Friday 8 March 2013

Dear Mum...

Happy Mothering Sunday.

I know it's a couple of days ahead of the actual day, but I finished knitting my Mum's Leftie scarf on Wednesday, sewed in some of the ends on Wednesday evening, finished them off on Thursday morning before popping it in the washing machine on a quick, lowish spin cycle (King Cole Merino Blend yarn = superwash) and then pinning it out on mats to block.

Here it is (a bit blurry I'm afraid - Jess kept trying to get in on the action).


A closer-up shot of some of the leaves:


And here it is, rolled up, just waiting to be wrapped up before I give it to my Mum as her Mothering Sunday gift.  I think my siblings and I are all meeting up at our parents' house on Sunday morning at the same time.  It's not very often that we're all in the same place at the same time these days.


So, some statistics.

The pattern is Leftie by Martina Behm.

The yarn I used was King Cole Merino Blend 4ply in Navy, Fuschia and Cream (the same colours from the DK range I used for Mum's crocheted cloche-type hat at Christmas).

Needle was a 2.5mm Addie Turbo.  If I made this again, I'd go up to a 2.75mm or 3mm.  The cord on this particular circular has gone a bit stiff, so I might bin it.

I can now get on with the socks and jumper I was knitting before I decided to concentrate on Leftie - and get some spinning done.

Have a good weekend everyone.  Looking out of the window at the grey, drizzly weather, I don't think it's going to be a weekend for getting out and about though.

Friday 1 March 2013

Leftie Progress

There is some progress on my mother's Leftie scarf - but not as much as I'd hoped.

I've now done 26 leaves.  30 leaves would just about do it.  32 would be better.  36 would be excellent.

This is why I don't like knitting to a deadline (even if it is self-imposed).  It puts me off, sometimes to the point of resenting the thing I'm knitting, even if it looks very nice indeed.


I've nearly finished the second 50g ball of the navy blue and I've got one more I can use.

I've currently got 180-odd stitches per row.

It's going to be a slog if it's to be finished, ends sewn in, washed and blocked (it's going to need blocking) in a week.

It may be late.  Fortunately, my mother is an understanding kind of woman.

Progress should have been better on Leftie, but I got a bit distracted (of course - I had a knitting deadline).  Having done very little spinning this year, my wheel has seen quite a lot of use in the last week or so.  I bought 5 100g 'bumps' of North Ronaldsay last year.  I started spinning it just before Christmas.  I'd only spun about 5g by the end of January and didn't do a great deal more during the first half of February either.

Things are different now though.  I've spun 150g of it onto 3 bobbins and last night and this morning (when I should really have been knitting Leftie) I plyed two of the singles together into what I hope is going to be a sport-weight or light DK yarn.  It's been so long since I bought this that without referring to the pattern I bought - the fact that I bought it fleece with a clear idea of what I was going to spin it into and make from it is rather unusual for me, it has to be said* - that I think I need to get about 250 metres per 100g.  Something like that.  I need enough to make a cardigan, so that'll be about 1200 metres, I think.


Plyed yarn is on the bottom bobbin (just about - it was a bit of squeeze) and the top bobbin has the third 50g single strand which will be plyed with the next 50g I spin.

It's now lunchtime and I haven't picked up my needles and Leftie at all today.  I've done houseworky things such as putting on the dishwasher, doing a load or two of laundry, walked the dog.  I also wallowed in the bath and read my book while in there, but no knitting.  I've now got to tidy up the lounge and do some ironing before hubby gets home this evening.

I'd better get a move on really!

*usually I end up buying fibre/top/fluffy stuff on an 'ooh, pretty' or 'never spun that sheep breed before' basis - which is what I've done this morning because World of Wool sent an e.mail with an offer on some spring-coloured merino and at £9 for 250g of various colours, I can use it to practice colour blending on my drum carder.  Oh, who am I kidding.  I bought it because OOH, PRETTY!  I also bought 100g of Whitefaced Woodland top and 100g of Manx Loaghtan top - because, erm, I've never spun those sheep breeds.  I'm a hopeless case.