Happy days!

I appear to have been the victim of a "freak sitting down accident". This is an expression my ex used to use if I suffered a twinge of any description whilst doing not very much. (There was also the "freak lying down accident" which could be equally risky).

Unfortunately this one isn't a joke. Many of you will know that I shouldn't be blogging on a Tuesday morning, I should be in Bristol unloading a truck. However last night I suffered what I suspect may be a trapped nerve in my left hip, possibly brought on by spinning. Whilst I was fine when I got home from work by the time I got into bed at 8-00pm (for my 2-00am start) I was in absolute agony. After trying and failing to get some sleep I finally realised that there was no way that I was up for two days driving/ unloading/ and jumping up and down off the back of a truck. I reluctantly rang one of the transport co-ordinators and gave him the bad news (how to win friends and influence people!).

Luckily despite an acute driver shortage they have managed to find a replacement driver at very short notice (Thanks Sharpey for stepping in to the breach). I'm now not too bad as long as I don't move (or for some strange reason, sit on the loo!).

I think that this came about as a result of sitting on too soft a seat whilst spinning. Having my right foot on the treadle must have put a twisty strain on my left hand side and I think that's what has done it. No more sofa spinning for me. I'll have to find a chair that offers a little more support. I hope this will work, don't want to have to give it up completely. Who knew that spinning could be so risky!?!

blankie

decided to go for the lap blanket option for using up my bits and bobs of spinning. Here's the progress so far.

Colours look better in the second 'photo I think, but neither are brilliant 'cos it's artificial light.

I quite like it.

This spinning business

Seems to be addictive!

Here's what I've been up to since I finished knitting my jumper.

We have clockwise from the top left:

Kool Aid dyed Corriedale. I dyed small amounts of fleece, prepared it into individually coloured rollags and spun them in colour rotation. I then Navajo plied the resulting single.

Black Welsh Mountain and Blue Faced Leicester. I prepared rollags with stripes of the two then spun them so that the colours alternated in the single then Andean plied the resulting single.

Commercially dyed green Merino plied with undyed Corriedale.

Commercially dyed blue Merino / silk mix plied with undyed Corriedale.

I am enjoying the experience of trying out different things but with no end product in mind I fear that I'm going to end up with loads of little bits of yarn that I don't know what to do with. So any ideas would be welcome. I have a lap blanket in mind as a possibility. I have also considered sending the little bits to Wormhead for her collection of bits, but I don't really want to get rid of them. I know this sounds selfish, but I'm in love with my little bits of yarn. (Also they are a learning resource which I feel I should keep for future reference!). I've already found that I need more practice Navajo plying, I'm tending to do it in a rush and panic so the finished yarn is getting bleps (technical term!) in it and tending to be overplied.

I did the Kool aid dying in my bargain steamer, which is turning out to be quite a good buy, though there's not room for an enormous amount in it, you can do more than one colour at a time. (there's another basket that I didn't use.)



Here's the roving after dying still drying off.








P.S. Wore my new jumper to work on Thursday and got lots of compliments.

The incredible custom fit raglan sweater

Completed. I'm quite pleased with the way that this has turned out. I'd originally planned that it would be a bigger, baggier jumper but I quite like it as it is and I've plenty of yarn left if I want to make another.

It was knitted in the cashgora that I got for a pound a skein from Stow's of Sowerby on 4.5mm needles (3.75 for the ribbing). I think I used about 3 skeins of the yarn to complete it. I started with 95 stitches round the neckline and increased to 210 for the torso. The pattern was from the Woolworks site. I had to adapt it a bit as the instructions regarding how to distribute the original stitches round the neckline were a tad confusing. (I've just re read them and I think they make sense now. TYPICAL!!!!).

I will almost certainly use this pattern again, it's given me a nice everyday jumper that's quick to knit, comfortable to wear and looks good. (Well I think so anyhow, imagine someone thinner inside it!).

Other FO that I hadn't posted yet was my second pair of Socktoberfest socks which I finished a few weeks ago.

These are just a plain pair of top down socks with a roll top (no ribbing) but knitted with some yarn that I dyed with Kool Aid at the end of September. I'm quite pleased with how the yarn turned out, it looked a bit rubbish whilst I was dying it.

And finally my first home attempts at spinning unaided by teachers, sisters etc.

This was 100g of pre dyed merino roving that I bought from Wingham Woolworks after the course I did there. I have no idea what I'm going to make from it, it's very very PINK!!!!!!!! But I'm very proud of it!


Now I need a niddynoddy!

This is for Woolywormhead in her search for sheep images . The Pink Ba-Ba's are a ladies rugby team and their website features pink sheep drinking pink beer (which I'm sure Wormhead would approve of!)

Now I just know that there's some smart arse out there (probably Ro, it would be me if it weren't me who'd posted it) who will kindly point out that there shouldn't be an apostrophe in their title. In actual fact ba ba's has nothing to do with sheep, referring as it does to the original Ba' ba's which is a male rugby team made up of players from different countries mostly internationals but traditionally one uncapped player is also selected. Their correct name is the Barbarians so I think it is actually correct to place an apostrophe.

Maybe they'd like my homespun!!