… and now it is eeasier to see how the pattern repeats. At the moment it is 27″ across the top. The selvedge tightness stops me stretching it any further, though I could (and probably will when I block the finished shawl) stretch it a bit more vertically. I had already been trying to keep the selvedge loose, but it seems I need to try harder on the knit rows as that edge is slightly tighter.

I’ve started a pattern I’ve been wanting to do for a while now. It’s Kinzel’s Springtime pattern adapted to a triangular shawl by Glenda Hunt. I’m doing it in Jaggersun Zephyr laceweight wool/silk on 3.5 mm needles. It is actually Royal Blue, but the flash has affected the colour in the photo. It was going to be for a friend, but I didn’t have the right colour yarn for her, and I do love this colour and the pattern, so …

… well, almost!

I noticed some Sirdar Denim Chunky in Atlantic Blue at my local hobby store when I was there looking for something else. I needed a hat to go with a new jacket, and I knew that colourway would be perfect, so I bought a ball. I was dithering about which pattern to use when a friend (thanks, D!) reminded me of the Quaker Ribbed Bottom Hat. I had to adapt it slightly for the thicker yarn.

Yes, I know it looks like a tea cosy or a loo roll cover, but it really does look much better when being worn. I couldn’t take a picture of it on my own head, though, and I wanted to get the blog entry done before I forgot, so this one will have to do.

I’ve been working on a gift for a friend. In case she looks at my blog before she receives the gift, I’m putting the details and pictures in the extended entry. If you think it might be for you, don’t click!!!

[... and for anyone reading this from the archives, when they are filed the main and extended entries are combined into a single entry, so you'll see it all without clicking anything.]
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… from my generous DH – a Baby Butterfly spindle from Quantum Spindles. It is in ambrosia maple, weighs 30g, has a 2.7″ diameter whorl and is 11″ long. It looks beautiful, but just as importantly, it spins very well too. Here are some pictures:

“… to finally update my blog again?” I asked myself. Since I couldn’t come up with a good answer, here I am again.

A goup of friends who meet regularly on AIM arranged a Secret Santa swap last year. an d we had so much fun we did it again this year. From my Santa, I received silk top, cashmere top, handspun yarn (lovely soft Romney/Corrie cross) and a handknit scarf:

The scarf is rather crumpled from its journey, so it would look better if I dampened it and smoothed it out, but these pictures give you the general idea. I don’t have any pictures of the yarn as the camera’s memory card was full by then.

In case you are wondering what handmade item(s) I sent my Secret Santa victim, I have to confess that although I did get her other gifts to her on time, the handmade one is still not finished. I’ll post pictures once she receives it. It is going slowly as I’m also trying to finish part of my mother’s gift. I got the first attempt done her in time for her to try it on on Christmas Day, but it was too loose, so I had to rip it. The second attempt fitted, but I still need to make it a partner:

To quote Rolf Harris, “can you see what it is yet?”

To help you, I’ll tell you that the bottom edge is closed, and the top right diagonal edge is open.

The lower part is 2×2 rib and the upper part is garter stitch.

The whole thing is about 5″ from the top ‘point’ to the base.
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… rather than fibre content …

Since my last entry, we’ve both been illl for a few weeks, and then there was a lot of things we needed to catch up, so I’m only just back to doing fibre stuff. Just to prove I haven’t stopped blogging completely, I decided to put up some cat pictures. Even though they love comfort, cats do like to make themselves uncomfortable at times:

As promised yesterday, we took the camera with us for this evening’s stroll along the Thames towpath. Unfortunately, we were too late to get good sunset shots, but our digital camera coped fairly well with handling the fading evening light. (All the thumbnails are clickable.)

First we visited the swans:

“Oh, you’ve brought bread!!!”:

“Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it is rude to snatch?”:

“Uh oh, 4 greedy swans is getting too much.” (Yes, I know there are only 2 in the picture, but by now there were 4 who couldn’t wait for me to throw the bread into the water):

And finally, the pictures of the Thames itself:

Coming soon, I hope, more real fibre blogging. At the moment, I’m mostly preocupied with a quilting swap, which needs to stay secret till it is finished. I do have more takadai braids to scan – I hope to get those pictures uploaded here soon.

… it is so long since I last did an entry …

I know I said this was to be a fibre blog, and I have been doing fibre stuff (honestly!), but life has been too chaotic lately for me to give this blog any priority (sick cat, then sick husband, now sick mother), so here is a picture of Tigs just to prove he isn’t so sick that he can’t relax and chill out. (Click for a bigger version, as usual.)

When we left my mother after visiting for the second time today to cook her some supper, we should have hurried home to cook our own meal, but we decided we needed a half hour stroll along the towpath of the River Thames instead – good for the soul. :-) Unfortunately we didn’t have a camera with us to catch the sunset over the river, but if we go there again tomorrow we’ll try to remember it. Now I need to cook that dinner …

Back in April, I mentioned that I’d made my first takadai braid. I had to dismantle the takadai again so I hadn’t done any more until we were lucky enough to go to a two-day takadai workshop with Jennie Parry, held at the home of a Kennet Valley Guild member, Debbie.

Between chatting, laughing, eating lunch in the garden and petting Debbie’s two labradors, we packed in a lot of braiding, but we still came home with unfinished warps. Fortunately, it is easier to re-install a warp onto a takadai than onto a shaft loom, so last week I managed to finish both of mine.

Here is a picture to give you a taster of what we did, but for information on what a takadai is and how it is used, bigger pictures of these braids and details of the individual sections, click here or on the picture.