Just chilling

Well, since we last chatted, the cats have pretty much dominated the goings on in the josiekitten household. Florence is such a friendly little cat. One of her favourite occupations at the moment is looking out of the window 'chattering' to the birds. I think she is looking forward to the day when she is allowed to set paw outside. She and Elsie get on really well most of the time, spending a lot of their day curled up together. Elsie is getting braver each day, and will allow me to stroke her. But she hasn't initiated the contact herself yet. I can't wait for the day when she comes to me for a snuggle. As Elsie has become more confident, they have begun playing together too, and Elsie is certainly able to give as good as she gets!! Just take a look at this photo - double trouble!!

I've had two squishy parcels in the post this week. One is the first shipment of yarn from the Fall in Full Color club run by Knitspot. The pattern gets released tomorrow, and I've wound my yarn into a nice fat cake. I just managed to avoid a near yarn disaster when my yarn got tangled round the teeth of the winder. Luckily I was almost at the end of the yarn so was able to pull it all through to sort out the tangle. Phew! Imagine having to cut it!! The yarn is absolutely beautiful, I can't wait to show you. But I am going to wait until later in the week, when all the yarn has been shipped out, just in case I spoil anyone's surprise. I will just show you the lovely 'extra' that was included in this month's parcel - a pretty project bag. Here it is, all ready to rock and roll, with the yarn snuggled inside. No peeking in now!!

My second squishy parcel came from my Ravelry friend Cathy. We have been swapping the last couple of years, and it's always fun sorting out some goodies for her. Just look at what I unwrapped!

Some beautiful fibre from SweetGeorgia Yarns. It's a mixture of merino, bamboo and nylon in a rich red colourway, Pomegranate. I'm going to try and spin enough for a pair of socks. There were also 4 mini-skeins of yarn from the Unique Sheep. It's a gradiance set, with the colours changing from fresh green to soft blue. I'm not sure if they will become socks or a shawlette at the moment. This photo shows off the colour changes perfectly.

Cathy then really spoilt me with a beautiful project bag, embroidered with little sheep. It's really cute, and will have a project in it before very long! Take a closer look at one of those sheep.

I have knit a few more Innocent Smoothie hats this week. I think I have another 9 to go before reaching my target of 52, one for each week of the year. Betty is modelling most of the hats this week, as she'd complained that Belinda had done more that her! Honestly!! Fussy or what?!

I have managed to finish spinning some Corriedale fibre this week. I spun the first braid during the Tour de Fleece, and have spun the other two braids since returning from Germany. This is how the fibre looked.............

.... and here's how it looks spun up as singles.

It's from Hedgehog fibres, and I just love the colourways. I'm planning to Navajo-ply the yarn, to try and get some reasonably long colour runs, and if I have enough yarn, then the plan is to make this! If you look through the projects on Ravelry, you'll see some gorgeous hand-spun versions.

I've been busy knitting the two remaining socks currently on the needles, so fingers crossed I will be able to show you two completed pairs next time. I have also been right through my stash and checked that it is all ziplocked away safely. There's an awful lot of it, but at least it's insulating the house! Hahaha, that's what I shall be telling Mr JK anyway!! See you soon! xxx