Getting back in the spin of things

I think I mentioned a while ago that when I was tidying up my craft room, I came across a box with some hand spun yarn in it. It made me want to start spinning again, so with the Tour de Fleece due to start at the beginning of July, this was the perfect opportunity to get back into the habit of daily spinning. I looked through my fibre stash and pulled out a few braids that looked likely candidates to go well together. In my mind, I am picturing a Shifty sweater by Andrea Mowry (Ravelry link) as I think it would show off hand spun yarn pretty well.

I haven't managed to spin every day throughout July. but I am pleased with what I've done so far and it's rekindled my love of spinning. Flo can be a bit of a pest as she likes sitting on my lap while I'm spinning and then likes to nudge her head against my hands! Once I've finished spinning the third braid of fluff, I'll need to do some plying so that I can free up some bobbins for more spinning. Originally I planned to Navajo-ply the yarn to keep the colour changes together, but I saw some hand spun yarn on Instagram this week which had been plied with a strand of Rowan Kid Silk Haze to create a fluffy yarn and that looked stunning. I don't have any Kid Silk Haze in my stash so will have a ponder while I'm spinning and let you know what I decided in the end. The trend for fluffy yarns seems as popular as ever. Do you like fluffy yarns? xxx

Fibre 4 Fibres Giveaway preview 93

 I thought it would be fun to have a few more yarn raffles over the summer so am planning on holding one every Sunday for the next few weeks. I've had a few prizes donated and the other prizes are from my stash. This week's prize includes a copy of the book '200 Knitted Blocks for blankets, throws and afghans'. It's a brilliant book full of ideas if you fancy creating your very own blanket design. There are 10 balls of Stylecraft Special DK yarn to get you started as well as a pair of Knit Pro 4mm knitting needles. As well as that, the prize also includes a mahoosive bucket bag in a cute kitty print that will hold all 10 balls of yarn and a yarny postcard and pin badge. As usual, the raffle is  open to everyone, regardless of where you live.

It's been a while, so here's a reminder of what you need to do if you'd like to enter this week's raffle! You have a chance to win all these gorgeous prizes for a minimum donation of £2! Are you tempted to try your luck? Here's everything you need to know. This giveaway will run this coming Sunday 31st July, closing at 23:45. To enter, go to my JustGiving page here and buy your virtual raffle tickets by donating £2 or more. £2 gets you 2 tickets, £3 gets you 3 tickets, £5 gets you 5 tickets and so on. The more you donate, the greater your chance of winning. You will need to leave your Instagram or Ravelry name, or tick the box to share your email address with me when you make your donation, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. This is really important as I have no way of knowing who you are otherwise. Each week, I still get donations where no name or email is left, so if that person's number comes up in the random number generator, I have no idea who it is! All your donations go the Myositis UK to help fund research into this incurable muscle disease, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support.  Myositis is a rare disease and that means that there isn't as much research done to help find better treatment and ultimately a cure. Every single donation is important. My fundraising total is currently £28,724 and it would be great to pass £29,000! Thank you and stay safe! xxx

Long time, no see!

I'm sorry that it's been a while since my last blog post. I had my fifth Covid vaccine and despite my new treatment, it caused my myositis to flare up again. I've had very little energy, muscle aches and pains and have been sleeping most afternoons. I had my final week of infusions in my six month trial of IVIg and had my daily battle with the cannula. I've also seen my local rheumatology consultant as well as my consultant down at King's College hospital; despite my recent flare, they are generally very happy with how the infusions have helped to start bring my disease under control and have applied for funding for more infusions. This has been approved by the first panel, with the proviso that an additional immunosuppressant, Abatacept, is also introduced to try to enable my infusions of IVIg to be spaced further apart. I will have to give myself a weekly injection of Abatacept and have already had pre-treatment blood tests and chest X-ray done. I hope that the treatment will be approved by the second panel in time to have my next round of infusions in a couple of weeks. Please cross your fingers and toes for me! 

I haven't had much enthusiasm for knitting, but when I have, it's been socks that I've picked up. I have four single socks each looking for their partner, so that will be my goal for the rest of the month. They are all plain vanilla socks so I don't have to think too hard!

I did knit another pair of socks for my rheumatology team; it seems that everyone wants socks! I love knitting them and they are so much appreciated. It's something I can do to say thank you. In all my encounters with NHS staff (and there have been a LOT), I have always been treated with such kindness and compassion. We are incredibly lucky to have the NHS and I really hope that much more funding is given as well as pay rises that reflect all that they do.

I have also started spinning a little. You might remember from a previous post that I was looking forward to the start of the Tour de Fleece. I haven't managed to spin every day but I will share what I have done so far in another blog post. I shall definitely be carrying on with the spinning once the Tour is over - I had forgotten quite how relaxing it is! It's a short and sweet post today. I'll leave you with a photo of Flo who was delighted to have a new box to sit in today. She finds them irresistible! xxx