It's been a busy time

Life has been rather hectic around here, and the knitting has suffered as a result. Apart from the seasonal preparations, the main setback was the writing off of our car as it sat parked outside our house. The lady who lives over the road had a bizarre parking incident with her car which resulted in collision with ours, and the subsequent writing off. The lady wasn't injured, just very shaken. So we've been searching for a replacement, which has taken much stamina and resilience. It's surprising how stressful this sort of thing can be.
Fortunately, we've found one, a couple of years newer and I really like it.


In knitting news, I started knitting Oblique with the frogged alpaca/ silk yarn. I'm past the start of the raglan shaping of the back now. I'm pleased with it so far and the size seems okay. It's going to need some serious blocking, especially the central lace pattern which seems to condense amazingly. Mystic Waters is taking some time out, until I can get some quiet time to concentrate on it, it isn't knitting to watch TV by. I'm nearly at the end of clue 3 of 8, so there's still plenty to do. Other than that the only thing actively on the needles is a simple stocking stitch sock.
My wheel has taken refuge in the back bedroom since the Christmas tree is now standing where it was. So, no spinning for a while.

Three ply

Well I finally found the time to ply the BFL and now have a 3 ply, 250m skein which is really soft and lovely. I overplied on purpose until it looked right to my eye, and it has balanced with washing. I've found that if I ply a balanced yarn, it usually looks underdone to me. Hence the overplying this time. This may have to marinate in the stash for a while until I decide what to make with it. It seems a shame to hide it on my feet as socks, even if there is enough.


Finished! One hat, scarf and mittens set. Not quite matching in style, but very colour coordinated. The hat was spun thick and thin singles BFL, dyed after spinning, and the mitts and scarf are both 2 ply from the same 100g of superwash merino which I dyed before spinning. The scarf is a simple chequered pattern, easy to do and it lies flat.

Change of plan

I decided that the fingerless mittens (Maine morning mitts) were too big so I ripped them and made these. They aren't anything special, but they are very soft and warm. I'm in the process of knitting a scarf with the remaining 50g of handspun superwash merino. It'll be a short scarf, the sort you wear under your coat to keep your neck warm rather than outside it.

Two and a half bobbins of the superwash BFL singles are done, hopefully I'll be plying this weekend. I can't wait to see how it turns out. If I have enough they'll be the most brightly coloured socks I've made yet!