I'm spinning around...

I'm trying spinning!
No not the exercise thing with bikes....what kinda gal do you take me for? I don't go to gyms. lol!
What I'm talking about is spinning wool on a drop spindle.

 I ordered a beginners kit from Hilltop Cloud shop on etsy.

The kit has different types of wool in it....I I get to figure out what type I get along with. It came with a booklet with clear instructions on how to get started.

 I found it easy to get the basics...but actually having control of what thickness of thread I'm getting and drafting consistantly is going to take more practice.

 You can see above how I fluctuated between thick and thin. Its lovely material to work with...I found my hands were all soft afterwards. Wonder if that was the lanolin?

As the first fibre I used as a little surprise additional sample (reminded me of a foxes tail in colour) it wasn't long enough to wrap round chair back as instructions said...so I improvised with a hair grip I bought but couldn't figure out how to use ages ago 

 I then decided just to have a go plying it. Then crocheted a little bracelet (below).

All very exciting!

Crochet - A few projects

Well some of you now my knitting is so slow it would make a snail look like it was doing the speed of light...so I've tended to stay away from those kinds of projects. Now last week I discovered crochet (thank you ravelry). Yes I know its always been there....I just never thought to try it.
It is sooo much faster than knitting. I managed to get nearly 2 meter scarf crocheted in 15 days!

Inspired by Osgoods scarf in the doctor who special.

Then in about 3 days crocheted myself a beret type hat. In TARDIS colours of course.

You may ask 'what pattern did you use'? But I didn't really use a pattern...I crocheted just by eye. Practiced the individual stitches, crocheting in the round and increase/decrease stitches. Then looked at images different stages of the items being made and kinda did it by eye. I used youtube to learn those stitches after the book I bought turned out to be less than useful.

My next project is a TARDIS roundel blanket.

 Circular crochet centre with maybe a 1YO or 2YO loopy stitch round the outside then finished off with a contrast chain.

Vintage Bolero 'Knit-a-long' 2012

Today I am announcing (a month in advance) that on the 1st May the Vintage bolero knit-a-long will commence.

Some of you maybe wondering a knit-a-long... 

What is that? Why? How does it work?

A knit-a-long, like a sew-a-long, is a problem shared a problem halved....
Everyone taking part knits the bolero from the same pattern sharing their problems, successes, tips and advice. I'll be blogging my 'progress' and encourage others to do so too. You can comment on my blog or post on your own blog and link to it.
When the project is complete we all post our completed projects.

My reason for this is that I have not knitted a garment before using a vintage pattern...and I would like to be able to get advice and share anything I learn from the experience.

I have not set a finish date yet but initially rough deadline of August 1st (I'm quite a slow knitter) for the end of the knit-a-long 'officially' but if anyone comes across this later on I would still be pleased to see how you go on.

What pattern?

I will be using the bolero pattern from Vintage Knitwear for Modern Knitters...the yellow one which has the tube top on the same page. I'm only doing the bolero not the top.

I've already done some test squares to see if I can do the pattern....so I can offer advice on that.

I haven't bought the 'yarn' yet. But instead of the yellow I plan to use navy blue and white. Cuffs in white and body in blue.

You can use any colour wool you like...I like to see creativity.

If you have a blog and take part you can add this button. And link back to this placeholder page.

Post a reply to this post to let me know you are taking part. :)

The Updates
Links to individual posts will appear below so you don't have to go searching.

Knitting a shawl

So I found a pattern for knitting a type of shawl called a 'sontag'. It wraps round and ties behind. First saw it on BBC series 'lark rise to candleford' and thought 'ooh, I want one of those'.

I'm using a pattern off ravelry.com which uses circular needles in order to contain all the stitches. I've never done this type of knitting before I'm a scarf knitter really. So it will be learning process. I also had to learn to increase using knit front and back method....another new skill.

You just knit back and forth like normal. I chose a neutral grey wool.
There's a whole thing with 'slipping marker' which I wasn't quite sure about as didn't know where to place marker...in between the 2 stitches or on the loop of stitch itself. Went for in between stitches in the end.

As far as I got in one evening

Will keep you updated on my progress......