cushion until tomorrow now.  Almost got to the end of my list but those germs have given me a bit of a headache and I am tired.

Friday Night With Friends

Its here!  I am going to make a day of it and have quite a few things on the list that I would like to achieve today lol.  I am so looking forward to spending it doing things I want to do rather than all the things I should do re ironing lol although really there is only 10 things to iron.  I'm still fairly choked up with this bug but am much better than I was.  We'll see how much energy I can summon up.

List:
Choose fabric for xmas swap sack and trace out design and start embroidery.
Finish spinning a bobbin of grey fleece to ply off tomorrow. (very close)
Hem a pair of jeans.
Iron those 10 items lol.
Sew up second SKOW pin cushion.
Do some knitting on my lace scarf (just past the half way mark!)
Wind that energised yarn from a few weeks ago into balls so I can knit it.
Maybe have a go at some crochet socks!  Could get interesting but maybe it should wait until I am less fuzzy in the head lol.

As for tea tonight, its going to be pizza! (and I'm not cooking them either)

Santa Sack Swap

I've just very eagerly signed up for the Santa Sack Swap over on Cheryll's blog http://santasackswap.blogspot.com.au/
So looking forward to doing some very secret sewing over the next 4 months for it and then all the suspense of not being able to open our parcels until Xmas day!  I might actually get some surprises this year lol.

Not a lot has been happening here as Grace has been one very sick girl for the last 7-10 days and had kindly passed on her horrible chesty cold to me in the last three days lol.  I cant remember the last time something made me so sick that all I feel like doing is lying around in bed.  So not me!  Hopefully it will leave me quicker than it has Grace because I had all these great plans for some creative goings on this week.

All things woolly

This is a new fleece that my parents surprised me with so there is plenty of fleece to spin now.  It was a thank you for helping Dad while he was building the cat enclosure a few weeks back. 

Now this has been washed but still to be combed out before spinning.  I have washed enough to go with the lovely blue I have been spinning to make it go a bit further.  The two will be plied together to make a normal wool. 

I am currently waiting for some 'energised' wool to dry.  It is created by using a single (rather than plied together) strand which has been slightly overspun.   I thought it would be ideal for the first ever proper bobbin I spun up.  Will be interesting to see how it knits up.

Now believe it or not this wool used to be the same colour as the raw fleece pictured below.

Combing it out and skirting it is a messy job but one that is necessary to be able to spin it.  Spinning it as is is really good for the hands as the lanolin comes out and helps to moisturise the hands.  Handy when they had been scouring fleece in hot water lol. 

I have also reached the halfway mark for the blue scarf too. 

Birthday stash/OPAM finish

I've finished one of my SKOW pincushions and this one is for the birthday stash over on Wendy's blog and also a OPAMer lol.  Two birds with one stone.

On Monday I also received another bunch of flowers from Deb who also lives in the Adelaide Hills.  Have certainly been spoilt this year.  Thank you for all your lovely birthday wishes too.