Washing Day!

I have some alpaca (and wool) fleeces that need washing and carding ASAP, so today I am at the sink.

Suri fleece is super soft and silky,  and the fleece I have is dusty and has the usual VM.  I have experimented and combed a little of the fleece before I washed it and then washed an un-combed wodge.  I washed them side by side, and  you can see from the photos, that combing up a batch BEFORE you wash makes a HUGE difference in how clean it gets after two washes.  So, in my opinion, a quick comb, or even just opening up the fibre by hand, helps the dust and sand to drop in the washing stage and therefore gets you to the carding stage with a lovely sparkling fleece, rather than a grey, still grubby bit of fluff.  Takes a wee bit more effort, but worth it methinks!

A long weekend, fun runs and caramel popcorn....

It was a long weekend here in Perth, and with four kids long weekends have the potential to be knackering! Fortunately we managed to find a balance between relaxing together at home and running some energy off the kids.

I finished a hat for Izzy out of some early (dodgy) handspun that she chose and although it's on the big side, she loves it!

Today we had a local fun run (not sure how those two words go together, but that's just me). Boys ran ahead and the girls trailed behind, I felt we needed energy after all that movement so I made some delicious caramel popcorn when we got home (courtesy of Donna Hay!)

Tonight I shall sleep well and look forward to work tomorrow!

4 Year WIP! RIP!

It's amazing what the self-imposed incentive of 'finish that green coat or no more sweater cast-on's' does for a person.  This cardigan was cast on in June 2007 (yes, you are reading correctly!).  It accompanied me to MANY knitting retreats with the girls in the hope that it would be complete at the end of the weekend, but alas, it was shoved in the 'out of sight, out of mind' box.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I FINALLY finished my Cabled Blanket Coat! It's from the Rowan book Scottish Inspirations, and whilst I enjoyed every minute of knitting it (it was easy enough for TV knitting, but the cabling made it interesting), there was A LOT of knitting, hence the huge delay in it's completion.

I knit it in Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed (asparagus) with the cuff and fronts trimming in Rowan Scottish Tweed DK in Pink.  The fit is odd (several knitters who have made this also commented on the fit), in that the sleeves need to be worn kind of 'off shoulder' in order for the rest of the cardi not to look odd, and for the back to sit lower and flat.  Still, it's comfy, cosy and I shall wear it when lounging around the house.

Now....what to cast on next?

Destash Hopes....

I think there is only one person who reads my blog (Hello Margarita!) but just in case there are more, I would like to let you all know about a HUGE yarn and fibre destash that is taking place on Ravelry!  I am trying to move some fluff before we move out to Melbourne, so help me out and re-home some yarn today.

Rowan, Madelinetosh, Tilli Tomas....to name but a few!  Pics to grab your interest below (and that's just the tip of the iceberg!!)

Chef Rob

My best mate Robynne (or should I call her my 'partner in fibre/yarn crime'?) and the biggest enabler in the world, is a bit of a whizz in the kitchen.  For Easter I had planned to knit her a Chocolate Bunny, but then decided that a teeny weeny, itty bitty chef (complete with whisk) would be far more appropriate!  I knocked this up last night on 2.25mm DPNS, with scraps of sock yarn from my 'left over bucket', and yes, he was a fiddly bugger to knit, but super cute.

Small, yes, Pointless, maybe, Smile-provider, priceless......

Combing my locks

These things look like medieval torture devices, but boy, do they get the VM, sand and dust out of Alpaca fleece.  I bought this fleece on ebay, thinking I was getting 'white'.  The photo showed this gleaming raw fleece, was promoted as A+ 19 micron yummy stuff, so I was disappointed when a mound of grey landed.  I even queried if I had been sent the right stuff, not to mentioned that I paid WAY over the odds for 900gms, and when it arrived only 730gms were enclosed.  I complained about that too, and they said it could have been their scales....yada yada yada.  It was taking up too much time to email back and forth, so I said don't worry about it and went to work to try and clean my grey fleece.

Handcarders weren't cutting it, so I went for my Hand Combs and wow, does it make a difference.  The washed fleece was still grey, but after a few brushes with the combs, grey was sprinkling all over the floor.  Horrah!  It's lovely and soft, and I'm hoping the rest of the VM can be picked out in the spinning process.  The dirtiest Alpaca in the field methinks!

* Note to Self:  Don't buy fleece off Ebay again (2nd bad experience!).

Jenkins Turkish Spun Camel Silk & Angora Bunny

I make no secret of my love for Jenkins Turkish Spindles.  Really, I adore them.  I spin finer singles on the Jenkins Turkish Delights, and ply on the larger Turkish.  I also tend to save my luxury fibres (especially those with shorter lengths) for spindling, as I feel more in control, plus I love the having the fibre in my hand for longer (it just goes too fast on a wheel).

This fibre is probably my favourite base of all, and is dyed with natural dyes by the wonderful Charly at Ixchel Bunny.  It's a camel/silk/Angora bunny blend and is truly divine.