Scout's handspun

Fellow Stitchin' Bint Scout is the fastest knitter I know. No sooner has she cast on than she seems to be casting off. I've yet to entice her into the world of spinning, so the perfect gift seems to be some handspun yarn.

This is the fluff; merino wool in dyed 'cheesecake', natural white and some tussah silk. It will make batts and fibre I call 'wheatfield', the same colour that I used for my recent shawl, but probably not spun quite as thin.

The carded fibre is beautifully light and airy
Here's the first ounce or so of single. I've carded about 8oz, so it'll take a few more evenings before it's plied.

Jo's Socks, finished!

Is it me or is the ribbed cuff on that second one slightly shorter? It was *very* late when I cast off last night, but I swear they matched.

Here's a mosaic of my favourite pics from the project:

Swallowtail shawl. Second and successful blocking

Finally finished, blocked, ends woven in and modeled.

I was very excited when this arrived in the post.
A friend had read about my attempt to block the shawl on a duvet and decided that I needed a set of these. Thank you so much Jules, they're great. After another dunk in warm water and a little fibre rinse I was able to really pull those points out.

Once again, the free pattern is here: http://www.evelynclarkdesigns.com/pdf/Swallowtail.pdf and the wheatfield blend I spun to make the yarn is available here: http://handspinner.co.uk/catalogue_fibre_bundles_blends.html

More photos of the finished shawl are here on Flickr

Spinning jacob fleece

The first fleece is washed and dried. The locks are brown at the tips and silver-grey lower down, crimpy and long - some of the fibres stretching out to six inches.I decided to flick the locks first before putting them through the carder, to take out short bits and so that I could card it just once and not mix the colours up too much.

This is the first sample, heathered silver-brown.

Letting the grass grow under your feet. Free pattern - knitted grass rug

Doesn't this make you want to get your bare toes into it? I love it, and will be making one soon.

The pattern from Lion Brand includes instructions for the 'make one loop' stitch and you can make the grass as long or short as you like.

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L0266AD.html?noImages=&utm_source=YarnPlay_201005_May17&utm_medium=Emails&utm_campaign=YarnPlay&utm_content=GrassRugPatternKnit&r=1&r=1

What has arrived in the post?

I'm amazed that a friend managed to fit two of her jacob fleeces inside this small box! And what lovely stuff it is.
Here it is spread out. There are equal parts of pale grey and brown. Not too much VM.

I'm making sheep soup with it as I write this - It's had one good soak in Power Scour, a rinse and back in scour again. (If this gorgeous weather holds, it'll dry in no time.) I'm planning to supply it washed by the 200g / 2oz

Swallowtail shawl - blocked

I'm *really* pleased with this! I finished knitting this a week or two ago and have been wondering how to block it. (It's getting on for 5 feet wide when stretched out).

At a friend's suggestion I've used a duvet and towel, which has worked well (thank you Sally) but I couldn't pull those points out quite as far as I wanted to, and I'm sure the whole thing will stretch out a bit further - I think I need to try again with something more solid.

I'm sure that there are mistakes in it, but I've forgotten where they are and can't find them now. I luuuurrrve the pattern and I'm very pleased with my handspun (merino in two colours and a little silk), which feels lovely now that it's dried out from the blocking.


I've broken my best camera (it got waterlogged at the music festival) and have had to resort to an old one for these pics. But I don't mind because I've won a much better camera on eBay and got a bargain. When that arrives I'll be testing it out by modeling the shawl.