Spinning, chatting and relaxing

Saturday was my first visit to our spinners, weavers and dyers guild meeting since last October. What a relaxing day! We were learning to do longdraw spinning which I don't find very easy but it was so therapeutic - picking up a handful of raw fibre, carding it into beautiful cloudy rolags and watching them turn into yarn - just like magic. There's a tranquility about spinning that you can't get from anything else (and I'm not even very good at it!).

A woman's work is never done

Hold the last post - bathroom cleaning detail calls. I'm sure Debbie Stoller doesn't have to interrupt her stitch 'n' bitching to don Marigolds and climb in the bath barefoot to scrub the tiles! Maybe one day I shall employ a "woman what does" (no, actually, I think I shall have a "man what does" - equal opps and all that).

Sock-a-holic!

Have just signed up to tutor a study day/workshop for the Knitting & Crochet Guild on (yes, you guessed it), sock knitting! The hardest thing was finding a venue, but I've booked a lovely little church with a very nice comfy lounge, so it looks like we're all systems go for 19th April. Updated details should be on the Knitting & Crochet Guild site soon http://www.knitting-and-crochet-guild.org.uk/education/study_days.html. Everyone will be getting a skein of hand-dyed alpaca sock yarn to take home so I now have the perfect excuse to try out some more new hand-dyed shades. Workshop here I come.....

Kool Aid, hand-dyed, toe-up alpaca sock

And just the one, rather lonely, toe-up sock (needs a bit of work, so doesn't have a mate yet - hence its rather pigeon-toed, naked partner). It's our hand-dyed alpaca/nylon sock, dyed with Kool Aid and I can't resist dyeing it! I won't have any undyed left for our sock kit at this rate! (But I will have toastie feet).

New shades - Hand-dyed Bluefaced Leicester aran

Busy moving furniture out of the living room in anticipation of new carpet, so just a quick snap of the hand-dyed shades which I've picked for the Bluefaced Leicester aran...