More Spinning

Well it's already the last day of the month, I haven't been doing much in the way of crafting really but I have been doing a little spinning:

Fibre: Ashford's 70% merino 30% Alpaca
Colour: Rosehip
2 ply yarn
4 ply weight finished yarn
skein: 92g/ 355mtrs

Fibre: Halfbred combed top
Colour: Light Fawn
3 ply ('N' Plied)
Sport weight finished yarn
Skein: 254g/565mtrs

Princess Baby Bonnet

I finished the baby bonnet, but I ran out of yarn and didn't have enough to do a knitted tie cord so I made a twisted cord instead:

The bonnet is knit flat in one piece and shaped with short rows at the bottom edge.
The back of the head is then worked in two halves and grafted together along the centre back. The pattern is A bonnet for Every Princess.
It took 27g of yarn.

Vintage Yarn ~ In Pinks!

I confess that I broke the yarn diet for a second time, but I had good reason ~ a small stash of vintage yarns that crossed my path, how could I say no?:

87g of Jamieson & Smith 2ply jumper weight in the bottom cake.
94g of the same yarn in a different colour (3 cakes) and a skein of Rowan 4ply Botany. Now don't they just go so well together?

I'm surprised to find that Jamieson & Smith still produce these 2 shades of heathery pinks.





This week's spinning project is ~ black Suri alpaca blended with merino and silk, beautiful fibre. I shall post pics tomorrow.

Hikoo CoBaSi...

I recently received some beautiful yarn that was something totally new to me, Hikoo CoBaSi. It's a blend of cotton, bamboo, silk and elastic. The yarn looks very tightly spun when it is in the skein. I had 2 skeins of chocolate brown and 1 of olive green:

So I just had to knit a pair of two-tone socks, I used exactly 1 skein of each colour. This is a very easy pattern. This pair are for my hubby and I made them slightly smaller than I normally would due to the elasticity of the yarn. Once knit up it has very good stitch definition and forms a nice smooth fabric.

I have one skein of the brown left and I'm tempted to order another skein of a different colour, maybe pink, and make a pair for myself, but I'm still on a yarn diet!

Knitting Up The Stash...

Way back in January I decided to go on a yarn and fibre diet, my stash has got way out of control and is slowly taking over my house. So ~ no yarn purchases for me unless:
1. It's for a swap (is being sent away)
2. I need to purchase something to finish off something made from my stash yarn and fibre.

So far so good. I have started knitting these, all from the stash:

1. Cockatoo Brae

I knit the body parts of this on my knitting machine then picked up stitches and hand knit the ribs. I haven't seamed a sweater for years and quite enjoyed doing it the old fashioned way.
I'm still not 100% sure about the colours I chose for the patterned yoke, they are all oddments of Knit Picks Palette yarn. The main body yarn is a soft fingering weight Colourmart merino that I've had for years. Not far from the finish line with this knit.




2. Low Tide:

This yarn is merino/bamboo sock yarn I dyed in blues and greys a few years ago, it was always destined for another knit but I could never get the right gauge or a fabric I liked with it. Seems like this pattern and yarn were just meant to be together as I got gauge first try on the specified needles and love the knitted fabric!








3. A handmade gift for a swap I'm taking part in over on Ravelry. I can't say or show what it is just in case my swappee sees this but will post a photo after it has been received.

I also sorted out this yarn to knit a snowflake sweater for myself:

The grey is DK weight Gotland and the purple is sublime merino. Grey for the body and purple for the yoke. I'm looking forward to wearing these in the colder weather, and as today is officially the last day of Summer.......









I also finished off knitting my entry for the National Exhibition, it was a real labour of love. Here's a peek: