I have been very busy lately...dyeing and spinning! Knitting has taken a back seat...wish that I had 48 hours in a day !:P These are my latest hand dyed and hand spun:
The first hand spun is Mulled Wine that I got from EGMTK. It is 609 m spun from 100 gm of merino top. I am keeping it as singles because I intend to knit a shawl with it :) I just love to spin this sliver because it is so soft and no drafting is required. Saves me a lot of time and that is what I needed the most!
The second hand spun is Pomegranate :
This is 475 m of BFL - 2 ply dyed using kettle dyeing. My pot was too small, so some parts are lighter in colour. Got to get a bigger pot!
I have been using the legs of a chair to wind my handspun yarns. It is a tiring and slow process. So, I decided to search the internet for a handmade niddy noddy. I found the instructions for pvc made niddy noddy fromhere. I asked my husband to look at the hardware shop for these pvc pipes. Yesterday, he came home with this :
Yippee! I got myself a pvc niddy noddy. The instructions were to sand paper the rough edges. The shop owner asked whether my husband wanted end caps for the pipes. Voila!...my niddy noddy does not need to be sand papered and it looks much better! I asked husband how much does it cost and he said "RM50.00!" and I said "huh??" Do you know how much it cost? The total cost inclusive of workmanship is only RM5.00! Lol....what a nice and cheap niddy noddy!
This is a beautiful and ever popular feather and fan stitch pattern from Scarf Style book. The original name is Misty Garden but I like to call it Feather and Fan Scarf. It is knitted from my own hand dyed and hand spun yarn Cotton Candy. I used 5 mm knitting needle for this project. My scarf is a little bit shorter because I only had 223 metres.
The roving before spinning :
Spun to this :
And the finished scarf:
I just love to watch how the colours changes as I was knitting along. Every row is a different colour. It was fun to knit and I couldn't wait to finish it. I am pleased that it turn out well. What do you think?
Yes, I got myself a Majacraft Suzie Professional wheel last Friday. I ordered my wheel from Ewegivemetheknits.com on 2nd May 2009. That's long time ago? You are right, that is how long I have to wait to get my wheel. I was waiting and waiting everyday for the postman...I think my neck grew longer too! :P Here it is :
She is a beauty! I also bought an Ashford Competition lazy kate for plying :
These are the slivers that I got from EGMTK too! :
It is such a joy to spin with Suzie Pro. It spins quietly and smoothly. This is my first handspun with Suzie Pro :
It is my hand dyed Cotton Candy that I plied 2 ply. The yarn is 107 gms BFL measuring 223 metres fingering weight. The second handspun is my hand dyed Forest. I tried Navajo plying with this Merino roving and I got 253 metres from 140 gms. I love the yarn spun using this method because it is so round and strong.
Last but not least...I want to thank my dear friends Elaine, Aw and Mei for helping me to make this tough but worthy decision to buy my wheel. Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)
Believe it or not ....this is my first pair of socks. I wanted to knit a pair of socks for my husband's birthday. So, when I saw this beautiful pattern from Yarnissima, I knew I have to knit it. I like this pattern because it is knitted toe up and I can knit it as long as I want without wasting too much yarn. I used one ball of Plymouth Sockotta yarn. The yarn is a mixture of cotton, superwash wool and nylon. I guess it turn out fine ....it fit! :)
I have always loved and fascinated by the beautiful colours that can be created from handpainted rovings. So there I was mixing dye like a mad scientist trying to get just the perfect colour that I want. These are my latest two creations from my kitchen :) I have named my first roving Cotton Candy because it reminded me so much of those fluffy sweet candy. It is 107 gm of BFL that I got from World Of Wool.
The second one shown in the photo below is Forest. I love the contrasting and blending colours of orange, brown, green and my favourite lilac. This is 140 gm of 23 mic merino. It is so soft and squishy. My son actually love it very much and squeeze it againt his face. Lol ....that was a lovely sight!
Next, I will be busy spinning these rovings. I hope it will turn out beautifully! :D
I always visit my mother-in-law in Kuala Lumpur during the school holidays. As usual,me and my family will shop at MPH Mid Valley Megamall. I love to spend my time browsing knitting books and magazines. Then suddenly, I saw this beautiful wrap cum top from Knit'N Style April 2009 issue. Without hesitating, I grab the magazine and bought it. That is me..sometimes I just buy the magazine because of one pattern that I really love. Do you do that too? :)
To knit a small size top, I will need 7 balls of 50 gms (125 yds) yarn. So there I was going through my drawers of yarn looking for the perfect yarn. Luckily for me I found out that I have just enough yarns for this top. I have 5 balls of 50 gms (178 yds) Katia Swing in green. Incidentally, the green yarn that I have is very close to the one worn by the model :) I didn't swatch it ...lazy me...so I ended up with a slightly shorter width for the strap. You can see that it is not perfect! Guess that I have learnt my lesson...."ALWAYS SWATCH PAT!"
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