Wonderwool Wales

Just a quick post apart from being part way through the 2nd sock of both pairs the only thing that has made progress on the knitting front is the Marvelous Mitts.

One down one to go as they say, well that's not strictly true as I'm just about to start the star pattern just above the cuff on the 2nd mitt. The first one took 5 days on and off knitting so really quite quick to do... anyway a couple of phtos of the back and front..... The first one is the palm side

On Saturday I went to Wonderwool Wales, apart from a nice day out with my DH, which is something we don't get a lot of chance to do these days. I did go with the intentention of trying out a couple of Majacraft Wheels namely the Suzie Pro and the Rose. I thought I would decided which one I wanted (this was presuming I loved spinning on either, if not it would have been back to my list of wheels to try) and then be able to order... when I spoke to Sarah from Hedgehog Equipment who was very helpful I was like a child when she said if I liked a wheel I could take it home; I could hardly contain my excitement...

We arrived just after 10am and I headed straight for her stand and because it was quiet I got to try both wheels out but it had to be the ......

the Rose for me :o))))))

I managed to get some time yesterday to play with her ans she is lovely, the treadling action is so smooth, well everything about her is smooth.... if it wasn't for the whirring of the nylon break band cord against the plastic bobbin it would be silent.....

Other purchase included fibre: the large bag at the back is BFL Superwash and then from L to R across the middle is Shetland, Gotland Grey & Alpaca. On the front row from L to R is Wensleydale & Ronaldsey White purchased from a selection of suppliers..... Bluefaced.com, Scottish Fibres, UK Alpaca & Hedgehog Equipment

On the coloured fibre front just some plain commercially dyed Merino Tops from Twist Fibrecraft to have a go at blending; and yes that orange is really that bright ;o) The two packets of handdye are a Superwash Merino (on the left) & 64's English wool top both from Freyalyn's Fibres

and last but not least Mabel Ross's "The Essentials of Yarn Design" part of my birthday present from DH....


So a good time was had by all, OK especially me but the journey there and back was good (despite 2hrs & 50mins each way for just 140 miles), the weather was great and the fact there was Mid-Wales Mouthful food festival on at the same time made for some interesting 'edible' diversions :o)

Wednesday 16th April

Lame title but couldn't come up with anything else this morning :o| it was either that or Progress!!!

Anyway, this is the Heartland shawl almost nearing completion of its 4th repeat, definitely sufficient yarn for a 5th and possibly even a 6th; I'm weighing as I knit now to try and make an educated guess :o) if anyone else bought the Heartland Lace Shawl kit from Loom 'N Essence for this shawl and already done it, How many repeats did you do?

Here is what my main project is at the moment "Marvelous Mitts" from Karendipity These are for a birthday present for my good friend Carol at the beginning of May so I have 3 weeks to finish them, so I think I should be OK :o)

The yarn is Rowan 4ply Soft "Zing" (391) for the MC and Trekking Ombre 78 for the CC (which was leftover from a pair of socks I did earlier this year for myself... I like the colour combination but because the MC is a solid and the CC isn't too highly variegated I think you get good contrast between the two yarns to show of the pattern...

This is my 3rd attempt at colour work and I do enjoy it despite being a bit slow with having to use both hands; the knitting Continental style is getting quicker but the purl is still a bit slow and laborious..... but I'm persistent if nothing else... but then as I'm a Taurean "stubborn" is probably a more apt term for me :o))))

A finished pair of socks for my friend Janet's birthday next Tuesday (22nd) I completed these in 5 days but it does help when it's only for a size 4 foot... although I had problems with the yarn on the foot of the 2nd sock and ended up pulling 2" and the heel back because the stripes weren't matching..... there's that "stubborn" element again.... I know I won't see the socks after they go in the post but it would irritate me knowing I'd sent a pair of mis-matched socks... I'm fine if the yarn won't match but if it's meant to, it has to match

Here is one of my 'staple' pairs of socks on the go... this is my handspun sock yarn that I did at Christmas for my friend Mike who decided this would make a good pair of socks as soon as he saw the fibre (BFL superwash) I got from Natalie of the The Yarn Yard It's called "Firelight"

My other pair of "staple" socks that I have on the go (on DPN's) are in pretty much the same position and so far no problems with the self striping yarn.....

What's everyone else got on the needles?

Presenting (Finally) the Alpine Scarf...

... after a truamatic start to this lace project (never have I experienced so much trouble with a lace pattern in all my life) due to my inability to read a lace chart properly!

Here is what's left of my cone of French 4ply silk from Colourmart that Mum purchased last year for me to knit this shawl as a 70th birthday gift for her cousin's wife next week (April 17th).

The silk felt quite rough whilst knitting after a couple of hours I could feel were the yarn had been running through my fingers however, after washing it has become softer and drapier....

I purchased the cone as 150g of yarn so thought the cone weighed 44g it would appear that I actually got 154g of yarn as when I have wound the remainder off I found I have 4g left; I could have done another 2 repeats of the leaft motif!!! I think not ;o)

Here she is blocking as you can see I have done 6 repeats of the centre motif rather than the stated 4 to make it wider and have worked an extra 10 repeats of the motif, working 47 instead of 37 to make it longer so it is more shawl like than scarf like.....

If anyone wants to do 6 repeats of the centre motif here are the stitch counts I used....

• Cast on 157 sts
• After the 1st 8 gt-st rows, knit your 25 border sts at each side as stated, then knit 107 in the centre
• When it comes to increasing on row 8 of the gt-st (before starting the centre motifs) increase 5 sts evenly across the centre 107 sts
  

You will then be knitting:
6 gt-st / 19 diamond border / 6 repeats of centre motif / 19 diamond border / 6 gt-st

Below are close ups of the patterns....

and finally the final article a modest but respectible 25" x 70" :o)