Step one, take some smooshy wool/angora blend from the BWM back room.

Step two: find a gorgeous, girly, easy pattern like Hine from Kelly Brooker (this was gifted to me at xmas by Deb – thanks Deb!)

Step three, smoosh, admire. But there is more. This will be dip-dyed, blocked, and buttoned. A perfect top to go over a long sleeve cotton tee in the cooler months!

Sticks: 4mm addi click.

Yarn: BWM Cameo 8ply

Mods: Knitted size 4, but lace panel to size 5.

More pics to follow when it’s looking a little more colourful!

A very quick crochet project! He is adored and loved!

Last week, a friend and I did something a little naughty, and a little fun, and treated ourselves to a little yarn fix. These holidays are dragging, and with 8 kids between us, this was a great little escape.

I picked up a skein of Ella Rae lace merino (not really lace, though, more a 4 ply.) and these two balls of Noro Silk Garden. They are wonderful contrasting colours, and I bought them specifically to make the Noro Stripe Scarf for my lovely new husband. I cast on a couple of days later, only to discover that they are TOTALLY different weights One is almost a bulky, and the other barely a DK. I could really kick myself for not checking in the shop, knowing Noro’s reputation. The pattern really does need a consistency in thickness of the yarn, to make the stripes seamless, so I will figure out what to do with it/buy a different ball at some point. It’s going into the sin-bin/naughty corner for a bit.

I have higher hopes for this.

Not great photos, I am sorry.

This was a very enjoyable spin. This Rainbow Romney ball from Kathy’s Fibres was already carded, pre-drafted and spun right off the ball. I did, however, overspin it by a fair bit. It’s hard not to. It’s a very different fibre than I am used to – a longer staple, and quite bristly. Definitely outer-wear wool! I picked this up at the Bendigo Show last year.

The over-spun issue was quickly  solved by running the singles back thru the wheel, and I have left it un-plied. The colours would be too muddy otherwise. It’s a light fingering weight.

11 bumps of fiber, each a different type and colour. One is yet to be added – my Cormo from the Ton of Wool project

Like last year’s Personal Sock Club there will be chosen at random each month, and spun into yarn. The sock club was a wonderful stashbusting exercise, but while my yarn stash is down, my fiber stash has grown very sneakily!

Not included in the challenge, but as an effort to get to know my new and sadly neglected wheel, I spun up some BWM laps that a friend had hand dyed.

It was a quick and not very careful spin, but I definitely got a feel for Suzie, my new wheel. She is A LOT heavier than my Pioneer! But like all Majacraft wheels, easy to get the hang of in just minutes!

Looking forward to my new challenge! I will be using the tag StashDown12.