Spinning, Reading, Skein Queen Yarn & More Socks

Knitting was put on hold last weekend, because I was determined to finish spinning this lovely fluff.  It's a blend of Bluefaced Leicester, Cashmere & Silk from fondant fibre and, as usual, it was beautifully prepared.  I'm not sure what it'll knit up to be yet.  Theres a lovely transition from white to dark grey through it, so I think it'll have to be a nice shawl which shows it off!

That ludicrous orange is going to be a pair of coopknits socks; Saxifrage to be precise!  They had to be a ludicrous colour, because so far my socks have been pretty tame (I'll need to pop them all here and show them off!).  How did you do with your Socktober?  I managed 2.5 pairs.  Not bad?  I'm proud of myself, at least!

Saxifrage by Coopknits

And possibly the most enjoyable part (yes better even than new spinning and new socks) is that every Month, Debbie Orr of Skein Queen dyes up two colourways to match a chosen book.  This month, she chose 'Eeny Meeny' by M.J. Arlidge and, my-oh-my, were those yarns glorious.

The base is a merino/silk/yak blend - it's beautiful.  It's burning a hole in my stash shelf, and I really need to find something to knit with it soon!  Ideally, I'll find a gorgeous big shawl which requires two different colours of yarn so that I can use both the solid and variegated provided by the club together.  Any ideas?  If not I'll just have to spend yet more hours browsing Ravelry...

The club is a great motivator for me to pick books I wouldn't usually pick, encourages me to hurry up and finish them and leaves a lovely little bit of anticipation as I wait to see what colours Skein Queen will dream up.  I really do love reading, and since starting work it has been hard to wind down, to take time out just to read for a few hours, so I've been teaching myself to chill out again!  Y'know, in between the studying.

If you'd like a little book club with added yarn, there's a group here on Ravelry, and if you fancy joining the club it's over on the Skein Queen website.  

OH!  I almost forgot!  Since there now appears to be a growing number of Glasgow inspired shawls, there'll be a wee KAL over in the OwlPrintPanda ravelry group :D.  The Ashton Lane shawl won second place in the Glasgow School of Yarn competition a couple of weekends ago, which was lovely!  It's even more lovely to see people want to knit it together :)

New Pattern: Ashton Lane Shawl

Last week, at the Glasgow School of Yarn, my shawl inspired by Ashton Lane won 2nd place in the design competition!  You can find it now on Ravelry, and join the Glasgow Shawls KAL as well (more about this later in the post)!  

Knitted top down from a garter tab, short rows are used to create sweeping lines of yarn overs to mimic the hanging strings of fairy lights so familiar to Ashton Lane.   After the yarn over ‘lights’, the shawl transitions to a ‘cobblestone’ section created with increasing size slipped stitches and purl rows - creating a wee sense of perspective & depth.  

Ashton Lane is a tiny cobbled side street in the West End of Glasgow.  Bustling even at the quietest of times, this fairy light adorned lane is a must visit place in the west end of Glasgow, with restaurants, pubs, cinema and nightclubs all packed into this tiny space.  For me, it’s the first and last port of call on a night out, and I’d take anyone who visits me in Glasgow here.  It’s not a trip out in Glasgow without a half-pint under the fairy lights. - I have a half pint, because large beer make me look even smaller.  It's true, see:

Knit in Ripples Craft BFL sock, it's a gorgeous grey as well, and the beads lend a really nice weight to the whole item.  I'll work on a wee beading tutorial this evening, so check back in a couple of days if you need a little additional help!  In the meantime, there are lots of very helpful youtube videos.  

The KAL!  Never fear, I haven't forgotten.  From the start of November, with a finish date at the end of December, there's a wee Knit-Along in the OwlPrintPanda group on Ravelry.  There'll be a couple of wee prizes, and a 10% discount on all of my Glasgow inspired patterns and 15% discount on my etsy yarns for those taking part.   Feel free to join in at any stage!  

Glasgow School of Yarn 2014

Are you free this weekend?  If so, you should venture to the Mackintosh Church on Friday or Saturday.  You might just find some lovely yarny goodness hidden away in a brilliant Mackintosh building, at the Glasgow School of Yarn.

The marketplace will include some lovely vendors, including Abstract Cat, Peppermint Penguin, Debonnaire, Easyknits, Ginger Twist Studio, Knit Wild, Lucy Hague Designs, Strathearn Fleece & FIbre, Susan Sharpe Ceramics & Wood Ewe. 

Tutors include Rachel Coopey, who makes some gorgeous socks.  Some of them are next on my list of SOCKtober patterns, and I'm really looking forward to casting them on!  Jon Dunn-Ballam of Easyknits, who makes some gorgeous yarn - my favourite are his sushi rolls, which I may have gotten rather attached to at Yarndale.  Emily Wessel of Tin Can Knits, who makes some truly lovely patterns - the Tin Can Knits Lush pattern was used for the recent KAL which was organised by a few of the british podcasters.  I used fyberspates for mine, and it was YUMMY :) 

There's also a stall from p/hop, which stands for pennies per hour of pleasure.  It's a charity which enables knitters to donate for a pattern, which in turn has been donated for sale by the designer to p/hop.  Proceeds are then sent directly to Medecins Sans Frontieres.  

Looks like it'll be good :)

Glasgow School of Yarn 2013

It's back!!  And bigger than before!  This year I'll have a little stall, so do pop by to say hello!!

The wonderful glasgow school of yarn will be on the 18th -19th of October.

Run by the lovely Antje of The Yarn Cake yarn & coffee shop, it's a great event filled with lots of lovely people - there are quite a few workshops which I'd have loved to attend if I wasn't going to be so busy!!   You can find more details on The Yarn Cake website.  

You're more than welcome to request custom items or reserve markers to be set aside before the event, and come pick them up on the day!  Just email me :)

You can find the event at:

Mackintosh Church

870 Garscube Road, 

Queen's Cross

Glasgow

G20 7EL

10am - 6pm both days!  

Entry is £5 at the door or is included if you've booked in for a class :)