Angora fail! + new socks

I cast on the socks for my mum, out of gorgeous angora/merino/nylon blend...so soft, shed quite a bit and I got fibre in my nose lol but really nice, don't think it'd stand up to being worn though, so given up on it :(

Cast it off, so can use it as a sample/gauge for a future project...and prof I actually tried it lol

I cast on mum socks again, this time out of opal yarn, veridian rainforest (colourway Kim- 7951), she's not seen it in person yet so hope she likes it :) cast on 28sts (14 on each needle) and increased to 64sts (32 on each needle), doing stocking st on the bottom of the foot at ribbing on the top of the foot for extra stretch.

I also need to cast on another rainbow octopus for a friend :)
And really need someone else to measure their head so I can cast on their birthday owl hat...gonna be pushing it as using a technique I've never done (icord edges) as well as cables which I'm not great at...
Hope all is well, Happy Crafting!

Wellie socks!

Finished the second pair, a little short due to yarn chicken, and forgot the last 8 round repeat...oops! They'll do their job though :)

Orange and lime toes, heels and cuffs with turquoise foot and leg, teddy avril DK held double on 4mm needles, knitted magic loop on 32" needle. The pattern is a free download on ravelry, basic wellie socks age 4-5 (toe up).
And my son has new wellies to wear them in too :)
Happy Crafting!

Funky Octopus!

Made my son another octopus toy :)
This one is in rainbow coloured chunky yarn on 4mm needles, with 10mm safety eyes, and looks very cool :)
The completed new addiction to our octopus family lol 

I've cast on some more wellie socks for my son and need to cast on socks for my mum soon too...may take them on holiday, though might be doing another rainbow octopus too, my friend wants one lol
Happy Crafting!

Gothic Lace Cowl + mitts + socks

My selfish knitting has been washed and dried, and had the buttons sewn on :)
It was the gothic lace cowl by tincan knit, and is available as a free ravelry download, it's also available as a scarf.

I used malabrigo rios in the arco iris colourway with 5mm needles. I attached 8 buttons, two of each seen, each is a square, wooden button with floral design on.
I found this pattern really addictive and knit the whole thing in a day, though I ached after it was so beautiful I was happy with it...my first proper lace pattern I think, and first time using malabrigo, it was a pleasure, so soft!

I wound the yarn for my mums socks, it's from felt fusion on etsy and is an angora/merino/nylon blend 4ply in the all at sea colourway. Gonna be another 2mm needle job -sigh-

In June I cast on and finished the first fingerless mitt for my mum, I'd made a few pairs by then so only got around to making the second last week lol good job they aren't needed till December lol
Knit from an old DK acrylic from my stash on 3mm DPNs.

This week I need to make new wellie socks for my son, so I wrote down what I did as a free ravelry download...they're knit from teddy avril DK held double on 4mm circ with a fish lips kiss heel (not free but only $1, about 64p).

My son likes them so I'm happy, they are a couple rounds too long in the foot so subtracted them when typing up the pattern, but they are totally still wearable :) Just another pair or two to make lol but my wrists need a break for a day or two lol

That is my lot lol I ache and need a little rest, but not for long coz hoping for at least another pair of wellie socks for Scotland holidays :)

Happy Crafting!

SOCKS! + selfish knitting

I finally finished the socks lol it took about two and a half months but I cast them off yesterday...here's hoping they fit lol

Opal sock yarn; the little prince and the geographer, on 2mm circular knitting needles, done two at a time toe up.

My selfish knitting is the gothic lace (by tincan knits) cowl in malabrigo rios (866 arco iris) on 5mm needles, it needs washing and some sort of blocking then buttons sewing on but it looks pretty nice. Love the yarn lots, want more for sure :)

I still need to finish the shawl for my mum and cast on socks for her too..and wellie socks for my son, and I'd like some too considering all the lovely sock yarn I've bought lol and that's just the sock plans lol I need more time haha
Happy Crafting!

Hat for my son!

I had to give in and make a new hat for my son, after he tried stealing the gift hat for my friends son :) I made him a red cookie jar hat, and he seems happy with it. It's been washed and is currently drying then he can run round in it all he likes lol

I'm half way through spinning my berry smoothie norboo fibre from Fondant Fibre...it's so soft, it sheds a bit but looks nice (I think), I got about 21.9m (24 yards) from 46.3g (I haven't checked the WPI yet). It's very pink, the colour is so bright it's hard to capture and keeps looking purple...but it is most definitely pink lol

I'm also doing ok with the socks, I finally started the ribbing...finally! I've had to swap form two 24" knit pro nova needles to a 32" hiya hiya needle as I found the ribbing with two needles rather difficult. The join on the hiya hiya needle is much smoother than the novas, but I bought the bamboo needle which is a bit bendy, and I'm worried I may snap the needle :( Wish me luck!
Also, still working on my mums shawl...and really need to cast on the hat gift for a party next month as it's got cables and icord edges and I'm rubbish at cables and I've never done an icord edge before so nervous and want to make sure it's right and finished in time...
The owl family are with their new family and the little extra owl has gone to it's new owner too, she was so happy she squealed a little and hugged me while she was at work lol good to know they're liked...and my son is doing owl babies at school so that explains why he's been trying to play with them, may make him a set if I have time...
Happy Crafting!

Jazz Club #2 + Purl City Yarns

My second Jazz Club shipment arrived today :) the picture is a bit darker than in real life, but it's really nice, and I've never spun with an alpaca blend before...I have a 100% shetland fibre but not spun it yet so that's still new to me too :)

The little extra in this months club was some merino, BFL, sparkle punis...and my Gods do I love the colours...deep red/black and totally amazing...I wish I had a couple 100g of this as nests or braids coz man is it nice...might be a wishlist item for xmas or something...

And my Purl City Yarns parcel arrived, the shop in Manchester has officially closed but my order is here and the chopin (bottom left) has got me especially excited, love the burgundy, blues, lilac and greys together...The kit is cute too and am looking forward to making the owl :) I bought my first alpaca blend yarn and my first Debbie Bliss yarn...

I made a red hat for my friends son (his birthday is coming up and he wanted a red hat to match his new school coat), and my son tried stealing it lol so I've cast on one for him (the cookie jar pattern) but I know I'm going to run out of yarn so need to go get more tomorrow lol The plane beanie I made for G is too small for me, and too big for my son, so it should fit G just right :)

So...lots of newnesses again, but only coz a shop was closing and the jazz club is my birthday present off a friend :)
Happy Crafting!

Glass fusion +

Made another little pumpkin :) hallowe'en coming up and my son loves to play with these so I keep making them :)

My dyeing fail is dry...it's kinda pale and odd shades of pink with white (ish) bits...wonder what it'll look like spun up...

Been to my glass fusion class today :) here are the groups coasters all together, some awesome makes :)

Here are my fused coasters, moon and stars and a mushroom :)

I've prepared the glass to be made into rainbow sticks and be fused ready for our next class in a few weeks :)

Enjoying the glass fusion class and been working on the socks some more, another inch or two and can hopefully start on the ribbing...that'll take a while, I like ribbing but not actually knitting it lol
Happy Crafting!

Norboo and owl extra

Hi again...I seem to alternate between posting loads and not so much...consistency it seems is not my strong suit lol
I've started spinning some norboo in berry smoothie pink (from Fondant Fibre)...it's rather pink for me, but might make a nice gift, or used as a contrasting colour to some of the other norboo fibres from my stash.

I'm hoping to spin the hand dyed corriedale next, though it may need redyeing either pre or post spinning, it's kinda a weird shade of pink right now lol and still drying over my radiator triangle...
I've also made another small owl, again for one of my mums friends (Janet), that's if I can keep my son and my mums hands off it lol this one is made much the same as the previous owls but this one has crocheted circles and 6mm black safety eyes rather than buttons. My first time using safety eyes, it took some pushing but finally managed to get them to click in place.

The family of owls has made it's way to their new home, hopefully they'll be appreciated and loved by the whole family :)
And none crafty related, I got excited coz the orange hallowe'en fancies have made it back onto shelves in my local tesco :) I'm not a fan of french fancies, they taste off to me, the orange ones however are absolutely delicious and I plan on enjoying myself while they're still in season (so to speak lol)...yes I'm the kind of sad, stress eater that gets excited by seasonal cakes...though not always the stereotypical ones lol go forth and try them...scrumptious!

Now that I've tempted you all with cakes I'd best be off and get crafting myself :)
Happy Crafting!

Instagram

Ok, I'm attempting an instagram page lol I'm kinda rubbish at these things usually lol but I'll try then people can see pics if they want as I update it but descriptions and things will be in the blog.
Username 'lilangelsg2' and it will be photos of my fibre fun and yarn love!
This may include new fibre/yarn/needles etc and finished objects...I'll try restrain myself from posting updates every two minutes coz otherwise you'll see far too much of me lol
Happy Crafting!

Owls! Cheviot! And updates...

I've finished the family of owls for Clare, 5 babies n a mummy :)
They aren't as neat as I'd hoped but she said she's happy with them.

I'm also working on the socks, I said I would, though still nervous about fit and things...gonna start ribbing soonish...

I unraveled my 100g undyed corriedale from Yarndale and made it into a braid, the ends are a bit blobby but it's fairly neat otherwise lol

I soaked it in a pan of water...

My son and I added red, yellow, blue and green food dye to it with sponges...it mostly came out...total fail and completely my own fault lol he lost interest so I coated it in some red food dye...it looked kinda odd but ok...

Then I microwaved it and unwrapped it...then soaked it again...and most of the red came out too lol it's a good job my boy likes pink lol

And now it's time to dry before prepping it to spin...hopefully there'll still be some pink left once dry as it's darker wet than dry lol -fingers crossed- lol Wondering if I could try dyeing it again after it's spun up into my crazy yarn...

So basically I'm a big fail at dyeing lol but I'll give it another go I'm sure, just add more dye and lemon juice initially and hope it sets better...
I'm also still working on the shawl for my mum...though no new pics to show, it is growing slowly, wishing I'd done one with purl and garter sections as not sure what my mum will think of a plain garter stitch shawl...
I also finished spinning the cheviot fibre (from the lovely Deb at Fondant Fibre). The second half had even less yardage than the first, kind of disappointed with myself, hoping it's not as good (as some of my previous yarns) just coz I didn't enjoy it as much as spinning softer fibres and not coz I'm getting worse rather than better lol

I personally found the cheviot a bit scratchy for my own tastes but I love the colours, hoping to be able to make something out of it...or gift it, if anyone can stand it with it's over spun, energised look and inconsistent thickness...
I got 50 yards/45.7m of what I think is at least a chunky, if not a double chunky, though I haven't actually checked the wraps per inch to clarify that. The colours are stunning and create interest as you spin and see them changing and going from solid chunks to barber pole looking sections :)

Got into a couple of new podcasts :) 'foxes in socks' and 'knit all the things' both are available to watch on youtube, I watch a lot of podcasts lol
Think that's it for this week craft wise...though been to the hydro pool again which was a lot of fun :)
Happy Crafting!

3 more owls...

I'm making 6 altogether and posted a pic of one a few days ago...managed to get another three done :)
number 2 looks like he's a bit squinty lol

owl 3 looks rather wide eyed lol

and owl 4 is the first stripy one :)

owl 5 will also be stripy, as will 6 but a bit bigger...
I've done a bit more work on the socks...and keeping my fingers crossed for them to fit lol
Had some family emergencies over the weekend so nothing else done...
Happy Crafting!

Yarndale! sorry it's so long!

I had such an awesome time at Yarndale this year :) There were animals to look at which make some of the lovely yarns on sale :) and caused endless amusement for some lol

I saw a felt and wool dress which I thought was interesting.

A super cute, crocheted (I think) camper van which was totally awesome!

A knit and crocheted cow which I had to take a pic of for my friend Bekki who loves cows :)

I went a bit nuts, got some really good bargains and treated myself to some luxery items :)
Fibre:
I got some undyed fibres; corriedale (which I'm hoping to dye with my son either pre spinning or post spinning so he can have a hand dyed, hand spun, hand knit cowl for school during the winter) and some (70s) merino (which may be dyed and gifted or dyed and spun up for myself...really not sure yet). Both were bargains, just £2 and £2.70 per 100g (both from Adelaide Walker).

I also got some undyed BFL, it's called humbug as it's the different shades of undyed fibre mixed together. It's really soft and at just £4 per 100g I couldn't resist having a go (from skybluepink-designs).

The only dyed fibre I got is this aubergine merino with sparkle and this was only £4.50 per 100g and I've not used sparkle so it will be interesting to see how it turns out (from willo fibres).

Yarn:
This is undyed BFL/Masham blend aran weight yarn. It may be merino/Masham blend but I'm pretty sure it was BFL (sorry for my terrible memory but it didn't come with a label and had to get the lady to write down yardage and forgot to write down the blend). Masham is a new to me fibre, and I'm not sure if it's going to be dyed or not yet. Though my son keeps trying to steel this one, and at only £3 for 100g I'm not too mad if he wants something making out of it...wishing I'd bought more lol (from Laxtons).

I got these really bright and interesting sock yarns in 'pie n peas' and unfortunately the one on the right I don't have a name for as it's not a full 125g skein, both are 100% merino (from batathanddyedyarns).

This colour called to me and then I saw the name and I knew it had to be mine lol it's called Herman Munster (who loves the Munsters...?!!) and it's a super soft 75% sw merino 25% silk blend...I asked if they had a second skein but they'd only had 2 total and someone bought the other on the Saturday...gutted but it's sooo nice, and it's mine which makes me very happy (from batathanddyedyarns).

Then I got this DK sw BFL in the moorland colourway, intending for this to be a woolly wormhead hat called Noma, but I'll see if I think I suit it lol (from batathanddyedyarns).

I had to buy from this stall lol my son loves rubber ducks...he literally has about 30 of them in different sizes and colours and costumes etc lol I was so tempted to ask for one as she had a couple that said sparkle duck on them lol
This is a light fingering or heavy lace weight 500m/100g, the colourway is sea-quine and I just had to have it (from sparkleduck).

I got some of laalbears last dyed yarns...both are the divine base (75% organically farmed British Falkland merino 25% a1 mulberry silk) and 4ply yarns, one in the autumn almanac colourway the other is a brown but no name on the label (from laalbear).

I also treated myself to some chunky yarn which is 100% British BFL roving in the planet earth colourway, I'm hoping this will be a capelet from the Outlander series...yes I'm just that big of a geek lol (from the knitting goddess).

Since I'm totally into shawls at the minute I bought a couple of shawl pins...the first is wooden with what looks like shell at the top (probably not real shell as was reasonably priced, around £2.50 approx, can't remember exactly) with a curved shaft and a really nice feel to it.

The other shawl pin I bought is an upcycled knitting needle with beads added, heated and bent into and interesting curve...I don't usually go for lime greens but since I'd bought a few at Yarndale this one stood out for me :) and only £5, though I didn't get the makers name (sorry).

I also got some stitch markers, which are really vibrant and quite big and an A5 notebook in bright orange, love it (from herdy).

I also got a little stitch marker tin (from Joeli's Kitchen).

Basically I had an awesome time and went kinda nuts in a room full of yarn and fibre fun items lol I stayed under my rather hefty budget (thankfully), in fact I spent about half of my max budget (yes I was over generous but I do only get to one yarn festival a year lol).
My stash is now incredibly large and yet the enabler, Deb of Fondant Fibre has a coupon code I keep being tempted by, though I have yet to succumb lol
Hope you like my goodies, I sure do lol
Happy Crafting!