Hot stuff!!

I whipped up a cover for my baby hot water bottle with some leftover Noro yarn. The little devil is in there for life, there is no means of escape. I'm tempted to felt it now, complete with bottle inside. There is not much room for manoeuvre. Would be interesting to see if the felting is powerful enough to crumple the rubber of the hot water bottle. Suspect this kind of felting may be the stuff of Superman comics but I'll fill the bottle first, just in case.

Hand in glove

Finished the cotton gloves for my friend. There is actually a prefferd space through which the thumb should exit. Decided to send them hand in glove to indicate this fact.

Doon the Watter

Off on another craft cruise...


This is my current knitting container. It's a sample for a workshop I did once for International Women's Day. The title was how to turn yourself into an old bag.


Cotton gloves for my vegan chum. No-one has actually road tested these yet. I suspect they might catch in everything. Think they'll just be for glamming about in, not for any practical purpose.


These huge cargo ships often sit offshore. They are like floating cities.


Arriving in lovely Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. Used to be the height of sophistication to holiday here in the Victorian era.


It was a beautifully calm day



Sailboats everywhere you looked.

Oooops!

I learned a valuable yarn lesson today. When someone says they can't wear wool, it's a good idea to ask why. I know it seems a little intrusive but trust me, it will be worth it in the long run.

Wool allergy, I assumed when my friend let me into her secret. Nasty, itchy, scratchy. So I replaced it with lovley indie dyed silk from stash. Smooth, sensual, sensational!

Errrrrrrrrrrrrr, only my friend doesn't have a wool allergy. She's a vegan.

Now she's a good friend and knew she was a vegan. I've even fed her on accassion. I know vegans don't wear leather shoes and I understand why. It's perfectly logical. Now that I think about it I can even see why no silk. But why no wool? No sheep are harmed in the process. Maybe it's just the whole thing of animals being the slaves of man. Whatever. I have my idiocincracies too. I can't abide two pence pieces.

Luckily another good friend brought me a present of this grand ecological cotton. I'm even going to make some changes to the pattern. Perhaps the new hitch hiker's gloves will be better than ever.

Lets hope the third time is the trick.

silky!

I'm making a pair of silk hitch hiker's gloves for my friend who can't wear wool. This is indie dyed silk, quite bulky. I picked it up a while ago and it's been crocheted and frogged a few times before it found it's calling. Goes particularly well with my pyjamas I thought.

Harris Haystacks (it's my wrestling name)

I'm making a jacket from the big dod of felt I created a while ago. I just went at it with the scissors. Well, you can't make an omelet without cutting chunks out of eggs, can you?

I was playing with Harris Tweed to see if I could make jewellery. These look like mini haystacks, don't they? They might have a part of play in the finished garment.

Felted flowers

Not a huge difference between felted and unfelted, in fact, almost indiscernible to the naked eye. This is Lamb's Pride. Thought it was supposed to felt at the drop of a tap? It certainly splices beautifully.

I only learned how to splice recently and in case, like me, you've lived to this age without the knowledge......

You unravel the two ends of yarn you wish to join always presuming it is of a suitable felty type. Then, the instructions I originally found said, you spit on it. Now I'm anti spitting. Violently anti spitting. If there are any spitting related incident on the TV I have to leave the room. I was explaining this hindrance to successful splicing to a colleague who does a lot of knitting in public and she explained the alternative. You enmesh the two unravelled end with each other and run then between your lips in a lady like manner. This particular pal makes her own roll ups so it's kind of like licking your Rizzlers. Much more ladylike than actually gobbing in your hand.

So..............having covered the wetting down aspect of splicing in more detail that strictly necessary, you rub the two wet ends briskly between the palms of your two hands and they miraculously felt together! It's my favourite party trick at the moment although obviously it doesn't work with super wash or yarns with a low wool content.

Still, I think I prefer the slightly more matt felted flower in contrast with the very openwork scrarf. I may chuck the flowers in the washing machine a second time or even give them a quick going over with the sander. Now there's an idea!

Spring is bursting out all over..............

Well not spring exactly...this is part of my Christmas knitting. I'm going to chuck these in the washing machine and see what happens to them. The plan is to use them to embellish a scarf.

Autumn

I'm having a bit of trouble walking at the moment which certainly makes me appreciate the beauty of the outdoors when I finally get there.


There are lots of crunchy things around.............



...and fluffy things.


Here's a ready made seascape I found growing on a bench. They do say this kind of lichen only grown in area where the air quality is good. I'm very lucky to have all this beauty on my doorstep.