Ravelry

Hurrah! Just logged into my email and unexpectedly had received my invitation to join Ravelry! I had checked recently and there were still loads of people ahead of me in the queue waiting to join, so I thought it would be a good while yet before they got around to inviting me, but I guess they have just had a spurt of invitations sent out. Anyway, I am listed as cosmicknits on there if anyone wants to look me up, although at the moment I haven't updated anything. Not sure how long it will take me. We made the "big move" on Thursday, so are currently on day 3 of our new life, and are all really jetlagged. Everything is getting put on the back burner for a while as we have so much to sort out, and I am permanently exhausted! Darned jetlag!

My first package from Spunky Electric arrived today (which did manage to perk me up somewhat!). Wowee it is beautiful! My camera is broken so no pics at the mo' I am afraid, but hopefully I will get a new one within a few days and will post more info with pics then. As a teaser, the colourway is "Aspen"...

Spunky Club

I have just joined the Spunky Fibre club which I am very excited about! Every month we get a gorgeous smooshy package through the post of beautiful hand painted fiber. I know I am a newbie spinner, and in the back of my mind I am wondering if maybe it is a little premature or excessive, but then I think, if I'm gonna spin, it might as well be with beautiful fiber! Looking at the club blog and seeing the work of other club members was what clinched the deal for me. Some of those skeins are just gorgeous! The colours and fibers seem to be different each month, so there is the added benefit that you really get to try new and different types of fiber that you wouldn't necessarily have chosen yourself. Joy joy joy! Is it sad to get so excited over fibre???

Being the sucker that I am for clubs, I have also just joined the Holiday KAL/CAL. Basically from 22nd September we can count every holiday project that we get finished by 31st December. I think with us moving next week, and all of the current and future upheaval that is inevitable, I need all the help I can get to work through that ever-growing list of projects I want to get done for Christmas!

The problem with late night knitting!

I have a 2 year old son, which means that my knitting time is limited to evenings once he is in bed. Which is fine, except that when I am tired, I am not fully concentrating. I finished the Baby Sweater a week ago, but as soon as I was done I realised I had made a boo-boo. The project doesn't have any seams, so the sleeves are knit as a rectangle, then stitches are picked up and bound off using the 3-needle bind-off method. Due to my being tired and obviously not at all with it, I bound the sleeves off differently (One WS facing, the other RS facing)! So now I need to unpick one sleeve and redo the bind off. Shouldn't take too long, but haven't had the inclination to do it yet!

In the meantime I moved on to the booties. I designed some to match the jacket, and am quite pleased (one done, one to go). Will post pics of the finished objects soon. I am also going to do a matching hat. The whole project has been a fun knit, would definitely do it again.

Have been pretty busy this week with the impending move (10 days and counting!), and on top of that "little guy" and myself have been unwell. So I am still busy on the heel of sock 1 of my Summer of Lace socks. Think it will be like this for the next few weeks, but I am trying to snatch any knitting time I can get!

The perfect socks for me!

I was looking around some knitting sites and blogs tonight (as I frequently do!) when I came across p2 designs, which has some of the most fantastic sock patterns I have seen! There is a pair in particular which I simply have to make, seeing as they combine my 2 favourite things; sock knitting and coffee!:

If you are into socks, and particularly ones that are totally unique (certainly from most that I have ever seen!), then you need to check out the patterns for sale here. They also have a pair of cute gingerbread men socks which I would love to make for my little man. Think he might have to wait till next year however, even with my history of totally unrealistic targets, I know there is no chance of me getting them done for Christmas!

Embers roving

As mentioned in a previous post, I am a total newbie to spinning. I have so far only spun some of the Shetland roving which I bought to practice on. I recently received an email from Natalie at the Yarn Yard saying that she was updating stock. I decided to treat myself to some pretty roving, and fell in love with some BFL in the "embers" colourway:

It is my first purchase from the Yarn Yard, and I am over the moon. She is based in Scotland, and does some beautiful work. I was at a Stitch N'Bitch last night, and there was a lady there knitting socks from Yarn Yard yarn. She is a member of their sock club, and it was the latest colourway in pinks and yellows. Really nice.

Will try to get some spun up and a picture posted. Am a bit nervous that I am gonna make a big mess of it seeing as I am such a novice, but at the same time can't wait to get on making some pretty yarn!

Choccie Gorilla

If you haven't seen the new Cadbury's chocolate advert, check it out. Love it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdQC-hbY7k

Spinning

I am a total newbie to spinning. I was interested in it for about a week when I had DH make me a spindle (actually, I had him make me 2, one top and one bottom whorl spindle; see link here for directions on a DIY spindle). Still, that is really good for me. I usually decide I am into something, and have to get all the gear straight away!

The spindle is basically a length of wooden dowel, with a wooden toy car wheel as the weight (bought from local hobby craft store), then a small cup hook in the top. For the 2 spindles it cost a total of £1.60. Even DH can't complain at that!

Best thing, they seem to work great. I don't have the experience to compare them to any other spindles, but they seem to do the job great. In the image below, the yarn on the right was some I spun a few weeks ago. I haven't picked it up since then, but you can see the yarn on the spindle (which I spun last night) is a lot thinner, which is what I had wanted. I was really pleased with the result.

The fibre is Shetland fleece, in a fawn colour, which I bought while at Woolfest back in June. I bought it as a practice fibre, as it was washed and carded, and only cost £5 for 250g. 250g was a huge bag! I thought it seemed cheap, although as I am a newbie I have no idea what the going rates are for fibre yet!

I also bought a bag of beautiful Alpaca fibre in a gorgeous golden colour. I haven't taken any pictures of that yet, but will do soon and post them. I did however get a picture of the cutie alpaca who generously donated the fleece:

I bought the fleece at Woolfest, from a stallholder representing the Alpaca Centre. I looked it up after we got home, and we went for a visit. It was a great, we saw the alpacas and had a lovely coffee and scones in the tearoom. They also have a shop selling alpaca fibre clothing etc. If you are into fibre and around Penrith, England at all, I would recommend stopping by. Plus they were all lovely friendly people! And how cute is this alpaca!!!!!!

Summer of Love Lace cuff

I have just finished the first cuff on the RSC "Summer of Love Lace" sock. I was working on it a few nights ago when I dropped a stitch. I was tired, in a slightly bad mood, and when I didn't find the dropped stitch within 30 seconds, I ripped it all out. Slightly dramatic, but at least I wasn't far into it. Anyway, here is the first cuff:

I am really excited about these socks, pictures just can't do them justice. I think they will be beautiful! I am looking forward to getting them finished and being able to wear them!

I am also working on the Baby Sweater, which I am thrilled with. It has a beautiful honeycomb stitch pattern which is simple, but really effective. It is such an easy and fast knit, but looks great! I also love that it has no seams to rub or irritate baby. I will post pics later, as I don't want the recipient to see it until after the baby is here, and they receive it as a gift. Not long now though...