Peachy

I've been spinning up some of the results of the Natural Dyeing experiments from a few weekends ago. This one is dyed with peach leaves: It's a bit more of the silky wool. I think I had about 100g of it on the day and just distributed it around the different options of pots. So there's about 30g in this colour. I love the deep silvery green--especially combined with the silky sheen of the modified wool. I'm spinning it fairly fine and planning to navaho ply the resulting single. What then? I'm not sure. Perhaps it will turn into some gorgeous tiny thing. Or I'll combine it with something else. I've still got the silk caps dyed on the same day. Just spinning it is making me happy for now.

More Team

I'm stitching down the binding on the Sussex Neighbourhood House Raffle Quilt. Yesterday I picked it up from the office, where my friend V had left it for me. She'd promised to do a bit more quilting after J and I had quilted around the main blocks and L had stitched in the diagonals. I was so thrilled to find she'd done this: There's a free-motion floral-star motif in each of the friendship stars and a matching flower in the plain blocks. I was already quite pleased with how the quilt was coming along, but this has added a whole new dimension to it. V decided to keep the borders fairly plain after all that activity in the centre. So the quilting is done and the binding is on. Later today I'll pass it back to J. She's volunteered to stitch down some more of the binding over the weekend. All that will be left to do next week is the label. It's been prepared already with all the important information, but I'm tempted to pretty it up a bit.

The official launch will be at the House Birthday party on Monday 9 August, but raffle tickets are on sale already. And there's a whole other team of people from the Neighbourhood House managing that side of things: counting and labeling tickets, keeping lists, counting money . . . Did I mention I love working with a team!

It's a Sock!

It's a sock. It really is a sock! And I made it myself.

Look, here's my sock:

• Yes, I'm pleased with myself.
• Yes, it was easier than I expected, when I finally got to it.
• Yes, the instructions were lovely and clear.
• Yes, I'm going to make more.

There are just a few loose stitches on the other side (the side you can't see in my proud pic). I'll be a bit more aware of the tension there next time. The one sock took just about one ball of 8-ply (DK) yarn. I have another three balls of this same yarn, so I could end up with two pairs. My toes will be so warm and I'll be ready to try a finer yarn.

Getting There

I've been slowly sneaking up on the sock challenge:

• First I had to manage knitting in the round without tucking a needle under my arm;
  
• Then I graduated to double pointed needles: three and then four;
  
• Holding the needles from below, rather than from above was the next challenge. That allowed me to manage a rib.

Now it's time for the real thing! I've done a cuff; I'm working a bit of a leg and then it will be time to turn the corner. this is it and so far it's really not a problem. I'm thinking of this as a demo sock, so I'm not worrying too much about guage and fit. And I'm working it in 8-ply (DK), so it's going really quickly. I just want to get through the steps one at a time to demystify the process. Then I expect I'll be off and racing.

Slow Start

I've made a slow start today after a disturbed night. I spent most of the morning sitting in my favourite armchair by the window, but I can't do that all day. So to get myself going I plied off the Eucalyptus dyed wool-silk which I spun up last week. Here it is on the bobbin: I've kept it soft, but there's plenty of twist to hold it together and a bit of a fluffy halo to set off the sheen of the silk.

Now what to do with the rest of a slow day? I was thinking I'd take the train into the city and buy the tuning fork I need for my mandolin lesson this evening. I could take some knitting and do as much or as little as I like. On the other hand, the local news tells me there's been a three hour power outage on the City Loop this morning. Perhaps I'd better avoid the trains. Looks like I'm not the only one whose had a slow start to the day, and I'm guessing mine was less frantic and frustrating than the commuters' and Metro staff.

And One More

I had double pointed needles on my wish list when I went to the Craft and Quilt show on the weekend. It would have made sense to look for them the week before at Bendigo, but that was my play it by ear visit and I went without a list. The dpn's I found were bamboo--that's a good thing. I'm enjoying the extra bit of grip they provide. And they came in a set of five, rather than four. I'm surprised at how much easier I'm finding it knitting with this set. Stitches distributed over an even number of needles just seems to make more sense to me and despite having one more pointy stick in my hands, I'm actually finding it less of a juggle.

There's just a tiny bit of this mohair left, so these wristies will be just a little more than woolly bracelets. I found the blueberry pudding set almost too warm when I wore it on the weekend.

It's Moments Like These

I went to the Craft and Quilt Show yesterday afternoon. It was a good show, but one event threatened to overshadow the entire experience. After four or five hours of exploring, browsing, admiring and shopping all over the pavilion, I sat down for a moment to rest my feet. All of a sudden I realised I was no longer carrying my camera. You can imagine how I felt. It's not only that it's a good and expensive camera, but it's my daily companion. I am very fond of my camera. L and I did a quick review of where we'd been. Apart from a couple of stalls where I'd spent more time looking at particular items, it really could have been left anywhere. A quick check of those stalls brought only suggestions to "try the office". I didn't hold out much hope, but at the office was this: A young man who asked me a few intelligent questions about my camera and smiled at my breathless, but accurate answers. Behind the counter was my camera, and on the counter was a jar of lollies, including the very relevant mintie. After I'd taken the photo, I gobbled a mintie. It's moments like these, indeed!

By the way, he really was wearing that hat--all day--it was part of some competition or other. And, no, he didn't get paid any extra to wear it. I asked. It wasn't quite right with the apricot stripes on his uniform shirt, but what the heck.