Saturday 5 April 2014

Pausing ...

Taking a break from blogging, sorry won't be blogging Woolly Wednesday this month, and for the forseeable future. Enjoy your spinning, crafting, gardening and living life ... that's where I will be too, oh and Instagram too. Dawn xx

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Woolly Wednesday March 2014

Welcome to the Woolly Wednesday gathering for March 2014.
I am again not sure if I will continue with the WW gathering, finding the time is difficult and the last few months have been quiet with link-ups so I'm not sure it is worth my time, even though a few crafting bloggers said they would like to see it continue (?). I shall keep up with blog reading when I can and continue to post pictures and projects. I'll review it again soon, but find the quickness of posting pictures and seeing other fibre crafters pictures on Instagram easier to find the time for.

Whether you are a regular or a new visitor - come and share what you have been doing with wool or fibres in the last month, or plans for the month(s) ahead. All crafts and inspiration welcome. I look forward to regularly sharing this space with you here.

 Woolly Wednesday falls on the first Wednesday of every month. Think of it as a creative gathering, or a virtual guild meeting. Bring along any fibre-related project, whatever it may be. If you are starting out in fibre arts, share what you are interested in pursuing. Let's show each other our projects, share any tips, tutorials, ask questions, seek advice. Add your post to the Linky below and we can visit one another and share, support, encourage, be inspired!. 

 Please feel free to add the button to your blog's sidebar with a link to Woolly Wednesday, a lovely way for us all to link together. Just copy the image to your desktop and then in your blog design - add a gadget, add picture - upload the picture and then add the url (http://raisingseedlings.blogspot.co.uk/) and the image will link to here.



Join in with the linky below, link to a recent blog post of your woolly adventures in the last month or to a post in the month ahead, I look forward to seeing you, no time limits just join in when you can.



Wednesday 5 February 2014

Lots of knitting, not so much spinning ... yet!

I haven't done much spinning in 2014 so far, my days have been filled with other aspects of life and a lot of decorating of my daughters new bedroom. Hmmm that's something I could blog about soon, but it's not for a woolly Wednesday post!

I am spinning a dye fibre braid I have had a while, blues and greens and other colours thrown in. I like the spun singles, but there is just something about it plied that doesn't quite grab me. It's still on the bobbin so I'm hoping when I wind it off onto the niddy noddy I will see it in a better light.

I have been knitting. The biggest accomplishment was knitting with the green yarn I shared a picture of last month. This was spun with a project in mind - lots of shades of green for a Sheep Heid hat for my husband for his birthday, that was just after Christmas. But he knew it was going to be a little late. I cast it on and really got into the swing of knitting it and it was finished about 5 days later. I love it. He loves it. Many people have commented how lovely it is. I like it more than my own Sheep Heid knitted last year in natural shades, typical eh!


Me modelling the hat
and the recipient wearing his new hat

I also knitted a pair of socks from some handspun yarn. The yarn is Jacobs that was a gift in batts with the different colours separated. I had navajo plied it to keep the colours separate and stored it awaiting inspiration. I wanted some warm socks and knowing this was a 3 ply yarn I thought it was perfect.


 Lovely cosy handspun socks

I have also knitted myself another hat. A quick knit, this Hurricane Hat is knitted in Masham handspun and is lovely and cosy. Started on a bus ride, knitted at a knitting night, finished next morning.

 Knitting on the bus
 Knitting night 
wearing my new hat with my rainbow scarf

I'm currently putting together some crochet bunting for my daughters room, and have cast on a new hat for her too, a bit of a surprise one too!

 Knitted bunting and new hat (both acrylic yarns, cotton i-cord)


February Woolly Wednesday!

Welcome to the Woolly Wednesday gathering for February 2014.

Whether you are a regular or a new visitor - come and share what you have been doing with wool or fibres in the last month, or plans for the month(s) ahead. All crafts and inspiration welcome. I look forward to regularly sharing this space with you here.

 Woolly Wednesday falls on the first Wednesday of every month. Think of it as a creative gathering, or a virtual guild meeting. Bring along any fibre-related project, whatever it may be. If you are starting out in fibre arts, share what you are interested in pursuing. Let's show each other our projects, share any tips, tutorials, ask questions, seek advice. Add your post to the Linky below and we can visit one another and share, support, encourage, be inspired!. 

 Please feel free to add the button to your blog's sidebar with a link to Woolly Wednesday, a lovely way for us all to link together. Just copy the image to your desktop and then in your blog design - add a gadget, add picture - upload the picture and then add the url (http://raisingseedlings.blogspot.co.uk/) and the image will link to here.

Join in with the linky below, link to a recent blog post of your woolly adventures in the last month or to a post in the month ahead, I look forward to seeing you, no time limits just join in when you can.

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Happy New Year and Woolly Wednesday too!

Ah, the calendar nearly caught me out! Between Christmas and New Year I always lose track of what day it is, so on Monday I was thinking when is the first Wednesday of January only to look up at the calendar and realise it was the 1st. So it's a very Happy New Year Woolly Wednesday today. I wish everyone a wonderful year full of woolly inspiration and adventures.

So since my last WW post I was knitting some little Harry Potter character dolls for my daughter for Christmas and am pleased to show you the finished dolls which were my aim - Harry, Ron and Hermione. I have since Christmas cast on for Hagrid, and Dumbledore is planned, Dobby ... you get the picture - I could be knitting these on and off for a while!

 


I finished these around the 19th/20th December so was looking for something else to knit. Recently I've found on cold days that my hands get a little cold when knitting or crocheting so I had an idea brewing about some fingerless mitts to wear when knitting. I have worn handwarmers before but they slip and move and made the palms of my hand too warm. So I pondered and even got a pencil and paper out to sketch an idea.

So the idea was to knit some very close fitting fingerless mitts, with a short finger bit for the base of my fingers, a gusset for my thumb and casting off to have a "hole" on the palm of my hand.

I cast on from the cuff, and tried them on as I went along to check they were close fitting so they wouldn't move about too much whilst knitting. Knit in the round until the gusset for the thumb, rejoined in the round and then cast off a number of stitches for the palm. Re-joined in the round for the base of the fingers and then seperated the stitches and knit each finger bit in the round.


Sound weird? Probably look a bit odd too, but they absolutely fitted the inspiration! They fit perfectly, don't slip around and keep the parts of my hand that were cold warmer but without the palm of my hand getting too hot and potentially sweaty. Having the majority of the finger still uncovered and the palm uncovered means I can feel the yarn, the needles and the work in progress. Perfect!


These kept me busy to Christmas with everything else going on. I finished the 2nd one just after Christmas as I had a sudden urge to knit something else on Christmas Eve!

So Christmas Eve, no wrapping to be done, just time to sit and relax with a glass of mulled wine, I grabbed my project bag (which had the mitts in it) and decided I wanted to start something new. So I picked out my Rainbow yarn that I spun a few months ago - 1 ply of Masham rainbow dyed fibre, 1 ply of Tussah Silk rainbow dyed fibre. I totally love this yarn and have been desperate to knit with it. So I looked through some patterns I had saved and cast on a reasonably plain shawl/scarf with it - didn't want to go for anything with a pattern as it would have got lost in all the colour runs. Knitted on and off for a few days and here is the result.



It needs blocking which will fan out the sections, however I am contemplating just blocking the body and leaving the edges wavy as I like how they look. We shall see how it goes.

After a gap not spinning, and oh how I missed it, I have been spinning various shades of green that I started a while ago. These are for a Sheep Heid hat for my husband for Christmas. Yes I know it's late but he got an IOU wrapped up and knew it wasn't going to be ready. Something to look forward to . I have plied and wound some of the shades ready to cast on, it may even have been cast on by the time I click publish.

Other bits of spinning have been going on too, and more this week. These skeins I spun a little before Christmas, and they are now giftwrapped for a friends birthday today!





Lots more spinning and knitting for 2014. No resolutions as I don't make any, but I will say I shall be having fun with my wheels, needles, hooks and weaving tools over the next 12 months and look forward to sharing this space with you.

Have a wonderful 2014 x


Woolly Wednesday January 2014 - Happy New Year

Welcome to the Woolly Wednesday gathering for January 2014. Happy New Year to everyone. So what are your plans for 2014? Any new things to try? Any resolutions (if you make them)?

Whether you are a regular or a new visitor - come and share what you have been doing with wool or fibres in the last month, or plans for the month(s) ahead. All crafts and inspiration welcome. I look forward to regularly sharing this space with you here.

 Woolly Wednesday falls on the first Wednesday of every month. Think of it as a creative gathering, or a virtual guild meeting. Bring along any fibre-related project, whatever it may be. If you are starting out in fibre arts, share what you are interested in pursuing. Let's show each other our projects, share any tips, tutorials, ask questions, seek advice. Add your post to the Linky below and we can visit one another and share, support, encourage, be inspired!. 

 Please feel free to add the button to your blog's sidebar with a link to Woolly Wednesday, a lovely way for us all to link together. Just copy the image to your desktop and then in your blog design - add a gadget, add picture - upload the picture and then add the url (http://raisingseedlings.blogspot.co.uk/) and the image will link to here.

Join in with the linky below, link to a recent blog post of your woolly adventures in the last month or to a post in the month ahead, I look forward to seeing you, no time limits just join in when you can.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Woolly Wednesday December 2013 ...

Welcome to the Woolly Wednesday gathering for December. Sorry it's late, and don't worry if you have nothing to link with, I'll be back in January - but if you do have a post I'd love to see it.


Whether you are a regular or a new visitor - come and share what you have been doing with wool or fibres in the last month, or plans for the month(s) ahead. All crafts and inspiration welcome. I look forward to regularly sharing this space with you here.

 Woolly Wednesday falls on the first Wednesday of every month. Think of it as a creative gathering, or a virtual guild meeting. Bring along any fibre-related project, whatever it may be. If you are starting out in fibre arts, share what you are interested in pursuing. Let's show each other our projects, share any tips, tutorials, ask questions, seek advice. Add your post to the Linky below and we can visit one another and share, support, encourage, be inspired!. 

 Please feel free to add the button to your blog's sidebar with a link to Woolly Wednesday, a lovely way for us all to link together. Just copy the image to your desktop and then in your blog design - add a gadget, add picture - upload the picture and then add the url (http://raisingseedlings.blogspot.co.uk/) and the image will link to here. Join in with the linky below, link to a recent blog post of your woolly adventures in the last month or to a post in the month ahead, I look forward to seeing you, no time limits just join in when you can.


Wednesday 11 December 2013

Oops! Woolly Wednesday sleeping ...

Oops, I just realised it is Wednesday, but the 2nd Wed of the month so that means I missed Woolly Wednesday posting last week. Sorry, just busy here.

So instead, how about we resume again in 2014!

Do other bloggers still want to join in the Woolly Wednesday? Just pondering for now, can still keep in touch with other blogs so wondered if it was still worth posting the linky. Your thoughts in the comments would be appreciated (if you want to leave a comment that isn't published, just let me know and I will read it but not publish it). I intend to keep blogging, so will catch up with you all on your blogs even if the linky came to an end. We'll see, but please let me know either way.


Have a lovely Christmas/Festive season everyone, hope to see you again in the New Year.

Monday 18 November 2013

I Yarn bombed my chair!

So the Guild challenge piece I've mysteriously mentioned over time is a chair that I yarn bombed. I can't find the photo of the chair before (although I'm sure I took one!). And yay I managed to blog in between Woolly Wednesdays!

Here are the pictures of my chair, which is already well loved and very comfortable.

 Ta dah ...
 View from the front and side

 The other side
 Seat back
 Back of seat
 Back of chair
 From below

and another angle!

It received many admiring looks, and a few members are inspired to do something similar around their homes.

What next ...?

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Busy Woolly days

Busy days again. Spinning, knitting, crocheting and have been felting a little lately too. Ah it must be time for Woolly Wednesday.

Since my last post on spinning, yes last months WW (still not finding more time to blog yet!), I continued to spin the Masham rainbow fibre. This was so lovely to spin, such a lovely feel to the yarn.

 Masham fibre and spinning on the bobbin

I then also spun another rainbow of Tussah silk fibre. A different rainbow, different dyers, with similar shades to the Masham but also some differences. My idea was to ply these two together, not knowing how it would look.

 Tussah Silk and spinning on the bobbin
(still have a skein of this silk to spin!)


To say I was pleased to see these plied together would be an understatement. I love how they plied together, sometimes the colours matched up, other times not, but love the overall look. This is destined to be a shawlette/scarf for me but the knitting hasn't started yet due to other projects and commitments.

 Skeins and on the Niddy noddy of the finished yarn
 Silky, smooth and scrumptious!

Soon after finishing this yarn it was our Guilds sampling day with Winghams visiting and filling the hall with all their goodies. I didn't really have a lot I wanted to pick up, just a few bits and pieces, but went with the intention to have some fun sampling fibres. And fun I had. There was a moment in the afternoon that I (and others!) embraced the trilobal fibre - blending it in with everything. Gold, silver, copper and rainbow trilobal were consumed by the wheels!

I always come away from guild meetings inspired to do more and dug into bags and picked out oddments of fibres and continued to create a medley of samples. The results of all this fun are below which is navajo plied to keep the colours and blends seperate.

2 skeins from sampling day and fun at home

Still inspired by this I then dug into my box of dyed merino fibres, mostly used in felting, and selected handfuls of many many colours and laid them out in a rainbow. Spinning from one end of the colour wheel of fibre to the other, navajo plied to retain the colours again and it resulted in these lovely skeins - squeeeeeee  I love these and plan to do this again, a lot.

Rainbow yarn skein and on the niddy noddy
 close up of the purple and blues end


Couldn't resist a picture of all the rainbow and sample yarns together, makes me smile!
Now the bobbins once again lay empty, waiting for my next inspiration.


I have been busy knitting and crocheting too. After finishing previous projects I decided to pick up a project I started back in May and knitting a few rows and then put down not to be picked up again until last month. It's my Sheep Heid hat, a fabulous pattern, made with singles yarns of various breeds - mostly Icelandic shades (5 of them), with some Shropshire, BFL, Norwegian, and maybe another that I can't remember now. I adapted the pattern to suit my preferences, keeping the sheep and the rams heads.

 My Sheep Heid hat keeping warm this Autumn

At the October Guild meeting we had a flock of sheep heids ... baaaaa!

I love this hat, had a few arrrggh moments - just me not reading the pattern from the correct point on the charts, but nothing major, just my own lack of concentration. I would totally recommend it as a pattern and have plans to make another soon.

I also have been knitting and crocheting a few hats and scarfs to send to The Great Syria Knitting Project, to give warmth to the children affected by the ongoing Syrian conflict; many of whom have lost everything, displaced from their homes. It warms my heart to know that I have been able to create something to keep them warm this winter.

Parcel of warmth to Syria

My other knitting and crochet is .... a secret! Cannot share it yet, nope sorry. It's something previously mentioned and been an ongoing project, and is now nearing the end. It's something for our Guilds annual challenge which this year was entitled "2nd time around", to be interpreted as you like but with the emphasis and recycling or re-using something, giving life to something that may have been discarded. This is going to guild on 16th November, so if I can get organised I will post about it then and if not it will feature in Decembers Woolly Wednesday.

Commencing some Christmas knitting and spinning soon.
Looking forward to seeing what you're all up to.

Dawn x