WIP: Eclipse Hat and Scarf

I am using beautiful yarn from Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend called "Eclipse" and my own Hand-spun from Silk, Merino, and Yak. I am super excited about these two projects. The first one is the hat from Spin - Dye - Stitch by Jennifer Claydon  and the second is a lengthwise scarf using her technique for dropping stitches while binding or casting off then weaving in hand spun yarn. I really do recommend this book.

I saw this yarn and knew exactly what I would do with it.

My hand-spun actually looks pretty decent.

I love the patches of grey in the hat and the scarf is starting to get to be a nice
width. The hat is not finished I am planning on a flower in a hole that is a bit
big on the join. Should be a nice set!

New Page: Bookshelf

I have made a new page (located at the top of my blog) that is the new Bookshelf! It will contain BY AUTHOR or WEBSITE books, patterns, and magazines that I own. It will have few notes below each item to describe it. Most of my books are actually in Scotland so I will be doing more updating when I return!

Saturday fun

So I went to the Edinburgh Farmer's Market today. But from 11:30am to 4:30pm I was spinning and knitting at my local yarn shop! I had tons of fun and got to see the shop be really busy in this time of recession. Plus I got ALOT of spinning done today. Now, I swear the wool looks like a wine color in my flat but in the shop it is a reddish brown.... Odd.

I have got more done on the pink scarf, which is knitting up really quickly, I am soo happy about that. So... I bought a new book... Please spare the sighs until you see what it is:

I love this book. It may not have 250 different stitches
but it does have GREAT step-by-step instructions on the basics!!

New Books

So, I wanted to know about spinning. Just to make sure I wasn't missing some crucial information, plus I can't really draft. I still can't do it like they show in the books. I like my method and it works for me.

Very good for those beginning off with drop spindles.

Shows both drop spindle and spinning wheel techniques.

Can they get cuter? Oh yes.

Ok so I bought this book and it is WELL worth it! There was a workshop with this artist here in Edinburgh this past weekend! Well worth it to buy! Her Blog

Let's Get Lacy!

Alright, when one does Amigurumi, you think could it get any smaller? Yes, it can. I bought a book to help me learn lacy type crafts in order to do dresses and such for my little dolls. It is called Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Lacy Crochet. Now, I am a LONG way off from using this book: I don't have the 2mm (size 4) hook nor the lacy yarn but I was trying to get ideas for later! It is really interesting if you like doily stuff or if you want to put those patterns in a completely unrelated use. Hope this inspires you!

Eh? How do I attach them again?

I was looking through my new book: Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Amigurumi (see linked picture below) and it goes on about attaching body parts with a "whipstitch" or "overcast stitch." Well, it has been some years since I took sewing classes (13 years actually) and I only know the sewing version of these stitches. So I looked it up in another one of my new books: Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker (see linked picture below). However, the book only explained the common whipstitch, so I scoured the internet for the overcast stitch used in crochet. I am pleased to say I found both! But The Happy Hooker did help me with something else, the figure 8 to start the joining of two pieces of crochet. I got in 250g of polyfil today from Crafts4Kids. I didn't realize how much that would actually amount to since I am used to seeing the bag first. It should help me along my way to making more crafts!

Bought from Amazon.co.uk

Bought from k1yarns.co.uk