Alice Jean

... however, it has been a long time. Not because nothing happened in my life, more because a lot of things came up and there is still a lot going on here. One has to make some time to blog and time is one of the things that is really hard to find for me. Do I have a blogplan now? I have some intentions to restart again, but there is no way I can vouch for myself. So... I think I will do some little posts every now and then about some of my woolly projects and that is about it. What to do with a lot of lonely woolly skeins? I made D. a jumper. Started at the bottom of the body, knitting one piece. In the mean time I worked the sleeves. Body and sleeves were joined when I thought they were the good size.  Well, in the end it became something like this. And now some details: Almost all wool used is Bluefaced Leicester, the natural is some other wool. The pattern of the jumper itself is my own, the Fair Isle patterns were found in books or online.

Dory wanted to dye some yarn for her friend. She came up with the colours all by herself and had a good time applying the dyes to the wool. And this is the sweety result: Dory's handpainted Blue Faced Leicester. She might have some talent...

Ever heard of Sokssawat! ? You should have. Greetje makes such wonderful products and she also has a good sense of humor. What to think when one receives a box like this... Some people asked me what was in the box. Well, no secrets hidden here. ;-)Just a few nice thingies, like beautiful soft BFL Aran and BFL sock yarn, some skin care products and Scottish fibre Yes, I like it when my yarn stash grows... and grows... and grows...

Or how to destash about 1100 grams of yarn. Four pairs made of the veggie merino, one pair made out of a mishap of handdyed BFL. Not bad at all. One pair for Mick, one pair for Reese, one pair (with the fluffy cuff) for Dory and two pair of slippers for me. Jerrold says he is still happy with the Matalan slippers. Let him think, we know better. :-)

This is the handspun I got from Sarah some time ago. This is how it looked after the dyebath Finally I picked up this lovely yarn to knit it into a jumper and a pair of legwarmers. Dory worked out the designs and so it became pretty sheepish. :-) Needless to say this is her favourite jumper!

Today is a special day for me. I am not going to point out why, it is not significant. Though on account of that special day I want to give something away It's two skeins of Blue Faced Leicester in the 'Blue Jeans' colourway and a skein of Tencel/ Merino sock yarn in violet. If anyone out there would like to have this yarn (and a bit more), please leave a comment on this post, saying something nice. No matter on what person or subject, just be kind. Let's make this a short 'contest'. It will close by Sunday night (23-11-2008), my daughter will pick the winner on Monday.

Along with my spinning wheel I got that beautiful sliver from her . The aqua-blue-spruce looks now more like this I love how it turned out! I tried my very best to spin thicker than usual. This is about 100m/ 100g, so mission accomplished. I know, I know, it is not perfect yet. I do have to practice and to learn a lot, but it is getting somewhere. And this is the reddish BFL I posted about earlier. Yes, you are looking at a lot of small skeins. That is what one gets when having a 4 year old with a new pair of Ladybird scissors near a drying hank.

Not much news here on the woolly front. Still spinning 200 grams of reddish BFL and spun some silk Also embellished a pair of pants (size small) with a Flower Fairy theme

Here I am, a brand new spinner. And now I know for sure, working with wool has truly become a passion. I only lack a few sheep in the back garden. It all begun with a spinning wheel. A few days ago she brought me an Ashford Kiwi (Where is Igglepiggle hiding?) And not only the wheel, she made me this gorgeous threading hook and dyed some sliver in the most beautiful colours. I love them both! This afternoon I had my first spinning lesson. Learned how to spin, how to ply and even Navajo plying. The first photo shows some BFL, the photo at the bottom is a merino. I think this will become an addiction...

Blue Kiwi Tango Aran BFL, size 2-3 years. 'Sorbet' Aran BFL, size Small Aran BFL purchased from Jimmy Riddles . size Small