Cascading Colours

Look what my Postie brought today - the last of my Kureyon destashing money stash (if that makes sense LOL) It is 22 skeins of Cascade 220, 1 skein of each of my favourite colours. Thank you Get Knitted for fast service and some sweeties as well : ) I also had arrive 15 balls of Alaska from Scaninavian Knitting Desings, they are all black to set off the vibrant rainbow colours.

Finally I got the basket. It is already lined and only cost £4.99 from http://www.lakeland.co.uk/. I'm just going to leave this basket full of goodies out for a few days to admire it : )

Green Tomatoes

My tomatoes plants have burst into action in the last 2 weeks. The race is now on to see if any of them ripen. If not - has anyone got a recipe for Green Tomato Chutney? I'm sure I had a recipe,, but I cant find it - the perils of tidying up and sorting out!!

All Better Now

No photo today I'm afraid. I must change the batteries in my camera. I'm a lot better now, thanks for all the good wishes. The Dalek has gone back into son's room to frighten the cats and I'm busy knitting my 10th pair of socks this year. Progress piccy tomorrow : )

I have the Lurghy

I have the dreaded lurghy (Goon show fans will know what I mean), and Colonel Bloodknock (AKA DH) has insisted on my having bed rest and copious cups of tea. While I recover, to keep you all amused, I have put up a photo of one of the knitted Daleks I made for my son. I'm hoping it will exterminate the germs LOL

Back from the NEC

I went to the NEC on Thursday and Friday this week. It was wonderful to see so many beautiful things and meet so many interesting people.

The exhibition seemed much smaller this time. None of the big knitting manufacturers had a stall and there were far fewer card crafting stalls.

On Thursday I went to browse and found these wonderful bags of rainbows from 21st Century Yarns. The one in the middle is small skeins of Shetland wool - approx 4 ply - which will make an interesting pair of mittens. The other 2 bags are short lengths of pencil rovings in all different colours approx 10-12" long for playing with : )

I had a lovely time in the Relax and Knit corner run by the UK Handknitters. They were really busy teaching lots of people how to knit. I admire their patience and dedication. Its funny to put faces to names of people I 'know' from the Internet.

On Friday I was on the stand of the Association of Guilds of Weaver, Knitters and Dyers. We were very busy all day. I took my drop spindle and demonstrated with it. People seemed fascinated by the way the fluffy stuff sheep wear turns into soft, beautiful yarn to make things from. The idea that a simple spindle could produce yarn captured their imaginations. I think my handspun, hand-knitted bag has been fondled to death LOL. We sold lots of CD spindle spinning kits as many were inspired to try for themselves. I came home very tired, but also elated that such interest was shown in our crafts, and happy to have spent 2 days in the company of like minded people.

Mohair De-stash - 3p a gram plus postage!!!

I have 18 x 25g balls of this. It is 95% mohair and it has a thread of shimmery rainbow in it too.

I have 8 x 25g balls of this in jet black. It is 75% mohair and 25% wool.

I have 2 x 25g balls of pink, 2 x 25g balls of yellow and 4 x 25g balls of blue. It is the same type as the black above.

I have 10 x 50g balls of this. It is 100% mohair.

All these yarns are the same weight/needle size/ gauge and are 16sts x 22 rows on 5.5mm needles. I am selling them for 3p a gram, plus postage.

If you are interested in buying, please email me at: Moorec648ATaol.com replacing AT with @

Thanks, Claire

Sublime Spindles are 1 Year Old

We are celebrating with a new spindle. This one is a silk spindle, 1 oz in weight, made of Pear with a Beech shaft and a Mahogany tip. The support bowl is deeper than our previous style and is a layer of Pear and Mahogany. It reminds me of White and Caramel chocolate.

Many, many thanks to all our customers and to all those who have supported and encouraged us throughout our first year. Thanks also to the shops who stock our Sunflower Swifts and Sublime Spindles and those who have allowed us to showcase our wares on their websites. You are all wonderful and we appreciate your faith and kindness.

I had better stop there as this is beginning to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech LOL. Happy spinning and swifting to you all - here's to next year!!!

Sunday Spinning

A basket full of dyed rovings, another basket full of Jacobs wool washed and ready for carding, an empty lazy kate and my choice of spindles..........can it get any better?

Finished my Girlie socks

Side view of extra girlie lacy socks

Front view to show striping and my neat kitchener stitched toes LOL

This is them with the lacy bit up to show where I knitted 20 rows of 2 x 2 rib to keep them up on my voluptuous ankles. I then did 25 rows of st st before starting the heel flap.

I Miss having a Lawn

This photo was taken in May while we were on holiday in Scotland. The apparently dead body on the lawn is me !!! The first thing I did when we arrived at our holiday cottage is take off my shoe and socks and lie out on the grass. DH is smiling in a tolerant sort of way, but I'm not sure he understands.

I need to feel in touch with nature. We have no grass in our garden. Chickens - yes, workshop - yes, decking - yes.........but no grass!! As a child I loved going barefoot in the fields, but since moving to our present house we have no fields, no grass, no trees. I go to the Cemetery at the back of our house for tree-hugging activities and squirrel spotting etc, but its just not the same as having a lawn to give my toes the tickling they crave.

September sock

I bought this lovely sock yarn from Gemini Knits. It is called Bubblegum and is really, really bright pink in places. The pattern is the Slouch socks by Sue Morgan of Get Knitted. Sue kindly let me adapt it for wider ankles by adding 16 sts to the frill at the top and then decreasing to 60 sts after the 20 rows of lace and 6 rows of garter stitch. This has made it stretchy but not baggy. I used 39g of yarn for this and it fits a size 6 foot. I have already cast on for the next one : )

Introducing the Chickens

I think its about time you met the girls!!! The black fluffy Silkie is called Pom-pom and is a really cheeky character. She runs up to greet me and is into everything. The Golden Lacewing is called Cocoa. She is the bossy one and keep the rest in order. The Silver lacewing is called Sylvia and just gets on with eating and roaming around. I have 2 cats who are both afraid of the chickens - so no problem there. Goldie scolds the cats if they get too near and the cats run away LOL. I will introduce my cats properly when I can get them to sit still enough to take a photo, perhaps when the chickens are in bed. They are still a bit young for laying, but we should have eggs soon.

Ah, but what about the white fluffy one???? Unfortunately she has died. She had a genetic condition which only reared its head about 2 weeks ago and there was nothing we could do. She is now fertilizing the allotment.