Wooly Snippets

Out for a Walk

2011-08-23T14:08:00.000-07:00

The great outdoors!

Look at those chickens... I'll get them one day...

More inkle-ing, and a Disaster

2011-08-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

A few more finished inkle woven bits and pieces...

Some bookmarks:

A guitar strap:

A belt made with recycled sari silk and handspun merino. These are definately not the easiest materials to weave with. The silk snags in the heddles, and the merino spends the whole time trying to felt to itself! The colours went well together though (they don't show up very well in this photo, it's too bright). Since taking this I've finished the ends properly and added some beads.

And now the disaster. I spent yesterday morning finishing off a new guitar strap. I'm trying to teach my naughtiest cat the difference between right and wrong (i.e. yes you can play with the toy mouse... no you may not climb the curtains... NO you may Not eat the yarn!!), so I stupidly tried to weave through the attack, accompanied by the spray bottle that makes no difference. I managed to get it finished, but in my haste to get it off the loom and away from danger, I unbelieveably managed to cut right the way through the band itself...

So things were thrown, and the diet was abandoned. I suspect the neighbours knew all about it too. It was a full-blown hissy fit.

I think I can just about salvage the pieces though. I can get a couple of bookmarks out of the little bit, and I have just about enough of the big bit left to make a non-adjustable strap for something or other. It's not the end of the world, but it felt like it at the time! What an idiot!!

And the culprit...

What an angel!!

Carrie xxxx

Inkle Weaving

2011-06-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've been inspired to dust off my poor neglected little inkle loom lately. I made some bookmarks to practice pick-up patterns, and they came out not bad! (someone even bought one of them!)

The cats give me no peace at all in the house to do anything crafty, so I was lucky to get a couple of sunny days to give it a proper go in peace and quiet.

I made a guitar strap, that I'm really very proud of :) ....

And now I'm making some more practice bookmarks to try and get used to this more complicated pick-up pattern. I thought I'd be able to knock a few of these out pretty quickly, but I was wrong! This takes forever! It doesn't help that I'm using a lolly-pop stick as a pick-up stick. I bought a lovely little handmade pick-up stick on etsy, which arrived yesterday. Unfortunately I made the mistake of leaving it on top of the parcel on the kitchen worktop overnight, and when I woke up this morning it was gone. I found it under the shoe mat, chewed to bits by kittens (Pixie - I know it was him!). So it's back to the lolly-pop stick till I can afford a new one.

It's nice to be making things again. I have 10 days off work soon, so might actually get some time to do a bit more!

C xxx

The Chickens have Landed!

2011-04-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I brought home 4 new little additions to the family...

I don't have names for them yet, I really need to get to know them first! They're all very lovely, and surprisingly tame considering they've been 'free ranging' in a field until now, with not much fuss from humans (until now!). They settled in pretty much straight away, and were down the ramp and into the run as soon as I put them into the house. They even managed to put themselves to bed when it got dark!

I opened to coop this morning full of expectations, but there were no eggs to be found.

But then...

... as the day went on...

... there was one little egg from each of them!

They turned out to be 'jelly eggs' when I opened them, really not very appetising, and I couldn't bring myself to eat them. I'm not sure if this is because they are young (26 weeks) and have only just started laying, or maybe if there has not been enough protein in their diet before now. Hopefully they'll be lovely and delicious before very long!

They're lovely!

Carrie xxxxxx

An update

2011-03-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm about to embark on a new project that I'd like to record on my blog, so I'd better do an update to fill in all the gaps since last summer. A lot has happened, so here are the main bits.

We had a lovely summer and autumn, and enjoyed watching the farm and fields going through all the changes of the seasons.

Christmas was just around the corner when my little Charlie was knocked down and killed by a van on the farm track at the back of the house. I was devastated and moved out that day. I stayed at my mum and dad's for two months (it also didn't help that the boiler burst, and I was without water for all of that time). I very nearly gave up on the house altogether then, I could hardly bear to come home. I'm glad I did in the end, but it was miserable all alone.

So I got two new kittens, Pixie and Willow, to come and live with me. I can never replace Charlie, he was a very unique little cat, but he left such a void in my little world. I would like to keep these two as indoor cats. They will certainly be staying indoors until they are spayed at six months, and if they show no interest in going out after that I'll be very happy.

And so we've slowly gotten back to normal. Spring is slowly bringing the garden back to life, and the nights are getting brighter.

I've made some improvements to the garden, including the addition of a raised bed for veg.

My new plans have to do with the garden, but more on that next time!

Carrie xx

P.S. I finished my blanket!!

A Busy Few Months

2010-08-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well hello again! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been so incredibly busy this last little while I can hardly believe it's been 5 months since I last posted an update. I have been without an internet connection for 4 of those months though, which hasn't helped really! Life has changed quite a bit since I saw you last...

I have moved into my own little house!

It's a little cottage on a working farm not an awfully long way from where I've always been. Except that it's out in the countryside! It's so beautiful and peaceful here, and the whole place is buzzing with wildlife. There are hares, roe deer, owls and foxes, and last night I had a little baby hedgehog snuffling around the garden! The land's quite flat here, and the view stretches on for miles and miles.

Moving in and getting settled was hectic and just a bit stressful, but this last month or so it's really properly been starting to feel like home. I'm having great fun adding little finishing touches to the newly-painted walls, flowers to the window-sills, roses to the garden...

But there was something missing.

There was no-one to talk to.

Until I found Charlie.

Now I have all the company I can handle!

He's a right little maniac, but I love him!

There's not been much time (or peace!) for crafty stuff in all these months, but my creative side's been getting more of a look-in over the last couple of weeks. I've finally managed to locate some Rowan Pure Wool DK in elusive Hydrangea (shade 27). It's been discontinued, but thanks to Jannette's Rare Yarns (who I can highly recommend, by the way!), work on the border of my Attic 24 (not-quite-so-big) Big Blanket can finally continue. It's been a year in the making, on and off, so I'm feeling ready to get it finished!

(Apologies for the picture quality on that one!) I started out making it for a single bed, but I've upgraded my sleeping arrangements (finally), so I have no idea where its home is going to be. Though apparently these little houses cost a fortune to heat in the winter, so it will probably be wrapped around me most of the time.

There's still a lot of work left to do to make this place really lovely. There's painting to be done, and the garden's not quite finished. More on that next time though. Charlie's woken up, and he's attacking my laptop and trying to eat my Wotsits!

It's good to be home!

Carrie xx

Back to Life

2010-03-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who wished Truffles well on my last post. She is doing much better now, and seems to be back to her old self. All her tests came back negative, and she's finished all her medication (which she's pleased about!). I don't know if we'll ever really get to the bottom of what was the matter with her, and to be honest I'm happy to leave it at that. We just have to hope that it never, ever happens again. Here's a wee snap of her enjoying the spring sunshine:

I started back at my job in the garden centre on the 1st of March, and I have to say it's brilliant to be back! It's like coming back to life again after being in hibernation. I hate to think of all that time I had off, and how little I did with it all. I hate being unemployed full stop. I'm already feeling more motivated. For the first few days back I felt a bit useless not knowing where everything was and what we had in stock, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of it again. If only I could get used to getting up at 7am!!

I've been playing around with the inkle loom and managed to churn out a couple of dodgy looking little bands, nothing special at all so I haven't even photographed them. Then I took some inspiration from ASpinnerWeaver and decided to try making some bookmarks for practice. I'm so pleased (and relieved!) with the way they have turned out! I've managed to stop the weft showing through, and even the selvages are looking pretty even. I've been following the instructions in Helene Bress's book 'Inkle Weaving' to the letter, and it seems to be doing the trick! I read on someone else's blog (sorry I can't remember which one - thank you if it was yours!) the idea of using ice lolly sticks to seperate them, and it works very well! Please forgive the rubbish quality of these photos by the way, the flash is drowning out the colours, so they're either too bright, too dull or a bit shaky!

See what I mean? I really should do photography in the daylight!

That's about all I've done creatively. Not much really, but it's better than nothing. I've started a retail horticulture diploma through work, so that's taking up a fair bit of my free time now (the rest is being taken up by sleeping!). So I am still here, and I really, really appreciate all your comments! I do still mean to update more often, it's just difficult to find the time!

Carrie (and Truffles!) xxxxxxxxx :)

Worry Days

2010-02-16T04:48:00.000-08:00

This is Truffles, my little lady. She's been sick since Saturday - sleeping all the time and not eating or drinking a thing. I took her to the vet's on Monday morning, and she was kept in for blood tests. Apparently there's something wrong with her kidneys. At first the vet thought it might have been caused by poisoning. She had another appointment this morning, and this time she's found swelling of what she thinks is her gall bladder. Because she's not drinking, we've got to give her a glucose solution through a syringe. She's also got tablets to take, so that's an awful lot of stuff we've got to force down her throat. She hates it, and fights like a fiend. I hate doing that to her when she's feeling so miserable. She just wants to be left alone, but if she gets dehydrated her kidneys could shut down. The vet has sent off more blood to be tested, so hopefully we'll have more answers soon about what's causing it. She has another appointment on Thursday morning, and I really hope she's picked up a bit by then. She's only 4 years old.

My crochet cotton has arrived from Texere, and I think this lot will work well on the inkle loom (though I can see me running out before I've got very far!). I might warp it up tonight, if I can get my head to feel more creative. I've been playing a bit with Baltic patterns using the linen and silk I bought from Texere first time around, but managed to snap one of the linen warp threads. I think I put the warp on too tightly. This cotton seems a bit stronger though.

That's all for today really. Please send your happy, healing vibes to Truffles. I can't stand to see her so sad. :(

xxx

Must... not... neglect... blog!

2010-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

That's what I've been telling myself every day for weeks now. 'Update your blog... post something... anything!' I wanted this blog to be almost a running commentary of my day-to-day life, and I don't want to have huge month-long gaps appearing in it!

The truth is though I've had very little to report for the long month of January - that black hole of boredom where time itself stands still. Every single year without fail I seem to be unemployed in January. It's become my most miserable month, and when I feel like that I find it so hard to motivate myself to do anything. I have all this time on my hands, and have done nothing to show for it.

So THANK GOODNESS I'm getting my old job back on the 1st of March!!! Three weeks tomorrow, and I'll be back in the land of the living! I can't wait, I really, really can't!

I know when I get back to work I'll wish I had more time on my hands, so I'll be trying to make the most of these three weeks. I always feel more optimistic once we get into February anyway - the nights are starting to stretch a little, the snowdrops are opening, buds are swelling. The seed potatoes are in the garden centre already, so I might get some of them on the go nice and early!

Crafty-wise there's not been an awful lot happening. I've been working on a crochet shawl using Garnstudio Drops Fabel. I'm just going with this until I run out of yarn. It was a difficult yarn to get hold of, and since I've only got one ball left, and the store I bought it from seems to have run out, I don't think it's going to get much bigger!

I bought an inkle loom last week! A Schacht inkle loom to be precise. It's nice and simple and, unlike my Knitter's loom, I can warp it all by myself!

There's nothing in my stash that's really ideal for this (according to the instructions, 5/2 or 3/2 mercerised cotton is ideal), so until I can find some, I've been practicing with left-over sock yarn:
1st attempt. I tried to use sock yarn to make the heddles, but it had too much give in it, so I ended up with uneven tension. I also made the ridiculous mistake of tying the warp to the first peg, so this is as big as it got!!

2nd attempt. Made the heddles from sewing cotton this time. I was worried it would be too thin and snap, but it turned out to be pretty strong. The band ended up about 33" long, and I used a check pattern:

The selvages are very wonky, and the warp seems to be a bit too spaced out at the edges. That is, I can see the weft through it, and you're not supposed to (although it's less noticeable now it's off the loom).

I've got quite a lot of DK wool in my stash, so I might have a play around with some of that, see if I can make some pretty patterns. I'm just not sure it's strong enough though, and it's quite fluffy, so I can see it sticking to the heddles. I ordered a bit of a random selection from the Texere weaving section before I really knew what I would need, and I've just this minute realised I would have been better off looking in the crochet section. I didn't notice that before, that's exactly the stuff I need! Oh .... !

What else has been happening?

Basil's going in for a big service on Thursday. He's been having some serious 'kangarooing' issues after about 3 miles into every journey. He won't go above 30mph when he's jumping about like that - it's very scary. Apparently it could be some simple electrical thing like HT leads or the distributor cap. Hopefully it's nothing serious! The bodywork on the other hand... that's in a right state! I need to get that sorted before I can get into the interior properly, which is a shame because I've got a ton of ideas for him! I won't scare you with pics just now, I'll let you see him when he's a bit prettier!

That really is about everything I think - told you I hadn't been up to much! I am very excited about the inkle weaving though, so I'll be back soon with more updates! See you soon!

xxx

Goodbye Old Year!

2009-12-31T09:14:00.000-08:00

One more post before the year's out I think! I haven't exactly done much since my last post. Everyone here is taking full advantage of the lull between Christmas and New Year, and doing nothing at all really! It's nice to be able to do that and not feel guilty about it, although I am looking forward to life getting back to normal soon.

We've had yet more snow (though sadly not on Christmas day!), with freezing temperatures in-between. My van was so frozen up for a couple of days I couldn't even get into it. The battery's still flat, but I've bought a charger for it so hopefully it will be up and running again soon (as long as the engine hasn't seized up, it's been a while!).

I have made a start on the interior though. There's so much to do before I can begin putting a new interior in. First step was to rip the old one out!

Before...

And now...

Seeing it like that is a little bit daunting, but it has to get worse before it gets better, and I'm actually relishing the challenge. I can picture the finished product, parked next to some empty west-coast beach, in an orange sunset-glow... yep, we'll get there!

I'm really looking forward to this year, I'm quite optimistic that it will be a happy one!

So have a good evening people, and best wishes for a Brilliant 2010!! xx

Ready to Relax!

2009-12-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well that's it, everything's done, I'm ready for Christmas! I haven't posted in a little while, so here's a quick update...

We've had snow... ...that hasn't gone away! There's more forecast for tomorrow, so we might be in for a white Christmas!

The tree went up...

I turned 26... :( Despite the fact that I definitely get happier the older I get, for some reason I always feel sad and regretful around my birthday. I haven't achieved as much as I should in 26 years, and while I'm now a pretty happy person, I can't help feeling I could be happier if I could just be braver. A lot of wonderful opportunities have passed me by, it's quite right that I should regret them. The more I regret, the more pushed I'll feel the next time I have an opportunity I'd like to run away from, and that's a good thing.
That's pretty gloomy reading it back, but I think I'll let it stand. I'm always a little sad and reflective at this time of year, but I'm sure most people are! Thankfully though it's always mingled with the usual happy, snuggly sense of excitement that I hope I'll never lose. The day itself was good really - I got some lovely prezzies, and mum baked me a cake this year which was completely delish!

Borders has closed. That's the bookshop I was working in that went into administration. It was only a temporary job, but it was also one of my favourite shops. That's where I meet my friends for coffee, and it's the best place for having a good proper browse for new books. In just three weeks the place was transformed from a happy, calm, relaxing and lovely place to work and shop, into a frenzied, tacky, pound-shop of a place, that somehow managed to attract the very worst behaved people I've ever seen. Signs like 'Total Stock Liquidation', 'Everything Must Go' and 'Last Few Days' seem designed to make people oblivious to everything except getting a bargain, and being rude and impatient, even to the point where they will throw a book on the floor rather than go back and put it on the shelf, seems to some people like an acceptable way to behave.
Electronic Gift Cards (EGCs) have been a horrible nightmare, with us at the tills having to tell people that their card can only be redeemed if they spend double the amount of its value. It was bad for the customers to hear, but it was no easier for us to tell them. We've been shouted at, sworn at, one guy even threatened to smash in the front window, so I can absolutely say, without any hesitation, that I'm glad the place is finally closed and out of its misery. It's a shame, but every member of staff can do without that kind of stress.
On the bright side, at least none of us has to work over Christmas!

Grandad's ripple blanket was finished this morning, just in time! It ended up at 40x35in, which I think is big enough. I'm going to miss working on this, it was a nice simple pattern, with not too many fiddly colour changes (a good TV project!). It's become my nightly ritual - a bit of Kiefer watching on 24 and a bit of crochet! I'll probably make another one for myself before long. I'll need lots of lovely handmade things to go in this...

Yes indeedie! Isn't he beautiful? I've wanted a camper van for years, and last week I saw this in the paper and couldn't resist him at all! My mind is bursting with ideas for the interior (there's going to be a ton of work involved!), and I'm thinking green might be a good colour for the bodywork? Ooh I'm so excited! It's so cold out at the minute that I've hardly gotten near him, but oh when I do...! For the moment he's locked in ice, and the battery's gone flat...

Anyway, for now I'm ready to snuggle down and enjoy the holidays!
Merry Christmas!!!
Carrie xx

Busy for Christmas

2009-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

I haven't finished any projects this last little while, becuase I've been putting all my time into a spontaneous, last-minute christmas present - a ripple lap-blanket for my grandad:
I don't want it to be too big or heavy (his house is always roasting!), so I should have it finished in time, hopefully. Yarn used is Rowan Pure Wool DK in Kiss, Indigo, Honey, Port, and Emerald (hopefully a christmassy combination!).

Here are some other little bits and pieces I've been doing in-between crochet and work...

Updating some garden planters from dead summer plants to shiny new winter ones:
(Little red bells from Paperchase)

Little crochet flowers:

Sitting in my lovely warm car listening to Newton Faulkner while my brother braves a freezing cold howling gale to get a few photographs (it was a lot colder than it looks in the photo!):

And trying to stop Truffs from walking all over my other crochet blanket while I'm trying to block some squares (she's starting to look a bit protective of it!):

Not much else to report this time around. The bookshop I'm working in has gone into administration though, so come the new year it looks as though I'm going to have all the time in the world to finish off all the little projects I have lying around the place!

A New Technique!

2009-11-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a little bit more spinning since my last post, though of course not as much as I should. I want to work my way through the rest of my Wildcraft stash, before I order any more! First up was this Shetland top called 'Seaglass'.

It's a little softer than the English Wool blend, though still a bit coarse for navajo ply I think, so it's another 2 ply.

Again I had a problem getting the colours to match up, and ended up with about the same amount left on one bobbin as before. I can't quite work out how that's happening! I've also found out that my plying technique has been all wrong. I usually separate the 2 threads and control the twist with my right hand, leaving the left hand completely free for tea drinking! I realise now that I should have been controlling the twist, and feeding the yarn onto the bobbin with my left hand. I should have realised it wouldn't be that easy! I got a pretty good mileage out of it though, 228 yds at 10wpi.

I've had some plain pink merino sitting on a bobbin for quite a while, so I used that to have another shot at navajo ply.

It actually worked quite well this time! Well, the yarn snapped at one point, and I had to tie a knot in it to continue. I was surprised how quickly it came together though, once I got into the rhythm of it.

It gave me some confidence to try it out for real on some of this delicious Wildcraft Organic Merino (colourway 'Violets').

I'm stupidly pleased with the way this has turned out! It's not flawless, the yarn snapped a few times at the start, so I had to cut off a fair chunk of it to get rid of all the knots, and I think it's a little over-twisted at some points, but I don't think it's too noticeable. I love the way the colours have come together though, hopefully it will make for some decent colour repeats when it's knitted up. Actually I haven't decided what to do with it, or any of my handspun, yet. I'd like to try weaving some of it, but I'm reluctant to waste it all (my little bits of weaving leave much to be desired!). This one's 150 yds at 10wpi.

On another subject, I got my last harvest out of the garden before the winter...

Jerusalem Artichokes! Not exactly pretty, are they? I actually cut the plants back ages ago, and forgot all about them. I found them the other day when I was tidying the garden. They seem to have coped though, and were still nice and fresh looking when I dug them up. This is the first year I've ever tried them, and I still have no idea what I'm going to do with them. Apparently you can cook them like tatties, or make them into chips. We'll see!

Walking and Spinning

2009-11-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we had a farily decent day up here, for the first time in a good couple of weeks. So I went for a walk around a little loch not far from here, to try and get some final pics of the very last of the autumn colour, before it's gone for another year. It was a crisp, frosty sort of morning, that turned to bright, clear sunshine!

I had a lot of fun trying out the newly-discovered close-up function on my five year old camera!

I came home after my walk to my lovely little stash of Wildcraft fibre, that, I'm ashamed to say, has sat in a bag for months and months on end. I'm not sure what it is about this time of year, but I'm finally getting round to doing all these things that I've barely had time to look at all summer.

I've been trying to learn how to navajo ply by reading tutorials and watching youtube videos... to no avail whatsoever. In the end I was just about ready to hurl the entire wheel out the window in frustration, and gave it up. I really would like to learn how to do it though, becuase these hand-painted tops are really lovely to spin, but I can never get the colour to match when I'm plying, and it tends to make for a 'muddy' sort of yarn.

So this time I went for this English Wool Blend, which is too wiry for navajo plying. I split it right down the middle, in two equal parts (I thought), in the hope that when it came to plying, the colours on each bobbin would match, and that I would have roughly the same amount on each one, so as little as possible would go to waste.

In the end it didn't go exactly to plan. The colours went their seperate ways pretty early on, and there was an awful lot left on one bobbin after plying.

I think it still looks ok though. It's just over 168 yards (if I've done my maths right!), and is around 11wpi. I got the lot into one continuous skein thanks to my new jumbo flyer, which I am very chuffed with!

I'm so glad my spinning-mojo is back! It's nice to be feeling creative again.

If you've read this far, I'm amazed! I'll leave you with this little poppy that I found stuck into the side of the path on my walk. I thought it was nice, and left it there.

A Little Bit of Crochet

2009-10-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

This week I started a new job. At this time of year work in a garden centre dries up a bit, and for the last three years I've had to find alternative employment over the autumn/winter. So this year I've ended up working in a bookshop. It's only part-time, but there are a few hours coming up at the garden centre for bare-root hedging and tree deliveries, so I should still be kept pretty busy. At the moment though I'm on part-time hours, so I've been getting stuck in to some crochet.

This is a smaller version of Attic24 Lucy's Big Blanket, to fit a single bed (sigh!) rather than a double one. I think it will probably end up being 7 rows of 4 big squares (28 in total). I had thought 6 rows might be enough, but it's starting to look like that might be a bit small. So 13 down, 15 to go!

As you can probably tell, my photography skills need some work, and, as a brand-new blogger, so do my posting skills. I'm working on it, really!

1st Christmas Knits

2009-10-26T08:36:00.001-07:00

For the past few days I've been feeling unusually organised. I've had a big clear out, and put some things up for sale that were bought with all the best intentions in the world, but which have been sitting, completely unused, under piles of debris in numerous corners ever since. Most of the casualties have been quilting supplies. I bought a lot of quilting supplies last year, but I never found the motivation to actually learn how to quilt. There's a lot more to it than meets the eye! I just don't have the space, or the time, to dedicate to it right now. Maybe one day.

I've also gotten my butt in gear to finish a couple of Christmas knits. I left it far too late last year, and no one got anything! The gloves on the left are 'Hooray For Me' gloves by Marnie Maclean. I love this pattern, and have used it quite a few times now. Very quick and easy. The yarn is King Cole Zig Zag in Aqua. I really like the feel of this yarn, and this blue is so vibrant!

The socks are from the free Opal pattern that comes with Opal sock yarn. These socks will probably be used as work socks, and will be worn with steel toe-capped boots, so I just wanted a good, simple, reliable pattern. I always wear Opal socks to work and they're very comfy (not to mention funky!). Yarn is King Cole Zig Zag in Rhapsody.

My mitred square blanket has also been picked up again for the first time in a little while. I love having this blanket there in the background, ready to be added to whenever some new spare sock yarn becomes available. It's a proper little labour of love, I think I'm going to be working on it for quite a long time! I have enough new odds and ends to make a nice little bit of progress on it now though, so watch this space!

A New Leaf

2009-10-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hello, welcome to my cozy little corner of the internet!
I've been playing with the idea of starting my own blog for a while now, as a place to keep track of my projects and gather together small inspirational things, and where I can generally ramble on about the little things that keep me happy.
I'm quite looking forward to it!