Wild and Windy

After weeks and weeks of dry weather at last we have some typical autumnal weather ie it's wet and windy so a good time to catch up. Think 2009 is going to stick in my mind as the year of decorating and moving - not for us but helping out my mum and sister. Were incredily lucky to get my mum into sheltered accommodation back at the end of June. However the lady who had lived there previously had been a chain smoker so the whole place was smoke stained therefore needed to decorate the whole flat. Fortunately the weather was dry and hot so ideal for painting. Was also good in that it meant I got to spend some quality time with my niece who's a really great kid. Of course the day we had to move my mum was one of the hottest of the summer but she's settled and much happier now. Seems mad that when surveys are showing that so many old folk are really lonely and we have an ageing population this kind of accommodation is becoming increasingly scarce.

Then spent yesterday decorating at my sister's house. However it didn't go so well but got there in the end and DN has extremely good taste and her room looks good now and hopefully she can start making it her own.

The foul weather outside also gives me the perfect excuse to catch up on some knitting. Have done loads of spinning this year but enthusiasm for knitting seems to have waned a bit. Took part in Tour de Fleece - the discipline of having to spin practically every day was really good for me. Spun up loads of my stashed fibre and although there was the odd day when it felt a bit of a chore don't know that I'd have had the patience to spin up enough for a sweater otherwise.

This is what I started with approx 600g Turquoise Ashland Merino/Silk mix, 200g Lime Green Jelly merino/cashmere/silk mix fibre, another 100g Blue, Green, Purple mix Ashland Merino/Silk and some turquoise, green and purple Wensleydale locks.
I didn't quite finish it all but got pretty close. Got a bit fed up of spinning so much blue fibre so did this as a quick spin

This is Spindlefrog Falkland which I picked up at Wonderwool - and spun up into

300 m of 2 plyed yarn which I've called Sunny Delight and 20m N ply.

DH really wanted some bright and blowsy Dahlias and was so pleased with these - unfortunately they didn't flower until last week. Loved the way the colours match the colours of the yarn above.

Besides decorating, moving and clearing and sorting my mum's house and all the spinning also did lots of sewing and gardening over the summer. It was so good to be off work and felt that I achieved something every day which is something I rarely achieve at work these days. Also felt a lot fitter and certainly eat much better.

My Pioneer then had a catastophic failure and had to have the crank replaced and on receipt of my Southern Cross Fibre club September bump decided it was so nice had to spin it up quickly. It was a lovely mix of Polworth and Silk and super soft and shiny.

The fibre photographed on the beautifully sunny evening it arrived.

Plaited up which shows the colours more clearly.

Singles again photographed and spun during a lovely sunny evening

The end result 545m of the loveliest sqooshy singles which I then knitted into

an Ishbel shawl
Although I spun loads during the late Spring and Summer have knitted very little however really enjoyed knitting this and got it done in a fortnight. It was so good to knit something out of my handspun and it's certainly got me back into knitting again. Got a pair of socks on the needles but really keen to knit another shawl and more things out of my handspun.