Inspired

I had a great time at my first Oxford Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers yesterday. There was a really interesting talk on Shropshire sheep by Pippa Geddes and some gorgeous coffee cake with tea and it was just great to see lots of other people spinning and to get ideas for projects and tips on better spinning.

I'm already very excited about the Guild Artweeks competition for which entrants have to weave, spin or dye something inspired by the William Wordsworth poem Daffodils. In fact I was so excited that I got out the Supercook bottles this morning and set to work dyeing sock yarn.



The sock yarn didn't turn out quite as planned as when the dye hit the yarn it resulted in purple rather than a navy blue. This is what I get for being too lazy to trek up to the Co-op and buy black dye and instead trying to darken the blue with red and green. I'm not too disappointed as I really love it, but as it didn't really fit in with the "stars in an evening sky" sock pattern that I'd planned I had another attempt, this time using orange, yellow and green dye and the cream silk which was left over from the Kiri I knit for Aliki's sister's bridesmaid.



This one is much more like I intended and I've already started swatching for a small shawl with daffodil lace motifs.



I've been doing quite a bit of designing in a low-key way this week. I've been swatching in the Artist's Palette Buttersoft that arrived last week and I've nearly finished the first sock in a new pattern:



All it needs is the ribbing and a name.