Down on the Farm

I had a great time yesterday at the OGWSD Fleece to Blanket day in Bledlow. The day took place at Gina's beautiful farm and we were spinning the fleece of her male sheep, Bo, a Blue Faced Leicester cross. Since Bo died at Christmas when only 20 months old we would be giving the finished blanket (or at least the knitted squares) to Gina to keep as a memento of him.

First of all Carole showed us how to grade a fleece and showed us where the coarsest and softest fibre was to be found.



After skirting the fleece she told us how we could feel the difference between the sides (quite coarse), the back (much softer), and the neck fleece (very soft). She also told us to watch out for kemp which the OED defines as "A coarse or stout hair..occurring among wool" and which is the thick, plasticky feeling, white or black hair that you sometimes find in fleece. A fleece with a lot of kemp is to be avoided.

Once Carole had explained what was what we all grabbed a handful and started spinning.



Most of the group were sat under the big gazebo but there also was a group of four spinners (not pictured) a little way away under a tree leading to lots of jokes about break away groups and the main peloton. If it was a race then Megan was the winner as she completed the first knitted square with Kate second and myself third (yay).



Whilst knitting my square I wandered over to see the sheep. They were very friendly and inquisitive. They started off over there.



And gradually ended up here.



By the end of the day we didn't quite have a blanket but we did have a decent collection of 6" squares (I'm afraid that Gina is going to have to sew up her own blanket).



My log cabin square is centre right. I really enjoyed spinning in the grease and it was quite a challenge to spin the uncarded fibre. I ended up with a somewhat lumpier but still knittable yarn than I usually go for. Knitting in the grease, however, is something that I can't really recommend. It's just so sticky. For that reason I've cheated a bit and washed my final skein of yarn which I hope to knit up quickly and pop in the post to Gina. I'll post a picture once it's dried so you can see the amazing difference in colour and feel.

Knit One (and Other)

On Monday evening I went to see One and Other (aka "the plinth") in Trafalgar Square in company with Felix, Lara, Brenda Dayne and a bunch of other knitters. We were all there to see Marian Cinnamond who was up there knitting on what looked like a sleeve between 6 and 7pm.



It was such a delight to meet Brenda who is the host of Cast-On my favourite knitting podcast. I've been listening to Brenda's while I knit for around four years now so it seemed perfectly normal to be sat alongside her in Trafalgar Square in the sunshine knitting and watching her swatch for another Liesl.



Felix was also swatching but on the gigantic needles with the ultra-chunky Swaledale rope yarn from Prick Your Finger.



Lara braved the very mucky floor and knit on her sock.



It was really fantastic to see the people on the plinth and to feel all the energy and enthusiasm around the project. If you're in London in the next couple of months I really urge you to take an hour and head over there - it's really inspiring. In fact I was so inspired that I've just signed up for the ballot now.

Best of the weekend*

Best spinning:



Superwash merino/seacell blend from The Thylacine. This is spinning up beautifully smooth and even and I'm already onto the second ply. You can get through a lot of fibre during a Tour stage.

Best plying:



Shetland fibre in Moody from Old Maiden Aunt. I love this so much. I had a bit of a 'mare plying it because I broke the thread a couple of times and then couldn't find the end (argh!) but I managed it somehow (by dint of winding off little bits onto cotton spools) and have ended up with over 400 metres of fingering weight yarn.

Best jamming:



The Co-op had yellow-stickered gooseberries when I went in to buy provisions for lunch on Sunday so I bought a punnet on impulse and made gooseberry and ginger jam in the afternoon. I think I had my best jam making result yet as I actually managed to heat the jam to the setting point for the first time after realising that I had to split it into smaller batches to avoid it boiling over before reaching 104 degrees C. I had some on toast this morning and it was yummy.

Best cake:



I ran all the way to Oxford (just under 8 miles) for this cake and boy was it worth it. I even, despite having to run for the bus on the way back, managed to get it home in pristine condition which almost never happens. I ate it with a cup of Clipper decaf tea whilst watching Sunday's stage of the Tour (which I am enjoying hugely) and spinning the lovely sock fibre.

Best flowers:





Roses in the Blenheim Palace rose garden which is now in full swing.

Best surprise:





Half marks to everyone who guessed it was a baby surprise jacket. It's actually a lady surprise shrug. I didn't have to make any mods to the pattern on this, apart from knitting it on 5mm needles, but I have big plans for a lady surprise sweater in Garthenor organic yarn which will be amazing.

* idea shamelessly homaged/plagiarised from WordsandStitches

It's not a race, but am I winning?

Felix and I were going head to head on our surprise projects last night in the pub. I was about 4 hours knitting-time behind her but Felix is working a larger size, with mods which means more ripping-out potential. Is it enough to compensate for (as Felix put it) my handicap of a nine-to-five job?



I'm about 6 rows (and they're long rows) from the end which might mean that I get to do the astound-your-friends flipping it right side out bit at work. That would be cool. The only downside about this whole project is it's taking far less yarn than I thought it would - so much for a stashbuster!*

In other news I plan to be in Lun-don on the evening of Monday July 13th when not one, but two knitters will be doing their fibre thing up on the 4th Plinth. I can't stick around for the second slot between 10 and 11 due to boring things like last buses but I'll be there between 6 and 7 for sure.

* but this is fine really because this yarn would make an a-ma-zing sideways garter stitch scarf for someone this Christmas. Lucky I like my garter stitch.

Like butter

I'm currently hooked on garter stitch on 5mm needles. When I've not been working on the handspun log cabin blanket I've been working on this.



The yarn is Artist's Palette Buttersoft dk (shade BS7009 in case you're interested) and it really lives up to its name. I am foolishly entranced by the colour changes which work so well in the garter stitch. If there is pooling going on then I've not noticed it.

As for the pattern - let's just say you'll be surprised.

Sew Sunday

Having managed to score the necessary beads for the Amy Butler necklace at Jacksons on Saturday I spent a happy couple of hours on Sunday morning watching Emma on ITV3 and cutting fabric on the bias.



I found the pattern in the Rowan Newsletter for February which was handed out at UK Ravelry day but it's also available online here as a pdf. It's a really great pattern for practising cutting on the bias and for using up bits and pieces of fabric. The beads themselves were 7p each from Jacksons (and I'm sure they're available elsewhere) so with 22 beads in this necklace and 14 in my second it's a fairly inexpensive project too.

After finishing the necklace we headed off to Blenheim with the plan of having lunch and then walking it off. Sadly we only really managed the lunch part (yummy sausages and chicken pie from Foxbury Farm) as my legs were still shot from Saturday's long walk.

Jurassic Berkshire

I met up with Felix in Reading yesterday for and epic walk that seemed to take in most of north-west Berkshire! It's a bit tricky to plot on Map My Walk without the OS map to hand but it was at least twelve miles.

After a yummy lunch (sourdough bread, goat's cheese, gooseberry jam and salsa, followed by stewed rhubarb and yoghurt) at Felix's flat we set off eastwards along the Thames path to Sonning Lock



and on to Shiplake before heading north to our first pub stop at the White Hart White Hart for a much needed shandy and some tasty freebie bar snacks. After the White Hart we headed through some gorgeous forest and across Binfield Heath and started making our way south back towards the Thames. After another shandy stop we finally made it back to reading train station at five minutes past eight (we set out at two!) just in time for me to leap on the Oxford train.

As well as the wondeful walk the day included lots of crafty goodness. Before lunch we popped into Jackson's so Felix could exchange some yarn and I picked up some poly beads - just the thing I had been looking for for ages - for an Amy Butler necklace project. Then I introduced Felix to Bollo the bifflosaur (he's made from handspun bfl). I knit Bollo on Friday evening after receiving an email from Kirsty asking if anyone fancied knitting a dinosaur for a production at the National Theatre*. I didn't have a dinosaur pattern but just cast on at the tail and increased or decreased depending on what shape I thought the dinosaur should be at that point (Felix told me about this method for knitting fruit and vegetable) until I got to the head. Then I attached four stumpy legs and my favourite black beady eyes and voila.



Of course Bollo had to have an adventure whilst he was out with us.



He enjoyed sipping the Brakspear shandy and nibbling the bar snacks.



He was a bit scared by the Egyptian geese though and stayed in the backpack.



Finally I got to try out my make-do-and-mendy walking skirt which I made during the Murray-Wawrinka match on Monday.



The skirt used to be a pair of coarse linen cropped trousers from Topshop. Always snugly fitting they had now become rather too snug around certain areas so they were a prime candidate for refashioning. I ripped up the inside leg seam to the crotch then sewed a straight seam down the back as far as I could and added a triangular insert to the front. I used some leftover Amy Butler cotton for the detailing. The skirt was extremely comfortable for walking in and as practical as trousers or shorts. I really love the large front pockets which held my camera or my suncream comfortably, much more comfortably in fact than when they were trouser due to the A-line.

* if you too want to knit a dinosaur for Matthew Robins production you can find his contact details here. And if you just want to knit a dinosaur I'll be putting the pattern for Bollo up as soon as it's written.