Pimp my ride and other projects

I decided to take a look today at how many Hexipuffs from Tiny Owl Knits Beekeepers quilt pattern I have done. I have accomplished 62!! wooo! I am very slow at this project but I love it because I just pick it up and knit every now and again. Its an inbetween project, it fills lulls and gives me something to do when I'm bored of other things I am doing. I aim to finish this quilt by the time I am 30... so that gives me just under 7 years hehe.

I love the crystal palace mini mochi hexipuffs I think they make it! Since I have just stared this blog I thought I would do a give away! Beekeepers quilt related... Here is the prize: Two mini 10g balls of Opal sock yarn for your beekeepers quilt OR whatever you want to use them for ;)

All you have to do to win these cute mini balls is:

1. Follow my blog
2. Comment on this post (if you have a Ravelry name please state it, this will make it easier for me to contact you if you win)

I will draw the winner on Easter sunday in the morning (UK time)

I showed part of my recent spinning project last time I posted and I thought I would update you! The first picture is of one finished bobbin and the second is the start of the next one. Once I ply them together if the finished product is fingering weight. I have decided to turn it into some mini skeins to sell, I will also make a few hexipuffs out of it for myself :)

On the subject of spinning the picture below the book I bought, if you are a spinner I would seriously recommend buying it!

After last weeks failed weaving for the blanket, I wanted to jump right back on the loom. But I had no appropriate yarn. So in impatient style I set up the loom with yarn I knew would be problematic. I used some Rowan alpaca cotton. Guess what the warp threads stick to each other, so when you put it in the up or down position ALL the threads go up or down!

Any it is all practice, so I decided to try something out from the weavers idea book  ...

I also brought some simple yarn so I can finally and hopefully successfully make the blanket for my car.

I am sure this one will work out and weave beautifully :)

Over spun, over plyed, scratchy

The title describes the alpaca that I have been spinning and finished today. I was having a lot of difficulty getting right this time. I spun two bobbins of alpaca the first one was very uneven. When you look at the second there is a massive improvement.

First bobbin spun

Second better bobbin

I didn't really feel like plying them together when I felt the quality was so different. I decided that it would be more like an art yarn and anyway all spinning for me is good practice as I am only a beginner. I plyed it and it is the most horrible yarn I have ever spun it is hideous to touch, so scratchy!

I asked people on ravelry about this, there are three possible explanations, all of which I think did add to it coming out bad.

1. The tops I used was very soft and fluffy to begin with (so next time I should use a different supplier)
2. Dyed alpaca can also lose some of its quality becoming more rough
3. Over spinning the alpaca can make it stiff and scratchy

I think they definitely all had a part to play (maybe number 3 more than the others!

Anyway after that disappointment I quickly got out my jade merino/silk blend and started spinning it. Now this is so soft and smooth! It also spins like a dream!

I love the colour, its very me!

To add to my week of disappointing projects is my latest weaving project. I got the yarn, it was beautiful, the colours were bright and reminded me of spring and would be perfect for my car! (It was to be my car blanket for the back seats)

So I spent ages setting it up! When I was finally ready to wind the warp up I was tired, I cut corners and messed it up. When winding it on I use a roll of brown paper to separate the layers. My roll doesn't cover the width of my loom so I used two rolls. I didn't fit them in very well.

This was the result, a very unevenly wound warp. Which caused mega problems with tension. The yarn was an issue as well, it was well sticky I guess, it stuck to each other which made weaving very difficult. I wove 4 inches before I decided the warp was to uneven as I wound the blanket on. I tried to fix it but I didnt manage to. So now my loom sits there empty. Until I get the guts to try it again.

Sad times. Hopefully next week will be a better week for my crafting.

A post of firsts

I have been fully distracted for the past few days! I was told to get out the house for a bit and so I went straight to the yarn shop. After ages of mulling I bought three balls of Rowan Lima in colour ways Lima, Bolivia and Machu Picchu. 

I then proceeded to spend the afternoon setting up my loom for a scarf (My first woven scarf). I have enjoyed weaving this scarf so much! My dad said he hasn't seen me look so happy in a long time. So I haved weaved and weaved away this weekend and I tried to do a plaid design (I think I was successful! I love the colours I chose, I am usually a turquoise/blue kind of girl but I went for more drab brown and creams and I LOVE IT. Also Rowan Lima is so so so soft and feels like butter in your fingers. The only thing is that the scarf is a bit small :/

Katie the Mini Schnauzer

 I got my drum carder this weekend too from Classic carders. It is beautifully made and smelt nice :) I got it with a secondary brush and a finishing brush to help pat the fibre down in the carder.

I'm carding the 500g of alpaca fleece I bought. I have 3 different coloured fleeces (I only took a picture of the top fleece) the other two colours are a dark brown and a light brown. It has quite a bit of vegetable matter in it.

I haven't carded that much yet but its a really relaxing thing to do!

I think I also mentioned that I spun some alpaca for the first time the other day! I wasn't very good at it! I need more practice at keeping the thickness consistent. (which I think I have got the hand of with BFL).

Thats all for now! I cant decide what yarn to do for my next weaving project!! I'm thinking Noro but I'm not sure :S If I used Lima again I would need double the yarn to make it double the length (it would be doubly expensive though!). Decisions decisions :)

ANy advise on my new hobbies are welcome, I will take all the advise I can get!

A failed FO Friday

I didn't finish the blanket. In fact I haven't crocheted or knitted since Wednesday. Epic fail. In my defence I've been knitting so much prior to Wednesday that I've been struggling with sore hands and decided they needed a break.

But I did spin some alpaca roving! Its certainly different from spinning BFL! Which was the only fibre I had spun. I'll post about that tomorrow though!

I also got my stand for the loom and a carder through the post :)

So excited! Tomorrows goal is to set up my loom so I can start weaving, card some alpaca fleece and spin the rest of the alpaca roving ready to ply. I will also then post about it!

Oh and maybe I'll do some crocheting if I have time!!

WIP Wednesday

I have noticed that my concentration sucks theses days (I blame the interenet :P ). I seem a master at starting projects but not finishing them! I still have projects I started 3 years ago hanging around unfinished! So I have decided its about time I started finishing things! I will not start new knitting or crochet projects until I have finished everything I have got started already. Here is the long list:

Crochet

• Star blanket for Dad
• Hexagon cushion cover
• Granny square cushion cover
• Scandinavian blanket

Knitting

• Oh my bear! jumper
• Owls without the owls jumper
• Basket weave shawl/scarf
• Beekeepers quilt (I dont have to finish this one just keep it going)
• Orchids and fairy lights hat #4
• Parseltongue hat
• Candy cane mittens

EEEEEP!! thats quite alot!

I am currently working on the star blanket for Dad, its not far from finishing... heres a picture so far.

Hopefully on Finished Objects Friday I will be posting a picture of it finshed :)

All things new and old

I have two passions in life, one is science and in particular entomology, my second and more recent passion is fibre crafts. It all started in 2010 during the summer between my 2nd and 3rd year of university were shear boredom struck, which lead to me taking up crochet. My hobbies have taken leaps and bounds since then! The following summer after I took up crochet I dived into knitting and I also did a course on spinning. A year after that I have finally got my own wheel and I even got a rigid heddle loom! I've also got my hands on some dyes too!

My new motto in life is Spin. Weave. Knit. Dye.     (oh! and crochet!)  

I love my spinning wheel, its an Ashford Traditional

An this is all the fibre I got to spin on it!

I have currently spun the green and pink yarn, you can definitely see my improvement between the pink and the green (with the green being spun 2nd)

I have also bought some Alpaca fleece to spin but it occurred to me that I have no idea what to do with fleece! I'm pretty sure it will need washing and carding. But once its carded how do I make it into roving ready to spin! I have so much to learn but it is all so exciting at the same time.

I haven't done much weaving yet, I set it all up and then realised I had done it wrong (FACEPALM). Its fair to say I was pretty miffed at it. Never the less I corrected it and wove a small amount of cloth. I have declared that its a placemat. I don't like it very much because I used yarn which I didn't like, but I did that purposefully so I didn't waste nice yarn when I messed up. I am really pleased with it in terms of weaving. I enjoyed it and have spent alot of time browsing other peoples projects trying to decide what I would like to do next! I have finally decided and I am really excited!

This is the yarn from my stash that I will use for weaving a shawl. The pattern I am using is from one of the books I bought on weaving

I can't believe how much I love fibre crafts, my family are all shocked they never thought I would ever take up crochet 3 years ago and they certainly can't believe how its all progressed. What can I say, it kept me sane throughout university. Now 6 months into the real world I miss university! But at least I still have my fibre crafts!