No spinning tonight.

I got a note in the mailbox today, saying there was a package at the post office for me. (The postie drives a little car and so can't be bothered delivering most packages himself...) So we all drove over to the post office and I picked up my spinning wheel accessories, plus this little wee bit of fibre to spin...

Only 500g... Ü ... plus a little bit of sock wool...

Now the drive band turned out to be exactly like the cheap string you can buy at the supermarket, and the brake band looks like fishing line. One part we were missing (a pin to hold one end of the brake band) is not part of the kit, apparently, so Nathan is going to whip one up in the shed if I don't find one in town tomorrow. So no spinning tonight. Sigh.

Without the brake band I can't even get it to pull string through onto the bobbin, so I can't even play with it, and I'm feeling very... um... mechanically challenged. My brain doesn't appear to work that way. I fiddled with it for a bit before Nathan noticed and took pity on me. He knows exactly what's what (from doing a tiny bit of internet research some time ago) and how to alter it, if I like, to do this and that... He knows the answers, where I can't understand the questions. lol.

I think I will spin the white stuff first. There's 200g to practise on, and I can dye it later. The purple one... not my color usually, but everything suits cute little kids. I'm not sure why I bought orange, yellow and brown fibre, except to see what happens. hehe.

Look at ewes...

After all the work I'm going to do, hand-washing, hand-carding, hand-dyeing, hand-spinning and hand-knitting fleece into cute knitted things, it's almost wrong that it could look so good in it's original unhandled form!

Look at these little cuties. We picked up these girls on Sunday. They're both two, and ready to be sheared (along with Barley and Daisy), so soon I'll have 4 fleeces to play with, along with a little bit of... um... fiber I might have bought from EGMTK when ordering some bands for my spinning wheel. I may never have time to knit again!

Does anyone have a brilliant name suggestion up their sleeve? Or two? ;)

Slacker report

Not a lot of knitting has been going on, I must say. Occasionally I do a row of my 40-color scarf, but I've completed very few things. I got this in the mail, finally, after a few minor ebay hassles. Cost me $150 (including postage). I am now waiting for EweGiveMeTheKnits to get some more accessory kits so I can replace the drive band and the brake band. They weren't included, but since it's an ancient Ashford Traditional, they no doubt needed replacing anyway Ü


The very friendly woman of EGMTK says that it's a hardy model, and can stand up to the enthusiastic attention of a two-year-old no worries, so Byron has been spinning the wheel a little...

I did finish a couple of these. 30 stitches wide, 40 rows, with 10 stitches of garter stitch on one side and 3 on the other. Hardly worth writing about

but they do look cute on his little hands.

I also finished these tiny boots for the new bub. Nathan thinks they're too small, but it was a fun way to use up some of that nice cashmerino I made my Ishbel from.

I started them before I knew if it was a boy or girl, because I figured it was a pretty neutral pattern and color.

Now to get back to the other kids before they trash the other room... little monkeys. How do they always know when you feel a bit tired and queasy? They always choose those days to go mad! Oh well... today is Friday, and I can run away as soon as Nathan gets home from work! I get Friday nights off for Shopping and Bludging ;)

Toys Ü

This is on the way to my house, just as soon as the ebay seller figures out how to dismantle it for postage. Not many people are prepared to post their spinning wheels, so I appreciate her effort a lot! Yay!

She says it's an Ashford of some sort.

Must get onto that blue yarn... I've done one 25g single and started the other. But I've been trying to finish a few things (my opal socks and my Mystery bag), and I keep getting distracted by a good book, the computer... and, you know, looking after those noisy ratbags. Plus, every time I get a bit of time to myself, like when they both sleep at the same time after lunch, I end up falling asleep myself. Progress on Everything is sloooow...

Thanks, tax return!

Today we went out to MacDonalds. They have chips, a playground and lots of kids. What else could a one and two-year-old want? Jasmine is brave enough to climb the steps and slide down the slide now, which is fun (she's pretty proud of herself, too). I sat there knitting the black toe of a second sock. I didn't get much done!

I picked this up at the post office on the way there:

Sunspun sent me a bag full of stash enhancement. This is Jitterbug number 128, which looks mostly brown on the website, but in real life is all sorts of pink/purple and green. Very nice. Can't believe I originally wanted something else that wasn't in stock.

And some Noro sock yarn, numbers S150 and S236.



And then some Noro Taiyo (number 2), which is cotton and wool, and is apparently Jasmine's favorite

And more sock needles (a pair of 2.5mm, 4ocm circulars) so that I can cast on new ones, even if I haven't yet finished the old ones Ü

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I think I have enough sock wool to last me until my kids are all in school, including the unborn one! Does anyone think that's too much? hehe.

Girls and boys

Here's what became of the pink. It's a two ply that is 15wpi/ 78m/ 50g. So I can't seem to classify it as a certain weight, but when I use it, I'll just see which size needle fits best! I liked the specky white effect that accidently occurred because I was trying to make it pale, and instead the dye just got used up before it reached the middle.

On the hand-spindle now is the blue, which is a bit less speckly. It's a very cheerful sunny-sky shade of blue, and looks just like the sky outside right now, which, in spite of the season, is almost completely clear of clouds. Byron was out in short sleeves today!

Here are the three nephews' hats: Tim's is "apple", Ben's is "denim" and Ezra's is "mocha". It's Ezzie's birthday in two days, so I have to try to post them later today, when the kids wake up.

They're so thick and squishy! I did them all on 6mm needles with two strands of alpaca rich 8ply held together. Byron's tried them all on. He was sneaking them off the table (where I was wrapping them) and trying to get outside before I noticed. I think he'd like some color rather than his plain grey.

I had three 200g balls of Alpaca Rich, and I've now got about 320g left, so I used less than 100g per hat. Plenty left Ü. I'm a bit tired of 3x2 rib, but it's such a good hat that I'll probably make myself one of each color!

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Three more weeks and we will (hopefully) get to find out whether we're having a boy or a girl this time. I should have the blue spun by then (so if it's a boy I can cast on something straight away, even though the poor thing will be born in mid-Summer). It felt like a girl at first (and they are undoubtably more fun to shop for), but then I've seen so many cute boys lately that I'm starting to wish it could be somehow both. Sigh.

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AHFFAB's

Well, morning sickness has settled down quite a bit. A bit more settling would be good, but I appreciate being able to knit again without just the idea of it making me seasick. I'm over all my old projects (and the Vivian isn't going to fit by the time I finish it, anyway) so I've been making some hats. Good old "A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend", which is a nice plain ribbed beanie with a neat top. I've pulled out some Bendigo Woollen Mills "Alpaca Rich", and I'm making three hats for three nephews. One has a birthday coming up, and the other two are getting theirs early, as wool hats are not the best Summer presents Ü


They're soft and squishy, and fairly quick when you hold two strands together Ü

Here's what became of the orange handspun...

I measured it so that I could figure out it was still "Super bulky", even with only 2 plies. lol. Next:

A more expensive wool from Shiloh called "Silky". (When I say expensive, it's only about $8 per 100g). They do something to it that makes it extra soft. I'm getting this thinner, I think. Not sure if it's practice or the wool. I've got 50g of pink and 50g of blue to make something for this baby.

Pink first, because it still feels like a girl... so far.

Also decided that I shouldn't be making my nephews hats when my son's hat was too small, so he got one made of BWM Luxury. Softest superwash wool ever. Here he is walking around the "lake" with it on (still a drought here) the day he got it. At first he said, "No! Go away!" when I tried to put it on his head (gratitude!) but when I offered it to his baby sister he decided he liked it after all...

His has an icord loop on top, and he likes to hang it up. Where Jasmine can't reach it. hehe.