Yarn Along

Did I say adventure!?! I think I cast my handpun Milo on 5 times in total.  Not knowing the gauge of my wool or really the correct needles to use and of course guessing at both had something to do with it.  I managed to knit the whole bodice at one point only to realise that it would have fit me.  I finally decided to go with the NB size and 5mm needles.  Its going great, but I have run out of wool . . . .

Its a good excuse to practice some more spinning. I just hope I don't miraculously manage to nail it and get a beautifully even yarn this time!  

Tadhg brought her school cardi (Sweet Peasy in Malabrigo Sock) home in a state of disrepair on Friday.  Its been sitting like this ever since.  I don't know where or how to start mending.  I think I'll just cast on a tea leaves for her instead.  Dubhessa wore this cardi for 18 months and never so much as pulled a thread.  Tadhg in 3 months has trashed it. She lives hard and plays hard that girl!  Beautiful sisters so very different.  Reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  My girls don't know what Turkish Delight is! We are thinking of trying to make some. Anyone out there ever tried or got a favourite recipe?

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

My class two/ three temperament gnome finished this week.  Yes, he has a blue face.  Real life face colours were not allowed here. Yes, that was a challenge for me!  By class three the child's most dominant temperament will be noticeable and shows itself most between the ages of 7 and 14.  More reading here if you are interested. This knitted doll should represent in a way the temperament of the child who makes it mainly through the choice of colours.  By the time you reach adulthood your dominant temperament has mellowed,  although I've chosen blues and purples, melancholic I 'aint!  

                                            

You may (or may not) have noticed that in all the craft I've done for my course so far there's been no sight of the colour green. Well, its coming! The 9 year old crossing is a significant transition in every child's life after which the colour green is introduced to craft and drawing.  This is followed strictly in some schools and not so in others.  When Dubhessa was at Kinder she consistently came home with drawings of beach scenes.  I assumed it was because she loved our beach holidays so much.  She told me later on that she had to draw beach scenes because there was no green crayon to draw grass! Shes in class two now and has since learned how to use her yellow and blue crayons to make a beautiful green if she needs to. 

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today. 

Yarn Along

This is my handspun effort plyed and drying (very slowly in this arctic weather) by the window.  I really hope I've spun enough for the Milo I plan to cast on this evening (if it ever dries). It's turned out kinda fingering here and bulky there. Knitting with it will be a bit of an adventure.  One day I'll be able to spin evenly and to a particular requirement.  For now we'll have to settle for the rustic look!

 

You can't tell from the photo, but the roving was pale blue and maroon, a bit of an odd pairing if you ask me, but now that its spun and plyed its morphed into an all over purple colour, which is a pleasant surprise.  Good things can happen when you step outside your comfort zone!

Starting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe tonight.  I'm so happy to finally know who they all are and where they all come from after 30ish years.

Happy Knitting!

Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

 

I'd love, love, love to be a good at this, but every time I start again its like I'm doing it for the first time. Ok, maybe not the first time, that was a train wreck.  I blamed the wheel.  Troy bought it off ebay.  It is an Ashford, so I knew it had potential, but it had a piece of string for the drive band and some fishing line and elastic bands on the tension knobs.  I was sure herein lay my spinning woes.  I brought it down to the spinners and weavers guild for some advice.  They replaced my piece of string and fishing line with  . . . more string and fishing line! This is actually what they use - ahem.

 I think I've pin pointed my weak spot as of yesterday and its the draughting.  The gentle process of getting just enough fleece between your fingers before you let the twist take it.  I really struggle to get an even draught - and I over twist every time.  When I spun on a drop spindle I'd pre-druaght out the fleece before I spun it  - It took forever, but it worked and that process was OK for the smaller quantities that I spun on the spindle.   I can't see myself doing it for jumper quantities! For now I'll slog on and put my faith in practice and repetition. Any spinners out there - your words of guidance would be appreciated.

Yesterday I spun two bobbins worth of this pre-dyed Australian Merino.  I'm plying it today with my home made lazy kate - a shoebox with some dowel.  I'm hoping that will prevent it from pilling so much when I knit it.  I'll be casting on a Milo for Sadhbh tomorrow, who has all of a sudden grown out out all her winter woolies. Why I'm surprised by this I have no idea - they keep growing until they are 21 or something like that . . . .

See what other folk have been crafting at Nicole's place today. 

Making Knitting Needles

I made knitting needles with class two today.  I was so impressed with the kids work and how lovely they all are. I'd love to do this with the other class groups at some stage.  I spent yesterday morning sawing dowel into 20cm lengths and gathering gumnuts from under the tree up the street.

List of supplies:
Dowl -  12 lengths of 1.2m x 8mm clear pine from Bunnings cut to length (20ish cm)
Pencil sharpener - with a large opening - metal ones are the best
Sand paper - 2 grits p120 p240 garnet (red)
Gumnuts or beads - to fit the top 8mm
Elastic Bands to keep them needles in pairs
Name tags to label them
PVA glue
Olive oil or light oil and some rags

The kids get 2 pieces of dowel each and sharpen one end of each piece using the pencil sharpener. First using p240, then the p120 the needle is sanded in long motions from the middle down to the tip, rounding the tip so its not too pointy.  They need to be super smooth so that wool doesn't catch on them when knitting. The needles are then lightly oiled and rubbed down with the rag to remove any excess. Glue a gumnut or bead on top using the pva. Pair and label.

Next Friday we are all going to cast on for 20 stitch square. When the class have finished their squares I'm going to sew them into a blanket, which will be kept in the classroom as a comfort
blanket until class six.


 

Yarn Along

Three kids at school and kinder and the littlest napping.  The sun shining in the window on top of me, a cuppa spearmint tea and a medjool date roll beside me. Bliss.

I'm knitting socks, toe up, two at a time on a big long circular.  I knit my last pair of sock using the Spice Man pattern and it was really good.  These socks are for the kids, so I got the Spice Kid pattern.  It doesn't detail how to do two at a time, but I saw a friend doing it a while back at knitting club so I'm giving it a go. I've got myself into one tangle so far! But since that I've been super careful to turn the ball so the separate strands don't get muddled.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it asks to redistribute stitches yet.  Any advice?

I got this ball of Poems sock yarn at the Kyneton wool shop a few weeks ago.  Its such a reasonably priced sock wool, and comes in a great range of colours, but its not fun to pull back.  The twist is quite loose and its almost felting itself together as you knit. Here's hoping I don't have to do much of that!

We're nearing the end of The Magician's Nephew.  Its been a great read. I'm loving this older children's fiction phase that we've entered.  I seem to have missed out on a lot of great books when I was younger. Looking forward to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe next.

Happy Knitting!