MonkeyFeet

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist the pun, I won’t do it again!

Sooooo this is what happens when a) you don’t update for too long, b) you have too many hobbies, c) you like to photograph everything. It’s taken me ages to put all the pictures in this post. I swear I won’t leave it this long between updates again.

I’ll start with the spinning. For those of you who know about the shenanigans with Darcy, my wheel, I have got him all fixed, and working smoothly again. It took some fiddling.

I spun this anyway, using leftovers of BFL and merino/soy silk. There’s only 50g but I’ll find a use for it. I rather like it though!

 

 

I spun this too, it’s pure bamboo. Not an easy spin for a relative beginner, seeing as the fibres are really short and very slippy. There’s only 50g here too, I can’t remember how many yards though. It’s a gorgeous yarn, really shiny and soft. I’ve no idea what I’ll do with it!

I’ve got loads of finished stuff. I’m not sure how seeing as I’ve not had much time. I did a really chunky eyelet shawl, using the Manos pure wool that Terri kindly sent me. It’s going to be just big enough to be a shrug sort of size, and will pin at the front. It’s insanely warm though! I’ve not blocked it yet, hence the terrible photo.

I also finished the Cambria Wrap, it was a quick, easy knit. I used Kaalun Classic Two in Pacific colourway, and I held two strands together, making it about a 4 ply weight. It needs blocking as well, which is why the photo is horrendous.

I’ve done some more hats. Unimaginative I know. This one’s from the purple/pink shetland/BFL I spun ages ago. It’s gorgeously soft!

This one’s from the BFL that I spun that I got from P&M Woolcraft. I was really attached to that skein, so I’m pleased it’s made a good hat. The only problem is, no matter how tight I do it, the bobble will come apart if you pull it

I finished more Christmas presents – that’s nearly them all done now. These are my Grandma’s socks, done in my own Wild Fire Fibres Alpaca Sock yarn. It’s too hairy for my feet but grandma will love it. The colourway’s Pablo, particularly pale in this case, and doesn’t show up in the crappy light I photographed it in! The pattern doesn’t look as pretty as I’d hoped it might.

 

As you can probably tell, I’m getting a little desperate over what to do with all the small skeins of handspun that I have from when I first started! So here’s another crocheted pot, using some natural handspun and the leftovers of the pink and purple handspun from that hat. I felted it but it’s not gone as uniform as I’d hoped. It’s very sturdy though and very useful!

I stashed some Sirdar Denim Sport aran, in a fudgey colour. OH wants a scarf for Christmas so I’m kindly obliging. It’s a sideways scarf – I think they look heaps better than a garter stitch scarf done down the way. Plus it’s not as tedious! It’s nearly finished now – photographs to come at a later date! I chose this yarn as OH isn’t too good at keeping things clean and  not thrown on the floor of the car, so with this being cotton, wool and acrylic, and inexpensive, it’s perfect.

I’ve had itchy fingers for casting on this week. This is the beginnings of a Japanese Feather scarf, for my Grandma. I’m using my Zephyr, which I’ve had ages. It’s perfect for the pattern. I’m two repeats in, but haven’t actually had much chance to do any since I cast on.

I stashed this as well. OH got it me to say well done for handing in my first essay (any excuse!). The colours are a bit pinkish here, but basically it’s winter colours. Pale, silvery teal, blue and brown. There was only one skein – I’d really like a couple more so that I could do a gorgeous shawl, but I checked out Ravelry and noone has this colourway for trade or sell (It’s 246 I think). So.. I dunno. I’ll think of something. It’s beautiful anyway!

And hey, remember that beautiful Japanese fabric I got ages ago, in the hopes that my sewing skills might miraculously improve? Well that didn’t happen. I tried, but I think apart from hemming and basic tote bags, that’s where I should leave the sewing to the professionals. So, for my birthday, which is in two weeks, I got Nic, of NicsKnots on etsy to sew me some stuff! Yey! I am now initiated in the world of project bags!

Here’s the deer in the forest in winter one:

Penguins:

 

wizard of Oz (which I still haven’t seen!):

Bears in the woods in winter:

I prefer this one inside out! The red fabric is sparkly you see

This is undoubtedly my favourite – it’s dark purple inside, with the owl fabric.

And a big tote bag, which is fully lined with a pocket and everything

So a huge thankyou to Nic, who was ever so patient with me. I kept nagging her for daft things, like could she add a small ribbon loop on each one so that I can be a complete idiot and hang keyrings on them (geek me!). She obliged AND got them done super quick. So go check her shop out, support a small and talented business

Anyway. I rarely go to sainsbury’s, so was very pleased to see these:

Photographed on OH’s phone. Yey for small hats!

And hey, I’ve been busy this week. I have a very small craft fair coming up. Now, it really is very small, but it’s my first and I’m excited about it. So I’ve been making earrings to start with. I have made loads, so here is a very small selection.

Pink cluster, with glass beads, semi precious stones, etc:

Glass hearts:

Red cluster, with glass beads etc (I made a pair for me as well and I love them!):

Black cluster:

So, I’ve got more to make yet, but have done most of them. (There really are a lot more than that!)

I took some pretty pictures while dog walking the other day. Well, yesterday.

Awwww. The one on the left is 13. What you can’t tell from this picture is that the two golden labs are actually devouring a dead bird with much crunching and pleasure. That was yesterday, and surprisingly, neither has been sick. It was very smelly.

Back to the niceties.

Check it out – this week’s arty shot. Can you tell what it is? (don’t just say “a sunset”! :p )

And *phew* that’s all for now! I’m up in about 5 hours’ time, so need to get my bum in bed. I’m soooo tired. Tomorrow’s to do list is, as always, huge. I’ll try and catch up with you all tomorrow, it’s about time!

Ciao for now!

Where did all these photos come from? I’m sure it’s not *that* long since I last updated!

Anyway, my Grandma requested a green hot water bottle cover. I couldn’t find a pattern I really liked that would be quick, so I designed one. I spun up some BFL and dyed it first, then swatched (gasp!), and stuff. I called it the Snug Feet Hotbot Cosy. Here’s how it came out:

 

        

I love the slightly uneven texture of the yarn. The buttons came from Woolfest – aren’t they beautiful!

 

          

I’ll be publishing this pattern on Ravelry, hopefully this afternoon. I need to finish my essay then I’ll write it out. It includes an I-cord cast on, button holes and a crochet edging, but nothing more taxing than that. The finishing just neatens it up the presentation

     

 

I also knitted up some earlier handspun BFL, it’s really quite frizzy, but really soft and bouncy, and again, has that gorgeous, slightly uneven texture.

 

I spun this too. It’s merino/soy silk from Warratah Fibre Crafts. I’d highly recommend it! You get a lovely soft, smooth yarn with great sheen. There’s 194 yards in this 100g skein, so it’s about DK weight. Wish I could spin thinner!

 

It was my Dad’s 60th last week, and I was the only one who got him anything. I got him a speciality bottle of Italian olive oil, a selection pack of 6 small bottles of fruit wine, and I gave him the Ice Queen I did in Hacho – that’ll be great for his dog walks and stuff, also gave him the Miski (baby llama!) bobble hat I did, and the Pablo socks I did in Socks That Rock. He was over the moon with it all!

Anyway, he got himself a digital SLR, of which I have to admit I am very jealous!! So we took it round Lancaster with us, and I took a few quick snaps.

Here’s my Maya Shawl, colour is off but I love the composition.

A church, through a rather leafy view!

Testing the macro. It really needs a macro lense as you can’t get that close on just the macro function. But the colours are gorgeous.

And another church..

Last Friday me and OH went to Blackpool for a fun afternoon out. We got greasy burgers, went in the sealife centre, then got fish n chips.

The sea life centre is great if you’ve not been. There’s a giant tank in there, and it has a walkway covered in glass so that you can walk under the tank, which has huge sharks in, and allsorts, down to shoals of tiny fish. It’s really exciting!

It was really hard to take pictures as it’s quite dark. But here are a few of the characters we saw -

Miserable:

Calculating: (that thing was huge!)

Cute!!

And er… flat!

That litte flat fish (is it a lemon sole? I’m not sure), was really cute, it was only about the length of my thumb. I’d love a baby flat fish!

 

Anyway, there’s something exciting coming up, hopefully next month – it involves my yarn and I’ll tell you about it when it happens.

I’m also going to start working on another shawl pattern soon. I’m really enjoying a bit of amateur design work! I really need to get back to my essay now anyway.