Dyed in the Wool mystery box and socks!

A little while ago my fab knitting friend Becky tagged me in an Instagram post for a new to me dyer called Dyed in the Wool( etsy shop HERE)The reason being that Dyed in the Wool were doing a mystery yarn box based around one of my all time favourite telly shows The Golden Girls. This was a no brainer and I signed up immediately. 

Mystery yarn boxes work like this (usually) you sign up, you can sometimes choose the weight of yarn i.e. sock yarn, DK weight and you can sometimes choose a more luxury yarn with say a silk content or something. Most mystery boxes are themed, for example in the past I have had Buffy the Vampire themed box from Truly Hooked, Bill and Ted and Alice in Wonderland themes from Fleabubs by Lala. You pay and you wait. You don't know what the yarn will look like or what other goodies might be in the box. I was super impressed with this one! 

So much glorious goodness

this pic does not do the yarn justice!

gorgeous neon minis

This box was just a joy, from the beautiful yarn to the project bag (which I actually carry every day with my hand sanitisers, mask, perfume etc in it) the Werthers Originals made me laugh, I love the stickers and the Shady Pines keyring. I can't rate this highly enough I am over the moon with it. The goodies are great but the yarn is just beautiful. I wonder if I can convince them to do a Columbo one next??

There has also been knitting happening here. I knit a Ranunculus by Midori Hirose (warning:this link goes to Ravelry) for my Mam for her birthday but forgot to take photos of it. I will try and convince her to send me a pic when it gets there.  I loved the pattern and how it looks, and I have bought yarn to make my sister one too. I knit it with a brushed alpaca with silk from Drops which is really lovely, it is light as air and I'm a bit besotted with it. I am pretty sure I 'm going to knit one for me too. 

I have also been sock knitting. I keep getting the urge to start socks get about as far as I am on the first sock as the pic below, lose interest and start another sock. This one is holding my interest mostly because I love the yarn. It was dyed by Fondant Fibre whose stuff I really love and have hoarded and glad I did as she doesn't seem to be dying at the moment and her website has disappeared. This stuff is gorgeous, it came with the co-ordinating mini for cuffs/heels/toes. It is subtle and beautiful and I really like the stitch pattern too.  My problem with socks at the minute is that I am an utter arsehole. I don't want to knit a plain stocking stitch sock because YAWN boring, BUT right anything with an interesting stitch pattern I keep messing up while watching Sleepy Hollow - the current telly binge. It's a problem. 

I'm pretty sure there are 4 bloody half socks (with no partner) in my knitting basket, and do you know what I am itching to cast on a new sodding sock. What is wrong with me eh? Why won't any of these socks do? I am trying to ignore the urge and forcing myself to knit a pair already started but it makes me hate the half a sock - I told you I was an arsehole! 

Socks and Birthdays and Vikings oh my!

 Not real Vikings though! It was my birthday at the end of July and my amazing friend bought me a knitting kit for a colourwork hat. It was a kit by The Bearded Viking called The Sea Shanty Kep.

 I knit that bugger in like 2 days. I couldn't stop, it was addictive as all hell, the pattern was very easy to follow despite some rows having 3 colours! The yarn was lovely sticky Shetland wool, perfect for colourwork but a little itchy for me on the head so I watched a quick tutorial on how to line the hat - which I then did VERY badly as I am THE worst sewist. Still I could not be happier with the finished hat. 

inside look at the floats

don't look at that terrible stitching!

I am THIS hawt. Also I was cold after a sea swim hence giant cardi in August!

I have been struggling to settle on a new project after I finished the hat of perfection. So I finished some socks that have been kicking about for longer than I care to remember. These ones - the yarn is Opal I think but the ball band is long gone - were supposed to be beautifully designed by me socks for my dad for Christmas BUT I attempted a short row heel - I usually do a heel flap and gusset (that word always makes me say oooo-er in my head after typing/saying it) but wanted to try a different heel. I finished the first sock very quickly months ago, cast on the second last week, got to the heel, did heel wrong, pulled it out re-knit the sodding thing 4 times. Finally sat step by step with the instructions and produced a beautiful heel and realised I had done the heel completely wrong on the first sock with no real way to fix the sodding thing so now they are my husbands as he has no effs to give about wonky heels, he just loves handknit socks!

Wonky heel socks.

Then I finished these DK weight socks - these always meant for my husband. They are just a something like 5x2 rib and a little bit tight though, but again he isn't bothered and they have been on his feet a lot so that's a good sign. I like DK weight socks they feel more substantial so I think I will knit more of these. I am well aware that these socks don't match and honestly I don't care - I might if they were for someone else but for me or him I never mind if they are wonky. I'm good at wonky me! 

DK socks.

I did finish my Hilltop Cloud Tour de Fleece kit. Aaaaabout ten days after the end of the tour. Bah. Life gets in the way sometimes of crafting doesn't it. Here are the finished skeins:

Kit by Hilltop Cloud

I absolutely loved this kit, the fibres were different every day, each little skein is about 25g of fibre which is a great amount for daily spinning. I have no idea what the skeins are going to be knit into yet, if you have any ideas let me know!

I have just cast on something that I never knit, ever because I hate knitting them ...scarves! I am knitting myself an actual scarf, not a shawl and not a cowl a bloody scarf. I bought one skein of Wollmeise yarn from Loop in London when my gorgeous friend took me away for the weekend for my 40th several years ago. And it is a splurge yarn for me so I have taken my time choosing a project. It is too beautiful for socks and not enough yardage for a garment, then I thought a scarf! Then I thought, yack, I hate knitting scarves, then I thought but think of the end product! I finally finished arguing with myself and cast on a basic feather and fan scarf and I think it is showing off the yarn really well. Let's just hope I finish the damn thing! So far so good to be honest, its good telly knitting only having to do something other then knit and purl every 4 rows. But wish my magpie brain good luck eh? 

feather and fan scarf

And that is about it for the last few weeks, knit and spinning wise. I have been putting off starting a new big project for a pretty bizarre reason. There is a big cupboard in my dining room which I think used to be the old airing cupboard which would have housed the boiler. There is a few big shelves and a little shelving unit at the bottom and I store ALL my yarn, fibre and most of my tools in there too - like niddy noddy's, sock blockers, needles, project bags, the sewing machine I have never used, the broken sewing machine I can't bring myself to chuck etc etc. Well, a couple of weeks ago I opened the door to hoover and saw a movement and I was pretty sure it was a mouse, I'm not scared of mice so pulled the machine at the bottom and realised it was the biggest spider I had ever seen. I am horrendously arachnophobic,  it has stressed me just to type the 'S' word, I screamed the blumming place down, the husband came running to the rescue - he is always having to deal with the crawlies in the house and he isn't scared at all- until now - the damn thing was SO BIG that he screamed the place down too but luckily he got over himself and saved us all from the evil. But now I am absolutely terrified of my cupboard. I can't go in there by myself- I have to get past it or what the hell am I going to do?? 

Til next time knitting friends x

Tour de Fleece and current knits

 Have you heard of Tour de Fleece? No? Well every year during Tour de France, Spinners around the world challenge themselves in some way or another, often it is to spin every day that the cyclists cycle. Or to learn a new technique during that time. Teams are formed on Knitters and Spinners spaces like Ravelry or sometimes teams are hosted by vloggers and podcasters or fibre and yarn producers. They will often offer prizes or incentives as well as encouragement. Which is nice innit!

I have never taken part but this year, possibly to justify the TWO new wheels I bought this year I decided to join in. I bought a mystery kit from Hilltop Cloud - my favourite indie hand dyer. This consisted of a beautiful project bag in Tour de France yellow, and a 20g package of fibre every day (except the 2 rest days) and some fabulous chocolate. I'll be honest, I have not managed to spin every single day, I have had a few nights of spinning 2 or 3 of the little packages but I have loved it. Opening the little parcel every day and seeing what I have - and there has been some wonderful blends of different fibres I might never have chosen and playing with and admiring the feel and sheen and indeed smell of the different fibres has just been a joy! 

I have been spinning on my EEW6 a lot, this is my electric wheel, it's bobbins are huge and can hold a fabulous amount of yarn, it is so easy to use and takes up such a small amount of space. Here's a few pics of the little wheel and how I store it - which is in a sewing machine bag I got for a tenner online! 

might not be the most beautiful thing but so handy!

inside I can fit the wheel, the charger, all the bobbins when flat packed the foot pedal and lazy kate!

I have also been spinning on my Kromski Fantasia which I love. I have treated every day's fibre the same, dividing it in two down the middle spinning first one then the other then the next day plying the two sections together. I'm not quite sure what the little skeins of yarn will become but I'm enjoying looking at them and feeling accomplished. 

Well mostly accomplished, I made a major spinning error with one of my favourite of the bunch so far! How you make yarn is like this: you spin two or more strands of yarn (each called a singles) in one direction and then you ply them (spin them together) in the other direction. this makes loose fibre strong enough to make garments or blankets etc etc. I was not paying attention as I was watching the Golden Girls (because of COURSE I was!) and plied the two singles in the same direction as I had spun them. Which means all the twist I had put into the wool came right back out again. GRRR! I put it through the wheel another twice in the correct direction but it is far from perfect and I am still kicking myself! Anyway that will teach me. 

Obviously I have knitting on the go as well, though it is slower than usual, the 2 youngest kids have been home -one self isolating and one because their nursery has had a Covid case though they did not have contact. It is a loud, bored house with the two adults trying to work from home amid the chaos. The seemingly never ending summer vest is still nowhere near the armholes. This is a bottom up vest top, knit in the round to the armholes then knit back and forth. I'm knitting it on 3.25mm HiyaHiya interchangeable needles, and the yarn is from a massive bag I got on clearance years ago from the much, much missed Knit Studio. It is Adriafil Azzura the colour is the wonderfully named - 041 and it  is 70% wool and 30% acrylic. It is super soft and lovely to knit with. It is just taking so long to knit! I am a wide person so it is a lot of stitches! 

I am also so close to being finished these socks, I literally just have to graft the toes. These have been a long time in the making as I pick them up and put them down. I shove em in my handbag for work and forget about them often. I think the yarn is Opal but it is a guess as the tag is looooong gone. They are however absolutely lovely and when they are finally completely finished they will sit in an envelope for several weeks before I finally get around to posting them down to Wales for Iz. (Don't hold yer breath Iz!) I feel a cast on coming on, but I don't really know what I want to knit right now. I have another pair of socks somewhere kicking about. I hope they aren't in my yarn cupboard cos a fooking massive spider was in there yesterday and so the cupboard of joy is currently dead to me! Arachnophobia is a bitch people! 

Well, I made it to TWO posts, I can hardly believe it! Go me, and go you if you got to the end especially if you are not a knitter or spinner, I'm surprised how many of you there are! Oh and tonight I am going to spin like the divil and watch the Loki finale and I can't wait! See you next time <3

Geordie Shawl Knitting and Spinning Blog

God I miss knitting blogs, we have all moved to YouTube and Instagram and FB and discord and all of the other many social media sites but I really miss sitting down with a cuppa and my knitting and reading about other knitters live's and knitting and spinning. So here we are, if you are like me and miss blogs lets see how long I can keep this up for. 

Though I have tons of pics OF my knitting I could only find this one of me knitting from 4 years ago on the DFDS ferry from North Shields to Amsterdam. Helluva sunset! 

Introduction I guess, I'm Stacey I have been knitting for a long time, it is about 14 years since I became a Knitter with a capital K. Like most folks my Nana taught me to knit when I was about 6 or 7. Both my Nana's were ardent knitters, and helped and encouraged us. My Nana Frances had terrible arthritis and when she couldn't manage her needles anymore she moved to a knitting machine so the gene is strong in me. When I started knitting again I mostly used straight needles with the right needle tucked snugly in my armpit, just like Nana. I rarely held the needle and was pretty fast actually but over the years I have moved to using mostly circular needles - they are much easier to shove in your handbag! One of my favourite things is that I have a pair of my nana's knitting needles (she died 30 years ago this year I think) which are bent to the shape of her body. I love those needles.

my Nana Frances with me my siblings and cousin in her back yard. Late 1970s

The only photo I can find right now of Nana Kathy. This is after her stroke. She died in 2008.

A few knitting preferences for me - I always find this stuff interesting so hopefully you will too:

 I love knitting on circular needles but I do not like magic loop. I never magic loop if I can help it -I will very occasionally for sleeves if I don't have DPN's in the right size but that is all.

last finished item. A mix of handspun and Jamiesons

I love DPN's I can't fathom why everyone doesn't. They are logical and easy and practical. I always knit socks on them and always top down. I do not like toe up socks, I am all about the cuff down.

I don't have a ball winder or a swift. I LOVE hand winding balls with the skein either looped over my knees or round a kiddos arms - the kids are less keen but bah, I feed clothe and house them so they can suck it up! I really love the yarn moving through my hands and I really feel like it is the starting point in a project for me. If I absolutely need a centre pull ball - I currently can't think of a good reason why - I have a nostepinne and I use that to wind my ball.

I am an not a monogamous knitter. I always have multiple projects on the go, usually a few pairs of socks (at least 3 at the moment) and a main project which at the moment is a vest/tank top.

I knit English style but can also knit continental, if knitting with 2 colours I will knit with a colour in each hand.  

I am also a spinner. I've been spindle spinning for about 8 years and got my first wheel about 3 years ago, it is a Kromski Fantasia and I LOVE him. He is called Marty McFlyer for a good reason but that's a story for another day. I also have a Electric Eel wheel nano, I was part of the Kickstarter for it and though I like it I don't LOVE it. But I did also join the Kickstarter for the full size Electric Eel 6  electric wheel which came a few months ago and I absolutely love it. I also was very much hankering for a traditional style wheel and got a Ashford Traditional wheel a few months ago (he is called George McFlyer because of course he is!) and we are getting to grip with each other. It is a learning curve and I don't find spinning on him easy like Marty. So yes, wheels are addictive and expensive so be careful! 

Marty McFlyer

Lorraine McFlyer and Cat

lovely Hilltop Cloud fibre for this years Tour de Fleece

I have not processed any fleeces myself and don't own carders or combs. I tend to spin commercial fibre but I have been watching a lot of youtube videos about processing and though I said I would never go there - I think the day is coming! :-D 

I love spinning a lot but knitting is my first love, I don't really feel right if I don't at the VERY least have knitting on me, in my bag, on my knee just nearby, so yeah, I have a problem but right, I could stop anytime! 

Always knitting! 

Oh and I decided to call this blog Geordie Shawl because I am from Newcastle Upon Tyne and I thought it was funny! :-D