Crafting behind the scenes

I have a few things planned for the next week including my thoughts on broken rib knitting, a video cast, and a few updates on spinning and knitting!!! Please stay tuned because I am excited to get back in the groove of podcasting and blogging!!


OK so those in Edinburgh in March come down on the 16th of March for the first annual EDINBURGH YARN FESTIVAL!!!


Shameless plug, since I am one of the resident fibre artists/podcasters here I will be there almost all day but do not come to see me only! The line up is AMAZING and I hope to see everyone there and have a few fan girl moments of my own! (if you do not know what I look like click on the profile link, that's me!) Hope to see you there!

Spinning Cross-Stitch Thread Single Ply

So I got this lovely fibre from Into the Whirled called "Bodhi" and it is 50/50 Merino and Silk. Yep thats 50% luscious merino and 50% perfectly prepared silk. So I split the fibre in half since I do not need 4oz of cross-stitch thread for the project I have in mind. Then I pulled them apart into smaller nests to be able to spin them fine, like I needed to, ITW's fibre prep is always amazing.

Simba thinks it was terribly exciting:

Ok so onward after  kicked him out of the chair.

So I had my Ashford Traveller on the smallest whirl and started spinning as fine as I wanted it. I knew it was going to be single ply so I just approximated the size I wanted.

 

I pulled it off the bobbin and onto my Niddy Noddy and washed it under tension and then sprayed some SOAK mixed with water on it to set the twist. REMEMBER: Silk means cold water ONLY!! Or you can kiss that lustre good-bye.

I do not worry about the over spun areas because of the cross-stitch it wont matter.

Simba?? You still awake?

Guess that's a no, and yes that's him hugging the duck in the previous picture.

You need to do what now?

So I am a participant in the Stashdown 2013 Group on Ravelry. I love it! I have decided that moving has stirred me into action. So it is not a yarn diet or a fibre diet, it is a saving up to move back to the USA (and being a poor student with bills beyond belief over here) diet. Mr. Native Farmer will be here in 10 days and that should help a lot. You might be thinking... now two people on the same budget equals less money but it doesn't because buying in bulk here is a very successful way to save money. I cannot personally justify buying 3 packs of 1lb hamburger for £5 but with him here it seems a better option. Anyhoo, that is not why you are on here is it??

Simba has been helping with my afghan blanket.

My Knitting Goddess January Mini-Skeins

Roast Beef sandwich with cheese, miracle whip and The Engine Shed roll!!

Simba is like What the duck else??

Oh yes! Another Lined beanie for Mr. Native Farmer. This one is stripes!!

Episode 71: Randomness

Show Notes
Spinning:
Hilltopcloud.co.uk

Projects:
Ninja Cowl -- http://www.ravelry.com/projects/photokitty/ninja-cowl
Tunisian Throw -- http://www.ravelry.com/projects/photokitty/tunisian-throw
Soft Waves Socks -- http://www.ravelry.com/projects/photokitty/soft-waves
Still Light Tunic -- http://www.ravelry.com/projects/photokitty/still-light-tunic

A little bit of fun

I have been very busy lately BUT my knitting and spinning has not suffered! If you want to see any of this in person look out for the episode coming up this weekend!!

I finished Mr. Native Farmer's socks in 4 days!! Hand-spun and hand-knit wool and alpaca socks to keep him warm here in Edinburgh.

 As I mentioned, Simba has been poorly since last Thursday. Happy to report he is doing just fine now and is back to his good old mischievous self.

Simba was like, do you see the snow??

 Or maybe he was smelling the package from American Soda that my mother sent me!! YAY!! Presents!

 Our tiny dusting of snow!!

And today:

I got a package from the United States!! It has actually been in Edinburgh since December 28th... But since Mr. Native Farmer forgot to put my Flat number on it they said they couldn't deliver it...

Inside was my Christmas presents: Gloves, a carved squirrel, a necklace, Hershey's Cocoa, and... well the last "and" is a surprise!!

 Oh and there was a hoodie in that smelled like wood smoke of my LBFs house!!

Now for Spinning:

This is my spinning is from HilltopCloud.co.uk. It is 60% Shetland, 30% Merino, 10% Seacell.

 

Simba says: What about the other things you have been knitting??

 If you haven't guessed my LBFs real name is Dana, I made him a cowl so you can see who it belongs to FROM SPACE!!

He likes Ninja Turtles Donatello:

Being my first colorwork for real, it was way too small. So I steeked it and add a tunisian crochet knit stitch panel. It made a great fix up and now its nice and warm!!

This pile is Still light... Still working on the same section.

 Well that is me for now! I hope to be doing some more PhD stuff, yay... I have a meeting with my Second Advisor tomorrow and now that I got the house cleaned (Simba had a leaking problem so everything had to be cleaned every day for 4 days straight) I can work my bum off! Well off for now to do some work!

A slight delay

I am going to update the blog and podcast shortly (later this week for the podcast but sooner for the blog) because I have had some issues with my poor kitty Simba. We have hopefully gotten it resolved but I have been in a flux state of watching him, cleaning the flat almost every 2 hours, and not sleeping. Hopefully, things have now settled back down and I have loads of lovelies to talk about and to show you. For now I have a meeting on Wednesday for my PhD and I have still some things to prepare so I hope you all have a great week and I will be podcasting soon and do a blog post within a few days!!

Ok let's get crazy!

I know that New Year Resolutions are the "thing" but I do have wants and goals for 2013. I do have some exciting news I just can't wait to share but that won't be until months down the road and so I have to resolve myself by doing a bit of enabling and some general hints.

The List:

1. I will be moving back to the USA for a cheaply as possible come August.
2. I will be moving a very unhappy kitty and trying not to get killed by said kitty to the USA come August.
3. I will be going back with my new boyfriend, Mr. Native Farmer.
4. Mr. Native Farmer will be coming on his first plane ride EVER to Scotland for 6 months!!
5. I will lose 20lbs, I did it last year and so I will do it this year.
6. I will make sure my house is kept in a much neater state then its current present state (yeah mmhmm).
7. I will try to endeavour to do the list below but the list above are absolutes.

The Crafting List (the one I will change and probably crumple and throw away in a month):

1. I will try and spin ALL my fibre before leaving in August...
2. I will finish the cross stitch lap afghan
3. I will finish other cross stitch patterns
4. I have a Ravelry queue and I need to use it!
1. Shipwreck Shawl
2. Knitmore Girls Vanilla Sock
3. Bubble Afghan
4. Joris
5. Why Knot
6. Starbuck
7. Enchanted French Traveling Cape
8. As You Wish
9. Easy Folded Poncho
10. Encircled
11. Callahan Cabled Blanket
12. Thinking of Waves
13. Weave it!
14. Reversible Baby Blanket
15. Cats in Hats
16. Kelp Forest Shawl
17. Donuts Hoodie
18. Plain and Simple Pullover
5. Do all the other projects I have started and need to finish!
6. Knit with my hand-spun
7. Sell some scarves made form said hand-spun
8. Weaving projects
9. Year of Stash Something and Stash Down 2013 and Knitting Blooms stash downs when they happen.
10. Have tons of fun!

Is it safe to come out yet?

I know the New Year passed and we are beginning at the beginning again. I don't know if anyone realizes that I never post on a Holiday, about a Holiday. Due to this blog being public and open to all kinds of readers I try to cater to as many as possible by just ignoring them all. Boxing day and Burn's Night are specifically UK holidays, so are St. Andrew's Day (which is important to both Scotland and Students) and Hogmanay (which is Scottish New Years). Plus I have my views on all Holidays as do we all so I would rather post after the hype has died down a bit.

That being said, I love the Hype about Craftsy. Ok, so I was on it when the classes were like $49.99 each with no coupon codes and there were about 10 classes. Yup, I have been on it since the beginning, I have no idea how I found it but I have been in love since. Secondly, I heard about Cooperative Press back when they did their first book! Now a bit later the two have magically merge for me at least (they are not affiliated with each other as far as I know). The first book I ever bought from CP was Extreme Double Knitting... and I see it in the Craftsy line up. I look up to make sure it is him and it is!!!! I had to sign up, screw coupon codes or % off sales, just not how I roll with this one. Let me just say, I love you Alasdair Post-Quinn! You can tell from many classes I actually have on Craftsy that I just love the teaching style of all the instructors. Go check it out ;) and nope no coupon code from me, I just wanted to mention it out of the kindness of my own heart.

Source: craftsy.com via Kelly on Pinterest

So I hope to post soon about those elusive goals I will never be keeping and wish you a great January!

Episode 70: Boxing day

Show Notes:
Three Irish Girls -- Wendy Darling
Loop -- Gilly Flower
Wool Gatherings -- Shetland Sampler


Still Light
Greta The Captivating Cat

My craft room lap quilt cross stitch -- Link

Boxing Day fun

So I have recorded a new podcast that should be up in about an hour. Today is Boxing day in the UK and I just wanted to do some updating!

Let's start with spinning... Mr. Native Farmer (if you would like to know why I call him this it is at the bottom of this post) is getting hand-spun socks! I have spun the whole sampler of the Shetland from Wool Gatherings. Then I am going to ply it with the Artesano Alpaca.

Next up is the loop batt... Gilly Flower

This is the outer color since I did as a centre pull roving...

This is me this morning!

Do you see the kitty? Poor thing out in the rain!

Christmas dinner:

Simba after unwrapping his gift of a catnip Duckie from KONG. he LOVES them!

He is called Mr. Native Farmer because he is a Farm hand in WV near where I used to live. He was born and raised there so he is native.