It's Crochet, Knit & Natter 9: So Many Projects, So Little Time. (Oh well - I almost made it rhyme!)

[Fairislefandango]

A thread for woolly crafters of all types and levels.
Previous thread here

Your work sounds/looks lovely on here.

I picked up the stitch but it was all in vain as I later found that I'd done one of the cables in the wrong direction - how could I not have noticed before? So I had to frog about six rows (and not for the first time). First world problem I know, but I've had it up to the back teeth with this pattern. However, as I've already completed the back and the sleeves I feel I might as well continue.

I'll get there in the end, it's just taking longer and has been an arduous route. It'll be worth it in the end, I hope.

@InTheNightWeWillWish I agree that any day in the office will be unproductive especially as the nature of the work requires concentration and quiet! I suppose it would be helpful to spend the time at the beginning building up relationships so that I already know people when I switch to being mostly at home.

Its so hot here that I'm on new colours in my temperature blanket. I'm a bit behind with it as I don't want to spend the evening with a blanket across me. I haven't got the mental energy for much else though.

The spinning updates are great @Fairislefandango I'm still thinking of my move to the country and all the hand dyed yarn I could make then!

Your yarn looks brilliant @Fairislefandango lovely and bouncy!

That sounds a tricky decision @StillNiceCardigan, best of luck deciding! It might just be a show your face to get to know everyone at the start sort of thing.

Oh no, how frustrating @prettyteapotsplease! Nearly there now though 😬

Thanks @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound ! I now have a bucketful of alpaca and llama fleece soaking . I'm armed with some dog brushes that look just like small carders (and a long-tooth cat comb in case that works better). I've chucked all the fleece in one bucket even though it's all different colours as I decided there wasn't enough of each colour to do anything with on its own! I've no idea whether I'll actually be able to make any remotely usable yarn out of it, but hey ho!

Love the embroidery @CrochetBug . Did you enjoy doing it?

How are you feeling @sophs29 ?

@StillNiceCardigan is it a commute by car or train? This would make all the difference for me. I love trains.

Looks fab @Fairislefandango enjoying your carding?

I'm having a day searching for our cat. He's not come home for a week. We're all sad.

Oh no, @MerylSqueak - it's such a worry when they go walkabout. Got all my fingers crossed for you that he comes home soon.

@sophs29 -hope you're on the mend.

I like trains too, but they're a bit unreliable atm, not to mention expensive! Dh and I will be working in roughly the same location from when I start in September, so at least we'll be car-sharing.

Sorry to keep banging on about my new hobby, but I am ridiculously excited to report that I've actually fairly successfully started spinning the alpaca fluff!!! I won't take a photo until I've done a bit more. I was too excited to try it out, so there is no method whatsoever in how I'm doing the colours - I'm not really blending or doing separate colours, I'm just grabbing the next little carded rolag of whatever coloyr and carrying on . It's going to make a weird yarn!

Oh thank you for asking @MerylSqueak I thought I was getting better, but today have such a dry cough and seem to be full of phlegm (sorry 🤢) but I'm not too bad really! How are you now?

Thank you @Fairislefandango and don't apologise, I love hearing about it, I can't wait to see what you've turned the alpaca into! You should show the people you got it from too! Bet they'd love to see!

@StillNiceCardigan what a tough decision! I really hope your brain settles on what's best for you soon!

Apparently dh's colleagues,who donated their bags of fluff to him at the end of the alpaca walk (because they had no use for it and he told them I might) are intrigued to see what's become of it, so he'll definitely take photos and show them!

This is the right place to bang on about yarn @Fairislefandango . We all like it!

I sort of feel like I'm cheating on knitting and crocheting because I've had my head turned by spinning . Still...at least I now have a knitting project planned for some of my yarn. But I've got distracted from that by the alpaca!

Oh no @MerylSqueak I’m sorry, I hope he’s just having a holiday and the hot weather brings him home

It kept getting worse then better for me when I had Covid @sophs29 but the phlegm was the end of it so I hope it’s the same for you!

That sounds amazing @Fairislefandango ! I can’t wait to see what you spin! How did you find the dog brushes?

I’ve been working on a sock on and off for ages. I lost the contrast yarn for the heel and found it on the last thread and now I’ve lost it for the toe again I’ve also managed to lose my new swimsuit and I’ve searched for it to the extent I’m wondering if I dreamed buying it 😵‍💫

I had the lingering phlegm too, @sophs29 , plus my sore throat kept coming back again a bit, before finally going.

My memory is definitely going that way, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound - I'm still perfectly competent at remembering certain kinds of things, but forget where I put things and what I was thinking about 30 seconds ago .

Amazingly, I found the dog brushes at the garden centre / pet supplies shop 5 minutes walk from my house . Aside from being small and made of plastic, they are pretty much exactly like normal carders. They even have a good curve to them, unlike the similar dog brushes I've seen people use in a couple of videos.

Here are this morning's rolags. I've decided to card a lot more before I get back to spinning them, to avoid having to stop so often when I run out of rolags, and so that I can be a bit more organised with colours!

Oh hopefully it's near the end then! My poor DS is still testing strongly positive nearly a week on, he has his last ever two days at nursery this week but I'm not sure if he'll be able to go! That's if it's still open because of the heat!

@MerylSqueak I'm so sorry I missed the part about your cat! I really hope you find them soon!

@Fairislefandango or @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound could you explain all that to a dummy please? (Me 😇) haha, I'm so intrigued what you use the dog brushes for etc!

Certainly, @sophs29 !
So... first you soak the fleece in soapy water and rinse it and let it dry. Then you take a handful of fleece and spread it out loosely onto the teeth of one of the brushes so that you have a thickish layer. It's still quite tangly and bunched up at this point. Then you hold the full brush in one hand, teeth and fibre facing upwards and you hold the other (empty) brush in the other hand, teeth facing downwards. You then drag the empty one across the full one a few times so the teeth untangle and straighten out the fibres of the fleece. Then you transfer all the fibre back onto one brush and repeat a few times. When it looks tidy and straight, you roll the fibre off the brush and into a kind of sausage shape called a rolag, using the edge of the other brush and/or your fingers. Then when you have a load of rolags, you can spin from them, by gently pulling the fibre, starting at the end of the rolag, and feeding it to the wheel (having joined it to the leader thread attached to your bobbin). When you finish a rolag, you just grab the next one, allow the first fibres of it to twine around the end fibres of the last one as you start spinning again....and repeat!

.... and then the next morning you realise that it was surprisingly hard work (and an unaccustomed movement) and your upper back/neck is killing you. Oops and ouch!

Ooooh sounds very interesting! It will definitely be worth all that hard work! @Fairislefandango I think a mixture of the fibres will look really nice!

I hope so! It takes a very long time, because you can only put a pretty small amount of fibre on the brushes at once. I need to carry on spinning my ready-to-spin white Jacob for my cowl and just do a bit of carding per day, or I'm going to be unable to move!

Those brushes look perfect @Fairislefandango! Nice rolags and good workout 😄

I did a bit of plying today because we had to pop home last night so I was able to get at my wheel! Heading back to my spindles now though. I’ve spun so much on them, I always forget how much 10 mins here and there adds up to.

Beautiful colour, @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound - what kind of wool is it?

It’s a merino silk blend from Hilltop Cloud, its really lovely to spin!

Sounds amazing! I'm going to spin a bit more alpaca this evening and then get back to my Jacob.

I'm going to try to post a pic of the monster with which I am grappling. Looks great on the young model doesn't it? I will never tackle it again as it is driving me mad.

Oh that’s lovely @prettyteapotsplease! I really like the neckline! You look so close to being finished now!

The heat wave has finally arrived for us 🥵We were at the beach this morning before the worst of the heat kicked in and compared to last week it was jammed, the parking was something else😄I don’t envy the beach crew or lifeguards!

I do like a bit of cable @prettyteapotsplease it looks like you’ve made great progress.

It’s unbelievably hot here @SpinMeRightRoundBabyRightRound DH is attempting to fry an egg on the patio and I’m just leaving him to it.

It looks great though @prettyteapotsplease

I love all the spinning talk @Fairislefandango I think your variegated plan sounds great. One thing I don't like about variegated yarn is a uniform pattern.

Very sad day here as my lovely cat was found dead in a nearby garden this morning. I think he'd been dead for a while. I'm so sad. He was so young and beautiful and just my little pal. I looked at him every day and thought how lucky I was to have him.