It's been an odd couple of weeks, even for me.

Life chez Yarnspider has not run smoothly over the last couple of weeks.  It started with another abscess and a touch of blood poisoning which resulted in yet more Doxycycline (I really hate that stuff, it makes my hair fall out!).  And then I accidentally poisoned myself (I have a real problem with Rapeseed intolerance, pollen and oil).  This resulted in a weekend of being poorly.  A shame really, as the pasty was really nice.  It does concern me though that so many people mix up margarine and butter and assume vegetable oil is not generic!  And then the following weekend we had to have the doctor out as I went down with suspected Noro Virus.

Oh and the house made a spirited attempt to burn down.  Nope I do not jest.  Our fuse box melted.  We were told by the emergency electricians that if we had had our box boxed in, we would not have smelt the burning plastic in time and that would have been the house gone!  The moral of this folks, is REGARDLESS of how new/amazing you think your fuse box is, PAY a qualified electrician to take the whole of the front off and inspect it every 12 months.  I know that there is a call out fee, but it is so much cheaper that having to rebuild your life.

IMAG0583IMAG0577Right, excuses over, in between all of this, I have been pottering along. 
For a change, Weaving first. This, on the left, was my first attempt at overshot weaving.  The colours for the runner, matched the swatches exactly.  But.  The warp was dreadful and drove me totally nuts!  So I did the sensible thing and tootled across the web to The Hand Weavers Studio  This is a magical place that has all sorts of different warps and wefts.  After careful consideration and a lot of measuring and sums on the backs of envelopes, (thank you #1Son), I bought half a kilo of Mercerised Cotton.  What a difference!  It warped without a murmur of complaint, and just does exactly what it is supposed to do.  The colour is slightly bluer that I had hoped, but that is the trouble with being in a hurry and not checking thoroughly enough.  Don't care, it works really well with the weft and the pattern definition is really crisp.  I am in love!  Even my selvages are beginning to behave!  Sigh.  I'm almost sorry it's going off elsewhere once it's finished.  On the other hand, I have promised myself the next piece will be mine, I tell you, all mine!


IMAG0586I have also managed to spin and ply stuff - before you all accuse me of doing loads, this is the product of several months, I am very lazy with plying...  so anyway, here we are all waiting to be washed and blocked.

From left to right:
Blufaced Leicester (from the Woolclip, all carded ready to spin.)  It still had a lot of bits in it, (tiny bits of grass etc), but it spun like a dream and the yarn is really soft).
2 hanks of Freyalyns coloured BFL in a fantastic colourway who's name escapes me at the moment, but I am sure she will put me right soon.
The last two are again from Freyalyn.  This time one of her own blends, 40%Manx, 40% South Down, 20% Tussah.  The one on the left is eau natural, and the one on the right, Copper in a long dye and repeat (one of my favourites).

In the circumstances, I feel I haven't done too badly.  What I have on my wheels and needles I shall leave for next time as I haven't pictures at the moment.

Right off to put feet up and knit.  Or maybe down to the workshop....  hm, decisions, decisions.

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