But first, a spotty recap of Winter. The next 4 pictures are my entire photo-record of December.
I had to buy a new vacuum cleaner. I took this picture just in case I didn’t like it and had to put it back in the box. So of course, it was fine.
This mouse was stuffed with fluff and poly beads and just sits around looking cute. It was knit from locally hand-dyed Brigss & Little Sport. I made quite a few bigger mice (from Lett Lopi) that were stuffed with fluff and catnip and given away to some VERY happy kitties.
December 28, a flock of gold finches in their winter drab colours.
Now I know I knit other stuff in December, but I have no pictures, so let’s just move on.
Early in January I used this yarn
to make a scarf.
It looks like that picture was taken at the end of the first of two skeins of old Sock Hop yarn (Great Balls of Fire!). It made a shortish Corrugator scarf, perfect with my winter jacket.
January 10. Amaryllis time. Hey look, there was no snow!
This amaryllis bulb outdid itself with 3 flowers on that first stalk and then 4 more on the second stalk!
That’s all I have for January? I’m sure I knit something. Oh well, moving right along to February…
At the end of February I did some spinning.
The second picture is a better representation of the colour. It was pretty nearly the same as the cat, actually. The roving was a nice “wool” that I picked up at Belfast Mini Mills during the summer. It was an 8 oz bag so there will be more of that in the future. So far I’ve got about 200 yards of a very decent 2-ply, aran weight, about 100 g.
Next up was some unidentified wool, part of a sampler of fibre from my SIL Liane, which turned into about 77 m, 44g, of 2-ply aran weight yarn. Mmm. Squooshy.
That was spun in February but plied in March. Continuing with March,
I don’t know if I every showed this before. It was some of the wool that Ben brought me back from Estonia.
I is a single strand of roving, about an 1/8th of an inch wide. No drafting required! Since there were two repeats of the colour sequence, I spun each one onto separate bobbins and then plied them together, hoping for nice transitions between the colours. And it worked!
A total of 408 yds of woolen goodness.
Also in March, I finished a pair of socks started in September ?! That’s part of the Trekking collection generously provided by Norma.
Remember the March Super Moon? Here’s how it looked from here.
I have no idea how I did that last one, but it looks pretty cool!
Also spun in March was some Ashford Merino/Silk (Peppercorn) (thanks, Liane!), and Teeswater roving (thanks Marianne!). You can see them both here, together with the other March spinning, and my new Birks!
An finally, April! First, the knitting… The hat-like object was not knit in April. I think it was knit last summer but due to being oddly proportioned, failed as a hat.
… then the felting …
The rainbow mice were knit from some old Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch. It was leftover from a Lucy Neatby sock kit that I think I made for my daughter maybe 9 or 10 years ago ?! It was a great yarn. Their new stuff is superwash, unfortunately.
Presto! Now it’s a … flower pot cozy?
That first batch of mice turned out so well, that I decided I would just keep making mice until I used up all the yarn.
Visit my Flickr photostream for closeups.
And finally, some random pictures of my Spring .
Crocuses
Daffodils
Tulips
Poppies
The brook
The lily pond
And finally, the (very) wild grape vine
Well, this is BEYOND LATE. My whole Bloglines is a disaster, and it’s not that I was not THINKING of you, but it didn’t occur to me that I was MISSING you until I wanted to message you about a work-related thing. Problem has been solved, but when I tried to message you in Twitter it said you are not following me, so I can’t.
Love all these photos of your beautiful property full of so many great memories, and I can’t BELIEVE the quantity of mice you knit. Mr. Jefferies still has his mouse that you gave him — it’s missing its tail, but he still brings it to me when he thinks I’ve grown bored of his rubber duck or chicken. Heh.
sorry, yahoo was hacked.. new addy.
Great to hear from you again! Your spinning is wonderful. Maybe it will motivate me to get busy with my marinating fiber … Which kitty is the one that matches the wool? I’m partial to those grayish ones, you know. (Although the other one peering over the flowerpot cozy is cracking me up too.)
Paula, your posts are always delightfully picnic packed! The very wild grapevine is beautiful in its bare state..the photos of Spring, your crocus are gorgeous! Seeing all the mice lined up tickles me. The flower pot cozy is fun and festive, having its own little party. ALL your spinning is lovely, what did you think of the Teeswater? and be still my beating heart, your new Birks!!! The moon photos, very nice and I love that last one! Great socks and fabulous spinning of the fibre from Estonia. Your Ben, such a nice young man :^)