For my granddaughter part 2

This is what I knitted from the yarn I spun in January. I love the "Old Shell" lace patterns of Shetland. It's designed for colored lace knitting, and works very well with the handpainted look of my yarn. The socks are called "Train Socks". I have written about them here. In the mittens I also used a yellow commercial yarn.

A little girl has the right to be cute for a while :)

Oh wow cardigan!

Finally! I digged into my stash of handspun yarns and knitted a cardigan! Jon Dunn-Ballam Easyknits has dyed all fibers except the lilac, and he's also knitted the blue/green yarn. I'm very pleased with this cardi. It's heavy, but it's very comfortable. As always, I didn't have a pattern, I just started knitting and guessed what I had to do on the road. And, as usual, I underestimated my bum... but that's easy to solve with strips at the sides :) I wanted big pockets for phone, spindle, keys, and other necessary things.

For my granddaughter

My first grandchild was born five days ago. A little girl! I'm so happy, need I say that?

I was spinning a thread I thought would become part of a yarn for my Certificate in Handspinning. I didn't know what fiber it was, except that my hands said it was Merino and something else. So I asked the dyer, Jon Dunn-Ballam of EasyKnits. Merino-Cashmere he said.

Perfect for a little girl! I changed my mind and Navajo plied to keep the colors for a selfstranding yarn. I like it very much, as I like most of what Jon dyes.

Now I'm planning what to knit from it. A vest? A small cardi? I'll let it wait for a couple of days until it talks to me.

Spinning again!

So after knitting only for six weeks, I'm back at spinning and that feels so good. I have finished two yarns I started spinning in August. Four of the tops Jon from Easyknits.co.uk gave me are now transformed into a nice 3-ply yarn.

Have a look at Easyknits' new site, it's really good, and there are wonderful yarns, fibers, and recipes if you need inspiration for cooking. I love the new product, "Small Guys", I'd like to knit something really nice with the small skeins.

I also finished the BFL-silk I bought from Kariola. I spun it on one of my IST Russian spindles and plied on the wheel. Carola is now thinking of what color would be a good companion for this yarn. It's incredibly soft, so the only thing I can think of making with it is a shawl, and doubled as a hat.

I spun about one meter of gold:

Aluminum and wool, gift from Ingrid whom I met in Gothenburg earlier in October. Bosworth midi spindle

And I have started a new yarn from two swap gifts. I spun the first thread from wonderful hand dizzed tops from Hilltopcloud with merino, alpaca and silk. The shop owner is hilltopkatie on Ravelry. She has very good fibers, so keep an eye on her shop! I spun an uneven yarn trying to keep the character of the tops. Today I start the second thread, a merino top I got in another swap. I'll spin it thin and even. Photos when I have yarn to show!

New cardigan

My handspun Bog Green and Pomegranate, and a beautiful gift from Sarah, blue Wollmeise. I'll knit a cardigan. But first I'll finish some UFOs.

A hot day in London

One day during my trip to UK Sarah, Malin and me went to London to see Jon who had kindly invited us to his home and his studio: EasyKnits.

But first we went to Camden Market. That was fun!

Then we went to Jon. He is a smart man, he served Pimm's and yummy muffins baked by his husband before letting us into his dyeing studio :) It was a very hot day, so what could be better than a refreshing drink?

And then we went upstairs to have a look at the yarns and fibers. Oh THAT was fun!

Jon dyes both semi solids and space dyed fibers and yarns, so full of color. The quality is very good, I love working with them. The skeins hanging to dry is the first glimpse of Jon's new colorway Deeply Wicked that he'll intruduce at KnitNation in London next week. He makes his sock rolls himself, starting by knitting them on one of his machines, then dyeing them. They make really nice socks and shawls.

The beautiful Orbit shawl is on my list of shawls to knit. You find the pattern through Jon's shop on Ravelry. On EasyKnit's site you find more shawls, designed by the ingenious Marleen from Dutch Knitting Design.

Here are some of my purchases and on top of them the wonders Jon gave me as a gift. Thank you Jon!

Then we had more Pimm's and muffins, and I tried Jon's spinning wheel, an impressive Mach II.  The wheel is too big for me, but Malin seemed to be happy with it. I didn't take any photos, but you can find Mach wheels here: Spinolution.

Sarah's husband met up with us at Oxford Street, and as it was a really hot day we decided to eat in a Korean restaurant where they cooked some of the meals at the table :)

Chris bought us desert to eat in the train on our way home. Yes, I was tired. And happy!