A new wheel

Now for the princely some of $50 and a drive to Clunes, I have a lovely old Ashford Traditional wheel.  Here's some before and after shots after I have oiled and waxed her.

So now to get a repair kit and some more bobbins and a bit of tinkering to work out the tension etc. and away I go.

An update

There has been some progress on Lance's socks.  I have this set finished and another well underway.  I thought I would keep knitting this wool until I run out so I will only have enough left for repairs down the track.  I am surprised at how many pairs I have from 150 grams of dyed tops plyed with black merino.  So the total will be three pairs!

While knitting on these I started the jelly dyed border leicester cross but Grace has found it too rough for her skin.  I find them very comfortable so I will have some nice thick bed socks and the remainder will become a scarf eventually.

So that meant we needed to go to Tongala so Grace could pick a colour for her socks.  She quite likes the merino blend as she was wondering around the house with one of Lance's socks on for a while lol.  Grace picked this lovely amethyst colour and has enough for socks and a scarf.  While I was there I picked up Ply's Autumn magazine and also two packets of white sock blend that I will dye over the summer. 

On Wednesday, which was cool and very windy, I went off to the Elmore Field Days and caught up with Colleen who had a stall.  Purchased this lovely bag of merino which she had dyed so it will either be some grey socks or perhaps a scarf/shawl arrangement.   Now I am just waiting on a white border leicester fleece and the fibre collection will be complete for quite some time.  Unlike fabric you have to get the raw fleeces at shearing time before you miss out.

Probably have another 40 mins spinning left on this before I can start a bobbin of brown to ply with it.  Yes more sock wool for Lance lol. 

Now Lance also bought me home this gorgeous little set and would you believe the saucer was actually broken right down the middle!  Can't tell since I fixed it.

I have also completed all my items for the Christmas swap and will hopefully get them wrapped up and posted over the next two weeks.  Yes my partner and I decided to send them when we completed them to avoid the Christmas madness lol.  I have already received mine and they are beautifully wrapped.  Can't wait until Christmas morning to see what is inside them.

Now for an update.

It feels like there has not been a lot happening but I have finished off another two skeins of the fairy floss wool and also nearly finished off another pair of socks for Lance.  Once they are off the needles then it will be some socks for Grace.  Sarah has elected not to have woolly socks sadly. 

The crochet jacket has not seen a lot of work but the back is finished and I have done a fair bit of one of the fronts.

I might actually get some done on this at knitting group as I might just need Lance's foot to measure those socks before casting them off.

Last week I also managed to get my hands on a copy of the first Ply magazine and have enjoyed reading it.  Its American but not as full of ads as Spinoff magazine.  I also made up a heap of batts ready for spinning from some of the tops I dyed ages ago and blended them with bits of alpaca and kid mohair.  Must finish up those tops that are currently on the wheel before delving into this box. 

Basically it is more sock wool lol.  Some will be for xmas so had better get moving on them.

I also hemmed up some new lace curtains for our lounge too.  At a bargain price too lol free!

I've missed having lace at the windows.

Well it is a busy morning for me today and then knitting group after lunch so had better get organised!

And the winner is..........

Jindi's cottage!  You have won the bag handles.  Could you please email me your details.  Thanks.

FNWF

I had a lovely day on Friday with Lance home and also with my Friday night friends.

I worked on plying off two skeins of this ongoing spinning project.

Then did some stitching on this.

During the week I missed my Wednesday knitting group but did some knitting related shopping instead.  Mum's order from www.ewegivemetheknits.com came in so I took her over to pick it up.  It is a fantastic little shop with something different every time I visit.   So I came away with this bag of tops which should look fantastic for some more Lance socks mixed with the chocolate corriedale.

I have also spun these jelly dyed batts up and they look fantastic.

I have another lot to go so should end up with two large balls of sock wool to knit up for Grace and myself.







I have also finished the back of my crochet jacket and am about to start the fronts.

Now I have a bit of a giveaway too.  If you would like a set of these Sullivan's bag handles please let me know in your comment and I will enter you into the draw.  I will draw the lucky winner on Friday morning.

More finishes

Firstly thank you to everyone who has taken the time to show me support for my blogging and express their friendship.  Bloggy friends are important people who share common interests and support each others endeavors.

Now there have been a few more finishes this week!  Lance's aran jumper is finished as is a beanie for my Dad for Father's day along with a few other things.  Was going to say but he might just be reading this lol.

I also finished spinning and plying off the black merino which will be used with the varigated sock wool leftovers of Lance's last pair of socks.  The next pair are going to have black heels and toes just to make them a little different.  They will be a plain rib because the wool doesn't really allow a pattern to show up like it should.

A pic of our birthday boy.  Merlin turned 5 on Wednesday!  Don't know where that 5 years have gone lol.

Last weekend I also washed up the last of the grey merino and swapped the rest with Mum so she could have enough grey to finish a spinning project.  I received this beautiful chocolate brown corredale instead.  All washed now and looking gorgeous but I am making myself leave it alone until I have combed and spun more grey merino for my jumper lot.  I have two full bobbins of the soft blue/grey waiting for a few bobbins of grey to be plied off.  This photo is in the dirty state but it is very clean compared to parts of the merino which came from a different source.

I have also finished digging over the vegie garden and just have the chook house to clean out which I might leave until Tuesday.  Now I have set a day I will have to get it done.  Tuesdays are usually full of grotty jobs to be done and then they are out of the way for a while.  Might just get to plant a few things out in a sheltered spot later today.  But I think I will cover them at night for a while just in case there is a frost.

Also had a great time on Wednesday afternoon at Knitting group have started the back of my crochet cardigan but not taken any pics yet.  I managed to get 8 inches done on it Wednesday but haven't done much since as I have been spinning or reading books on my kindle fire.  Yes it has taken me three years of thinking but I finally got one last month and love it.  There are even a few American spinning, knitting and crochet magazines on there lol.  

Well that's my past week and I have enjoyed catching up with a few blogs too.  What a big job that was.

OPAM Finishes and some more woolly projects.

If anyone has wondered why I have not been blogging recently it is because I have received some critic from a regular reader that has basically informed me a few times over the last 12 months that I should ie not do long posts and make them daily or twice weekly instead and also just recently criticized the amount of wooly projects I have enjoyed working on and made me feel sick. She suggests I should get back to sewing instead.  That person will know who she is and as I have better manners than she does so I will let her remain nameless.  I was going to shut the whole blog thing down and not even bother with it but I had two lovely ladies email me in the last couple of days as they had not noticed me around and I really appreciate their comments on the issue and their continued friendship.  I have decided to keep blogging and just ignore this person.  I have blocked her email and I will be turning on comment moderation so I see them before they are published directly to my blog.  I cant stand nasty people who comment rudely on anothers achievements in such a way wether it is my work or that of others.  Basically there is an old saying that if you cant say something nice then dont say it at all.  I have also decided that I get a lot more done when I am not blogging as much too so I will become an infrequent blogger.  So basically if you wish to visit me and be nice about it then do so and I would love to hear from you.  If not go away and find someone else to pick on as life is too short for such rubbish.  Those that are friends know that I have a lot on my plate and will not let the likes of she-who-shall-not-be-named ruin things for me or others and that is the last that will be said on the matter.

Well firstly over the last month I have done a couple of trips with Mum to Ewe give me the knits in Tongala and picked up a couple of lots of lovely landscape dyes.

So these were then used to dye a heap of Bendigo Woollen Mills sliver that is a mix of alpaca and  the other is their machine wash merino/bamboo.

Moss

Heath

Barossa 

Mix of all dyes at various strengths

Saltmarsh

So that all happened on one sunny day and the next I overdyed some old stash wool. It involved skeining it all up, dyeing throughout the day and then a quick rinse and now it is all balled up back in my organised stash boxes.

So the pink is Heath that was used to overdye a very pale mottled green 14 ply.
Barossa overdyed the same pale green.
Two strengths of barossa to overdye some pink mohair 4ply.
Daintree to overdye more pale green.
Rust Bendigo 8ply leftovers were overdyed with mustard to change the tone. 
The next two are cheap 5ply cream and cream flecked like I rainbow dyed ages ago and I have used 2 shades of daintree on one and several shades of mustard and daintree on the other. 
The last is a darker green version of the same 14ply and it has been overdyed with daintree.

All this wool started life as jumpers for my brother or myself when we were about 5 lol.  I didn't take any photos before they were dyed.

The green on the top rung has turned into the crochet scarf.

The green at the end of the bottom rung is turning into a beanie.

I have also just last Wednesday joined a knitting group that meets at the local library for a few hours every Wednesday.  I enjoyed myself immensely and am waiting for next Wednesday to come round so I can go again.  I worked on the final sleeve of Lance's jumper and will hopefully have it finished in the next week after I finish the beanie as it has a finish date on it lol.

The other finishes I have are the red hat and scarf for Grace and another pair of socks finished for myself. 

I have also sewed on my xmas swap items and have them nearly finished.  I also made heaps of needle pouches of various sizes to tidy up this box of needles and crochet hooks.  I recycled a dress that I used to wear back in the oldtime dancing days lol. 

Finally I took all those jelly dyed bits of fluff over to Mums and made some batts for spinning.  This is the combed out bits and bobs from when I prepped it ages ago and we made an art batt!  Not sure what the heck I will do with it but it is lovely and soft and pretty to look at.

So I hope you all made it to the end of this post.  Maybe the others wont be so long next time.