Tour de Fleece Day 14

Plying has begun! The extra twist in the singles has definitely helped and they are more robust. I am loving the colours mingling together. The light wasn't very good when I took this photo. Hopefully I'll get a better one tomorrow once the plying is all done. xxx

 

Tour de Fleece Day 13

Spinning complete! Let the plying begin! xxx

 

Tour de Fleece Day 12

I'm about half way through spinning the remaining BFL fibre now. It definitely has more twist, spinning it on a higher ratio. I just hope it's not going to ping back on itself once it's plied! Time will tell! I am loving the muted colours, reminds me of the beach on a stormy day! xxx

 

 

Tour de Fleece Day 11

I've made a start on the second half of the Blue Faced Leicester fibre from Briar Rose. Not managed a great deal, I felt really tired after school. Hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow! xxx

 

Tour de Fleece Day 10

It's a rest day in the Tour, so time to catch up with other happenings in the josiekitten household. I have still been knitting as well as spinning,  but have nothing very impressive to share with you. I've been working on the second of my 'sanity' socks, alongside another test knit for Anne Hanson over at Knitspot. This is the second sock pattern I've test knitted recently, and once the patterns are released, I'll be able to share my knitting with you. Until then, Mum's the word!! I am determined to finish as many of my WIPs as possible before the school holidays start, as I'd like to spend time over the summer working on a couple of more meaty projects. I am desperately short of sweaters for the coming winter, and I'd also like to tackle some more lace knitting.

 

The garden continues to delight us, with new blooms emerging weekly. We really have been so incredibly fortunate to have bought a house that was previously owned by such keen gardeners. Everything has been so well planned, I just hope we can maintain it! Here are some of our latest beauties!

 

 

 

 

We have been enjoying the warm summer evenings in the garden too. Who needs to be sat in front of the television when you could be doing this?! Scrabble, knitting, a vinyl LP playing and a gin and tonic!! Heaven!

 

 

We have just added some solar lights to our Christmas tree, and last night was the first night they clicked on! I love them!! These photos were taken just before 10pm, it's amazing how light is still is at that time.

 

 

I popped in to Norwich to see my dear friend Snoopydog yesterday. It was her birthday last week, so I had presents to give her. She was busy baking when I arrived. We enjoyed a mug of tea with a warm scone.

 

She also made some strawberry cupcakes, but we were too busy nattering for her to ice them, so the two that I brought back home for lunch were 'naked'!! They tasted very nice though!! If you call in on Snoop's blog, you'll be able to see the iced version!! I'll be back tomorrow with some more spinning to show you. xxx

 

Tour de Fleece Day 9

I started spinning some new fibre today, some Blue Faced Leicester fibre from Briar Rose. My friend Kim picked it out for mc at Rhinebeck last year. Chris does some gorgeous dyeing with wonderful blends of subtle colours. It's certainly a contrast to that gorgeous pink fluff I was spinning last week. I'm experimenting a little with my wheel, and have changed the ratio that I'm spinning at to see if I can add some more twist. I'm still getting patches of underspun yarn every so often. It's such a learning curve. Anyhow, I've split the fibre in half and spun the first half this afternoon while watching Andy Murray win the Men's Singles final at Wimbledon. What an exciting match it was with a fantastic result!! Tomorrow is a rest day on the Tour, so I'll be able to catch you up with some other things! xxx

 

 

Tour de Fleece Day 8

Plying all done!! The yarn still needs a soak, but I am delighted with how it looks - and how much there is too! Around 500 metres!! Definitely enough for a shawl. xxx