FO Plethora

I've had a mass of finished objects recently. Above are just a few of what I've finished in the last month; there's a scarf and a jumper as well plus two secret projects (I'm going to be writing the patterns up for them). It's nice to get all those unfinished objects done and I can start on some new exciting ones.

Lovely Weekend

We had a lovely weekend with a day trip to Lincoln; where some scrumptious wool was bought and some wool wash. Plus a very large chisel of some sort for Mr. which I'm sure will get plenty of use on the lathe.

I started a new project; as my current one's aren't particularly car friendly.

It's going to be a scarf and it uses King Cole Galaxy DK in a very zingy pink!

Sunday was a full day out in the sunshine at Horncastle for their Family Fun Day. Our archery club ran a Have a Go at archery and we were non-stop all day. Lots of interesting people and nice sunshine.

Photo Shoot

 I had a lot of help with my photoshoot for my DROPS blanket.

M's magic hands arranging the props!

Somebody else decided they wanted to help as well.

Apparently they have aspirations to be a model too!

Quilted pigs

This stack of pigs is an awesome piggy bank. I've painted it with one of my favourite things. Lots of different quilt designs.

The cute little tails at the back. The top pig has a log cabin design, little applique hearts on the middle piggie and quilted squares at the bottom.

Woolfest Haul 2012

Another fantastic year at Woolfest; despite the exceedingly rainy conditions it was still a wonderful day. It was bigger this year with lots of new stalls.

I found it quite overwhelming with the vast array of choice and ideas. My haul was quite large this year.

I headed straight for Kate Davies stall and bought the kit for the Sheep Carousel Tea Cosy and also intended to buy the BMC kit but were already sold out within an hour of opening! I tried to start the Tea Cosy on the way home in the car to quickly realise the one size needle I didn't have was a 3.00mm 16 inch circular; which is extremely frustrating when you've just left a big wool show.

I also got Ysolda Teague's Saturday Treat pattern book and some Scrumptious laceweight yarn in Treacle Toffee to make Barley Sugar from the Fyberspates stall.

  

• I bought a dyeing kit from D & T and a bundle of unknown yarn on offer from bluefaced.com
• A pretty batt and a faux cashmere roving from feltstudiouk

• I bought the two skeins that are lilac and beige from Freyalyn's fibres with the intention of making a Damask with it.
• The beige, purple and burnt orange are all baby camel and silk mix in sockweight which is super soft and squidgy from Yarnaddict and I want to make a Colour Affection with them
• The gold and green are from Eden Cottage Yarns and I intend to make Natessa with the green laceweight but not 100% sure what to make with the gold as it was a bit of an impulse.

Lots of lovely projects to get on with so I'd better go and get my needles out...

Woodland Flowerpot

This is one of my favourite things I've made at ceramics. A little flowerpot with a woodland scene. Lots of stylised trees and cute little mushrooms around the tray.

Plus a little catepillar inside the tray.

Party Bunting

I've added my first pattern to Ravelry. The Party Bunting pattern is now available for free. Check it out!

Owlets

 My latest piece from the ceramics studio. There definitely seems to be a lot of cute owl motifs around at the moment. So jumping on the band wagon, I've painted a child's mug with little owls on a branch.

AGY 1st Birthday

It was the first birthday party of my lovely little woolly haven, A Good Yarn, Cleethorpes. Everyone had joined in to make a few surprises for Kate. There was a lovely window display, as well as a knitted party buffet.

Julie's Blancmange

Michele's Jelly Rabbit

My contribution was to make the pattern for the bunting - as well as knitting the Happy part; plus I made a knitted cover for the champagne bottle. Julie was the one that got us all organised and pulled it together - she did a great job. There was also a journal that we'd all contributed to.

Dawn's Birthday Cake & My Champagne Cover

On the day, there were some mini workshops organised. Kate sorted out the jam pot covers and flowers and I designed the patterns for the mug cosies. So everyone got to pick a kit and we spent the day knitting.

Mug Cosy Kits - I was a bit slow to take a photo (there were a lot more at the start!)

At every hour, there was a special offer on in the shop - with caused much sales frenzy. Julie and Kate had made some fantastic cakes for us all too.

Everyone could put there name into a prize draw and there were lots of prizes. There was another couple of prizes not shown - a needle roll and project bag by Nicsknots and a voucher for a Birds and Bees Photography shoot, which I happened to win :)

 There was a big turnout and it was a really fantastic day.

Here are few links to other blogs about the birthday party - A Good Yarn & Faded Reverie

I'm hoping to write up the bunting pattern soon and I'll put it on Ravelry.

Fibre & Fleece & All Things Nice

After having a look through my handspun; I was looking at one of my favourite books The Fleece & Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius.

As a spinner, I felt that I was sadly lacking in even basic knowledge of different breeds of sheep and other animals and what each fibre was ideal for. This book helps to fill in all those gaps. It only covers fibre that comes from animals; so there isn't anything about cotton/linen/banana fibre etc. but what it does cover is very comprehensive.

I love the maps inside the front and back cover that show where in the world each animal is native to. There is clearly a very strong history of sheep and wool in the British Isles because an individual map of the UK is needed to show all the different breeds.

For each fibre there is a, wealth of information succinctly shown. There are clear photographs of the fibre in all sorts of different states; raw, clean, spun, knitted and woven samples. I like that it shows that they've actually tried the fleece and are talking from experience. There are photos of the animal; as well as some detail of the origins / history of the animal. There is a good list of facts including fleece weight, staple length, fibre diameter, lock characteristics and natural colours. The most interesting part for crafters is the section for what the fibre is ideally used for which includes how well it dyes, what fibre preparations and spinning tips they recommend, whether it works well for knitting, crocheting and/or weaving and what it is best known for.

There are lots of sections throughout with extra information of the more well known breeds as well as some well placed photos from companies that use the fleece to make commercially available yarns.

The majority of the book is taken up with the myriad breeds of sheep but there are some more unusual animals such as angora rabbits, wolves, dogs, bison, goats etc.

It really is a fantastic and comprehensive book.