For those who think this is a knitting blog....

G'day all!

I reckon it is time to show you that I do still knit, and spin.

So here is the pink top, so far:


The back is done, now for the front - it is partway through the armpit shaping. I do hope you like my favourite flannelette sheets (my total and utter favourite sheets of any type, actually). At my current rate of progress, I might get the front done by the end of the week. Then I'll be able to compare the armsceyes of the front and back with the already made up sleeves, but I fear the sleeves are not as neat fitting as I'd like, so I'll probably have to frog them.

Here is something I have been playing with. Lynne Vogel often uses "energised singles" to make socks and treasure bags (kits offered for sale here). Singles yarns are well known for causing bias in knitting - they slant to the right or to the left, depending on whether they are S or Z plied. For energised singles, you have to knit what you've spun as a single rather quickly after spinning - no waiting for months to knit this up!

So on the weekend, I took along my spindle and a pile of pencil rovings I dyed up recently.


After I had spun up three 9m lengths of rovings, I started, knitting. I thought I was knitting a small baggie, but slowly it turned into this:


A fingerless glove. Or mitten. Or handwarmer. (Do you like my B5 watch and my sheets? Do you detect a geeky theme here?) Can you see the way the knitting is pretty regular near the cuff, then starts slanting towards the right? Here's a close up:


The regular stuff was ?S-spun (clockwise spun) yarn that only had a little piggy tail curl if I let it wind back on itself. The slanty, energised knitting was knitted from S-spun yarn that had lots of little piggy tails if I left it curl back on itself. The mitt is being spun straight from the spindle copp. I admit that I did cheat a bit - I spun the yarn up then as I found I wanted more energy in it spun it a bit harder on the spindle before knitting it up. Yep, you heard me - it is coming straight off the spindle, so you can play with the tightness of the spinning as much as you like, then knit it on the spot. Sounds odd, works a treat. Thanks, Lynne, for revealling this interesting trick in the Twisted Sisters Sock Book.

The last bit of the mitten will be in Z-spun (anticlockwise spun) yarn - I expect it to twist to the left.

Having played with the singles yarn a bit now, I am having ideas about spinning non-energised singles - some of the stuff I started knitting with is clearly not very energised at all. I've been trying to work out how to make stuff like Lion and Lamb or the same stuff that Henry's Attick makes, and now I am getting closer to working it out.

Now my fibre acquisitions on the weekend were:


Some fluffy looking Corriedale from Jarob Farm (Australia's distributor of Fibretrend patterns).


Some Fibreworks hand-dyed throwster's waste and a silk cap in Happy Wanderer.


Some Fibreworks hand-dyed silk in ocean (something).

Can you believe this little packet of stuff


can explode into this?


And when I draft it up, it will be fluffy clouds of colour :-)

Finally, on a picture heavy post, I bring you two icons of Australia:


The wattle, symbol of our land. (Any Python fans out there know the rest of the quote - nb can't be an Aussie cos if you are an Aussie and don't know the Bruces sketch, well!)


A roo in someone's yard in Hall's Gap. (Note I have never said that roos are clever)

Next time - I hope to reply to a meme! I just have to remember some stuff first. Not my strong site, remembering stuff. LOL

anon!