Although not in quite such a sinister way as that title makes it sound!
It just been a busy few weeks - both with work and with my social life... which, apparently, isn't dead! Or maybe it's the walking undead... I'm not entirely sure!
Anyway, it's all culminated in a dramatic case of start-itis! I seriously keep getting part way through something and then having a brilliant idea for something else which I decide to start immediately. I think this is where knitters have slightly more restrictions than crocheters - a knitter has a finite number of needles (unless you go out and buy more, and I see podcasts where people do that) whereas a crocheter can just stick a stitch marker into the working loop and take that hook over to another project!
This week's new starter was inspired by my WIP from a couple of weeks ago... which is totally still a WIP!
Yes, it's another Snowdrop Shawl! This one with a variation that was inspired by Martina Behm's Brickless shawl - and seriously, there are 2 things that inspire me to try knitting: making my own socks, and Martina's design page on ravelry!
So, I inserted a couple of rows of a lace effect every few solid rows - I was unsure the first few repeats, but I have to say that I do love it.
One thing I don't love so much? The yarn!
It's Drops Delight, which is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon (intended for socks) and is fulled singles, in the purple/turquoise colourway. I've worked with Drops yarn before - I adore their Alpaca, which is soft and generally lovely to work with.
This became the bane of my life within the first half ball! It's squeaky, which I've never encountered with a wool before, but the main issue is the thickness - it varies from wire-thin to super-bulky thick over a relatively small space.
Please excuse the lighting - this was taken at about half eleven at night. But that *points upwards* is not even the worst bit I came across. I didn't get a photo of the worst one because I was too busy cursing and cleaning up bits of fibre as the yarn drafted apart in my hands!
I shall be finishing the project - not least because I have three balls of yarn that I do not want rattling around in my stash any longer than absolutely necessary. But I suspect this may be offered out to friends/family who will appreciate that this looks pretty without remembering the hassles that were involved in making it.
My other thing recently has been stash building... which I have now officially (mostly) stopped since I am saving for a wheel! *does a happy dance* I headed over to Shunklies studio a few weeks ago with some other ladies from Ravelry for a fun-filled day of playing with fibre. We learned to wet felt, how best to use a drum carder and I got to play on a couple of spinning wheel, which was my main aim for the day.
Aaaaand I may have spent a ridiculous amount of time since then considering wheels and costs and which has the most benefits over the others. I think I've settled on one I prefer over the others, but it all does depend on how much it costs to get my car through its MOT next week!
So.... just a few of my stash additions... although at least two of them are specifically for the Tour de Fleece in July!
Which is really just another reason to buy a wheel - think how much I could get done for the TdF, and stash dash...
Speaking of, Stash Dash 2014 starts tomorrow, and all my current WIPs (assuming I get them finished in time) count towards the total! My very quick guesstimate yesterday, assuming I get certain projects finished and manage my minimum on a spindle for the TdF, puts me at just over 3.5K... only another 1.5K to find :(
