Lazyblog@Lazykate

What a difference a ply makes

2012-01-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

Ouch, that's such a nasty pun, I wouln't blame you if you're wincing right now.

I've been dyeing this particular dye shade for quite a few years now. I first used the shades in the autumn when the blackberries were out and I picked dyes that I thought I could see in the foliage and berries, purples, lilacs and greens. It's evolved differently every time I've done it, but here it is in two different plys. The first is a chunky yarn, (7pi) with thick and thin singles plied together. I posted (I think) a scarf knitted up in this very yarn.

Today I've just finished plying up the same dye lot as a 4ply, (14wpi) and I'm hoping that this yarn will inspire a local button maker tomorrow. I'll post some more information when I've had a deep and meaningful chat with her - and not before!

The lighting obviously different but I think that pulling those fibres into a thinner single makes the colours more muted, gentler somehow. I like them both, but definately very different animals.

The dye lot is called Kizzie and is available on Etsy if you like it. Thats all for now, just a quick one but I'll be back soon.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/91873165/kizzie-handspun-yarn

My article in The Knitter !!

2012-01-25T07:17:00.000-08:00

I'm so pleased to be able to share at last that my article Spinning Yarn on A Wheel - A Spinning Masterclass has been published in the current issue of The Knitter!

The article takes you step by step through the parts of the wheel, choosing fibres and then spinning through from drafting to plying.

This is a first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the process, I suppose because I love spinning so much, the opportunity to write about it was just wonderful! I think I will be unbearable to live with over the coming weeks. I bought three copies in WHSmiths today (taking the cellophane off the magazine to have a nosey before I bought it). I thought the shop assistant was going to take me outside and have me shot! I bought a copy for my myself, my mum and my nan, the circulation of The Knitter could rise considerably just with sales for my family alone.

Anyway, onto other things, a little while ago I posted A Waste Dye Dilemma post. Wasting dye is something that does bother me, so I did a little experiment and dyed these fibres.

Sometimes, you can be left with dye in the pot, preferably there should be non, it should all have been soaked up by the fibres, but you know, we're not all perfect and there may be dye left. The dye remaining from this dye lot, dyed these fibres this colour

And those fibres then spun up like this

I'm really pleased with it, it has a beautiful sheen, which I think shows up well on the photo, and I've started knitting it for my Baker's quilt, which is coming on a treat. I'm really enjoying it and can knit while looking up sometimes (at the telly). I believe that makes me practically professional. Or something.

Speak soon

Baker's Quilt

2012-01-22T02:20:00.000-08:00

OK, so maybe I should have tried having a go at the Beekeepers Quilt before I started posting all my grandiose ideas about how I was going to use up all my leftover yarn blah blah blah.

I started and lo and behold I couldn't finish. I am a relatively new knitter, for me the spinning is the thing and I'm afraid that often knitting takes a second place to it. So, a little bit despondantly I took the pattern, yarn and needles along to the Knit-Wise Knit'n'natter that I attend on a Tuesday night and had a word with Super Knitter Myra who took one look at the pattern, pronounced it a leeetttle bit too adventurous for my capability and in her head immediatley invented an easier version. By the look of the Beekeepers Quilt forum on Ravelry, I'm not on my own in struggling with it, so maybe there will be others who would appreciate this simpler version. We're calling it the Baker's Quilt, little square squidgy loaves of yarn. (or other less twee descriptions)

Whereas the Beekeepers Quilt uses hexagons, this version uses squares. I used yarn spun to 4ply and 4mm DPNs, but if you use larger needles, you get a larger square, depends what you want.

Here's how you do it:

Cast on 10 stitches.

M1 on each stitch, so that you end up with 20 stitches

There are my lovely 20 stitches on my DPNs. The more observant of you will see that my knitting is not the neatest and not the best. Please don't cry, because there is more.

The pattern goes as follows

K1, Yfwd, Sl1, Yback, and repeat

Knit in this manner until you have a square. It should look something like this, although yours could
be so much neater.

At this point, you will need to separate your stitches onto two other DPNs, first stitch on one needle, second on the other, third on the first need etc, until you have 10 stitches on each needle. You should then be able to open the pouch so that it looks like this:

So, now it's time to fill the pouch with a little wadding, so that there will be a comfortable bounce in your finished blanket.

Now it's time to cast off, go through the two stitches together and knit them and then cast off as you normally would.

You should end up with a little filled pouch of wonder like this one (if you're lucky),

My casting off tension is a little bit too tight but people in the know tell me that if I use a larger needle, my problems would be over. Tiny Owl Knits says that one of the best things about knitting this way is that you can knit on the go, and it's absolutely true, its so easy and portable.

I've been able to knit up eleven in quite a short period of time and, surprisingly have got to the point where I can knit and almost follow the plot of Borgen (Danish subtitled political drama). Almost.

It's on its way! And for a novice knitter, I'm quite pleased.

I've taken the information I've written here directly from the Knit-Wise blog (which I also write) as it's Myra's pattern and so deserves to be on there, so that is why it's repeated if you're wondering.

http://www.knit-wise.co.uk/blog/content/bakers-quilt

In other spinning news, this yarn has been knitted up into a scarf, I don't know if this picture does it justice but it'll give you an idea.

Ginny knitted this up with some little bobbles at the bottom and a cute hand embroidered edge, which I'm afraid on these photos doesn't really show up. I have, and am wearing this scarf. I really must stop knitting up the wool I intend to sell, but I can't help it - it's too tempting!

speak soon

Cathy

Beekeepers Quilt for Leftover yarns

2012-01-07T03:02:00.000-08:00

My favourite type of spinning is to a 4 ply, I find it easier to keep consistent, although when I have a lot to do I can start to lose the will to live half way through. You know how it is, spinning a chunky yarn gives almost instant gratification.

So, when I have little bits and bobs of leftover fibres I almost always spin it to 4 ply, so I've decided to have a go at the wonderful Beekeepers Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits

I think that this would really suit all the little handspun 4ply leftovers that we have and make something very beautiful. As I've said before on here, I really struggle with wanting to knit anything that's more difficult than knitting and purling and I think that's all that's used here. AND it uses DPNs which I can't use either, so quite a big learning curve but because the hexagonals are quite small it should be do-able. I'll be taking the pattern along the the Tuesday night Knit'n'natter to get started.

These are the yarns that I thought would go together quite well

I'll add more after I've finished these two. If you fancy having a go yourself, here's a link to the Tiny Owl Knits Beekeepers Quilt

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-beekeepers-quilt

I had hoped to be posting some new dyed fibres but unfortunately I've been laid low with a stinker of a cold and am posting here with sudocrem on my top lip a la Adolf Hitler. I'll hopefully be back up and dyeing on Monday

See you for now.

New Year - new stuff

2012-01-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not one for New Years resolutions and yet the 1st January seems an excellent place to start with new stuff.

So, we have new Niddy noddies going onto etsy and although this is a tragic photo I though I would upload it anyway. The light is atrocious at the moment for photographs so I'll not use this for etsy but I'd like to show it on here just as a sneaky peak.

Niddy noddy with a curvy midriff

The first set of niddy noddies all sold out over the holidays and so Jim has made us a batch more, mostly in the same style but these two were a little bit different. I like that we've got a bit of versatility and I think they look great. I will try and photograph them again tomorrow to put on etsy, I'll see how the light goes.

Talking of photographs and setting new goals - I would like to be able to take some better pictures than I am doing now. This is not really a difficult thing to do as my photography skill are somewhat lacking. But, we have a great camera, a Nikon somethingorother so it's only my ability that is holding things back.

I came across this site - blipfoto while I was reading Helen Cowans blog. I've read her blog for a few years now and her photography is just brilliant. She keeps some of her fantastic pics on blipfoto.

The idea is that you take a photo a day and load it up to an online journal. There are forums and tutorials to help you improve and by the end of the year you will have a record of what you've taken and also (hopefully) see how much more excellent you have become. I've started today, which granted is the 2nd so I'm already behind (no change there) but I've started so I intend to finish. (not really very good at finishing either).


Our very fat dog, Brodie

I will try to keep posting my efforts, I think even if my photos never get to be brilliant, at the end of the year I will have a lovely record of our life.

Here's a link if you'd like a look
http://www.blipfoto.com/

See you soon

Fruit Cake & Baking Bread

2011-12-19T02:44:00.000-08:00

We normally head off to Center Parcs at this time of year but as Mimi has started High School this year we thought we'd better be good and keep her in school. So! We've decided to have bonding days instead. This Tuesday was bread baking and cake making.

I haven't posted a recipe on this blog before but this is a seriously good one, easy too.

Boil in the Pan Fruit Cake

Cooking Time approx 1 1/4 hours

Oven Temp 150 electric gas mark 2

Ingredients

4oz butter
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 cups self raising flour
at least 2 cups dried fruit
2 eggs

Put the butter, sugar, milk and fruit into a pan, melt it all together and then bring to the boil. Let it boil for five minutes, stirring once or twice to mix.

Let it stand for 5 minutes. Whisk the eggs, then alternatively add the flour and eggs to the pan and mix.

Line bread tin with greaseproof paper and put the mixture in, cover the top loosely with tin foil.

Cook for 1 hour then remove the foil and cook for approximately 15 minutes more. Keep checking to see when it's ready. Much will depend on the amount of fruit and your own oven.

Try not to make the mistake as I did a few weeks ago of adding the flour before you try to boil the mixture. But! if you do, it's not the end of the world. It tasted fine.

Note the carefully placed greaseproof paper. Are you worried Nigella?

Our bread making went something like this:

We used Nigella's bread recipe which uses half white bread flour and half wholemeal which produces a lighter loaf. Not that my dad and me are competitive, but he was told about five years ago on a bread making course that he had made the best loaf. Have I ever heard the last of it?

So our loaves went something like this

Kneading the loaf. He doesn't want to be pictured since that unfortunate incident in Lytham in 1967.

Loaf ready to be left to rise

Risen!

My dad decided to go for the old boring tin method. I have to say though with the sun shining through the window it's pretty enough to make the Hovis boy weep. And it tasted good too.

Slightly ashamed of my cow pat version, even with the sun on it. Tasted great though!

I promise we'll be back to woolly things soon.

December Spinning Workshop & New Fibres

2011-12-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

Saturday was spent in the safety of Knit-Wise's upstairs, out of the chilly wind and the rain, drinking tea, eating biscuits and fighting with spinning wheels. Despite checking the wheels on Friday there was definitely a case of revenge of the machines, even from Alison's NEW Ashford Joy wheel which she brought from home.

Despite this, Gill and Annette managed to spin two skeins each and Alison spun Corriedale and Soybean fibre The women were victorious!!

Annette with the first of her skeins

                                  Gill with her first skein, could be smiling or could be about to
                                                    throw the wheel right out of the window

It's always great to meet new friends through a love of textiles and Annette and Gill are both incredibly interesting, both have done City & Guilds in Textiles and Annette is in the process of completing a Fine Arts Degree at John Moores University in Liverpool. It will be interesting to see how have spinning fibre as another string to their quite substantial bows shows itself.

I'm drowning a little bit in fibre at the moment, hopefully in the next few days I'll be posting some new fibre onto my etsy shop (which I have to say is looking a little bit depleted at the moment). The aforementioned soybean fibre, which both myself and Alison loved, will be on there in packs of 100g and also smaller packs to have a little go at if you're not sure. I think this image shows the beautiful colour of the soybean which spins similarly to silk, a short staple and quite a lot of it up your nose.

It's either like a cossetted Princess' flowing locks or a tatty dogs underbelly. You can decide.
The bamboo fibres look very lovely too

Beautiful.. but not as lovely as the Princess locks soybean. There will also be some flax and some Wensleydale. Not sure about flax really, but as soon as I've spun some I will report back.

Just to finish on, here's a link to something that has had me laughing all week. If you're feeling a bit down, watch this a couple of times. It you don't laugh, check your pulse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnQuYq2AGek

See you soon

Waste Dye Dilemma

2011-11-28T06:59:00.001-08:00

None of us want to be accused of wasting anything these days -frugal is very much the way forward. Ask my daughter who has manfully tried to put on a brave face despite clearly disliking fried potato cakes (from last nights mash). She's a trouper!

So no dyer worth her salt would leave any dye in her pot that had not been soaked up by fibres!

I dyed some dark blue/navy merino fibres for the felted lilies that I rambled on about in the last post. I'd also dyed some red dye for the little kits that go along with the Lydia flower on the same day and there was clearly way too much dye just to throw down the drain. From a money point of view but also from a green angle - you can't just be tipping it away!

So I decided to do a little experiement and post it on here - would the resulting left over dye be anything to shout about. I was soooo tempted to stick some other colours in there with the blue, it looked a little bit boring and insiped - but in the interests of a deeply important and scientific experiment I let it be and didn't interfere in any way.

With the blue dye, I had clearly not thought everything through (see, it didn't stay scientific for long) and weighed out too many fibres for the amount of dye water that remained in the pot so already the insipid dye was going to be watered down further. ( I feel this lack of attention to detail will limit my attempts at a nobel prize). With the red dye, there was plenty of water so the 200g of merino just went straight in. I also put an extra glug of vinegar in for good measure - I don't like dye that runs.

The resulting blue fibres I really like - they have a smoky grey hue to them and I'd like to spin them up. I think that I have slightly felted them which is annoying, but not so much that I couldn't spin them so I'll keep them for me. Me me me.

The red dye, well I don't know. The original red is post boxy and rich and the remainder fibres are lipsticky and pink. Do I not like them because they aren't very nice or do I not like them because they are not naturally my colours? Was that sentence gramatically incorrect in every way?

Lovely richy redness

Is it lovely or is it insipid?

While I do think that it's important not to pollute, or to waste dye, I also think that it's no good having lots of dyed fibres in colours you don't like waiting for a project that you may never do. The pink may stay. I'll see....

Felted Flowers

2011-11-28T06:03:00.001-08:00

One piece of advice that my Grandad gave to me when I was about 14 and he didn't talk very much so it has stayed etched in my mind is 'don't volunteer to do anything'. At the time I thought it was a little bit of an unkind thing to say but I can't tell you how many times it has come back to haunt me over the years.

I volunteered to make some felted flowers for a wedding, I'd seen something that I'd like to do at Woolfest last year, felted lilies and so I was inspired to have a go - FOR A WEDDING! Not for fun.

So I got in touch with Liz Brown from Heartfelt by Liz and she sent me some information. I have to say that I'd already starting experimenting and so didn't go down the road Liz took for her flowers (she uses silk hankies which from experience spend most of the time sticking to anywhere other than where they should be. So, I decided to go it alone, but I'd definitely recommend Liz's felted flower pack if you want to have a go.

http://www.heartfeltbyliz.com/

The difficulty with petals is that you can't lay the fibres in adjacent layers, because if you use merino as I do, the staple (length) of the fibre is too long so you are unable to get a thin petal, like you would need in a lily. You therefore have to make sure you have enough layers to make sure that your petal is thick enough. This is why, I'm sure, the hankies are used in a nuno felt style.

I laid the fibres out in a petal style, I used white for the base layers, at least four of them and then over that laid some blue wispy layers. I covered the petals with net and bubble wrap and then squirted hot soapy water over. I then rolled it gently with a rolling pin. This gives an even pressure and stops your design from moving too much - sometimes even gentle pressure with the hands can be too much. After a couple of rolls, I lifted the net and placed on a line of dark fibre down the centre of the petal.

These darker accent fibres could be rolled in your fingers first so that they stay in the line you want rather than being wispy like the lighter blue.

Then you're off with the rolling, opening, turning, rolling, opening, turning of feltmaking until our fibres have felted together and started to shrink.

I wanted the centre to be very firm and so I rolled it for a while in the bamboo mat like this

Be careful at this point that your fibres don't become felted to each other! I also moulded the middle on the end of the niddy noddy, or you could use the rolling pin from earlier if you don't have a niddy noddy. Why would you not have a niddy noddy?

Anyway, keep working it, your felt will become firm, but if you need any extra stiffener, you can use fabric stiffener, I have some that I bought from Art Van Go. Some places will recommend that watered down PVA is good to stiffen fabric but I wouldn't use it, it has the tendency to discolour (and can be a little bit smelly)

Here's our finished flowers (on my kitchen table). I have to thank my friend Linda for all her help and stickability. I was losing the will to live at about a quarter of the way through!

I hope this has made some kind of sense. If you have a go, let me see your finished articles. We can swap notes!

Next time

Spinning Workshop & Attaching fibre

2011-11-18T01:34:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely day on Saturday at Knit-Wise at the spinning workshop. There was just the three of us, Diane from Southport who brought with her just the prettiest wheel I have seen in a long time and Rachel who came all the way over from Wakefield as a birthday present from her friend Debbie.

After dealing with the Ormskirk one way system for forty five minutes Debbie finally found somewhere to park and we were pleased that she'd stuck with it and hadn't turned on her heel and got straight back over the border back to Yorkshire. Rachel took to spinning very quickly, although it feels like you're the slowest spinner in the west when you're a beginner, Rachel really did well and by the end of the day had two skeins, only equaled by Heather Two Skeins from September fame!

Diane had spun before and was coming to check her attaching the wool ability, which I have to say was just fine. Remember that the fibres at the end of your tops or rolag want to join onto the leader, but if you're relatively new at spinning or a little unsure, give it at least 10cm for those fibres to hold onto. Lay the fibres underneath the leader and treadle a little, let the fibres attach and then slowly pull your tops or rolag down, letting the spin take hold of the fibres. The spin will make the fibres strong. Practise it a few times, we all want to do it well but also remember that if you're a beginner, these things will come. If you can't do it as well as you want for now, give it a little bit of a break and come back to it. Long concentration and tiredness will all make learning difficulter.

Our next two workshops are full so we're looking a February now for classes which is just fantastic - more people wanting to learn is a great thing and helps keep the craft alive!

Just a note on Diane's wheel which was really the prettiest wheel I've ever seen, the photo doesn't do it justice, but (and I'm sure she wouldn't mind me saying) it was second hand. It just shows you that if you shop around you can find a wonderful second hand wheel without breaking the bank. Before you part with your well earned, get in touch with your local guild and ask them to ask around, believe me there is a bargain to be had.

Speak soon

Cathy

The launch of the Wrathall Niddy Noddy

2011-11-11T03:12:00.001-08:00

This post could change spinning forever!

Meet Jim - apart from being the cleverest man on earth, Jim is a dab hand in the woodwork department

Now you can see from the picture that this is Jim in the nerve centre/control room and this is where he controls the world Lately he has been slightly distracted making bobbins, niddy noddies and lazykates for me, which is possibly why Eurozone has gone a little bit to pot.

But! Have you seen the niddy noddy?

It's made of pine and is incredibly light, so it means that if you're winding a lot of yarn, you arm doesn't become so tired. He's also put the little ridges to stop the yarn slipping so that you have more control and your measurement is more exact (so if you're selling your yarn, that's a real plus). And the measurement of two yards is exact.

This one is sold and I had to borrow it back (thanks Marie) to photograph it. The ladies in our guild were all very enthusiastic and orders are in, but if you would like it, here is a link to my etsy page.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85865026/the-wrathall-niddy-noddy

There is a lazykate on the way too, which I'll post asap.

It's very interesting to get an engineers perspective on spinning accessories. As spinners, probably our motivation is the love of the yarn, the fibre or our sheep. But Jim asked so many questions - why do you do this? What happens if...? And so the items he makes answer the questions you don't even realise you ask. For instance, Jim said

"The way this lazykate is made means that when you ply from the table, it will fall over. What do you do about that"

"I ply with the lazykate on the floor."

"Don't you sometimes want to ply with it on the table?"

"Yes"

"What do you do then?"

"I don't"

You see - deep and meaningful conversations, that have come up with some very interesting things made by Jim. I took his lazykate to the guild on Tuesday and left it in the shop so I haven't got a photograph of it, but I will take one tomorrow and post it on Monday. It kind of blew our minds a little bit.

Thank goodness he uses his powers for good!

Lydia Flower available on Ravelry too!

2011-11-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Here is the second of our free downloads back again on Ravelry - like the Alice Scarf & Beanie it was first seen in Knit on the Net but hasn't been available for a while. So we hope you like it and knit away.

here's a little link:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lydia-flowers

I was having a look at UK Handmade magazine website and found, under the local section was the Hoolala Circus who are hosting a Bicycle Basket Boutique craft fair at Southport Market. I think it looks fab. I thought that I could knit a few Lydia flowers for the outside of my bike basket! Unfortunately I'm away in Manchester that weekend so I can't attend but I think it's a great idea and I'm sorry I can't join in.

Just imagine how much yarn you could fit in that huge basket.

What made me laugh was the list of do's and don'ts. (the apostrophes don't look right there but the whole thing is making me a bit light-headed).

Goods allowed for sale: handmade goods, homegrown vegetables, paintings & art, vintage & collectables (20 years or older), textiles knitting & crochet, homemade cakes & biscuits, and clothing.

Goods NOT allowed for sale: antiquities from ancient burial sites, live animals, body parts, firearms & weapons, poisons & witchcraft, grated goods.

I think a couple of chickens in that basket along with a false leg and an AK47 would look quite interesting. In fact, I thought I saw someone with a witches hat riding a bike just like that round here on Halloween.

They have a facebook page if you want to like it, you could pop over and have a look at mine too if you like!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Bicycle-Basket-Boutique/293210397371167

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lazykate-Handspun-Yarn/150686551664405

Anyway, I think that's enough links to be going on for now, even for a devoted link lover like me!

See you soon

Alice Scarf & Beanie available again!

2011-11-03T02:10:00.000-07:00

Who thought that there would be some much to learn re computers when it comes to spinning/knitting/dyeing etc?! I spent yesterday changing patterns to pdf and uploading pictures patterns etc. My very small brain meant that the whole process took about three times longer than it should have done and involved hitting my head on the table while Mark & Myra (knit-wise) brought me cups of tea and made there there sounds.

But here it is, the uploaded, new photographed Alice Scarf and Beanie which was first published in Knit on the net by computer types but now is on ravelry as a pdf download for free, done by me!! I only needed tech support on ravelry about three times! Now I've done it, I think I'll do it again.

Here is lovely Millie is her best Cherly Cole staring into middle distance pose (some models have just got it you know!) She was very brave because it was a bit chilly.

Here's a close up of the flower which can be embellished with buttons, beads, or if you're a fan of felted balls you could do a little one and put it in the middle. I've used my own handspun yarn in double knitting for this scarf (you could use any yarn, but don't tell anyone).

Here's the link

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lazykate/alice-beanie--scarf

I'll be uploading again soon. (If I say it here, it means I have to do it)

See you soon

Childrens Felting at Knit-Wise

2011-10-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

These are the words that accompany my husband's visits to the Lake District - walking, fresh air, fells, hiking, deep breaths, bracing, pub. These are mine - sitting, log fires, hot chocolate, shopping, reading the paper, pub.

At least there is one thing we agree on and I suppose that's all you need. We spent a couple of hours at the Wainwright pub somewhere in the Lakes and a lovely mooch around Chesters by the River at Skelwith bridge. And we did see a deer, in it's natural habitat as it bounded through the bracken to escape us and the dog. The dog did try to do a deer impression by bounding too, it lasted about 30 seconds on account of her big fat belly. I had my camera round my neck, but was so amazed at seeing a deer in it's natural habitat I didn't photograph it. What a fool!

Here is a picture of my daughter looking suspiciously superimposed on the image but it is true, and it gives an idea of the different greens you can see at this time of year. We had decided to do a sample of greens in our sketchbooks (get us), but the cold rock we were sitting on was pile inducing so we moved on.

Today we spent the morning felting at Knit-Wise in Ormskirk with a motley crew of 6 children. Fun seemed to be had by all and then a lie down was needed by anyone over 21.

The felt that the children made was really good. I was impressed with their ability and they went away with a new set of skills to carry on at home.

We used hand dyed fibres for todays class and because of the dyes in the fibres, the children were able to mix the colours which gave a wonderful effect. At one point there was felting, knitting, colouring and beading going on at the same time which obviously had been planned by the children to keep us adults on our toes but we survived. Sometimes we even gave the impression that we were in control.

Here's one of the finished items, with embellishment!

I think this is wonderful, probably one of the best pieces of felt that I have seen in a long, long time Who did it? Oh, my neice!

See you soon x

Fame on sfeltaccessories blog!

2011-10-23T02:15:00.000-07:00

Now we're all settled in to our new place and our friends are settled into the boat for the winter, I can get back onto more pressing matters - spinning!

Ann at sfeltaccessories has featured me in her blog. I feel really honoured! Take a look here -

http://sfeltaccessories.blogspot.com/

Thanks Ann!

So here's what I've been up to:

I've finished some chunky spinning, I'd tried to do an eliza dye lot which is pictured first here, and in the middle of dyeing I realised one of my dyes was missing (I later found that I'd dropped it in the studio (shed)). I went ahead with it anyway and it just shows you how different the dye lot turns out.

I realise that that is quite an obvious statement seeing as one of the dyes wasn't there! Anyway although I was a little bit unsure of the new dye at first, I'm really pleased now it's all done. The knitters at the knit'n'natter gave it the thumbs up and they are a very honest bunch.

Here it is in the pot

And here is the finished yarn in all its glory

I think I'll be using this particular yarn in the new beret kit. It'll be nice to have an option of shades.
And this is what's on the bobbin at the moment, a lovely lilac/navy which I'm spinning thinly. This enables me to watch Strictly at the same time.

I've started from this week writing the blog for Knit-Wise, so I'll be trying my best not to get the two confused, have a look over there too if you want to see what's going on at our lys!

Off to the Lakes tomorrow, which is a sure sign for rain!

Cathy

World Record Attempt

2011-10-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the information about the world record attempt, very kindly left by Misty Cottage Crafts on the comments. The info is from http://www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk/

We're Record Breakers!
Well, to be more precise Ruth is a Guinness World Record breaker.

On the 23rd of September Ruth set the record for the worlds longest continuous thread spun in an hour. Coming in at 99.45m this was verified by the official adjudicator and Ruth was presented with the official Guinness Certificate.

The thread was a 2-ply yarn made of Shetland fleece, entirely prepared and spun by hand. We're all wondering what's next, and with winter looming on the horizon it just may have to be the worlds longest scarf! Congratulations!

Thanks Misty for letting us know.

New Dyes and Moving House

2011-10-03T04:04:00.000-07:00

I heard on the weather report that despite having some beautiful weather over the last few days, the North West is going to feel the effects of a hurricane coming over from the USA so I'm trying to get some dyeing done and drying before the weather turns.

There's a lot of teal about at the moment and it is a colour that I wouldn't normally wear but my friend Lenka bought me a lovely scarf and it completely changed my mind about it. It's worth having someone elses opinion when it comes to colour, we can so easily get stuck in a rut over what colours suit us that we don't keep experimenting.

So, here's the latest dyes from my cauldrons - a teal, blue mix. They are still in the pans while I'm posting and it does look like the teal has taken slightly lighter than I thought it would, but it's hard to tell at this stage.

I did a couple of experimental dyes last week, normally I'm a chuck it in and see kind of dyer (that's part of the appeal for me) but I mixed this particular dye in a jug before had to see if I liked the way it took. It's a much gentle dye which I like and I think it has took in a more consistant way. See what you think. The other one is my usual method and a much stronger dye with purples and blues. Both of these fibres, which are Blueface Leicester are on my Etsy page, so if they are up your street, why not take a look.

I've been trying to find out the result of the World Record attempt in handspinning and can't find anything at all so if anyone knows any news can you let me know, I'd be very interested.

I'm also in the process of putting together a kit for the D'arcy Spice beret, so it's been photographed again here and will shortly be available on Etsy too.

It does seem weird with everything being so mild at the moment that cold weather is due for the end of the week - even frost, so with that in mind we have decided to move off the boat over the winter. This is the view down our path at the moment

It's only October and already we are struggling with the mud, so we will be moving slowly over to a little rented house about 5 minutes away to avoid another freezing cold winter. We have friends (who are tougher than us) who are moving into the boat and taking care of our hens and duck so everything there will carry on as normal.

It will be a novelty to have a washing machine - just there! And a bath whenever we want, but I know we will miss the wildlife (saw a Cormorant this morning) and the peace and the freedom. Still, can't have everything! And they'll be pleased that I won't be treading mud through Knit-Wise anymore!!

See you soon

Cathy

Workshop News

2011-09-22T12:10:00.000-07:00

Had a boring old week really - had to spend each day of this week at the hospital which has been really frustrating!

Still! We had a good laugh on Saturday at the workshop at Knit-Wise with Mark, Heather and Alison who all spun valiantly all day through wind rain and cold. We were inside drinking tea and coffee like there was no tomorrow but some poor bride braved the elements to get married so we didn't feel too badly done by.

Here are the finished skeins by the rightly proud spinners, it's always great to meet people with the same passion as yours, but also new friends from Ravelry and Etsy. Alison came all the way down from Blackpool - thats dedication and Heather came from locally but is off to London so it was nice to have her company even for a short time. Mark ventured upstairs from the shop and gave everyone the height of abuse but even so I've put his picture on here.

Heather is the first of my students ever to have spun two skeins on the day and as well as her superior intellect and natural talent I think that her having drop spindled made a lot of difference.

We're spinning again at Knit Wise on the 15th of October if you'd like to come along.

There is a world record spinning attempt on the 24th of September, some brave spinners are attempting to spin the longest piece of unbroken yarn for an hour and we all wish them the best. There is more information on the Campaign for Wool website. I'll try and post the outcome on here.
www.campaignforwool.org/blog/hand-spinning-world-record-attempt/

The niddy noddies and lazykates that I've had on my etsy page are sold out through the shop but I'm hoping to get more made up asap. I'd like to have some that are a bit more fancy for next time. Special occasion Niddy Noddies! Can't wait.

Winter Inspiration

2011-09-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

We've been away on our hols over the last week or so, up to Gathurst on our boat which is a beautiful part of Lancashire. We pressganged some of my daughters friends to help us through locks and bridges and pottered from pub to restaurant and back again. It's a strange way to travel, with huge chunks of time doing nothing interspersed with moments of sheer terror going through strange bridges while holding up swathes of traffic. But I feel that the weather has changed over the last week and we're not going to get many more summery days so...

Here's some inspiration from Kim Hargreaves

It's a beautiful collection of garments and well worth a look. If only for the tights/shoes combo on the front cover.

I loved this - could I knit it? Possibly with lots of encouragement. Could I breathe in long enough to wear it? I don't think so.
I've been contiuing with my knitting and completed two,(two I tell you ) hot water bottle covers. I'm pleased to have completed them at all as I'm very good at starting and not so good at finishing.

My next project I think is going to be a blanket and so I checked the colours due in for Autumn/Winter and dyed some fibres in midnight blues and lilacs. My wheel, which is lumped about with little regard for it's welfare has finally put its foot down and is complaining by not drafting in no matter what I fix or fasten. So this wool is not the best I've ever spun but as I'm going to knit it myself I'm not overly concerned. I'm happy with the shades though.

Here's the fibres, with the spun yarn and also a couple of felt balls just for good measure. We visited Fibre & Clay in Knutsford which is a wonderful yarn/gallery and well worth a visit. These midnight blue buttons were crying out to be used with this yarn so we'll see what we can do. I had planned to keep this yarn for myself but it seems to have already been nabbed!

There are new knitting boxes posted on my etsy shop in case your needles and notions are all over the place. They are beautifully made by a local craftsman who supplies wooden items that we sell in the shop. We're really pleased with them and hope they go to a knitter who will take good care as they have been so well made they deserve a good home!

As well as all this, we've got niddy noddys and lazykates on offer, so have a good look.

The next spinning workshop at Knit-Wise is fully booked but October 15th is available if any of you would like to come along. Our little guild is still going strong and we're celebrating Wool Week with a cake and a coffee on Tuesday night if you're around. Bring your knitting, crochet, or whatever woolly thing you're into, we'd love to see you

Knit-Wise
42 Church Street
Ormskirk
Lancs
L39 3AW

01695 580590

Knitting Kits on Etsy

2011-07-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

This week has involved a trip to a sports day in a field with friends (humiliation), but it was held in Longridge, a beautiful town on the edge of the Forest of Bowland. And there are sheep in this little small holding that are ready to be shorn, or sheared. We decided that it would be great to take the newly sheared fleeces and spin straight away so we're just waiting for the nod from Andy who is the sheep man and we'll be over there like a rocket. It's interesting how many people want to see something like that but wouldn't necessarily offer up the information. We're all closet fleece fans!

Also, our hens have taken to jumping through the hatch on our boat in search of titbits. I admit this is totally my fault because at first when it was a novely I did give Babs a few bits of cheese or a tomato and now I'm reaping the rewards(?) of hens in the boat. The poor dog doesn't know what to do with her - kill her or kiss her.
Anyway, this weeks etsy news, I've posted some fibres for spinning and felting, Bluefaced Leicester and silk mix, dyed with pale lilacs and purples. I'm spinning silk and BFL myself at the moment and it's such a lovely fibre to spin with. The silk isn't particularly obvious but there is a beautiful sheen on the finished yarn.

Also, I'm selling some little handspun knitting kits, to try to encourage people to have a go at handspun. It's a little bit of a shot in the dark for some knitters, understandibly and hopefully a little experiment with a corsage kit will allay any fears.

So sorry - long time no post

2011-07-06T03:29:00.000-07:00

Wow I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by and I was trying so hard to be regular with this blog! So, since I last posted after the heady heights of Radio Lancashire my etsy shop is up and running and I'm running round (figuratively) like a headless chicken trying to promote and network it. I've been told it's a long haul so I'm prepared for that but I'm also aware that I might now be looking at facebook, etsy, folksy etc in my sleep.

We went to Woolfest which as usual was brilliant. There was ideas and inspiration all over the place and as usual there was a fashion, which this year was felting - it was all over the place! I love felting though so I was in my element and will be running some classes at knit-wise over the next few months.

This is a French breed of sheep that had such a tiny little lamb it had to be photographed. Poor little thing, it was sat on it's mother's back, just lovely.

And the alpacas had just been shawn, looking gangly and skinny, as if their legs couldn't hold them up.

This felt coat caught my eye and although I don't think my photo does it justice, was beautifully made, the curls on the pocket are little Wensleydale locks and compliment it very well.

I loved these little Injabulo star buttons in deep navy blue, they've inspired me to dye my next fibres in deep shades, they are just drying out in the workshop (shed) and will be in the next post. This will be my motivation to post it quickly.

Felting is something that children can easily get involved with too so we'll be running felt necklace making with mums and children on Friday mornings through the summer holidays - boys can make a caterpillar and girls can make necklaces or caterpillars. Actually, boys can make necklaces too if they like - whatever floats their boat. So if that's something you'd like to do, give us a call at Knit-Wise and we can keep our ankle biters amused. My own will be there too so let the mayhem begin.

Knit-Wise
42 Church Street
Ormskirk
Lancs
L39 3AW

01965 580 590

I will post again soon - promise!

Cathy

Sheepfest & Radio Fame!

2011-05-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

What a turn up for the books! I was at Sheepfest in Clitheroe, Lancashire on Saturday for a festival in the town which involved all the schools and local businesses decorating (wooden) sheep. We had our own little lamb advertising Lazykate and Bowland Wool. I don't have any pics unfortunately of Larry, we didn't want other sheep to feel inadequate. I do however have one of our stall. This is about five minutes before the heavens opened for the whole bloomin' day.

I also achieved my five minutes of fame playing a sheepy game on Radio Lancashire. Fame and fortune beckons as they have asked me back next Thursday 19th May for a slot on the afternoon show, doing some spinning and felting. Feel excited and absolutely horrified in equal measures. Don't tell anyone tho!

I've dyed some Blueface Leciester and silk fibres, some to sell and some to spin to go in kits. It's looking good even though I say so myself and it's great to have everything drying so quickly.

One of our patterns on Knit on the Net is this one which was knitted up in a chunky yarn. I like it but it might be a little bit sudden for a lot of little girls rooms, so I thought of knitting it up in the pink BFL/silk. If I spin it as four ply, then the cushion would be smaller but nicer I think. I'll spin it up first and knit it, and as my knitting speed is slow and stop, if you could keep all this information in mind for the next four months! It will possibly be ready then.

Well seeing as this post is all a bit pinky/purply here is an example of the felt I'll be making at the felting classes we're going to run at Knit-Wise in Ormskirk. I'll post details of times etc as soon as they are finalised. We thought it would be nice to do classes at the weekend, but also run them for mums/girls/nans through the holidays. It's always nice to have a bit of bonding.

Speak soon

Please like me

2011-05-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

I can't believe time has gone so quickly, but my brain has definitley hit near explosion as I try to get to grips with a new Folksy shop, facebook and stumbleupon. I'm loving and hating them all in equal measure and spending my days running to check if any more people liked me than five minutes ago. If I get 25 likes I can do something special, which I haven't worked out yet.

So, if you're passing facebook or folksy, please give my page the once over. Just think how happy you will make this little sad spinner. If I can post a link I will. Just give me a few weeks to work it out.

www.folksy.com/shops/lazykate

www.facebook.com/lazykate8

I'm at Clitheroe castle this weekend, thats the 7th for Sheepfest which sounds like it's good fun. The town dress up sheep, cardboard ones that is (perhaps real ones too but lets leave that there).

I think this is from one of the local schools. Bowland Wool will have their own sheep that Rosemary is decorating. I'll take a photo and post it next time. It's all very strange.

I'll be selling my handspun wool and also fibres but I also have some lovely knitting needle boxes as well as some kits of my own and also from Bowland Wool. If theres any room at the table I might even take my wheel so brave people can have a go.

I was interested to see Knit on the Net has been relaunched. For any who don't know, its on online UK knitting zine which has been published quarterly for a few years now. Although they are now charging for the patterns they feature, there are archived patterns, which include a few of ours for you to download.

This summer vest is entitled Looby Loo and is knitted from handspun silk.

And this chunky beret, D'arcy Spice is in our Eliza yarn, which is still available now.

www.knitonthenet.com

Hopefully see you at Clitheroe. (There's a fab sausage shop there too, as if you needed more incentives) x

2011-04-12T05:04:00.000-07:00

My first image has to be this - my friend Shirley has knitted up this bunting, with the word SPINNING on each flag. She used my own handspun for each flag and it will be used for a window display at Knit-Wise in Ormskirk. I'm so pleased with it I can't tell you. She's a bloomin marvel! This photo was taken pretty quickly while we tried to avoid it being blown off the top of the boat in the wind!

With the arrival of some beautiful weather last week, I got back to the dye pot. It was lovely to get back to having a washing line full of fibres in fab colours. I experimented particularly with this one and I wasn't sure whether it would look good once spun. My original plan was to sell it for spinning fibres but I was too curious to let it go so I've spun it myself. Can't help it! As I was spinning the singles, I was a little bit worried that it was going to look good, but I shouldn't have worried, it's come out lovely.

The spun yarn is deeper than the photos give the impression of, more gold and burgundy. I'm really pleased with it, but I do need to stop wanting to spin everything myself.

I didn't get to Wonderwool Wales as I was teaching and manning the shop at Bowland Wool in the forest of Bowland. It was such a beautiful day to be in spectacular surroundings. I had just one student, Debbie who spun Bluefaced Leciester on her first bobbin, but, during the break went home to bring one of her own Alpaca fleeces back to spin. It was such gorgeous fibre, light and soft, from Ellie the Alpaca. With the second bobbin full, the fibres were plied to a zebra skein of BFL/Alpaca mix. It was a lovely day.

Finally, after my last leftovers post, I'll show you what I put the leftover fibres to. It's by no means anywhere finished as I've run out of the edging fibres but it's on its way. Things will all be a little slower over the easter hols what with children, friends, parties etc but I'll try and get as much done as possible. I know you know how it is!

I'm taking a chance putting this on here as it's my open exhibition entry piece - what if they say no! I'm quite pleased so far, but it's early days and it isn't my opinion that counts. You have to be brave though and have a go, don't you?

Now, I really do need to go and do some ironing. We're going to be going out in our dressing gowns at this rate!

Mmmmmm! Leftovers

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

The question that all spinners face from time to time is what to do with leftover fibres? Fill cushions? Run it through the trees for birds to use in their nests? What if it is hand dyed and ever so slightly felted? What if it looks like this!

Well I liked this dye lot and had spun wool that was sold, with these being the leftovers. (Possibly could think of another way to describe them).

I decided to spin the fibres very thinly. I didnt check it wpi because I did want to spin freely but it's pretty much ended up being 4ply. It was easy TV watching, no pressure, chatty spinning and great fun Here are the singles still on bobbins and here is the skein. Lovely, but not very much of it.

So I'm going to use if for a piece of textile artwork, I have a friend who is a screen printer and teacher and we're going to do some experiments and hopefully do some brainstorming and see what we can create. Easter holidays are hurtling towards us so the college where she teaches will be completely free of students, allowing us time and facilities for our cunning plan. That is the plan, unless gossip and coffee gets in the way. I will keep you informed. About the artwork. Not the gossip.

The last spinning workshop at Knit-Wise went very well with the next one being on April 16th. We're hoping to start a spin n chat (?), treadle n talk (?), each Wednesday, with biscuits and coffee and at only £2 per session it's a steal. Anyone interested can turn up or call Myra at Knit-Wise for more information.

Knit-Wise 01695 580 590
Church Street
Ormskirk
Lancs
L39

Bowland Wool - Yum!!

2011-03-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have consisted of a lovely weekly hospital stay where the daily treatment consisted of free Jeremy Kyle (why, NHS why?), a spinning workshop at Knit-Wise in Ormskirk and a very interesting visit to Bowland Wool.

Our first Knit-Wise workshop was great fun, the ladies went home at the end of a loud day (laughing, not swearing) with a lovely skein of wool which Rennie said she would frame. We should all frame our first skein, don't you think? And I would have done if my dog hadn't ragged it all over the place. Although as it was my very first skein, it didn't look much different after she had finished than it did before!

The weather has started to pick up now, although it's still cold, and we made a start on the field! It's a small miracle but we got our little plough out, which I think could have previously been owned by Noah himself and with the help of the weight of a small child we managed to plough over the field. And then we found that if the small child drove the mower, the weight of a large man would make all the difference.

So our first beds are in, separated by laminate flooring boards and a bamboo wigwam. We're ready to go. Only another eight or so beds to put in and we may have the start of a kitchen and dye plant garden.

Last week's highlight was a visit to Bowland Wool in the forest of Bowland in Lancashire which is the most beautiful area to visit. The land is owned by the Queen don't you know. She allowed us access as long as we put our best accents on and promised not to touch.

Bowland Wool is run by Rosemary Johnson, who is championing the wool from Bowland Farmers. The wool is Bluefaced Leicester, which is a favourite of mine because of the staple, which makes it easy to spin and it is also less irritating to the skin, so people who don't normally like wool on their skin can ofter tolerate BFL. The palette she has chosen is lovely, muted, classic shades that will knit up beautfully.

She is passionate about keeping all the textile crafts alive and so there are workshops on quilting, knitting, dressmaking, and now spinning, as I will be running a workshop on the 9th of April! There is also lots going on over the Easter holidays and I will post more nearer the time. It would be lovely to meet any of you.

I would really recommend a visit to the area if you're looking for somewhere interesting or inspiring for a day out.. The countryside is just so beautiful, the forest of Bowland is famous for it's food. Of course there is the Inn at Whitewell to visit for a meal, and then to Rosemary at Bowland Wool for your fix of all things textile. Go on, you know you want to!

Kettledrum,

Root Hill Estate Yard,

Whitewell Road

Dunsop Bridge

BB7 3AY
01200 448005

Spot the Difference

2011-02-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

I love playing Spot the Difference and here is this weeks competition between the garden last blog and all the work we've been able to do since then. That's right. Big fat none! That's because it's done nothing but rain all week. We're at the point of developing webbed feet here in the North West (no comments please).

So all I'm able to do is tell you what we would have done. I'm following the cutting garden plan in Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden book for a small garden, even though ours is quite big. I've decided to double up the plan and have one half of the area cutting garden and the other half veg. In Sarah's plan she has four sections of flowers with a sweet pea wigwam. I plan to have a mirror image of veg with a pea and bean wigwam in the middle. And a little extra section with be for the dye plants, although some of them, eg marigolds, cosmos and sunflowers will already be in the other areas. It's an excellent, do-able plan in my head.

On the spinning front, I've finished the alpaca yarn and it was good to have a change. I'm really pleased with the colour of it and the way it has plied and I get a real kick out of spinning from an animal that I've seen and heard the name of. And supporting small suppliers, especially as passionate as Skye House are about their animals is a great thing to do.

My next project is a Bluefaced Leicester/Silk mix which I've dyed myself. I don't know about you but while I'm finishing the last skeins of my previous fibres, I'm extremely impatient to start the new one and this pink pile has been winking at me for a little while. Its really good to get back to my all time favourite BFL too. This is the first bobbin in all it's pink glory.

And the alpaca, in the wrong order, but believe me, it's too difficult to start again!

Finally, here is a photo of our dog Brodie, taken by my daughter whose dream it is to be a photographer. Who says dogs can't laugh?

See you soon x

Wellies anyone?

2011-02-02T02:36:00.000-08:00

This week I've been preparing knitting kits using handspun wool. I think that some people are a little bit afraid of handspun so I've been putting together small amounts of handspun to go with our flower pattern which is available for free through lazyate on Ravelry or if you would like it, send me a message and I will send it to you for free.

I've also been spinning this beautiful alpaca fibre which after spinning Bluefaced Leicester for so long was so different. The staple is much shorter and I found that if I turned the fibre round in my hand it would spin in a much more even way. Any change of fibre takes a little while to get used to but it's usually worth it.

I'm sure you'll agree that the colour of the fibre is just beautiful, those honey shades are melt in the mouth and it spins up to a very evenly coloured fibre. My alpaca was available from Skye House Alpacas which is run from the wilds of Cumbria. They have a small herd of about 35 of these beautiful gentle and timid creatures and I would definately recommend having a go if you haven't spun alpaca before.

I don't know if the camera has picked up the light blue and green shades here in this skein, look carefully, squint a bit and you can see it. This skein would sell for about £8 which for 100g is a fair price, in case you fancy knitting without the spinning palaver.

Also, this weekend we intend to begin work on our land. This is the state of the area now which we hope will be completely transformed by the summer when we will have a mixture of cutting garden, vegetables and dye plants. As you can see from the top photo, we definatley have our work cut out.

I'm hoping that by posting this picture I will be shamed into getting my wellies on and my fingernails filthy and get something done! I'm hoping to be able to do some dyeing classes, both natural and acid dyeing outside in the field along with lunch on the barge. But there's going to have to be some hard graft up until then. Watch this slightly apprehensive space

On the blog again

2011-01-17T04:15:00.000-08:00

Its been a full year since I planned to start blogging again, and as is blatantly obvious, I didn't continue. I had been working as a textile teacher in a City Learning Centre in Liverpool and I absolutely loved it, I know there are no excuses but Lazykate took a back seat for a little while.

Then, in July last year, due to government cut backs, the centre was closed and we, like many were made redundant. Which left me more time to devote to the spinning and dyeing and I fell in love with it all over again.

Dyeing yarn and spinning is verging on a magical experience, and to quote Forrest Gump - you never know what you're gonna get. I'm running spinning courses once a month, starting on 19th February 2011 at Knit-Wise knitting shop in Ormskirk which is a lovely friendly place, with tea, coffee and buscuits and I might even persuade my daughter to provide us with cupcakes! If you're interested, you can call me on 07929048856 or call the shop directly on 01695 580 590 and speak to Myra. Ill give more information nearer the time.

I also have handspun yarn on sale and a free pattern to go with it for anyone who is a little bit afraid of giving handspun a go. Here's a few pictures just to give an idea of what we have on offer. If you would like the patterns for these items, let me know and I will send one over.

Speak soon. x

New Year New Start

2009-01-05T02:52:00.000-08:00

It is unbelievably cold in England at the moment and particularly cold in the North West. We are frozen into the canal and can't get down to fill up with water so Himself spends most of his time up and down the garden to the house at the top with a water barrel filling it up. I have to admit my hair may be crawling off my head to wash itself if I don't get a move on. Luckily we have a key to the local showers and I can nip down there later.

The move onto the barge was much more stressful than we thought it would be, with flu and conjunctivitus among two of our afflictions, but we had a lot of support and slowly we are getting things resembling a normal household. (Curtains in the bedroom rather than bin liners will be a bonus!)

Anyway, at the book launch of A Stitch in Time I had a really nice chat with Jane Waller who was very insistent that 4ply is the way forward. You need less so it is economical, which lets face it we could all do with and it is nice to spin with the view of wearing something a least a little bit fitted and feminine rather than waddling round like some kind of michelin man in our chunky chunky knits! So, this is what I am spinning at the moment.

Jinny has a new pattern up her sleeve. It has turned into a little bit of a labour of love and been undone and re-knitted plenty but it seems like she has it beaten into submission. We just need the pattern to be checked and we should be ready to go with it.

So, we're all enthusiastic for new patterns, new fibres etc, lets hope we can avoid freezing to death so we can accomplish some of it! Keep warm!

We have lift off!!

2008-12-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't think that this day would come, it's been over two years since we decided to sell up and move onto a widebeam barge. Ophir, our new home was delivered last Wednesday, we all held our breath as the crane lifted it into the marina and then we sailed(possibly not the right word) down the canal to our new mooring where we are fitting it out inside.

Since then obviously, Britain has turned into Antartica, our daughter has flu, we have colds, no curtains, they say that moving house is one of the most stressful things.... they weren't kidding! We have until the 10th of December and then we have to leave our rented house. Gin and tonic anyone?

Anyway, here are a few pics of the launch, it is such a beautiful boat and our mooring is so peaceful, we fed swans from Jessamy's window, these are the things that are making it all worthwhile at the moment.

On the textile front, we have amended the error on the D'arcy Spice Beret and apologise once again, Jinny and I hope you enjoy knitting it, lets face it , we could all do with a knitted hat at the moment!

New Yarns!

2008-11-15T11:39:00.000-08:00

It's been a really exciting week and I can't believe I haven't posted since Monday. You know how it is, but, we've been very busy spinning and dyeing away. First I've spun the orange/overdyed red yarn and I absolutely love it. I know I've said this a million times before but I never get used to the feeling of looking at the unpromising newly dyed yarn, the doubt as to whether it will be nice or maybe a little off the wall. And then I start spinning and whatever magic happens and I love the yarn that appears. This is what I'm talking about!!

This yarn is now available to sniff, squeeze, whatever you please in Purlesque at the Bluecoat Chambers in Liverpool. There are other ranges of yarns there too, but if you prefer to order on line, please send me an email at www.cathy.lazykate@gmail.com

The other VERY exciting thing this week is the launch of the book A Stitch in Time. I attended the launch party on Thursday night which was really lovely. The dress code was 1940's cocktail dress and everyone had made a fantastic effort. There was a fashion show with some of the knitted garments, there was a knitted dress which was just outstanding. The models were gorgeous and the less said about that the better.

The highlight for Jinny and I of course was seeing our handspun in the book in a pale teal knitted cardigan. We were both very proud and hope that many people will be reaching for their knitting needles immediatley. The beauty of the book is that the patterns have been updated so that the garments are easily wearable today. And who doesn't want the glamour of the forties! If you would like to order the book, take a look at www.knitonthenet.com to order.

One last little note. We've been so pleased (as we've mentioned) about the D'arcy Spice Beret so we were gutted! when we realised we'd made an error in the pattern. We have found the offending item and are in the process of changing the pattern. We're really sorry and hope it hasn't spoilt anyone's knitting pleasure. The pattern will be amended at the beginning of next week.

Speak soon x

2008-11-10T05:51:00.001-08:00

This photo is unbelievably exciting for me. I never thought I would see the day that I would post it! This is the name of our boat, painted on the final coat of shiny navy blue paint.

The outside of the boat looks like this at the moment, it needs windows putting in, and a few other finishing touches but it's more or less there. We may, all things being well, be lauching on Friday. Here's hoping. We have the fireworks and champagne ready to go.

We've been really surprised and excited by the reaction to the D'arcy Spice Beret on Ravelry. At last look it had been favourited over 100 times and five projects had been started. It's lovely to be able to read the feedback so thanks to everyone who takes the time to post.

I've begun spinning the burnt orange and have plied one skein. I am undecided about it, although it's very warm and rich. When it has been stretched I will post a picture for all to see and make your own decision. Until then...

2008-11-06T04:32:00.000-08:00

Well we had our visit with the boat company last night and the boat is forecast for launch the middle of next week. It's really coming on now, we had a visit with the sign writer who was one of those extremely annoying people who can just....do stuff really well. He stood there with his chalk and said 'What about this?', did a few strokes and squiggles and beautifully proportioned font was there on the side of the boat. I resisted the urge to stamp on his foot.

Yesterday I overdyed some tops that I had originally dyed a while ago. I love bold bright colours but whether this bright orange would appeal to people is debatable so I dyed it again with red and burgundy. I really like how it's turned out. The colour is deep and rich and I think much better. I'm still at the moment working my way through the blue, which is called Topsy and is delicate and subtle but I'm ready for a change to something more striking! You know how it is when you've been spinning the same colour for a while, you're desperate for a change.

I have to say that this picture is making the orange look slightly more appealing than it did, but I still love the deepness of that red. I can't wait to get spinning it.

Also, here are a few pics of close ups of the latest yarns. I love photographing like this, you can see the colour and shading so clearly - they're like jewels!

New Yarns

2008-11-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

I've been updating my page on Ravelry, I've been amazed at the response to the D'arcy Spice Beret, it's fantastic and both me and Jinny (Jinny and I?) are very excited! It has spurred us on to get our other ideas going.

These photos here were taken by Mimi my daughter this morning in an attempt to drag her away from the Wii. I think she's done ok by all accounts. The top one, Topsy is a departure from the bold colours I usually use. I have to admit that when the tops were first dyed they looked pretty insipid to me. I almost overdyed them. Having spun it up though, I think it's come out in a pretty delicate shading and I'm really pleased. Just goes to show....

The bottom one is very bright indeed isn't it? I have ideas for it's use but I'll see if it sells. We could just use something bright, even if it is a substitute for the sun.

Knit on the net Issue 7 Out NOW

2008-11-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

So the new issue is out - hot off the press and our D'arcy Spice pattern is there! D'arcy Spice is an autumnal English apple variety which we thought suited the shades in the wool. These green/olive shades are always very popular and the chunky yarn is great to knit and quick too.

You can order online through our site http://www.lazykate.net/ and let us know what you think - now that it's easy to leave comments it would be great to hear from you.

Also, and this is a cautious excitment, we think our barge may be ready by the end of the week, we went to visit the other day and there is painting!! There is wood pannelling and even room dividers. So we have the champagne on ice ready for Friday, Monday or Tuesday, whichever the launch day may be. Keep your fingers crossed!

People in glass houses shouldn't just let them rot in the soil

2008-10-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Having spent most of the week spinning, I thought I would give my poor arms a rest and get out in the fresh air.

The mooring for our boat is at the side of the field where the owners have very kindly said we can plant a vegetable garden. The family who originally lived there were market gardeners who had glass houses which are now long gone - apart from the glass which is hidden under years of nettles, reeds, all kinds of vegetation, none of which is any use to us. Well maybe the nettles eventually in the form of beer.

So we spent the whole day clearing, rotavating and deglassing a small portion of this three acre field. In a section of it I would like to start a dye garden. But that is away in the ether, in dreams I am yet to have.

Our boat which was due last Friday, no this Friday, no next Friday is still sitting in the boat yard and we are learning patience and how to squeeze past various kitchen appliances that are dotted around our rented house.

Spinning wise, I am working my way through basketsful of blue, interspersing with black and cream alpaca (I Hate Alpaca almost as much as silk but not as much as cotton). The blue is good though - will post pics soon

Welcome!

2008-10-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all

Welcome to my new blog which hopefully will be the start of many posts! I'm looking forward to you all now being able to post messages so that I know you're out there - something which I realise was difficult before.

I'll be posting the latest goings on with lazykate and getting everything back up to speed plus some pics asap

Look forward to a long and fruitful friendship!